FZ 20 Panaramic

kcdc · Dec 17, 2004

I'm interested to know if anyone using a FZ 20 has used the photo-stich/panaramic feature.

I think the FZ 20 is able to stich shots using the supplied software, as opposed to stiching them in the camera (like canon does).

I'm thinking of buying a FZ 20 but want to make sure you can stich photos together very well (& easily!) before i buy.

Barrie R · Dec 17, 2004

check this thread of panoramas submitted to this forum's challenge

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=11026559

Barrie

OaklandWoody · Dec 17, 2004

Nothing special, is what makes the panos so easy.

Switch into the manual exposure mode set the exposure for one frame and don't change it for the rest of the shots. Allow enough overlap and use the provided software (or many others) to get great results.

Easy and fun

kcdc said:
I'm interested to know if anyone using a FZ 20 has used the
photo-stich/panaramic feature.

I think the FZ 20 is able to stich shots using the supplied
software, as opposed to stiching them in the camera (like canon
does).

I'm thinking of buying a FZ 20 but want to make sure you can stich
photos together very well (& easily!) before i buy.

kcdc · Dec 17, 2004

Barrie R said:
check this thread of panoramas submitted to this forum's challenge

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=11026559

Barrie

Thanks Barrie - All these panaromas are taken using a FZ 20 are they???

Ron Co · Dec 17, 2004

Hi kcdc,

it is the software as much as anything that helps make panoramas easy- that and the ability to swivel smoothly at the hips

)

I have done many using Canon's Phototstitch software which I thought was pretty good to work with but the PanoramaMaker software that comes withthe Panasonics is even easier and bette to use - piece of cake so to speak- plus it seems to do a better job of merging images and getting even gradations etc which often mar other pano software

Amazing really as there is software out there that costs as much as the Pana cameras and is probably not much better- certainly from my limited experience no easier to use- I only have an FZ3 but I assure you the only difference is the size of the images used- if your computer has enough RAM and power to cope with say 15 frames at a time then you should have no concerns. I went to the bother and expense of buying a special tripod and panorama head some time ago but with practice I have found I can do just as good a job hand holding the camera and clicking away- not using any tricks at all except eye and memory (mine not the cameras)

others may disagree but I think it is top software

Ron

kcdc said:
Thanks Barrie - All these panaromas are taken using a FZ 20 are
they???

--
Ron Co
http://home.iprimus.com.au/alenka_ron/

kcdc · Dec 18, 2004

Thanks Ron Co.

Just what i wanted to hear!!! I love the canon software and panoramic ability and i didnt want to loose it by upgrading my camera. I was also thinking of getting the wide angle lens for the FZ 20. But ... its about $300 and the lens starts at 29mm - which i thought was a little limited for a wide angle lens.

Anyway, if the PanoramaMaker works as you say ... i just saved $300 and will get the FZ 20.

By the way, i think i can see you from here. I'm from just across the gulf in whyalla!!!

Ron Co said:
it is the software as much as anything that helps make panoramas
easy- that and the ability to swivel smoothly at the hips )

I have done many using Canon's Phototstitch software which I
thought was pretty good to work with but the PanoramaMaker software
that comes withthe Panasonics is even easier and bette to use -
piece of cake so to speak- plus it seems to do a better job of
merging images and getting even gradations etc which often mar
other pano software

Amazing really as there is software out there that costs as much as
the Pana cameras and is probably not much better- certainly from my
limited experience no easier to use- I only have an FZ3 but I
assure you the only difference is the size of the images used- if
your computer has enough RAM and power to cope with say 15 frames
at a time then you should have no concerns. I went to the bother
and expense of buying a special tripod and panorama head some
time ago but with practice I have found I can do just as good a job
hand holding the camera and clicking away- not using any tricks
at all except eye and memory (mine not the cameras)

others may disagree but I think it is top software

Ron

Member said:

Thanks Barrie - All these panaromas are taken using a FZ 20 are
they???

Click to expand...

--
Ron Co
http://home.iprimus.com.au/alenka_ron/

TT78 · Dec 18, 2004

OaklandWoody said:
Nothing special, is what makes the panos so easy.
Switch into the manual exposure mode set the exposure for one frame
and don't change it for the rest of the shots. Allow enough overlap
and use the provided software (or many others) to get great results.

Following example is shot handheld in P-mode. I did not have a panorama picture in my mind when I took the pictures. Afterwards at home I noticed that it could be possible and gave a try. The exposure values changed a bit while shooting. I think the result is excellent. (Software was Panorama maker 3)

genece · Dec 18, 2004

Boy that ia a pretty place , I would like to see that but I can not drive to Finland.
--
Kodak DC-4800
Panasonic FZ-10 and FZ 20
T Con 17 --C210-- Raynox 2020 pro -- Tcon 14 --DCR 720

Just trying to learn and it's slow going!
Gene

LaRee · Dec 18, 2004

TT78 said:
OaklandWoody said:

Nothing special, is what makes the panos so easy.
Switch into the manual exposure mode set the exposure for one frame
and don't change it for the rest of the shots. Allow enough overlap
and use the provided software (or many others) to get great results.

