G2 Panoramas with Velbon Maxi 343e tripod

gkl · Jan 29, 2002

Panorama shots can be a bit tricky with a tripod having a ball-head,
like the Velbon 343e mentioned in other threads.

I just saw a neat-looking device in the January 2002 PopPhoto (p 144) -- a quick release plate designed to make panoramas easy. Its called the Q-top QR plate, made by Ideesign in Germany. It has a built in level, and the QR plate has little indents that click into place when rotated through a fixed angle. That makes it easy to set up a panorama shot.

The article says its available only in Europe, but then recommends checking out http://www.adorama.com???? I can't find it! Has anyone had any luck locating this device - prices? experience? thanks in advance, GKL

warren prasek · Jan 29, 2002

yeah the "QR-top" looks pretty handy, but the price! $100 USD, ouch!!! thats more than i paid for my 343 tripod!!!

you can find it at adorama on the following page-

http://www.adorama.com/details.tpl?cart=1006219744830053&sku=TPQT&disp_main-category=Tripod&disp_category=Quick%20Release&disp_Sub-Category=

more info @ http://www.ideesign.com

gkl said:
Panorama shots can be a bit tricky with a tripod having a ball-head,
like the Velbon 343e mentioned in other threads.

I just saw a neat-looking device in the January 2002 PopPhoto (p
144) -- a quick release plate designed to make panoramas easy. Its
called the Q-top QR plate, made by Ideesign in Germany. It has a
built in level, and the QR plate has little indents that click into
place when rotated through a fixed angle. That makes it easy to set
up a panorama shot.

The article says its available only in Europe, but then recommends
checking out http://www.adorama.com???? I can't find it! Has anyone
had any luck locating this device - prices? experience? thanks in
advance, GKL

--------------------------------------i was gonna type something witty here but then i changed my mind.

gkl · Jan 30, 2002

Warren Prasek said:
yeah the "QR-top" looks pretty handy, but the price! $100 USD,
ouch!!! thats more than i paid for my 343 tripod!!!

you can find it at adorama on the following page-

http://www.adorama.com/details.tpl?cart=1006219744830053&sku=TPQT&disp_main-category=Tripod&disp_category=Quick%20Release&disp_Sub-Category=

more info @ http://www.ideesign.com

Ouch indeed!! Hopefully there's a cheaper knock-off ... thanks for the pointer anyway. cheers, GKL

Tony Lau #65171 · Jan 30, 2002

I am researching on panorama heads as well, but I probably need to make one on my own:

http://users.erols.com/maxlyons/panhead.htm

http://www.bophoto.com/e-10/pano-by-hand.html

Tony

gkl said:
Warren Prasek said:

yeah the "QR-top" looks pretty handy, but the price! $100 USD,
ouch!!! thats more than i paid for my 343 tripod!!!

you can find it at adorama on the following page-

http://www.adorama.com/details.tpl?cart=1006219744830053&sku=TPQT&disp_main-category=Tripod&disp_category=Quick%20Release&disp_Sub-Category=

more info @ http://www.ideesign.com

Click to expand...

Ouch indeed!! Hopefully there's a cheaper knock-off ... thanks for
the pointer anyway. cheers, GKL

Gary Cheski · Jan 30, 2002

gkl said:
Panorama shots can be a bit tricky with a tripod having a ball-head,
like the Velbon 343e mentioned in other threads.

I have a Kaidan Kiwi-L panorama head, and a ball-head tripod. I find the ball-head tripod makes it quite easy to level the pano head. Also, I have gotten very good results with the Kiwi-L, and recommend it. It goes for about $150, which is cheap if you compare it to most other panorama heads out there.

I looked at the photos of the Q-top head and I'm a bit confused by how it works. It looks to me like you first level the head, then attach your camera on the head. So, that means you can't see the level after the camera has been attached? It's easy to move a tripod while the head is being attached, which would then require levelling again.

gkl · Jan 30, 2002

Hey Tony, thanks -- there is some good info on those links.

