wco81
Posts: 32
Location:
Registered: 17 Dec 2009
|
Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 3:26 GMT
|
|
Want to try making panoramas for an upcoming trip. I've read through several of the How to pages.
I have an LX-3 and am considering a fisheye for it but wonder if it meets the requirements for capture:
www.amazon.com/...Professional-Fisheye-Panasonic-DMC-LX3/dp/B001N3H8BM
Also see that most of the pano heads are pricey so until I'm encouraged by the results to try to do more, I was thinking of something cheap:
www.amazon.com/LensPen-LENPNK1-Panamatic-Stitchin...
Or maybe see what kind of results I get first with just a tripod and the software before getting these add-ons.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4025
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 6:32 GMT
|
|
You will find that you are wasting money on any of the equipment you have provided links for.
The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is an amazing "point 'n' shoot" camera and I love mine very much.
I have tried attaching much better quality lenses than the one you mention. These have been the Nikon FC-E8 and iPix/Solingor 8mm both yielded very poor results.
That said, I have had pretty good results from adapting a Nikon WC-68 Wide Angle Lens via a tube adapter and step down ring. I have uploaded a temporary pano using this combination at www.smooth360.com
It is an absolute must to have a panohead to shoot with this combination and to cover a full 360x180 sphere you will need to shoot 12 images.
"If" you intention is to only ever shoot far off landscapes with nothing close in the foreground then you may get a reasonable result without. But really your first investment should be a Nodal Ninja 3 panohead. From that point you can shoot panoramas with your camera even with the standard lens without any adapter lens at all. It is just the required amount of images that will you will find a limitation.
Seriously, get a quality panohead before anything else.
Regards, Smooth 
www.smooth360.info
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Ken Warner
Posts: 821
Location: Mammoth Lakes, United States
Registered: 14 Aug 2004
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 6:56 GMT
|
|
Smooth said: The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is an amazing "point 'n' shoot" camera and I love mine very much.
I have tried attaching much better quality lenses than the one you mention. These have been the Nikon FC-E8 and iPix/Solingor 8mm both yielded very poor results.
That said, I have had pretty good results from adapting a Nikon WC-68 Wide Angle Lens via a tube adapter and step down ring. I have uploaded a temporary pano using this combination at www.smooth360.com
It is an absolute must to have a panohead to shoot with this combination and to cover a full 360x180 sphere you will need to shoot 12 images.
That's a nicely done pano Smooth.
I have a Nikon wc-e63 that I use on my Fuji e900. Not as good as what I see others produce with a dslr but passable for some things.
With the wc-e63 I generally shoot 3 rows of 8. Not real convenient and for scenes with a lot of movement, it takes a fair amount of editing. But it works and the whole rig cost less than $150 USD.
But with out an NN3 it would be very difficult to do 3 rows of 8.
I can use a monopod for cylindricals with that lens but a spherical from the monopod is painful. I can shoot a spherical from the monopod if I use a fisheye like the IPIX/Soligor which I also have but it's really soft and low resolution.
This is 3 rows of 8 with the Fuji e900 and the WC-e63.
pancyl.com/LakeWind.htm
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Thomas Krueger
Posts: 371
Location: Genoa, Italy
Registered: 3 Mar 2006
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 8:04 GMT
|
|
It's difficult to adapt a fisheye to the LX3. I've found some hints and test on Flickr but the result wasn't very good.
The smaller Nikon FC-E8 can be used on the Nikon P6000.
The image quality is not as good as the LX3, but it should be ok for posting panos to the web.
(translate the article with Google) www.nital.it/experience/p6000-fisheye-gps2.php
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
mediavets
Posts: 2114
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 10:01 GMT
updated: 17 Dec 2009 at 10:01 GMT
|
|
Smooth said: The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is an amazing "point 'n' shoot" camera and I love mine very much.
I have tried attaching much better quality lenses than the one you mention. These have been the Nikon FC-E8 and iPix/Solingor 8mm both yielded very poor results.
That said, I have had pretty good results from adapting a Nikon WC-68 Wide Angle Lens via a tube adapter and step down ring. I have uploaded a temporary pano using this combination at www.smooth360.com
Smooth
www.smooth360.info
Wow - that's a very good result.
Do you have picture of the WC-E68 mounted on the Lumix LX3?
What focal length (35mm equiv) does it provide with the LX3?
Andrew
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
mediavets
Posts: 2114
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 12:36 GMT
|
|
Thomas Krueger said: The smaller Nikon FC-E8 can be used on the Nikon P6000.
The image quality is not as good as the LX3, but it should be ok for posting panos to the web.
(translate the article with Google) www.nital.it/experience/p6000-fisheye-gps2.php
Thomas,
Thanks for that URL to the excellent artiulke by Luca Vascon - which also has links to his earlier article about using the FC-E8 on the Nikon P5000/P5100.
Inspired by his earlier article, I use a Nikon P5100 with an FC-E8, But instead of the Agno's PM8 adapter/rotator I use a UR-E20 adapter and a Bophoto pano bracket. Back in the day when the GBP/USD exchange rate was more favourable the Bophoto bracket was quite a bit less expensive that the Agno's alternative.
www.bophoto.com/bracket/
www.autopano.net/forum/t3327-bophoto-travel-brack...
