Taking Panorama Pics

I am going to NYC next week and I would try doing some panoramics pics in Central Park, Brooklyn Bridgeand maybe in Times Saqure.

I have seen some NYC panoramic pics in the PBase and I would love to try and to some with my manfrotto gear.Is my Tripod 055 PROB and Ballhead 329RC4 capable of panoramic pics?I am thinking in using to PP the PTGui.
What do you think about this?
Can You give me some hints?

Best Regards,
Nuno Bartolomeu

Nikon D200 - Nikon FM2n
Nikon 50mm f1.4 - Sigma 18-200
Manfrotto Tripod 055 PRO B
Manfrotto Ballhead 329RC4

This site is a good start

http://www.panoguide.com

and one of the tutorials on the main page

http://www.panoguide.com/howto/panoramas/
--
-Steve
===================

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships. Ansel Adams

Hi,
what kind of panoramas do you want to take?

for perfect results, you should use a panorama-head for your tripod. there is many of those out there, the best one so far is from http://www.360precision.com
(probably total overkill for you though)

if your pictures won't have much foreground, you don't need to worry about anything, - just use your tripod, and make sure you have enough overlap between the pictures.

if you do have foreground, you need to move your camera "back" on the tripod, so that the center of rotation of your tripod head is more or less exactly under the nodal point (or rather the entrance pupil) of your lens (typically 1-3 cm behind the front element)

so, to make your easiest panoramic head, get a piece of metal, slightly longer than the lens you'll use, and a short 1/4" screw, and a 1/4" nut

drill two holes into the metal, mount the metal on the tripod on one hole, using the nut, and attach the camera on the other hole, with the screw, and that's it.
make sure the holes have aproximatly the right distance.

but as I said, if there's no foreground that goes over multiple photos, don't bother

theFool

As theFool said, if there is no foreground, you do not need any special equipmewnt.

I shot this one (made of 32 shots in portrait format) handheld while standing on the bow of the ferry that toured by the Liberty Statue:



or here for a larger view:
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/image/50123677/original

PTGui is very good. But, I prefer Panorama Factory for more automation in the processing.

If the takes are good, you'll need little extra effort in touching up after stitching is done. If the takes are not good (slanted, etc.,) you'll need a longer PP after stitching the individual shots!
Remember two things:

1. Shooting in portrait format it will increase the number of shots needed for the compoed final image. But, you'll end up with increased resolution, thus, increased printeable size.

2. Take shots so that two adiacent ones overlap by at least 25% or 30% on top of each other!
Hope it helps!

--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

Nuno Bartolomeu said:

I am going to NYC next week and I would try doing some panoramics
pics in Central Park, Brooklyn Bridgeand maybe in Times Saqure.
I have seen some NYC panoramic pics in the PBase and I would love
to try and to some with my manfrotto gear.Is my Tripod 055 PROB and
Ballhead 329RC4 capable of panoramic pics?I am thinking in using
to PP the PTGui.
What do you think about this?
Can You give me some hints?

Click to expand...

Try a few non-critical panos before. I use the included Panorama Maker 3 in Nikon Picture Project. Funny as this may sound, I have more luck with handheld panos. I learned this from the CP8800 that has an auto pano mode that superimposes one shot on next to see the corresponding correct overlap.

With the D200 you have to make sure of the correct overlap visually from picture details.

Close up including any water such as a lake will show the differences in wave patterns as will fast moving clouds. Look for fairly static scenes.

With the 18-200 at 18 mm or so, 2 images get quite a wide pano. You can see a sample at the blog for Sunday, August 06, 2006. 2 image panoramic shot from hiking trail overlooking Lake Superior from Nipigon to Red Rock, Ontario

http://jbipix.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

Leave a good overlap with some critical elements in the image so you can line up if software fails to do so.

Good luck and do share your results! John in Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com

The tripod is fine, the head is excellent (almost overkill). And PTGui is a wonderful stitching program, possibly the best. You'll be just fine with what you have if you're thinking of skyline panos. You certainly don't need any dedicated pano heads.

However, if you want the best quality, you'll want to stitch vertical shots. If so you really should invest in an L-bracket (otherwise the camera will be off center and you will have problems with parallax). I'm using a Manfrotto Elbow bracket which works well with my D100 and D200, but you can get better stuff in New York. The Kirk or Really Right Stuff L-brackets are a lot better and you should be able to purchase them at B&H (I've never been in America but it seems to be at great store from what I've heard).

And, if you want to include a foreground in your panos, you need to bring the camera back a little to avoid parallax. This can be achieved with a home made device as described by theFool above. A better way is to invest in a Manfrotto Micro Positioner (actually made for macro work but it's great for stitching). It will allow you back off to adjust for the nodal point.

But again, PTGui is a very good stitching program that will correct for minor errors in the setup. And you have the option of exporting the stitch in layers to Photoshop so that you can make manual corrections afterwards if necessary.
Regards
Lasse

Some pretty good advice here. A few more things I have found helpful:

• Get a double bubble spirit level that fits in the camera's hotshoe. Level the camera well before you shoot.