But what is this bit about the nodal point of the lens? I would have guessed you should rotate around the image plane. I suppose it doesn't make too much difference for the G2 because the lens is pretty short. GKL

Tony Lau said:
I am researching on panorama heads as well, but I probably need to
make one on my own:

http://users.erols.com/maxlyons/panhead.htm

http://www.bophoto.com/e-10/pano-by-hand.html

Tony

Gary Cheski · Jan 31, 2002

gkl said:
But what is this bit about the nodal point of the lens? I would
have guessed you should rotate around the image plane. I suppose it
doesn't make too much difference for the G2 because the lens is
pretty short. GKL

Check out this thread for info on the nodal point.
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=2130249

Lawrence Kellogg · Jan 31, 2002

Gary,

I just bought the KiWi-L panorama head for my Canon G2. Could you post the settings you use when you shoot panorama shots? I haven't gone through the exercise of finding the nodal point yet but it would be great if I could compare my results to yours. Also, I'm planning on using my Olympus A-28 wide angle lens with it for some panorama shots. Do you have any settings for that?

Cheers,

Larry

Gary C said:
gkl said:

Panorama shots can be a bit tricky with a tripod having a ball-head,
like the Velbon 343e mentioned in other threads.

Click to expand...

I have a Kaidan Kiwi-L panorama head, and a ball-head tripod. I
find the ball-head tripod makes it quite easy to level the pano
head. Also, I have gotten very good results with the Kiwi-L, and
recommend it. It goes for about $150, which is cheap if you
compare it to most other panorama heads out there.

I looked at the photos of the Q-top head and I'm a bit confused by
how it works. It looks to me like you first level the head, then
attach your camera on the head. So, that means you can't see the
level after the camera has been attached? It's easy to move a
tripod while the head is being attached, which would then require
levelling again.

Mickey64564 · Jan 31, 2002

I like the design of this do-it-yourself pano head, which allows for portrait orientation of the camera, but I don't have a tripod with a quick-release head so I'm not sure how one would properly attach this type of setup to a standard tripod mount: http://www.outsidethelines.com/MakeHW.html#Camera%20L-bracket

Michael

Tony Lau said:
I am researching on panorama heads as well, but I probably need to
make one on my own:

http://users.erols.com/maxlyons/panhead.htm

http://www.bophoto.c
Tony

om/e-10/pano-by-hand.html

gkl · Jan 31, 2002

Gary C said:
I have a Kaidan Kiwi-L panorama head, and a ball-head tripod. I
find the ball-head tripod makes it quite easy to level the pano
head. Also, I have gotten very good results with the Kiwi-L, and
recommend it. It goes for about $150, which is cheap if you
compare it to most other panorama heads out there.

Yes heads can get very heavy and very expensive. I was hoping the Q-top would be cheaper than it is. Oh well.

Gary Cheski said:
I looked at the photos of the Q-top head and I'm a bit confused by
how it works. It looks to me like you first level the head, then
attach your camera on the head. So, that means you can't see the
level after the camera has been attached? It's easy to move a
tripod while the head is being attached, which would then require
levelling again.

Yes the level is hidden underneath the camera mount, presumably to keep it compact. I never had a problem with tripod movement while using my

QR plate. I guess it depends on how much force you have to apply to release the plate. (Mine has a safety lock). GKL

Lawrence Kellogg · Feb 2, 2002

See the thread "G1 nodal point" for more info on shooting panoramas with the G2. I posted one of my panoramas. I used the KiWi-L panoramic head and the Olympus A-28 wide angle lens...

Regards,

Larry

P.S. Is it possible to embed a link to another thread in a message?

Lawrence Kellogg · Feb 2, 2002

I figured it out... see

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=2146104

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G2 Panoramas with Velbon Maxi 343e tripod

gkl

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