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I could not help noticing your new entry for Leica Geosystem items.
an impressive set of kit to be partnering with.
a NN used with an optically centred tribrach should even give the possibility for time lapse progress work.
Though I do not think many normal photographers would have the spare cash for a full leica surveying kit.
whilst surveyors would have no trouble buying the NN kit.
I have been wondering what set you off on this more unusual tack.?
Terry
Hi Terry,
The Leica HDS (high-definition surveying) Geosystems people have very specific requirements in thier field work flows. The parts we offer that allow them to adapt Nodal Ninja 3 MKII onto their laser tripod systems.
They use an extremely accurate laser to do a 360x270 degree scan of an area. After the scan they then use a Nodal Ninja with Canon DSLR and 8mm lens to do a photographic spherical panorama.
The added parts are of no use to anyone else. Even the Tribrach adapter mounts to a special surveyor tripod and uses 5/8 threads to mount the Nodal Ninja (hence adapters).
Here are a couple videos that explain how their system works.
http://www.leica-geosystems.com/us/en/leicanewOv2.mov
http://www.leica-geosystems.com/imag...caHDSfinal.wmv
We are very proud of this partnership and will probably make a more unofficial announcement in the near future.
A surveyors tripod is far less costly than the equivalent photo tripod.
An optical tribrach is not that expensive on its own , but allows exact and repeatable positioning over a survey point during the course of a build.
For a site photographer to be able to offer accurate and repeatable progress shots would be a great selling point.
your mount adapter would then have further selling opportunities to non surveyors.
I know a number of photographers who use surveyors tripods for their stability and their ease of footing them into soft ground.
Though I don't know any who use a tribrach. The 5/8 thread problem is usually solved in a crude farm yard engineering fashion.
Though when using an optical tribrach the 5/8 thread is on the tribrach not the tripod. as the tripod has a large centre hole to sight through.
hmmm - interesting. The Tribrach adapter only sits in place on the surveyor tripod with 3 large stops. It uses a 5/8 thread mount of top.Originally Posted by Terrywoodenpic
Anyone is welcome to try it.
hmmm - interesting. The Tribrach adapter only sits in place on the surveyor tripod with 3 large stops. It uses a 5/8 thread mount of top.
Anyone is welcome to try it but note this is very user specific and does not fit standard tripods.
By the look of that you are supplying a NN3 with a 5/8 thread for them. as that item looks to fit in to the tribrach with the thread at the top. what is on the under side of the adapter?
What does the camera adapter look like?
This is an optical tribrach.
http://www.korecgroup.com/direct/tem...ge_SSD1164.jpg
I have been trying to get my head round this...
surely if the tribrach adapter had a 3/8 thread it would fit a standard NN3 ll.
why does it need to fit 5/8 and all the special work involved.
I think 5/8" is a standard in surveying equipment. The adapter is needed to raise the center of perspective of the camera so that it is the same as the laser scanner. So it has dual functions. One is thread adapter, the other is height adjuster.
I can only imagine what they are doing. They use the laser scanner to get 3D point cloud data for the scene. The they take the pano at the same perspective. they render the pano into the 3D model as photo realistic texture.
I am glad they find NN3 adequate for they purpose.Bill certainly did a good job in working out the partnership.
nick
Fanotec
We listen. We try harder.
Yes I am sure you are right about the thread standard.... I am also pretty sure the head would fit other makes of Tribrachs, as they too are a standard size.I think 5/8" is a standard in surveying equipment. The adapter is needed to raise the center of perspective of the camera so that it is the same as the laser scanner. So it has dual functions. One is thread adapter, the other is height adjuster.
I can only imagine what they are doing. They use the laser scanner to get 3D point cloud data for the scene. The they take the pano at the same perspective. they render the pano into the 3D model as photo realistic texture.
I am glad they find NN3 adequate for they purpose.
nick
Many many thousands of sets of surveying equipment are sold each year, so Bill has opened a large potential market for you.
This might be one area where a camera/lens specific head might help as most surveyous will not be into "nodal points"
Would it be expensive to offer a 3/8 thread adapter to photographers who want to take advantage of Surveyors tripods and tribrachs, so they can fit their standard NN's.
This would give near ultimate rigidity.
Terry
This tribrach adapter isn't like the one you noted. Leica Geosystems requested we use the one shown which doesn't have built in levelers.
The underside is fairly simple - just the 3 stops plus a brass knob to help tighten and mount the 5/8 threaded camera adapter (exclusive to Nodal Ninja). The 2 camera adapters are simply 1" diameter aluminum rods (5/8 female threads on on end and 3/8 male threads on the other) and measure 4 3/4 inches and 7" in length.
These parts are available separately if anyone wanted to experiment. We only recently took supply of the special brackets and I'll be posting photos soon.
Yes the camera adapter would fit the NN3/NN5 but the base of the camera adapter is 5/8 female thread to fit onto the tribrach adapter.
This is a unique and exclusive configuration to use with the Leica Geosystems HDS6000 and Scan station laser scanning systems.
The idea being the laser scans an area (360x270 degrees) and forms a 3D rendering of a scene. The user removes the laser scanner off the tripod (to big to unscrew hence the stops on the tribrach) and replaces with NN3 using a camera adapter that is attached to a tribrach adapter. The end result is the DSLR camera on NN3 is at the same "exact" height that the laser scanner was. The resulting panoramic image can be over-layed onto the 3D rendering on of the scene. Kind of cool technology. The workflow for these users also encourages the use of PTGui (which we highly recommended).
Thanks Nick - took a bit of testing on both NN3 and NN5 - both preformed perfectly for their needs. The reason they went with NN3 over NN5 was out of the need for compactness due to field use. Later down the road we may introduce a NN5 version.I am glad they find NN3 adequate for they purpose.
nick
shhh - we will always have irons in the fire and I like to think outside the box when it comes to marketingMany many thousands of sets of surveying equipment are sold each year, so Bill has opened a large potential market for you.
Terry
These pieces are available separately so as we learn of customer uses we'll adapt and grow.
Bill
I've been looking at surveyor tripods on eBay. Usually less than 100 bucks. And they look sturdy for outdoor use but figuring out how to put a camera on them always stumped me.
Where on NN's site is your surveyor tripod adapter stuff listed?
http://store.nodalninja.com/category_s/37.htm
we don't have photos yet but soon.
Bill
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