It works fine for what I call 'snapshot panos', outdoors in daylight, for which I typically use a cheap hiking/photo pole as a monopod with a clip-on Manfrotto pole level. I shoot 4-around as it's easiest to judge 90 degree rotation by eye and with plenty of overlap the images stitch easily with Autopano Pro.
The P6000 should do better if only because it offers full manual focus. The in-built GPS is interesting, and it also has an optional IR remote (which would enable use on high poles) which the P5000/P5100 lacks. But the P6000 is rather expensive.
Andrew
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Thomas Krueger
Posts: 371
Location: Genoa, Italy
Registered: 3 Mar 2006
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 14:15 GMT
|
|
|
The other option would be a cheap used DSLR body and a fisheye like the 8mm Samyang. With the bigger sensor you will get a better image quality.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
mediavets
Posts: 2114
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
|
|
wco81
Posts: 32
Location:
Registered: 17 Dec 2009
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 15:38 GMT
|
|
Thanks all for the responses.
Yeah I would be curious about how the Nikon was mounted on the LX-3 as well
So a Ninja Noidal is the minimum?
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
mediavets
Posts: 2114
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 16:11 GMT
updated: 17 Dec 2009 at 16:12 GMT
|
|
wco81 said: Thanks all for the responses.
Yeah I would be curious about how the Nikon was mounted on the LX-3 as well
So a Ninja Noidal is the minimum?
NO, the Panosaurus is considerably less expensive than the Nodal Ninja - OTOH it lacks click stops, is a bit harder to set up and handles a smaller load. That said it works fine for many people. And if you wish to minimise outlay then....
If you are a handy type then this may provide some inspiration for making a camera/lens specific pano bracket - could always be mounted on that Panamatic rotator device?:
www.peterloud.co.uk/nodalsamurai/nodalsamurai.html
Andrew
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
wco81
Posts: 32
Location:
Registered: 17 Dec 2009
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 16:57 GMT
|
|
Do these pano heads work with all tripods? They just screw onto the top of the tripod?
I have a portable one which has a good minimum length (under 15 inches) and height (about 50 inches).
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Ken Warner
Posts: 821
Location: Mammoth Lakes, United States
Registered: 14 Aug 2004
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 18:57 GMT
|
|
wco81 said: Thanks all for the responses.
Yeah I would be curious about how the Nikon was mounted on the LX-3 as well
So a Ninja Noidal is the minimum?
shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m38.l1313&_nkw=panasonic+lx3+adapter&_sacat=See-All-Categories
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Smooth
Posts: 4025
Location: Mount Panorama, Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 19:15 GMT
|
|
mediavets said: Smooth said: The Panasonic Lumix LX3 is an amazing "point 'n' shoot" camera and I love mine very much.
I have tried attaching much better quality lenses than the one you mention. These have been the Nikon FC-E8 and iPix/Solingor 8mm both yielded very poor results.
That said, I have had pretty good results from adapting a Nikon WC-68 Wide Angle Lens via a tube adapter and step down ring. I have uploaded a temporary pano using this combination at www.smooth360.com
Smooth
www.smooth360.info
Wow - that's a very good result.
Do you have picture of the WC-E68 mounted on the Lumix LX3?
What focal length (35mm equiv) does it provide with the LX3?
Andrew
Remove factory lens ring
Add LX3 Tube Adapter 46mm to 52mm (ebay)
Add step down ring 52mm to 46mm (ebay)
Add Nikon WC-E68 Wide Angle Converter Lens
Focal length runs out at about 19mm with HFOV of around 72.00 degrees (portrait).
3 rows 3 upper 6 centre 3 lower (minimum) = 12 shots
probably best to shoot 3 rows of 6 for ease of use and better coverage + Hand Held Nadir if required.
another sample from the two days I have played with this set up www.smooth360.com/2009/lx3
Regards, Smooth
www.smooth360.info
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Hans Nyberg
Posts: 2871
Location: Denmark
Registered: 28 Aug 2005
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 19:48 GMT
updated: 17 Dec 2009 at 19:48 GMT
|
|
The LX3 is 24mm
The WC-68 is a 0.7 converter.
That gives you a 16.8 mm lens.
With a 19mm you can not take 6 around as it only has 64 degree FOV.
Hans
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Ken Warner
Posts: 821
Location: Mammoth Lakes, United States
Registered: 14 Aug 2004
|
Re: Trying to make panos with minimal upfront investment
Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 20:04 GMT
|
|
Hans Nyberg said: The LX3 is 24mm
The WC-68 is a 0.7 converter.
That gives you a 16.8 mm lens.
With a 19mm you can not take 6 around as it only has 64 degree FOV.
Hans
Yeah, I was wondering about that. I have a 28mm lens with a .63 converter giving 17.64mm And I can take 3 rows of 6 if there is sufficient fine detail at the seams for control points. But it's very tight. I know I couldn't take 3+6+3+nadir.
Usually I find it's much easier to stitch if I do 3 rows of 8. And less time overall.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
back to threads list |
this thread is closed
Prev
