Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: Master Technika on August 01, 2015, 04:06:36 pm

Title: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Master Technika on August 01, 2015, 04:06:36 pm
I am curious if there is a tripod mount that can keep the camera parallel while moving it incrementally to the sides and up and down in a rectangular motion.  I would like to stitch files to give them the ratios of 4x5 and 8x10 film.  Thanks!
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 01, 2015, 04:34:25 pm
I am curious if there is a tripod mount that can keep the camera parallel while moving it incrementally to the sides and up and down in a rectangular motion.  I would like to stitch files to give them the ratios of 4x5 and 8x10 film.  Thanks!

Hi,

Don't know if a ready-made solution exists, but wouldn't it be easier to use a (camera/back feature) sensor plane shift, or a subject mount shift? Moving the whole camera+lens around might require a very large rig if the subject is large, and the subject could only be stitched reliably if it's flat.

It might help to know what kind/size of subject needs to be shot, and if it's indoors or outdoors.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Master Technika on August 01, 2015, 05:17:47 pm
I'd be using it for object such as painting or other static 2 dimensional objects.  I just need something that either allows me to shift the sensor plane accurately in increments or the whole camera.  I see mounts like the Gigapan and wonder if there is something that just moves it around in a rectangular fashion while allowing for the 40% of overlap Photoshop needs for stitching.  Kapture group makes a "Quadstitch back that seems similar to what I have in mind.  However, if there are other ideas for this including a way to move the entire camera accurately in this formation I would be interested to hear. 
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: alan_b on August 01, 2015, 11:48:27 pm
It won't be light or compact, but it'd be pretty easy to make a rig out of T-Slot rail (http://8020.net) for this.
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: graeme on August 02, 2015, 06:10:13 am
Could you move the object you're photographing around instead?
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: MarkL on August 02, 2015, 08:35:31 am
Is this different to what most multi row pano gear does?
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 02, 2015, 10:13:12 am
Is this different to what most multi row pano gear does?

Yes, most multi-row pano gear uses a rotation through the no-parallax-point (NPP) method, not a parallel to the subject plane shift.

The best solution is a variation on an XY-easel shift of the flat object itself, with a stationary camera and lighting setup, or a shifting camera back (with LCC corrections applied during Raw processing, but they are relatively standard with repro work anyway). But it is also possible to shift the whole camera/lens rig around, although that would require relatively large shifts.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: AJSJones on August 02, 2015, 03:17:06 pm
Not sure if this  (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/181794925294?lpid=82&chn=ps) X-Y rail will meet your distance or precision needs but I sometimes use one for scanning 4x5's (they are on a light pad moved by this rig on a copy stand using my macro lens) Rube Goldberg/Heath Robinson cheapskate scanner:D
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Rainer SLP on August 02, 2015, 07:45:34 pm
Not sure if this  (http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/181794925294?lpid=82&chn=ps) X-Y rail will meet your distance or precision needs but I sometimes use one for scanning 4x5's (they are on a light pad moved by this rig on a copy stand using my macro lens) Rube Goldberg/Heath Robinson cheapskate scanner:D


I think that is a good idea.

You would just need a 90° adapter for the camera in order to put the X-Y Rail in vertical position ...
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: degrub on August 02, 2015, 11:40:30 pm
How about a panel saw frame and carriage as a starting point ?
http://sawtrax-online.com/?gclid=CKaIjqr-i8cCFcRlfgodDuUM9w
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: rgs on August 06, 2015, 07:05:33 pm
A macro focusing rail turned sideways?
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Ellis Vener on August 07, 2015, 11:30:51 am
I'd be using it for object such as painting or other static 2 dimensional objects.  I just need something that either allows me to shift the sensor plane accurately in increments or the whole camera.  I see mounts like the Gigapan and wonder if there is something that just moves it around in a rectangular fashion while allowing for the 40% of overlap Photoshop needs for stitching.  Kapture group makes a "Quadstitch back that seems similar to what I have in mind.  However, if there are other ideas for this including a way to move the entire camera accurately in this formation I would be interested to hear.  

For the work you want to do the best option is to mount your DSLR on a 4x5 monorail camera with precise rise/fall and shift movements.  This keeps the lens axis centered in the overall area, eliminating parallax errors when stitching. There are some limitations to this but for what you want to do  they shouldn't apply. I think the best view camera body for this is the Sinar P series but any heavyweight monorail view camera with rear movements will work.

Addendum:
 We have had L-L forum discussions about DSLR- to-view camera adapters in the past, here is one: http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=72082.0
Title: Re: tripod mount that moves the camera incrementally in a rectangular motion
Post by: Master Technika on August 13, 2015, 04:33:50 pm
Thank you for all the great replies.  The saw guide, x-y rail, and view camera are all good suggestions.  The x-y rail seems like the best option, but I'd need to mount the camera so that it were facing outwards or so that the "y" axis were moving the camera upwards and downwards as opposed to front and back.  Any suggestions?