Panoramic head advice

[Panopeeper]

I don't see why interiors would be different than anything else

1. Interior goes with short distances, except if you are thinking of the interior of a stadium.

2. Small errors in the stitching are much more evident on up-close window frames, wall edges, furniture, etc. than on less well-defined subjects, like landscapes.

As long as you rotate around the entrance pupil, it should stitch seamlessly, no?

LOL, that's good. Try it.

[Carsten W]

1. Interior goes with short distances, except if you are thinking of the interior of a stadium.

2. Small errors in the stitching are much more evident on up-close window frames, wall edges, furniture, etc. than on less well-defined subjects, like landscapes.


LOL, that's good. Try it.

I have done stitching at close distance before, and it seems to work okay. The first one is hand-held (I didn't correct the distortion because I liked it), the second one is tripod. The first one had about 20 images, the second one 100 exactly. It could be done with less though.

http://throughthelensdarkly.com/blog/photos/070616.jpg

http://throughthelensdarkly.com/blog/photos/070618.jpg

If you use a lens with little distortion, and correct the result, and then stitch, what is it that goes wrong? Do you mean very small errors, or major problems?

Once I get the rest of my kit together, I will try it out, but that could take a bit.

[edwinb]

Foba has some offerings
the bollo head is lighter
but the range can take very heavy units
There are some downloadable pdfs
regards
edwin

[Panopeeper]

I have done stitching at close distance before, and it seems to work okay. The first one is hand-held

Is this a demonstration for how to eliminate stitching problems by bokeh?

Furthermore, I doubt that it would withstand any closer inspection. This is just what I meant by I often laugh when seeing the proudly presented samples on forums - in a fraction of the real size.

If you use a lens with little distortion, and correct the result, and then stitch, what is it that goes wrong?

Here is the good news: the curvilinear lens distortions (barrel, pincussion) do not pose any problem for a decent stitcher, as long as there is no reevant parallax error and the control points are really matching.

Thus you can use a lens with any degree of curvilinear distortion. In fact one can use a stitcher to correct the curvilinear AND/OR perspectivic distortion of a lens.

[Carsten W]

Is this a demonstration for how to eliminate stitching problems by bokeh?

 No, it is the look I wanted for these two stitches. Besides, don't underestimate the effort required to stitch areas with no firm detail. It wasn't easy, but it worked in the end.

Furthermore, I doubt that it would withstand any closer inspection. This is just what I meant by I often laugh when seeing the proudly presented samples on forums - in a fraction of the real size.

Well, that is the nature of forums. I am clearly not going to post a 100MB file.

Here is the good news: the curvilinear lens distortions (barrel, pincussion) do not pose any problem for a decent stitcher, as long as there is no reevant parallax error and the control points are really matching.

So where is the problem then? Are you saying that the stitching programs make small errors on the pixel level?

When I get the rest of my equipment, I will try out a large indoor stitch with some close objects, to see what you mean.

[buzzski]

Having read everyone's responses with great interest it would appear Panopeeper speaks with some experience and their comments are backed up by other forum members. So, going back to my original post what solution would you suggest for shooting interiors on a blad with a 40mm lens? I want to shoot in the conventional (looking down into a WLF) manner, capturing multi row panoramas and the stitching software must be Mac OSX compatible. Thanks, C

[michaelbiondo]

TWO issues come to mind, first, this kind of MF set up is quite heavy and will test the stability of any pano head that I know of, I have a bit of experience with the RRS multi row pano set up and it is beautifully designed and made.  But I am not certain that it can handle the weight of your camera, a quick call/email to them will answer that question. Secondly, shooting architecture (interiors & exteriors) is very tricky with the pano head technique, even if you are perfect with your nodel point set up, you can spend a lot of time in postproduction getting everything sorted out.
I have abandoned this technique in favor of a rear standard rise, fall, shift panorama created with a 1ds mark III on the back of a cambo ultima 35, Then putting all the individual frames together with photomerge in CS3. This technique is working very well for me and has cut down on my post production time considerably.
good luck!

[Panopeeper]

Having read everyone's responses with great interest it would appear Panopeeper speaks with some experience and their comments are backed up by other forum members. So, going back to my original post what solution would you suggest for shooting interiors on a blad with a 40mm lens? I want to shoot in the conventional (looking down into a WLF) manner, capturing multi row panoramas and the stitching software must be Mac OSX compatible. Thanks, C

1. You posted earlier:

a bit over 90 degrees l-r and 3 rows top to tail ... I simply want as accurate a planar image

How much will the vertical angle of view of the result be with the 40mm lens in three rows? Planar projection over 120° is questionable, depending on the scenery.

2. If you are shooting multirow anyway, then there is no point in doing that with the camera rotated, if that is  a technical problem because of the bracket.

3. I guess the 40mm lens is not very long, the entrance pupil is not very far ahead of the mounting screw, thus the weight of the camera vs. the rigidity of the bracket is not a big issue. You can easily judge the entrance pupil location: mount the lens, set the aperture to something small, look into the lens and activate/deactivate the aperture. The location where you see the aperture is the entrance pupil (it is not, where the aperture is but its projected location).

Long lenses pose a much bigger (heavier) problem.

4. Verify if the entrance pupil location changes with focusing; look at the aperture (see above) and change the focus. If it changes, then you have to measure the location in that distance range.

5. If you describe the setting in more detail, perhaps something else will come up. Anyway, shoot with exposure bracketing, don't save on that; you will never be able to reshoot one frame alone.

4. When you are stitching it with PTGui (apparently you have purchased it already), describe the result of the optimizer. The average CP distance should be under one pixel to achieve a decent result.

[Florian Gradwohl]

I´m using RRS Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Package on the RRS BH-40 Ballhead. Actually till now I only worked with 1DsMKII and 8mm Fisheye, 16-35, 24-70, 70-200, but I guess it will work with MF-gear too. The built quality is very good and I’m really satisfied with it. It´s really the right stuff for doing panos.

Florian

[SeanBK]

Long time user of RRS multi-row Ultimate-Pro Omni pivot with BH-55, couldn't be happier. Yes, it is expensive,but after you bought, you won't ever regret it - never.
    http://reallyrightstuff.com/rrs/Customkiti...o%2DOPP&eq=

[michaelbiondo]

I just posted a RRS Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Package with canon 1ds L bracket for sale in the "for sale" forum let me know if you are interested...

[erick.boileau]

I am using RRS pano set , but  Nodal Ninja 5  is certainly very good

[jørn.kiel]

I use the >360 precision adjuste< now and like it a lot. Works with my H3D 39 with 28mm and with the Nikon D3 16mm FE and D300 8mm FE. Very precise and real good handling. I have 3 different software packages (Stitcher/PTGui/Autopano Pro) and with all of them the files are easy to stitch. Before i used the Seitz pano head (producer of the Alpa) but as it was not bad the 360 outperforms it easily.

http://www.360precision.com/360/360.cfm