What is a good fisheye lens to use with the D40 and NN5?

[nick fan]

I have a sigma 4.5mm for a week with my D40 and then I'll try out a sigma 8mm the following week. I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount my camera to the NN5. Should I use the upper or lower rail? Portrait or Landscape mode? I can't seem to find any info in the database with this lens.

You should mount the camera on the upper rail. Tilt the upper rail up by 5 deg, take 3 shots around.
Try to do the calibration yourself. It takes just a few minutes.


nick

[John Houghton]

For the 4.5mm lens, use the camera in portrait orientation on the top rail of the NN5 and take 3 shots around. The pano head will intrude very slightly on the right, but will be of little consequence. If you want to try 2 back-to-back shots, then mount the camera in landscape orientation on the bottom rail.

John

[AREA51]

I haven't been very happy with the sigma 4.5mm. I need 6 shots for a full spherical and I loose a lot of resolution. I'm not sure how anyone is able to do one with just 2 or 3 shots.

So now I'm looking at trying out the Sigma 8mm or the Nikon 10.5 f2.8 AF DX Fisheye. Does anyone know where I can get samples from the Nikon 10.5 to try out? Does anyone have any opinions on the two lenses?

Thanks!

[nick fan]

I haven't been very happy with the sigma 4.5mm. I need 6 shots for a full spherical and I loose a lot of resolution. I'm not sure how anyone is able to do one with just 2 or 3 shots.

So now I'm looking at trying out the Sigma 8mm or the Nikon 10.5 f2.8 AF DX Fisheye. Does anyone know where I can get samples from the Nikon 10.5 to try out? Does anyone have any opinions on the two lenses?

Thanks!

when you say 6 shots, do you mean 4 shots around + one zenith and one nadir?
On NN180, R1 or R10, you only need 3 shots around+ nadir.
you can find some sample shots here
http://360precision.com/360/index.cf...amlensinfolist

Nick

[John Houghton]

I haven't been very happy with the sigma 4.5mm. I need 6 shots for a full spherical and I loose a lot of resolution. I'm not sure how anyone is able to do one with just 2 or 3 shots.

Just a thought: the Sigma 8mm has a collar that the lens cap clips into. It is a common mistake for people to not to remove the collar (a push fit) from their new lens, in which case you get a much reduced angle of view. I imagine the 4.5mm lens has a similar collar, so could it be that you haven't removed it? That would account for you needing 6 shots around.

John

[AREA51]

Just thought I would let everyone know that I ended up going with the Nikon 10.5 f2.8 AF DX Fisheye lens and I couldn't be happier!

Here is a link to a recent tour I finished using the lens and the NN5...

http://www.boltingcloudtour.com

[John Houghton]

Your panoramas are in need of levelling. In a equirectangular image, all the vertical features like sides of doors, walls, windows etc. should normally be exactly vertical - not leaning over to one side. If using PTGui, see http://www.johnhpanos.com/levtut.htm. Autopano Pro also has a levelling option.

John

[AREA51]

Hey John,

I was wondering about the leveling thing. I'm using RealViz Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 on a mac. Do you know if there is a way to do it with that?

Greg

[John Houghton]

Greg, I don't know if there is a specific levelling tool in Stitcher, but you can roll the image and shift it up and down to level it visually, as far as I can remember. At worst, you could download Hugin for free and import the equirectangular image for levelling using t1 control points as in PTGui.

John

[nick fan]

I have a sigma 4.5mm for a week with my D40 and then I'll try out a sigma 8mm the following week. I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount my camera to the NN5. Should I use the upper or lower rail? Portrait or Landscape mode? I can't seem to find any info in the database with this lens.

For fisheye lens, you need to mount in portrait mode. Sigma 4.5mm will required 3 shots.


Nick