what is ideal focal length for panoramas?

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Ansel

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i've done some crude experiments with panorama stitching software but i haven't been using a tripod and so i end up with a lot of wasted height in the photo ie it ends up being quite narrow.

anyhoo, is there an ideal focal length for creating panoramas - eg is too wide an angle going to cause too much distortion & make it harder for the software to knit the pix together?

please don't mention pro panorama heads for tripods, i'd only buy one if could make money out of it - i'm only doing panoramas as a bit of fun atm.
cheers.
 
Ansel said:
i've done some crude experiments with panorama stitching software but i haven't been using a tripod and so i end up with a lot of wasted height in the photo ie it ends up being quite narrow.

anyhoo, is there an ideal focal length for creating panoramas - eg is too wide an angle going to cause too much distortion & make it harder for the software to knit the pix together?

please don't mention pro panorama heads for tripods, i'd only buy one if could make money out of it - i'm only doing panoramas as a bit of fun atm.
cheers.
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Sorry, don't know about the best FL but it's better to orient the camera to portrait to avoid the problem you describe and you really should use a tripod if you can!
 
I do mine at about 35mm, in portait orientation.

Generally I just shoot them handheld, 30% overlap each shot. Photoshop doesn't have a problem stiching them.

The panorama heads are good, however unless you are getting into tight spaces near buildings/interiors etc or need the photos spot-on there is no real great need for them.
 
Any focal length is acceptable in my experience, I've shot them at 100mm and at 17mm on my D60. I always make sure I have a 40-50% over lap of the last photo, it means more images but the software finds it easier to put together and I can't say I've noticed any distortion.

And that is portrait mode and hand held. Some of my pano's are on my flickr (I think)
 
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A quick look through my panoramas set on Flickr ranges from 21mm to 105mm on full frame.

35mm f/2 and 50mm f/1.4 primes contributed the most. I'm a bit rough and ready with my approach. I do them hand held and stitch using Photoshop's pano feature and it works well most of the time.

I think a pano head is more useful when you have elements in the foreground of the scene. I have a couple (not online) that haven't worked so well with close-to objects not matching up.
 
Ansel said:
i've done some crude experiments with panorama stitching software but i haven't been using a tripod and so i end up with a lot of wasted height in the photo ie it ends up being quite narrow.

anyhoo, is there an ideal focal length for creating panoramas - eg is too wide an angle going to cause too much distortion & make it harder for the software to knit the pix together?

please don't mention pro panorama heads for tripods, i'd only buy one if could make money out of it - i'm only doing panoramas as a bit of fun atm.
cheers.
Click to expand...

It doesn't make much difference really - the wider it is the less you'd have to take, but also the more chance of distortion as you say, which wouldn't make it impossible if you overlap enough, but it's less than ideal.

You're better just using your sharpest lens at its sharpest focal length and increasing the number of pictures accordingly.
 
RevOnline said:
It doesn't make much difference really - the wider it is the less you'd have to take, but also the more chance of distortion as you say, which wouldn't make it impossible if you overlap enough, but it's less than ideal.

You're better just using your sharpest lens at its sharpest focal length and increasing the number of pictures accordingly.
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:agree:

From my own experience, I prefer to go with the longest practical focal length... which i would say around 20-30mm for me on crop. Of course, if you want to print really big, the longer the better as you will get a bigger image in the end.

I had serious distortion problems with very wide focal lengths (10-12mm) so I try to avoid it as much as I can now.
 
For joiner panoramas, pretty much anything will do the job, I use almost any length from 30mm up to 70mm with plenty of overlap. Alternatively, if the end use is just web or a 10" x 4" print, I've used an 8mm fisheye and cut/pasted the bit I want.
 
rereg2010 said:
How can you stitch in photoshop? I'd like to have a go at this.

Thanks

Zoe
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File > Automate > Photomerge

Select the files you want to merge, click OK then go make a cup of tea. :thumbs:

Focal length depends on the shot and what you want. I usually use my 24-70 anywhere throughout the range, though generally try to be closer to the long end for a flatter perspective and more detail. If you want really big files with heaps of detail then use a longer lens and shoot multiple rows. Just be careful of pointing the camera too far up / down and introducing key-stoning.
 
Jayst84 said:
File > Automate > Photomerge

Select the files you want to merge, click OK then go make a cup of tea. :thumbs:

Focal length depends on the shot and what you want. I usually use my 24-70 anywhere throughout the range, though generally try to be closer to the long end for a flatter perspective and more detail. If you want really big files with heaps of detail then use a longer lens and shoot multiple rows. Just be careful of pointing the camera too far up / down and introducing key-stoning.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay, I'll give it a go!


Thanks


Zoe
 
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