DIY nodal slide anybody?

Just wondering if anybody ever did a nodal slide for panorama photography. I am tempted to try some stitching but don't want to start all the way in by buying an expensive nodal slide, thought to look up for DIY projects for a simple slide just to align the camera-lens on the nodal point as to avoid parallax, I have a friend who is very patient and who owns a lathe (I think this is the name of the machine in English), anybody ever made an attempt at such a thing?

Grazie

Giovanni_1968 wrote:

Just wondering if anybody ever did a nodal slide for panorama photography. I am tempted to try some stitching but don't want to start all the way in by buying an expensive nodal slide, thought to look up for DIY projects for a simple slide just to align the camera-lens on the nodal point as to avoid parallax, I have a friend who is very patient and who owns a lathe (I think this is the name of the machine in English), anybody ever made an attempt at such a thing?

Grazie

I've shot panoramas but have never needed a nodal slide. Microsoft ICE has always stitched the shot just fine, even when the shots were handheld from a moving boat.

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.

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.

I actually made one, several years ago.

But, do not forget that the entire setup includes a tripod, leveling pano head (here Arca P0) with clamp (I DIY mounted an RRS clamp on P0)  , my DIY nodal slide with nodal positions marked  (with RRS clamp on the slide),  L-bracket . This is for single row pano.

Since I had no nodal slide at the time, and it was out of stock locally. I did  mill one from aluminum in my home workshop in time for my photo trip.

But, as others pointed out, the nodal slide is the least costly part of the pano setup.

Often on travel/hiking, I do not have the pano setup with me mostly for weight and bulk reasons. So I do free hand pano. The built in level on the recent Nikon DSLR helps. But, close up foreground should not be present in free hand panoing.

Bernard Delley wrote:

I actually made one, several years ago.

But, do not forget that the entire setup includes a tripod, leveling pano head (here Arca P0) with clamp (I DIY mounted an RRS clamp on P0) , my DIY nodal slide with nodal positions marked (with RRS clamp on the slide), L-bracket . This is for single row pano.

Since I had no nodal slide at the time, and it was out of stock locally. I did mill one from aluminum in my home workshop in time for my photo trip.

But, as others pointed out, the nodal slide is the least costly part of the pano setup.

Often on travel/hiking, I do not have the pano setup with me mostly for weight and bulk reasons. So I do free hand pano. The built in level on the recent Nikon DSLR helps. But, close up foreground should not be present in free hand panoing.

I understand the slide being the least expensive part of a pano setup, I already have an L-Plate onto my camera, sometime I will also get either a better ball head than my Benro and a levelling base or the Acratech one which can do both, probably to buy a Chinese one (nodal slide) to start with is the quickest and cheapest, I just want to start and avoid parallax and to take landscapes with different focal lengths than my 20mm as to have more res and field of view.

Thanks for your input

These days, I did not find cheaper option than the Arca Swiss P0 ,to which I added a fitting clamp from RRS, at B&H

Basically you want a pano clamp on top of a ball for levelling like this at amazon.de

A nicely level-shot pano makes stiching much simpler. Sight was nice yesterday, Alps panorama example with 110mm FL pano shot from top of Zurich. PS CS-6 automate ... (AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6)

And it works perfectly.

This was used with my old camera - I haven’t got a shot using it with my current camera.

gordonpritchard wrote:

And it works perfectly.

This was used with my old camera - I haven’t got a shot using it with my current camera.

I don't see any SLIDE in that set-up. It may give rotation about the nodal point of that lens but wouldn't if the lens was changed.

As for working perfectly, my handheld Panoramas stitched by MS ICE have generally worked perfectly - even when taken from a moving ship...

Giovanni_1968 wrote:

Just wondering if anybody ever did a nodal slide for panorama photography. I am tempted to try some stitching but don't want to start all the way in by buying an expensive nodal slide,

$10 will get you a very good nodal slide. That's all you need for a one-row panorama. An L bracket for $10 or $15 might be helpful for verticals in certain situations. And $5 or so for a small level will be helpful. Use it on the center column of the tripod.

thought to look up for DIY projects for a simple slide just to align the camera-lens on the nodal point as to avoid parallax, I have a friend who is very patient and who owns a lathe (I think this is the name of the machine in English), anybody ever made an attempt at such a thing?

Ah, gee.  It seems everyone has already given perfectly good answers already.  The only thing I have to add is the small carpenter's level.

gordonpritchard wrote:

And it works perfectly.

This was used with my old camera - I haven’t got a shot using it with my current camera.

Too flimsy, I suspect, for anything but a mirrorless camera with electronic shutter.

ThrillaMozilla wrote:

gordonpritchard wrote:

And it works perfectly.

This was used with my old camera - I haven’t got a shot using it with my current camera.

Too flimsy, I suspect, for anything but a mirrorless camera with electronic shutter.

I’ve used it with a dslr (Sony a77ii) with no problem. I just didn’t have a pic with that set up to post.