Pano Photography

Hi all,

I am after some advice on what panoramic head to get. I'll be shooting mostly with 16-35mm f4 which is not compatible with the nodal ninja 3 or 4. I don't want to spend more than what they are.

I'd be interested to hear peoples thoughts on others around? I know Manfrotto have some good gear but not sure if they're compatible with that lens? Also, RRS are beyond what i'm prepared to pay.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments

Tim

^^^^
this

Great article on panoramas and when & why you need/don't need a pano head. I do 95% of my panos handheld, so investing in a really good head doesn't make sense for me. That said, my MeFOTO Roadtrip already has levelers and degree markings around the base, so I'm covered there. For under $25 I got a set of macro rails on Amazon and by combining them I can attach it to my tripod and center my front element as needed to work the same way a pano head would (lousy iPhone photo)...



This is my D610 with the 16-35mm lens you're talking about. The pair of rails works OK with this lens, and with smaller profile primes, but the rail can get in the way of fatter lenses (I've taken the second mounting bolt out when this happens). A solution is to add the grip to the body to lift it up, but this can make for a heavier, more unbalanced setup that puts some stress on the ball in which case I'll use my Manfrotto tripod instead.

I should add that what this setup won't let you do is shoot verticals for your pano (unless I shoot with my 70-200mm and use the lens mount).

With Photoshop or Lightroom the need for precision in shooting for a pano is just not as important anymore. I shoot all mine handheld and never have ny problems.

Don Kuykendall said:

With Photoshop or Lightroom the need for precision in shooting for a pano is just not as important anymore. I shoot all mine handheld and never have any problems.

Click to expand...

Same here, always handheld, and I've found it better to take the shots in portrait mode.

paul04 said:

Same here, always handheld, and I've found it better to take the shots in portrait mode.

Click to expand...

You are correct in the portrait mode. This gives you the room to crop to garbage you normally get when doing a pano.

Don Kuykendall said:

With Photoshop or Lightroom the need for precision in shooting for a pano is just not as important anymore. I shoot all mine handheld and never have ny problems.

Click to expand...

Not as, but as pointed out in the linked article it depends on the amount of potential parallax you have in the frame. Get enough of it and your SOL.

And as is sometimes the case when this stuff comes up, I started doing some research and found a deal on a Nodal Ninja pano setup. At least I'll be hooked up when I want/need it. Maybe it'll force me into shooting some serious panos?

Misner Center...... this where all the weathly Boca people shop when they're too lazy to go to Worth Avenue because their chauffer has the day off. One night, I saw 3 different 20-somethings driving around in 3 different Ferraris. When I was in Rome I didn't see 3 Ferraris. Makes me proud to be an American. This pano is 9 frames and 10X42. Shot with D800 and 50/1.8 lens.




I use a Sunwayfoto CR-30 360 Panorama Head Kit, and a Neewer leveling base. Total cost, about $180.

This is the SunwayFoto/Neewer set-up I'm using. It's very handy and both parts have a bubble level.