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Author Topic: Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?  (Read 17297 times)

BernardLanguillier

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Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?
« Reply #20 on: May 13, 2009, 11:41:31 pm »

Quote from: pom
Are you getting sufficient DOF with your 100mm? I'm usually right on the edge of the envelope of sufficient DOF at f22 but I'm pretty close up usually. I pretty much have to always refocus between frames as I rotate upwards and then slice the files on the computer so each has the optimum sharpness before sending to the pano program. It's the trade off of wanting to obtain a specific perspective for this kind of work, what would be easy to shoot with the 50mm in a single shot (plenty DOF) needs careful thought when using a 100mm for the same perspective due to using stitching.

Well, I do more and more panos whith limited DoF. The bokeh of the Zeiss 100 mm is so nice that these images work pretty well for me.

At other times I do DoF stacking, but either way I try to always avoid closing further than f11 for ultimate detail.

Cheers,
Bernard

BernardLanguillier

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Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?
« Reply #21 on: May 13, 2009, 11:55:42 pm »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
The one I have bought is the adjuste Giga, my first comments would be that it is a beautifully crafted piece of equipment that has the downsides of its qualities. It is error proof and allows fast operation, but:

- it is a bit difficult to use the head with different lenses since you need to unscrew two screws to modify the position of the camera relative to the rotation axis,
- the lack of locking mechanism for the Z axis rotation worries me a bit as far as images sharpness goes, I will need to test more to see if this can be a problem or not in the field.

Other than that, the lack of native compatibility with the Arca swiss standard is annoying:

- there is not obvious way to attach the camera easily and quickly to the head short of screwing it onto it each time and the size of the screw (M6 it would seem) is not compatible with any standard RRS clamp,
- there is no obvious way to attach the head to a tripod with an arca swiss type clamp, other than adding an arca swiss plate under the 360precision head, which adds weight, complexity and one more interface that could become loose at some point in time.

Finally there is no documentation whatsoever coming with the head, and that is regrettable for a product this price. The support has been responsive so far, but a few well written pages would help.

Adding to what I wrote above, I am finding that there is a major problem with the 360 precision giga head for my rough usage.

- off the shelf, the attachement of the camera (D3x) to the head is un-usable since you need to screw the camera to the head each time, and there is no easy way to align it well. You can be 100% sure that the camera is always slighty off axis. Besides most of us are using RRS brackets on the cameras all the time and those are even more difficult to screw on to something,

- I have bought a RRS B2-LLR II clamp, a downsizing busher to change the size of the threaded hole, and have tried to screw this on the 360 PRecision head. Unfortunatrely, because of the rubber material applied to the head, it is:
   - very hard (read impossible) to align the clamp well with the head arm,
   - impossible to screw the clamp tight enough that it doesn't rotate when a heavy camera is attached to the clamp.

This for me is a major issue with this head since we have a super precise and sturdy 360 PRecision head, but no reliable away to mount a camera to it. If anyone has a good solution to this, I am all ears. Without one that head will be un-usable for my applications.

Cheers,
Bernard

Thomas Krüger

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Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?
« Reply #22 on: May 14, 2009, 03:37:48 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
- I have bought a RRS B2-LLR II clamp, a downsizing busher to change the size of the threaded hole, and have tried to screw this on the 360 PRecision head. Unfortunatrely, because of the rubber material applied to the head, it is:
   - very hard (read impossible) to align the clamp well with the head arm,
   - impossible to screw the clamp tight enough that it doesn't rotate when a heavy camera is attached to the clamp.

Just fix the clamp with two screws modifying a second camera plate for the 360 Precision head. Here are some pics with the modification from Robert Leitner (Salzburg, Austria).

[attachment=13660:360Adjus...tner_003.jpg]
[attachment=13659:360Adjus...tner_002.jpg]
[attachment=13661:360Adjus...tner_004.jpg]
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BernardLanguillier

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Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?
« Reply #23 on: May 14, 2009, 05:23:54 am »

Quote from: ThomasK
Just fix the clamp with two screws modifying a second camera plate for the 360 Precision head. Here are some pics with the modification from Robert Leitner (Salzburg, Austria).

[attachment=13660:360Adjus...tner_003.jpg]
[attachment=13659:360Adjus...tner_002.jpg]
[attachment=13661:360Adjus...tner_004.jpg]

Thomas,

This seems like an interesting solution, could you please provide more details on how the modification can be performed and what tool is needed?

Thank you.

Regards,
Bernard

Ben Rubinstein

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Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?
« Reply #24 on: May 14, 2009, 07:11:52 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Well, I do more and more panos whith limited DoF. The bokeh of the Zeiss 100 mm is so nice that these images work pretty well for me.

At other times I do DoF stacking, but either way I try to always avoid closing further than f11 for ultimate detail.

Cheers,
Bernard

I've found that when shooting with that much resolution and the output is print there is a far lessening need for all the incredible amount of technical details needed to maximise the detail in a single shot on high resolution 35mm bodies. The tonality and detail in a 35-60 megapixel file is so incredible that there is room to sacrifice the need for things like never shooting at f22 and always using primes, etc. Of course that's for my own personal usage, I'm not printing bigger than 36X18" any time in the future unless I suddenly find a market for such huge prints.
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Huib

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Best 360x180 Panoramic Head?
« Reply #25 on: May 15, 2009, 07:27:48 am »

Before anybody buys someting direct from 360 Precision, just read this thread well, so that you are really carefully.
I am waiting now for almost 5 mounths for a replacement of a wrong armtab they sent. And I am not the only one who get a headache from 360Precision service and communication.
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