DIY nodal slide anybody?

Sailor Blue wrote:

You can buy this one from China with free shipping for less than the cost of making one.

200mm Quick Release Rail Nodal Slide Plate Clamp for DSLR Macro Photography New | eBay

Add a Nikon compatible L Bracket so you can shoot in either landscape or portrait orientation.

eBay - MPU105 Quick Release L Plate Bracket For Nikon D7200 D5300 D810a D500 D750 80D

Here is a reference that give the nodal point of many lenses.

Nodal Point-Entrance Pupil Database - PanoTools.org Wiki

You can use the camera hand held for panoramas but using a tripod with a nodal rail makes it easier for the software to achieve a match between the images.

It is better to overlap too much than too little. I have my camera set to display the Golden Rule lines in the viewfinder. The lines make it easy to overlap each image by 1/3 of the previous one, which is more than enough to make aligning the images in post easy.

Another good use for the nodal rail is holding the camera with a long lens steady. If you simply mount the camera on a tripod the heavy weight extended some distance from the tripod head makes it hard for the tripod head to hold the camera without creep. Use the nodal head to move the camera and lens center of gravity over the tripod head and you will eliminate creep after you lock the tripod head.

Rather than get a dedicated nodal head ($$$$) - this is basically what I did.

You've already covered the L-bracket and nodal slide - the one thing remaining is https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-Professional-Panoramic-Arca-Swiss-Standard/dp/B01I57SS5S/

That combined with the equipment you suggest is FAR cheaper than most dedicated nodal head setups, with the only real advantage being that the dedicated heads have detents to ensure consistent angle changes between shots.