Click to expand...

Following example is shot handheld in P-mode. I did not have a
panorama picture in my mind when I took the pictures. Afterwards at
home I noticed that it could be possible and gave a try. The
exposure values changed a bit while shooting. I think the result is
excellent. (Software was Panorama maker 3)

--That's a wonderful shot. The flow of the water is captivating. Along with the colors of green and brown. Very nice.
~~LaRee~~
just happy to be
http://laree.smugmug.com/

MacCamMan · Dec 18, 2004

Yes the panorama software supplied with the FZ20 is excellent (I use the Macintosh version here). I regret having paid for some other softwarepreviously that is not half as good as the software that I got 'free' with the camera!

kcdc said:
I'm interested to know if anyone using a FZ 20 has used the
photo-stich/panaramic feature.

I think the FZ 20 is able to stich shots using the supplied
software, as opposed to stiching them in the camera (like canon
does).

I'm thinking of buying a FZ 20 but want to make sure you can stich
photos together very well (& easily!) before i buy.

--
David

Ron Co · Dec 18, 2004

Morning kcdc

that light just a bit to the left of the Town Hall is our place

)

We spent three great years in Whyalla - 1972 -1974- during some of its best years - Alenka was at NAPS and I was at MOPS - had a great camera club too - along with just aobut every other club any town could offer -- lots of great memories - even the odd phoro !

If you already have the Canon Photostitch software there is no worries at all - any of these software packages should work with any camera's images-- so if it turned out you preferred the Canon p ackage use that- as I said though I have been most impressed with the PanoramaMaker software - lets you do horizontal, vertical , 360 degree or images with both horizonatal and vertival elements-- I have only used the horizontal so far

i have missed a wide angle lens (wider angle than 35mm equivalent) is indoors for interior shots of the rooms etc etc- and even then I one could stitch a couple of images if I had to - those on my web site were mainly done with the Olympus E10 and Photostitch -

There's a group of folks from here who sail across each New Year to Cowell so it is quite close really-- slight turn to the north and there you are

give my regards to the red town
(dust not political!)

Ron

kcdc said:
By the way, i think i can see you from here. I'm from just across
the gulf in whyalla!!!

Ron Co
http://home.iprimus.com.au/alenka_ron/

kcdc · Dec 18, 2004

Nice shot.

TT78 - so you shot this on a FZ20 and used the supplied software?

TT78 said:
OaklandWoody said:

Nothing special, is what makes the panos so easy.
Switch into the manual exposure mode set the exposure for one frame
and don't change it for the rest of the shots. Allow enough overlap
and use the provided software (or many others) to get great results.

Click to expand...

Following example is shot handheld in P-mode. I did not have a
panorama picture in my mind when I took the pictures. Afterwards at
home I noticed that it could be possible and gave a try. The
exposure values changed a bit while shooting. I think the result is
excellent. (Software was Panorama maker 3)

GeorgeM · Dec 18, 2004

The software supplied with the camera works excellent, I 've even managed to stitch 2 photos taken not from the same position (the distance between positions was about 10-15 feet). Resulting photo has some problems but looks not bad at all

Taken with FZ10.
George

MacCamMan said:
kcdc said:

I'm interested to know if anyone using a FZ 20 has used the
photo-stich/panaramic feature.

I think the FZ 20 is able to stich shots using the supplied
software, as opposed to stiching them in the camera (like canon
does).

I'm thinking of buying a FZ 20 but want to make sure you can stich
photos together very well (& easily!) before i buy.

Click to expand...

--
David

TT78 · Dec 19, 2004

kcdc said:
Nice shot.

TT78 - so you shot this on a FZ20 and used the supplied software?

Yes, picture is taken with FZ20 and I used supplied Panorama Maker software.

Genece: Don't jump to your car and drive to finland to find this waterfall. I would love to see such a sceneries in Finland too, but this photo is actually taken from Brazil. Out waterfalls are far less impressive...

I like the colors too. My favorite part in the picture is little right from the center. There are those small convex holes that looks nice to my eye.

Fernando Rossi · Dec 20, 2004

kcdc said:
Barrie R said:

check this thread of panoramas submitted to this forum's challenge

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=11026559

Barrie

Click to expand...

Thanks Barrie - All these panaromas are taken using a FZ 20 are
they???

You might be interested to see more panos:

Hope this helps!

FR
.: :. My Portfolio Site: http://www.fernandorossi.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
.: :. My Photo Site: http://www.fernandorossi.com/photo

Millsa · Dec 22, 2004

kcdc said:
I'm interested to know if anyone using a FZ 20 has used the
photo-stich/panaramic feature.

