panoramas

[Rob.C]

sorry if in wrong spot. i never done a panorama before only on my phone.and got the oppertunity to do some this week has any one got any tips or pointers what should i do what shouldnt i do etc? and what settings best? told you i was new to this

 

[locostbob]

i use a pack called autostich [free!] to glue the photos together CS5 i believe has a similar function..

for best results use a tripod. really you need a special head whereby the camera rotates around the lens and not body to give more accuracy [i dont have one] i shoot in portrait and over lap the photos by 1/3rd or so. I shoot in raw, but set WB so all the colours are the same and shoot in apature pirority or manual depending on what works best on the day...

watch out the direct shooting into the sun as it will burn out / under expose your image..

on the computer i ballance off the photos so there all a similar exposure [best donein raw] then let autstich do its work....

this is one of my fave shots i took back in May http://www.flickr.com/photos/locostbob/4739765246/in/set-72157624245582045/ thre are a few more panos in this set... sure someone who knows what there doing will rip it apart tho! :0

not sure if this is the approved way, but the way i do it

bob

 

[Islander]

I've seen some interesting articles on making your own panoramic head from cheap laser level systems (around the £20 mark).

In fact here you go

 

[Scarecrow]

Set your white balance to whatever the light conditons are. This prevents problems of colours not matching throughout your images if you use AWB.

Take a meter reading with your camera and set the suggested settings for your aperture and shutter speed manually. This helps to prevent exposure changes through your images.

Overlap your images by a healthy amount. 1/3 has been suggested. I often use 1/2 or even more, as I find it helps whatever stitching software you are using to line the images up more easily.

Have fun.

 

[Alastair]

Manual exposure, manual focus, don't use a polariser..

 

[J Bruja]

I don't know if you're familiar with the Microsoft Research freeware for stitching pix together but here's a link to the site if interested. It's a K.I.S.S. system that's why I use it.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ice/

 

[realspeed]

Couple of things, may already have been mentioned, first be very aware of light difference on overlap it will really show up, the other thing is allow roughly a third overlap on each shot the editing suites can't cope with 2 pictures just butting up together. Always keep the camera on the same level, not eaasy to do hand held and best one on a tripod with a 360% head . The manfrotto 804RC2 is ideal as it not only has a built in level- 3 way head but a calibrated scale so each overlap is the same .
Serif do a free download pano. program. not tried it myself yet

Link
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/panoramaplus/

Realspeed