Rotate the camera around the optical axis?

Has it been delivered?

hendrikm2 said:

Hi,
for a stillife studio shoot I need to take vertically and horizontally oriented shots of the same setting which can be merged afterwards. To be able to merge these, they need to be perfectly aligned. If I use a lens with a tripod collar I can just rotate that.
What accessories would I need to do this with a lens without collar like a 105mm micro lens?
Cameras would be Z9 an Z7 without grip.
Thanks for your help, Hendrik

Click to expand...

See Hudson Henry video on Pano's for Kirk bracket info. Simple, inexpensive. Haven't read through all the responses yet but it still says "unanswered".

He also has the measurements for the bracket on both cameras with various lens on his website.

hendrikm2 said:

Hi,
for a stillife studio shoot I need to take vertically and horizontally oriented shots of the same setting which can be merged afterwards. To be able to merge these, they need to be perfectly aligned. If I use a lens with a tripod collar I can just rotate that.
What accessories would I need to do this with a lens without collar like a 105mm micro lens?
Cameras would be Z9 an Z7 without grip.
Thanks for your help, Hendrik

Click to expand...

Hendrikm2,

Here is how I set up to switch from horizontal to vertical (or any other angled orientation. I got the idea from a cinematographer. We were both working on a made-for-television movie at the time. He had designed a variable “dutch angle” support for cinema sized Arriflex 35mm motion picture cameras. He was awarded a Technical Oscar for his invention.

The components are a Really Right Stuff PG-02 multi-row panoramic rig with an RRS end clamp rail (sorry, I don’t know the part number) and an RRS MPR-II “nodal slide”, and a PROMediaGear PBNZ6/7 “L” plate on the Nikon Z7 II. A Nikkor Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens is mounted on the camera.



The rig goes together like this





i have flipped the screen out so you can see that there is plenty of clearance. If I am going to hardwire tether the camera to a computer, I secure the cable to the MPR-II to keep it from tangling and putting strain on the camera’s USB-C port.

The only tricky bit is aligning the axis through the lens with the rotating joint in the PG-02 VA (the vertical arm), but It is not that difficult and takes maybe a minute to dial it in precisely.

Even though the PG-02H is a panning head by itself, I mount the entire rig on a strong head so I can tilt it as needed.

--
To see my work, please visit http://www.ellisvener.com
Or on Instagram @EllisVenerStudio

More properly, you want to rotate the lens around the nodal point to avoid a parallax shift in the resulting image. There's lots of info on the web under panorama photography and some good free software. Fanotec (https://www.fanotec.com/) makes a device called a Nodal Ninja that facilitates rotating your camera around the lens nodal point.

For software, I've used Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) successfully. Here's a review of other software: https://fixthephoto.com/best-photo-stitching-software.html

Maxwells Demon said:

More properly, you want to rotate the lens around the nodal point to avoid a parallax shift in the resulting image. There's lots of info on the web under panorama photography and some good free software. Fanotec (https://www.fanotec.com/) makes a device called a Nodal Ninja that facilitates rotating your camera around the lens nodal point.

For software, I've used Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) successfully. Here's a review of other software: https://fixthephoto.com/best-photo-stitching-software.html

Click to expand...

All Hendrikm2 wants to do is rotate the camera from landscape (horizontal) to portrait (vertical orientation. The important aspect is aligning the axis through the lens and center of the sensor.

Parallax correction -Nodal point alignment of the yaw axis and in a few cases, the pitch axis, are not factors unless you are panning and stitching, and even then correct nodal point alignment is crucial when you have composed the panorama with serious near/far relationships between elements in the photo.

My opinion about this is based on more than twenty years of making stitched panoramas of architecture (exterior and interior) , cityscapes, and landscapes for clients and a stock photo agency.

Maxwells Demon said:

More properly, you want to rotate the lens around the nodal point

Click to expand...

More properly, the "entrance pupil". The "nodal points" (there are two) have nothing to do with panoramic stitching, although they are rather important for certain kinds of macro photography. But that's irrelevant, because Hendrick described what he's doing and it's not stitching.

Maxwells Demon said:

to avoid a parallax shift in the resulting image.

Click to expand...

He described what he's trying to do: merge an aligned horizontal and vertical shot, which would result in an image in the shape of the "Red Cross" cross.

Maxwells Demon said:

There's lots of info on the web under panorama photography and some good free software. Fanotec (https://www.fanotec.com/) makes a device called a Nodal Ninja

Click to expand...

Annoyingly misnamed.


--
The term "mirrorless" is totally obsolete. It's time we call out EVIL for what it is. (Or, if you can't handle "Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens" then Frenchify it and call it "LIVE" for "Lens Interchangeable, Viewfinder Electronic" or "Viseur électronique").
-----
Stanley Joseph Wisniewski 1932-2019.
Dad, so much of you is in me.
-----
Christine Fleischer 1947-2014.
My soulmate. There are no other words.
-----
Rahon Klavanian 1912-2008.
Armenian genocide survivor, amazing cook, scrabble master, and loving grandmother. You will be missed.
----
Ciao! Joseph
www.swissarmyfork.com

Ellis Vener said:

Maxwells Demon said:

More properly, you want to rotate the lens around the nodal point to avoid a parallax shift in the resulting image. There's lots of info on the web under panorama photography and some good free software. Fanotec (https://www.fanotec.com/) makes a device called a Nodal Ninja that facilitates rotating your camera around the lens nodal point.

