Panoramic heads and Panoramic Software - Panoramic equipment guide

Panoramic heads and Panoramic Software - Panoramic equipment guide
Choosing your panoramic VR equipment - Which type of panorama do you wish to produce?
Single-Row, multi - shot?
Multi-Row, multi - shot?
Fish-Eye 2 shots, Partial Fish-Eye 4,5 or 6 shots?
One shot?

Spherical or 'cubic' panoramas using a partial shot 'fish eye' lens.

Example: Domestic Kitchen / Room Shot.
Easy to produce with the Nodal Ninja NN3 or NN5L panorama heads, Digital SLR camera with 'Fish Eye' lens.
If your camera and lens combination produces photos which capture a partial circle 'fish-eye' image similar to the thumbnails above, then you can use this technique.
[this is commonly digital SLR's such as the Canon 400D 450D, Nikon D80 etc. with Sigma 8mm, Nikon 10.5mm lenses]

WHICH HARDWARE DO I NEED TO PRODUCE THIS TYPE OF IMAGE?:

NODAL NINJA NN3
The Nodal Ninja NN3 VR head can be used to shoot fish-eye shots with most camera/lens combinations.
For larger model Digital SLR's/longer lenses - choose the NEW Nodal Ninja NN5 model.

PANOSAURUS : You can use the Panosaurus head to shoot fish-eye shots with certain camera/lens combinations.
Example Software - Panoweaver

You can see an example we have produced using this technique as a VR Movie by clicking here [opens in new window].

Spherical or 'cubic' panoramas using a full frame 'fish eye' lens

Example: Hotel Exterior.
Produced with a Canon full frame DSLR camera fitted with a SIgma 8mm fish eye lens.
If your camera and lens combination produces photos which capture a full circle 'fish-eye' image similar to the thumbnails above, then you can use this technique.

WHICH HARDWARE DO I NEED TO PRODUCE THIS TYPE OF IMAGE?:

NODAL NINJA NN3
The Nodal Ninja VR head can be used to shoot 'full frame' fish-eye shots with certain camera/lens combinations. For larger model Digital SLR's/longer lenses - choose the NEW Nodal Ninja NN5 model.
Users of the Sigma 8mm lens or Nikon 10.5mm lens can also use the NEW Ultimate R1 and lens ring clamp!

Example Software - Panoweaver

You can see an example we have produced using this technique as a VR Movie by clicking here [opens in new window].

Single shot panorama by taking just ONE photograph
The 'PANO PRO 360 One Shot Optic' produces a full panoramic image of 360 degrees horizontal x 120 degrees vertical.

Tenerife - Canary Islands, Virtual Tour

MOUNTING KITS: The Pano Pro '360 One' shot optic mounts to your camera lens using an adjustable 'Universal Camera Bracket' to allow the camera to be mounted indepndently from the optic, allowing adjustment of the distance between the camera and optis for optimum focus and field of view.

Note that the PanoPro 360 One Shot Optic ships with software which 'unwraps' the image and produces the panoramic strip image, cube strip or 'VR movie' as Quicktime, plus .jpg, tif, bmp formats.

Single-Row panoramas - using standard or 'wide angle' lens

Single-Row multiple shot panoramas

Example: Millennium Bridge, Fulford, York.
Full 360º panorama produced from 8 shots using a SINGLE ROW panorama head.

(Historically the most common form of panorama, take a number of still images each being photographed by rotating the camera a set number of degrees from the last). These images are then 'stitched' together in software to create a single panoramic 'strip image' which can be used for print and also to create and interactive 'VR Movie' using either Quicktime, JAVA or Flash.

WHICH HARDWARE CAN I USE TO PRODUCE THIS TYPE OF IMAGE?:

NODAL NINJA NN3
The versatile Nodal Ninja NN3 VR head can be used to produce BOTH Single and Multi-Row panoramas. For larger model Digital SLR's/longer lenses - choose the NEW Nodal Ninja NN5 model.

PANOSAURUS : You can use the Panosaurus head to produce single row panoramas AND multi row panoramas on a budget!

NEW! Summer 2009: PANOSAURUS REX : You can use the Panosaurus REX VR head to produce JUST single row panoramas on an even tighter budget!

Example software (You may have some basic panoramic software bundled with your camera - check the disks which shipped with it!)
Vr Worx (Win and Mac)

Multiple row 'spherical' or 'cubic' panoramas
This technique results in the highest resultion, highest quality images, but can be tricky for outdoor shots or any shots where there is movement, people, traffic etc...

You can see an example we have produced using a multi-row panorama head, leveller and Stitched as a large QuickTime VR Movie by clicking here [opens in new window].

Multiple row 'spherical' or 'cubic' panoramas - don't forget, you can also use a 'multi-row' VR head to produce 'single row' panoramas!

WHICH HARDWARE DO I NEED TO PRODUCE THIS TYPE OF IMAGE?:

NODAL NINJA NN3
The versatile Nodal Ninja NN3 VR head can be used to produce BOTH Single and Multi-Row panoramas. For larger model Digital SLR's/longer lenses - choose the NEW Nodal Ninja NN5 model.

PANOSAURUS : You can use the Panosaurus head to produce multiple row panoramas on a budget!

NEW! VIEW SAMPLE PROPERTY TOUR:

SEE OUR SAMPLE PROPERTY TOUR USING THE NODAL NINJA NN3 KIT WITH THE CANON 400D CAMERA AND SIGMA 8mm FISH EYE LENS

Spherical or 'cubic' panoramas using a full 'fish eye' lens - 2 shots, back and front 180 degrees apart.

Example: Construction of the new 'City Inn' Leeds Hotel at Granary Wharf, Leeds Waterfront July 2009.
If your camera and lens combination produces photos which capture a full circle 'fish-eye' image, then you can use this technique.

WHICH HARDWARE DO I NEED TO PRODUCE THIS TYPE OF IMAGE?:

Users with a 'full frame' DSLR camera and fish eye lens can select the NEW NN180 panorama head.

Users of the Sigma 8mm lens or Nikon 10.5mm lens can also use the NEW Ultimate R1 and lens ring clamp!

Example Software - Panoweaver

This information is supplied for introductory guidance only, please refer to the individual product specifications for further details.

Also see the 'useful links' menu on our home page for in depth reviews, free software and other useful information.
© Red Door VR Limited except where acknowledged.

Panoramic heads and Panoramic Software - Panoramic equipment guide Last Updated Thursday, September 24, 2009

Red Door VR Limited, UK - Panoramic Photo Equipment Specialists - pageloads from 11th November 2007: