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, stitched with RealVIZ Stitcher Unlimited..
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 with Sigma 8mm, Nikon 10.5mm etc.]

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 NN5L.

AGNOS : TCS or TCP Rotator Head with Leveller - see the AGNOS page.
Example Software - Autodesk Stitcher or Panoweaver
PANOSAURUS : You can use the Panosaurus head to shoot fish-eye shots with certain camera/lens combinations.
Example Software - Autodesk Stitcher or 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 'GoPano 360 One Shot Optic' produces a full panoramic image of 360 degrees horizontal x 100 degrees vertical.

SAMPLE PANORAMAS PRODUCED BY RED DOOR
WITH THE GoPano 360 ONE SHOT: SAMPLE PROPERTY TOUR:

SEE OUR SAMPLE PROPERTY TOUR USING THE GO PANO 360 ONE SHOT REAL ESTATE KIT WITH A PANASONIC FZ-50 CAMERA [CLICK HERE]

Tenerife - Canary Islands, Virtual Tour

[Notice: The 360 One VR should not be used in a salt air environment. This is not covered by the warranty.]

March 2006: Island tour of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain [QuickTime]
April 2006: Blackpool, Lancashire, England [QuickTime]
April/May 2006: Wray Scarecrow Festival, Lancashire, England [QuickTime]
Spring 2007: Sample apartment tour [all formats]

MOUNTING KITS: The GoPano '360 One' shot optic mounts to your camera lens using either a specific mounting kit, or a standard 'step down ring' mounting kits are available for the following models of camera: Nikon 990, Nikon 995, Nikon 4500, Nikon 5000 and the Sony F707. To mount models of camera which are not suitable for mounting with step rings, then we recommend you use the 360 One SLR mount kit. See the COMPATIBILITY GUIDE for details of how to mount the 360 One to YOUR Camera and Lens combination.
Note that the 360 ships with 'PhotoWarp' software which 'unwraps' the image and produces the panoramic strip image or 'VR movie' as Quicktime, JAVA, FLASH and other formats.

Single-Row panoramas

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

Single-Row multiple shot panoramas

(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 NN5L.

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

MANFROTTO : Manfrotto 303 STANDARD VR Head with MN 338 Leveller.

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), 'Stitcher Express', or Autodesk Stitcher (Mac/Win)

Multiple row 'spherical' or 'cubic' panoramas

You can see an example we have produced using a multi-row panorama head, leveller and Stitcher 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 NN5L.

MANFROTTO : Manfrotto 303 SPH SPHERICAL in conjunction with MN 338 Leveller
AGNOS : AGNOS TCS or TCP Rotator Head with Leveller.
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

Example Software - Real Viz 'Stitcher Express' or Autodesk Stitcher (Mac/Win)

Spherical or 'cubic' panoramas using a full 'fish eye' lens - method 1

Example: Bullet Train, National Railway Museum, York.
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?:

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 NN5L.

AGNOS : MRotator A or B Rotator Head (for Nikon Coolpix users) with Kaidan Leveller, plus other AGNOS heads to suit your Camera / Lens combination - see the AGNOS page.
PANOSAURUS : You can use the Panosaurus head to shoot fish-eye shots with certain camera/lens combinations.
Example Software - Autodesk Stitcher or Panoweaver

Spherical or 'cubic' panoramas using a full 'fish eye' lens - method 1

Example: Domestic Kitchen / Room Shot.
Produced with an Agnos MRotator B VR head,Nikon Coolpix 8800 Camera with FC-E9 Fish Eye lens, Real VIZ Stitcher Unlimited Software.
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.
[this is commonly the Nikon Coolpix range of compact digital cameras and Full Frame CCD Digital SLR Cameras.]

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

AGNOS : Rotator Head with Leveller - see the AGNOS page.
Example Software - Autodesk Stitcher or Panoweaver

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

[**] - A 'Quick-Tilt' leveller is recommended with any of these VR heads marked - allows easy adjustment to ensure a level 'horizon'

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.

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Panoramic heads and Panoramic Software - Panoramic equipment guide Last Updated Monday, June 2, 2008

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