For software, I've used Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) successfully. Here's a review of other software: https://fixthephoto.com/best-photo-stitching-software.html

Click to expand...

All Hendrikm2 wants to do is rotate the camera from landscape (horizontal) to portrait (vertical orientation. The important aspect is aligning the axis through the lens and center of the sensor.

Click to expand...

Exactly. "Red Cross" symbol. Or a "plus sign".

Ellis Vener said:

Parallax correction -Nodal point alignment of the yaw axis and in a few cases, the pitch axis, are not factors unless you are panning and stitching, and even then correct nodal point alignment is crucial when you have composed the panorama with serious near/far relationships between elements in the photo.

Click to expand...

Did you leave out a word?

even then correct nodal point alignment is crucial only when you have composed the panorama with serious near/far relationships between elements in the photo.

Ellis Vener said:

My opinion about this is based on more than twenty years of making stitched panoramas of architecture (exterior and interior) , cityscapes, and landscapes for clients and a stock photo agency.

Click to expand...

I've made a lot of quite good panoramas with serious near/far relationships using the "penny method".

1. compose your shot with the camera vertical and viewing with your left eye instead of your right, and standing straight.
2. place a penny, small stone, leaf, lens cap, etc. between the toes of your left and right feet.
3. shoot a shot.
4. shuffle either left or right, maintaining the penny between your toes. It is your pivot point.
5. shoot another shot, shuffle, repeat until done.

Ellis Vener said:

hendrikm2 said:

Hi,
for a stillife studio shoot I need to take vertically and horizontally oriented shots of the same setting which can be merged afterwards. To be able to merge these, they need to be perfectly aligned. If I use a lens with a tripod collar I can just rotate that.
What accessories would I need to do this with a lens without collar like a 105mm micro lens?
Cameras would be Z9 an Z7 without grip.
Thanks for your help, Hendrik

Click to expand...

Hendrikm2,

Here is how I set up to switch from horizontal to vertical (or any other angled orientation. I got the idea from a cinematographer. We were both working on a made-for-television movie at the time. He had designed a variable “dutch angle” support for cinema sized Arriflex 35mm motion picture cameras. He was awarded a Technical Oscar for his invention.

Click to expand...

Sounds like fun.

Ellis Vener said:

The components are a Really Right Stuff PG-02 multi-row panoramic rig with an RRS end clamp rail (sorry, I don’t know the part number) and an RRS MPR-II “nodal slide”, and a PROMediaGear PBNZ6/7 “L” plate on the Nikon Z7 II. A Nikkor Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens is mounted on the camera.



The rig goes together like this

Click to expand...

That is truly a thing of beauty. I was having trouble understanding what you were describing in your first post. One of those cases where a picture really is worth 1,000 words.

How to improvise a Dutch angle rig with gadgets you may already have.


--
The term "mirrorless" is totally obsolete. It's time we call out EVIL for what it is. (Or, if you can't handle "Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens" then Frenchify it and call it "LIVE" for "Lens Interchangeable, Viewfinder Electronic" or "Viseur électronique").
-----
Stanley Joseph Wisniewski 1932-2019.
Dad, so much of you is in me.
-----
Christine Fleischer 1947-2014.
My soulmate. There are no other words.
-----
Rahon Klavanian 1912-2008.
Armenian genocide survivor, amazing cook, scrabble master, and loving grandmother. You will be missed.
----
Ciao! Joseph
www.swissarmyfork.com

Ellis Vener said:

The components are a Really Right Stuff PG-02 multi-row panoramic rig with an RRS end clamp rail (sorry, I don’t know the part number) and an RRS MPR-II “nodal slide”, and a PROMediaGear PBNZ6/7 “L” plate on the Nikon Z7 II. A Nikkor Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens is mounted on the camera.

Click to expand...

Ellis Vener said:

Click to expand...

Ellis, nice illustration. I noticed that you have both the RRS gimbal and RRS BH-55 ball head.

While we are on this topic, the other day I only had my big tripod with a Wimberley gimbal head with me, but I wanted to my my Z6ii on it to capture some video. I realized that as long as I have an L plate on the body, I can flip the gimbal by 90 degrees and use it this way. The EVF and rear LCD are slightly obstructed but it worked fine for me.

In this picture, I have a Z6ii with its RRS L plate and put the larger 24-70/2.8 S on the Z6ii to show how it all works. Needless to say, there is nothing that supports the bottom on the camera so that we need to really tighten the quick release on the vertical side of the L plate.


Nikon Z6ii with RRS L plate + 24-70/2.8 S on Wimberley head

I withdraw my objection now that you’ve mentioned all of the other essential parts.

Ellis Vener said:

Has it been delivered?

Click to expand...

No. Last I heard they’re not shipping until October. They did the follow up two weeks ago and I specified my address (and took a slight "upsell" on a second, longer strut so I can try it with a DSLR in addition to my EVIL).