I think the FZ 20 is able to stich shots using the supplied
software, as opposed to stiching them in the camera (like canon
does).

I'm thinking of buying a FZ 20 but want to make sure you can stich
photos together very well (& easily!) before i buy.

Thought I might mention that I made a mess of my first pano's ( hand held program mode, I wasn't planning to take a pano) but was able to recover them with Photoshop Elements 3 which allowed for perspective changes and other fiddles in the panorama maker, and there were some big ones, you can see the result below :-

Tony
Tony

kcdc · Dec 22, 2004

some real nice pics here. I'm glad to see that the FZ 20 can take some good panaramic shots - its making me think i wont need a panaramic lens.

Its also great to see some bad shots - that still come out as good pana shots with some small editing work!!!

Millsa said:
kcdc said:

I'm interested to know if anyone using a FZ 20 has used the
photo-stich/panaramic feature.

I think the FZ 20 is able to stich shots using the supplied
software, as opposed to stiching them in the camera (like canon
does).

I'm thinking of buying a FZ 20 but want to make sure you can stich
photos together very well (& easily!) before i buy.

Click to expand...

Thought I might mention that I made a mess of my first pano's (
hand held program mode, I wasn't planning to take a pano) but was
able to recover them with Photoshop Elements 3 which allowed for
perspective changes and other fiddles in the panorama maker, and
there were some big ones, you can see the result below :-

Tony
Tony

KenR · Dec 22, 2004

GREAT pano's can be made with ANY camera, film or digital. It just s-o-o much easier with digital. Here's a neat website, if you haven't visited it yet
http://www.panoguide.com

To fully optimize panorama results I would recommend (shooting conditions permitting of course):

Always expose (via Manual mode!) for the BRIGHTEST frame in your sequence ...

otherwise you run the risk of blowing out highlights when you get to the "bright" frame(s)

Too much overlap can be as bad as too little, really ...
20% - 30% is optimum.

Use a TRIPOD WHENEVER POSSIBLE ...

the less vertical + angular misalignment between frames the better the resulting pano will be. No, not mandatory, but accurate stitching and retention of the full scene you are seeing depends on minimizing misalignment between all frames in the sequence.

Cheap hotshoe bubble level ...

level the tripod/camera in the horizontal axis - full left to full right motion of the camera, for reason noted above

Consider taking frames with camera in "vertical" position if scene suits this ...

the resulting pano with have a more square width/height ratio maximizing what you can fit on standard paper sizes when printing

"horizontal" is not the only type of pano, pick a sequence best suited for the scene ...
horizontal, vertical or "box" sequence

KenR · Dec 22, 2004

one them old timey "film cameras"

~

Camera: 35mm Nikon 6006. Film: Fuji Velvia ASA50 (slide), 7 frames shot with camera vertical. Slides then scanned at 4000dpi, stitched together, resulting file sufficent to print 10" high x 30" long picture at 300dpi.

(yes I did use a tripod, leveled the camera blah, blah .. all that stuff in my previous post ... practice what you preach)

Maybe I'll get chastized for posting on "non-Fluzi" picture here, but ask me if I really care. Just hope someone enjoys the scenery

"Valley of the Gods" near Blanding Utah. Drove into the valley well before sunrise, picked the optimum location and was able to capture the scene with absolutely perfect light!

kcdc · Dec 22, 2004

thanks for the great advice KenR. I've cut n pasted it so i can refer to it later. i havent been to that site yet so i'll give it a look.

KC

KenR said:
GREAT pano's can be made with ANY camera, film or digital. It just
s-o-o much easier with digital. Here's a neat website, if you
haven't visited it yet
http://www.panoguide.com

To fully optimize panorama results I would recommend (shooting
conditions permitting of course):

Always expose (via Manual mode!) for the BRIGHTEST frame in your
sequence ...
otherwise you run the risk of blowing out highlights when you get
to the "bright" frame(s)

Too much overlap can be as bad as too little, really ...
20% - 30% is optimum.

Use a TRIPOD WHENEVER POSSIBLE ...
the less vertical + angular misalignment between frames the better
the resulting pano will be. No, not mandatory, but accurate
stitching and retention of the full scene you are seeing depends on
minimizing misalignment between all frames in the sequence.

Cheap hotshoe bubble level ...
level the tripod/camera in the horizontal axis - full left to
full right motion of the camera, for reason noted above

Consider taking frames with camera in "vertical" position if scene
suits this ...
the resulting pano with have a more square width/height ratio
maximizing what you can fit on standard paper sizes when printing

"horizontal" is not the only type of pano, pick a sequence best
suited for the scene ...
horizontal, vertical or "box" sequence

FZ 20 Panaramic

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