I need some advice on the pano gear I need.
I have a D800e and the Sigma DP1 Merrill and Sigma DP2 Merrill, Mamiya 7II and RZ67 PRO II if it matters.
My tripod is the Really Right Stuff TVC-33 series, with the BH-55 ball head.
I think I'd just like to do single and multi row panos. Not interested in 360 panos.
Thanks!!!!!
I have the RRS Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Package package but now some heavier duty components.
Since you already have the BH-55 (I am not a fan of using ball heads for panorama shooting but it is the head you have so I'll start there). All the components are RRS except for the camera L bracket which the Arca-Swiss Classic L-Bracket)
1) horizontal rotator: PCL-1
2) CB-10 (or CB-18 for tall cameras)*
3) PG-02VA
4) RRS screw drive clamp (60mm wide - I forget the RRS name) mounted on the PG-02VA
5) MPR-CL-11 "Nodal Slide."
*(The cameras I shoot range range from the D800 to the 1D/1Ds/D3/D4 size classes and occassionally a medium format digital rig. The CB-18 is used for the taller cameras.)
I generally shoot with the long side of the camera oriented vertically and am very conservative and overlap my horizontal frames considerably more than the usual recommendation of 25-30% while 33% seems right for vertical overlap.
I currently use PTGui Pro 9.1.3 to stitch with and export a blended with layers file as an 8 bit per channel PSB document and resolve any overlap issues ( like subject movement) by editing the individual layers in Photoshop CS6.
All of the above technique works quite well for prints as large as 6-8 ft (high) x # feet (length). Most of the panoramic work I do is architecture and structure related, not landscapes so precision counts.
Although I have excellent heavy duty tripod heads tripod heads over the weekend I started thinking about either just using a leveling platform (I have the Manfrotto 338 QTVR Leveling Base) instead of a head or using the 338 on top of a Foba ASMIA head. If I use it on top of the ASMIA head , the head will make the gross pitch and roll adjustments and the Manfrotto 338 will fine tune them. The PCL-1 will mount on the 338.
The advantage of using just the leveling base alone is simplicity. The advantage of using the leveling base on top of the head is precision+versatility