Panorama Vertical or Horizontal

[rabanito]

I followed the argumentation on nodal points etc when shooting panoramas.
Somebody mentioned that actually it is not THAT important to use a specialized panorama head, or at least I did understand that.
I tried it myself.

Now first I used my ball head with the camera in portrait position. Keeping the head horizontal was no problem but when I tilted it upwards keeping the camera vertical was not easy, the ball is free in all directions. I had only horizontal levels.
Then I tried with a movie pano head.
It allows both movements in the horizontal and vertical planes.
But the camera is positioned only horizontally.

Now: For a given panorama I need the same number of photos, be it H or V.
Is there any  disadvantage using this or that option? I mean positioning the camera H or V?

The results of my experiment with the movie head were satisfactory. No noticeable parallax errors, at least for what I do.

Any opinions?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

[...]
Now: For a given panorama I need the same number of photos, be it H or V.
Is there any  disadvantage using this or that option? I mean positioning the camera H or V?

The results of my experiment with the movie head were satisfactory. No noticeable parallax errors, at least for what I do.

Any opinions?

Hi,

In general, Vertical / Portrait orientation is preferred. It means you can cover more vertical Angle of View with fewer rows to stitch, and you need fewer rows for the sky region, which helps to avoid cloud ghosts.

Cheers,
Bart

[rabanito]

Hi,

In general, Vertical / Portrait orientation is preferred. It means you can cover more vertical Angle of View with fewer rows to stitch, and you need fewer rows for the sky region, which helps to avoid cloud ghosts.

I see.
Thank you Bart

[elliot_n]

Firstly, for any complex subject, in which there is detail in the foreground that overlaps detail in the background, you definitely need a pano-head — you will get stitching errors if you try to get by with a regular tripod head.

Re. camera orientation, I prefer to shoot with the camera in landscape orientation (i.e. horizontal).

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

You also get more pixels (with camera vertically).

[Two23]

Firstly, for any complex subject, in which there is detail in the foreground that overlaps detail in the background, you definitely need a pano-head — you will get stitching errors if you try to get by with a regular tripod head.

I use a regular ball head for stitches, and a 24mm Nikon PC-E.  Perfect stitches.


Kent in SD

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Firstly, for any complex subject, in which there is detail in the foreground that overlaps detail in the background, you definitely need a pano-head — you will get stitching errors if you try to get by with a regular tripod head...

Panoramas with too close a foreground look really, really weird. Unless used for special effects, best to avoid.

[Telecaster]

I use my pocketable smartgizmo. 

-Dave-

[guido]

I use a TSE and shift.

[langier]

If I'm shooting a pano that I want a little more detail, I turn the camera vertically and overlap from 24-50% and usually toward a longer focal length using my medium-range zoom and usually hand-held since I do a lot of cut-and-run work when I travel.

When I do a hand-held pano, I tend to frame a little loosely so that I have enough image that I can crop down my sloppy edges.

Using a ball head, it's really nice to have either an L-bracket on the camera to place it over the center of the tripod or some kind of way to put the camera over the center of the tripod. Simply flipping the camera to the side notch makes the panos just a little out of kilter, especially if there's a close foreground.

[LesPalenik]

For a given panorama I need the same number of photos, be it H or V.
Is there any  disadvantage using this or that option? I mean positioning the camera H or V?

If it is a multi-row panorama, let's say 3 rows, the total number of required images might be indeed roughly the same.
If it is only one row panorama and you don't need its vertical dimension not much higher than the height of the individual image in a horizontal position, then shooting in a horizontal position would require fewest number of images. Shooting one row of images in vertical orientation would allow for a greater height of the finished panorama or for slight cropping on the top and bottom, thus removing the edges which are usually less sharp or exhibit some vignetting.