• I like to use my 50mm or 85mm lenses but I am going to try my 28mm. For my subjects (mountains) is usually shoot in portrait orientation.

• I have begun using The Panorama Factory program and I have been very pleased with the results.

• Plan on eating up some disk space and time.

Good luck.
--
Neil

Head, Tripod & PTGui are fine. I've used the same previously. As stated earlier, an L-bracket is helpful. You can make the home made nodal adjustment outlined earlier but would recommend a nodal slide from really right stuff. This will allow accurately positioning over the nodal point of most lenses. They have a good explanation of making panos and use of their equipment on their site. Their equipment is not available at B&H but aquired directly from their site, http://www.reallyrightstuff.com .

--
Charles

Set your camera in manual mode. Manual exposure and manual focusing. And, if you're shooting JPEG, manual white balance and manual contrast. This is essential.

Just remember that you can't take any pics FROM the Brooklyn Bridge. Personally, I think it's a stupid rule that doesn't actually accomplish anything, but you can't take any pics of any bridges or tunnels from the bridge or tunnel.

Also, if you shoot from the promenade in Battery Park City (to shoot the Statue of Liberty, for example), you can't use a tripod without a permit. They won't arrest or fine you, but they will stop you.

If you try to shoot certain buildings, private security will try to stop you, but if you're on a public street you have the right to shoot whatever you want. They have no legal right to stop you, it's all B.S.

ZoetMB said:

Just remember that you can't take any pics FROM the Brooklyn
Bridge. Personally, I think it's a stupid rule that doesn't
actually accomplish anything, but you can't take any pics of any
bridges or tunnels from the bridge or tunnel.

Also, if you shoot from the promenade in Battery Park City (to
shoot the Statue of Liberty, for example), you can't use a tripod
without a permit. They won't arrest or fine you, but they will
stop you.

If you try to shoot certain buildings, private security will try to
stop you, but if you're on a public street you have the right to
shoot whatever you want. They have no legal right to stop you,
it's all B.S.

Click to expand...

I was in NYC in June and carried my 2 tonnes of equipment with me, including a Gitzo 1325 which was always half extended and slung over like a rifle, no one stopped me. I was also using my tripod everywhere, including Battery Park, again, no one stopped me. I was only told not to use my tripod when on the roof of the Rockerfella Centre.

Anyway, back to panos, try to take shots without using a tripod, as some of the best panos will be from a boat....



See more here.... http://www.pbase.com/kennethw/panoramic_united_states_of_america

--------------------

Amateur Photographer, constructive criticism most welcome: http://www.pbase.com/kennethw

nicola said:

I shot this one (made of 32 shots in portrait format) handheld
while standing on the bow of the ferry that toured by the Liberty
Statue:

Click to expand...

wow...you had great weather that day....

--------------------

Amateur Photographer, constructive criticism most welcome: http://www.pbase.com/kennethw

PTGUI is the best deal in software on the planet. Get it. You will not regret it.

Don't be surprised if the lack of a spherical head drives you crazy. Foreground objects are a part of what we see. Without the head, you will severely limit the kinds of images you can capture.

Finally, think about stitching in both horizontal and vertical directions to create high resolution images using normal aspect ratios. With the right gear, a relatively static scene and some patience, you can create images with breathtaking quality.

One other note: the forum member who suggested shooting with manual focus, exposure and white balance was so very correct.

Have fun.

--
Tom F.
Raleigh, NC

... one of my luckiest days ever, in fact! Especially considering that it was heavily overcast until just about 2-3 hours before I took that shot!
)
Cheers!

--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

There's some good advice here, if you do decide to go for a pano head, the 360precision is a very specialized (and expensive) piece of kit for doing fully immersive 360's.

There are some much cheaper and more versatile alternatives, the best of which (IMO) is the Nodal Ninja 3, but there are a couple of USA alternatives such as the Kingpano and the Panosaurus.

All of these will struggle with D200 and a long lens though, there are sturdier (and again expensive) options from amongst others Really Right Stuff, Jasper engineering (single row only), Agnos and Manfrotto.

As others have said, your kit will be fine so long as you don't include close foreground, and don't 'flop' the head over to shoot portrait- use an L-bracket instead

For single rows an L-bracket and the manfrotto micro positioning plate would be usefull additions to your kit.

To guesstimate your 'entrance pupil' look into the lens, if it's a zoom as you zoom in and out you'll see a bright disc move in and out, the bright disc is the entrance pupil. Try to get the camera/lens to rotate around this and you will be on the way to eliminating any parrallax errors, making stitching a lot more enjoyable!

As for software, PTgui is probably the best, Hugin is good (and free) for non-commercial use, there's also PTAssembler. Autopano can be great though if it doesn't work you can't make any adjustments.

Shoot manual, use histogram to check exposure, lock of all settings inc. WB and focus- use hyperfocal.

Some people successfully ignore this advice and manage to get good blends, but it can involve a lot of manual blending of very large files, so I suggest you KIS to start off.
Have fun
Marcus