MkII rotator VS RD8, Canon Xsi/Sigma 8mm (NN3 vs R10?)

[chimpanzee]

I use a Canon Xsi + Sigma 8mm/4 on a Bogen 303SPH pano-head + 300N rotator (vertical format, 90 deg stops for 4 shots, tilt up 5 deg), & am looking for a lighter setup. 303SPH is too heavy & bulky!!

NN3 MKII ($199)
Does the rotator have sufficient tacticle feedback at the stops, so I can be sitting down next to the tripod & flip it to the next stop? How accurate are the stops..does one get repeatable results (so PTGui stitching is a breeze, using a template)

NN3 +RD8 (299)
better rotator. How does it compare to the Bogen 300N? About the same?

R10: ($309)
more compact than the above. However, NN3 had more flexibility & can do zenith/nadir shots quickly (R10 can't, needs freehand shot)

Can't decide between R10 & NN3 options. Any other tradeoffs?

[nick fan]

I use a Canon Xsi + Sigma 8mm/4 on a Bogen 303SPH pano-head + 300N rotator (vertical format, 90 deg stops for 4 shots, tilt up 5 deg), & am looking for a lighter setup. 303SPH is too heavy & bulky!!

NN3 MKII ($199)
Does the rotator have sufficient tacticle feedback at the stops, so I can be sitting down next to the tripod & flip it to the next stop? How accurate are the stops..does one get repeatable results (so PTGui stitching is a breeze, using a template)

NN3 +RD8 (299)
better rotator. How does it compare to the Bogen 300N? About the same?

R10: ($309)
more compact than the above. However, NN3 had more flexibility & can do zenith/nadir shots quickly (R10 can't, needs freehand shot)

Can't decide between R10 & NN3 options. Any other tradeoffs?

Buy NN3/5 for value. Buy NN Ultimate for quality and craftsmanship.
Not that NN3/5 is of low quality. But we pay lots of attention to reduce its production cost. Rails in NN3/5 are mass produced by die casting and are protected by painting.
For NN Ultimate, we don't have to pay much attention to the cost because we already have cost effective solution (NN3/5). So we concentrate on quality and functionality improvement. The Ultimate line is like "L" series in Canon lenses. Ultimate line is machined by CNC machining from premium quality aluminum. Each part is protected by anodizing which is much more durable than painting. Precision of each part is much higher than the die-cast counterpart.

NN3II/ NN3 R-D8/16 can't be used for batch stitching. You can still use previous template to reuse the lens parameter.
click stop in NN3II is close to the 300N. R-D8/16 is reported to be much better than 300N.

For sigma 8mm on Xsi, you can use 7.5 deg tilt to cover the zenith. So no zenith shot is needed except when the zenith is full of important details. You can't take the nadir on NN3II either, it is blocked by the rotator. You can use a tripod cap or mirror ball to cover the nadir hole. Do a handheld shot if you are a perfectionist. BTW, there is also R1 which has more tilt options and offers (offset from NPP) zenith and nadir shot taking capability.
R1/10 is easier to use and quicker to setup. Keep the ring to the lens, mount the lens ring to the R10 QR clamp in less than 5 seconds.


Nick