Automatic Panormaic tripod head! Opinions Please!!

J

jimpetre

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3
Name
James
Edit My Images
Yes
Sorry i'v posted this in two sections now :bonk:

Hi all
I am an A-level Technology student and have a keen interest in photography for my coursework i have been designing a Tripod head that automatically pans and takes the photographs which can be stitched together later on- the unit has also been designed to remain as cheap as possible!

If you could let me know your thoughts on a product like this - would you use it / what are the biggest problems you have taking panoramic photos at present and whether your an amateur or professional photographer would be a great help thanks

Jim - New member
 
Hi Jim, and welcome to TP.

I take a lot of panoramas. For example:

205192359_xut2K-L.jpg


205191974_4nWVz-L.jpg


205201083_We8cA-L.jpg


160200203_rXFYF-L.jpg


160200457_MCDcT-L.jpg



The one thing they have in common (apart from all being from the Lake District, obviously) is that they were shot hand held. I must admit it's not immediately obvious to me why I would want a panoramic head, automatic or otherwise. And I think the same would be true of many people who take landscape panoramas.

Having said that, the other thing these pictures have in common are that there aren't any foreground objects to mess with the parallax. I know that it's much more difficult to photograph panoramas of complex scenes with near and far objects, but fortunately the style of photography I like doesn't really require that. It would be interesting to hear from other TP members who have more directly relevant experience.

Best of luck with your invention!

(PS I would be very curious to know how your head helps to identify the nodal point of a lens, if at all...)
 
There are a number of panoramic head solutions on the market now, I can see no benefit in an automatic unit, Designing a fully automatic head would be very complicated as it would have to take into account a vast array of data, to accurately adjust itself for the given scene, and would still require a lot of intervention by the photographer, so why not just use what is available and works very well or just hand hold like is shown above.

Just my 2 cents worth.

But why not go with your invention anyway, you just never know.
 
jimpetre - I admire your desire to innovate.

I suspect that the market for such a product would be very limited. This is a polite way of saying that if you have commercial aspirations for it, then I would think again if I were you.


Srewart R - stunning photos. The first one in particular really impressed me.
However, as part of an A-level project and as a learning exercise in its own right, I can see that it may well be very beneficial to you.
 
You'd have to be able to set it or program it to rotate at different increments to suit different focal lengths, that would make it complicated and expensive
 
I was doing some reading up on panoramic stuff recently because I'm trying to get into this more. Putting the automatic stitching programs aside for the moment, I was reading something about how using even a tripod isn't 100% accurate because the true pivot position is somewhere in the lens or something?

There was something about holding a finger up in front of you and closing alternate eyes and you'll notice how your finger moves from side to side. Then closing one eye and moving your head left to right which also causes your finger to move.

To get a proper panoramic with everything in perspective or something like that you would need to close one eye and when turning to each side you have to move in and out also to keep the foreground in the same position.

Not sure if any of that makes sense but it may be a more achievable project to rather than make an automated panoramas tripod you could make one that can accommodate distant and near elements with a special mechanism or something? I guess as Steep says, it would have to be designed for a fixed focal length to keep it from being too complex?

Anyone who can explain this better/correct would be appreciated as I'm quite interested in it also!
 
Jimpetre,

it may help our understanding if you state which parts of the process you intend to automate. For example, do you mean purely the rotation of the tripod head by user definable increments as described below? I guess that would depend on the lens you are shooting with and if you are shooting in landscape or portrait mode?

When I shoot any panorama (only done two or three), I tend to shoot in portrait mode and rotate somewhere between two thirds and three quarters of the way around after composing, setting the camera into manual mode, setting my own exposure and also focusing manually. Other elements done manually are the Mirror Up function and using the remote rather than the acual shutter.

Jas
 
Manfrotto make a number of panoramic heads, all with a 303 prefix and they all allow for different degrees of rotation and adjustment for nodal point, but once upon a time they made a motorised panoramic head. It didn’t sell!
This may be because it was very early in the digital revolution and quite expensive. To date however they have not revisited a motorised/automatic one. If they can’t make it viable with their scale of manufacture then a “cheap” version may be a pipe dream.
As a design project it would be fun however. I wish you all the best, you might even sell it to Manfrotto!
 
It would be very cool for timelapse photography if it moved slowly or did small increments. Also might be usefull for interactive 360 degree photos if it could be made to do a wide range of shots. Could imagine there might be a market for places like estate agents who want an idiot proof way of creating 360s.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top