Glad to be onboard.

[NLAlston]

My name is Nathan, and I am new here. I am not presently outfitted, but will soon be. Just two days ago I learned that I was to be blessed with an early birthday present - which was my choice of a nice Pano Head. There were two units that I waged an internal battle about: the NN5, and the Manfrotto 303SPH. I have not seen either of these, physically, but all of my researching has revealed that both of these units are fine pieces of workmanship, and that I would have probably fared very well with either. However, there was just something about the NN5 that appealed more to me. This is my venture into the realm of panoramic equipment, which is to say that I have had no experience, or association to stand on. But panoramas are something that I have always wanted to do, and I have no doubt - whatsoever - that the NN5 w/RD16 & EZ-leveler II will be the perfect partnering for my Nikon D300.

Yes...I am mighty glad to be onboard.

[NLAlston]

I meant to say (above) that "This is my 'FIRST' venture into the realm of panoramic equipment".

[Bill Bailey]

Hi Nathan,
Welcome to our forum and welcome to the world of panoramic photography. It opens many avenues for creative expression.
Bill

[NLAlston]

Hi Nathan,
Welcome to our forum and welcome to the world of panoramic photography. It opens many avenues for creative expression.
Bill

Yes indeed. There is no doubt that I am about to have the greatest fun in my exploration of - and giving efforts within - this new world (for me) of panoramic photography. I hope to have a pano to post within the first couple of days after gaining receipt of my package. There was some great information (posted on this very forum) that I happened to find, about 'Nodal' point setup - as well as some very helpful calculators.

Again, this is a very new world for me - and I have a whole lot to learn. But this forum has already shown that I have more than enough information - laid out within it - to get me up and running in not much time at all.

I thank you much, for your warm welcoming.

[Civoksay]

Hi Nathan,

I'm new here too, and have dabbled quite a bit in stitching single row panoramics, now I'm getting a NodalNinja5 so I can do those nice multi-rows! It appears there's lots of experienced shooters here, you'll get your panoramics going in no time!

Glad to be here too,

-Nick

[NLAlston]

Hi Nathan,

I'm new here too, and have dabbled quite a bit in stitching single row panoramics, now I'm getting a NodalNinja5 so I can do those nice multi-rows! It appears there's lots of experienced shooters here, you'll get your panoramics going in no time!

Glad to be here too,

-Nick

Hi Nick ~ and thanks.

I just recently received my NN5 and, man, it is some piece-of-kit. I, initially, had issue with it, and was this close (thumb and index finger, a hair's width apart) to returning it. I am SOOOOO glad that I didn't, though, as I learned that the problem rested with my tripod's ball head, and NOT with the NN5. I have made a few 'single-row' attempts with it - that didn't come out too bad, but I have yet to learn how to assemble the multi-row pano efforts.

[2BeCalifornian]

Hi Nathan,

Welcome!

I discovered the world of Panoramic photography only six months ago. Let me tell you, it's been the shortest six months ever. I feel as curious on the topic as a 5 year old kid!!! I have no doubt you will end up boosting your knowledge on optics, on some aspects of your camera, and... your tripod will become your most favorite companion. I am spending hours during week ends in the garden playing with no parallax points, and my favorite walking trails now include long pauses where I enjoy setting up my rig!

Most importantly, the big contributors to this forum are really bringing depth and knowledge...

I use Autopano Giga for stitching my pictures and so far, so good.

Here's a night panoramic picture...

Again Welcome, and Enjoy!

Philippe

[NLAlston]

Hi Nathan,

Welcome!

I discovered the world of Panoramic photography only six months ago. Let me tell you, it's been the shortest six months ever. I feel as curious on the topic as a 5 year old kid!!! I have no doubt you will end up boosting your knowledge on optics, on some aspects of your camera, and... your tripod will become your most favorite companion. I am spending hours during week ends in the garden playing with no parallax points, and my favorite walking trails now include long pauses where I enjoy setting up my rig!

Most importantly, the big contributors to this forum are really bringing depth and knowledge...

I use Autopano Giga for stitching my pictures and so far, so good.

Here's a night panoramic picture...

Again Welcome, and Enjoy!

Philippe

Thanks very much, Philippe.

And, yes ~ the panoramic concept has opened up a whole new avenue, for me, in this photographic field that I had already possessed much love for.

I took a look at your panorama, and would like to say that I like it very much. If you don't mind my asking, how many shots were stitched for this pano?

I, myself, have been so very busy that I haven't had much chance to put my NN5 to action. A lot has been going on, lately, but I hope to have some time freed up soon. I did shoot a hand-held pano, just to get some ideas about various stitching programs that I have been trying out. I am still kinda leaning towards PTGui, but that, of course, could change. I have not thrown anything really 'heavy' at the programs, so I can't really speak on what I might feel to be under their hoods. But we'll see. At any rate, here is that 4-shot stitch of Niagara Falls:

[Civoksay]

Hey NLAlston,

Just got my NN5 too. 2 words: elegant simplicity. Believe me, your deciding to keep this one was a good decision. I have a friend with a high-end Manfrotto pano head, and the thing looks like you need an advanced degree in engineering to operate it. The NN5 is built just as well in my opinion, is way more compact, and performs as accurately. This thing handles a 5d with a hefty 24-70mm lens just fine. After just 10 minutes of adjustments, it's cranking out multi-row panoramics like a champ! This is my first test attempt, 2 rows of 4 shots @ 24mm. Spans 160 degrees horozontally. Just a parking lot, but it shows it's working great. Not a speck of parallax. If you want to start doing some multi row panos or 360 degree panos, I'd suggest a program called PTGUI. It makes the whole process automatic and easy.

Now all I have to work on is minimizing distortion. Anyone have any tips regarding this? I'm stitching with PTGUI.

[markkuk]

Now all I have to work on is minimizing distortion. Anyone have any tips regarding this? I'm stitching with PTGUI.

Projecting a 3-D world to a flat planar image will always result in some form of geometric distortion, the only way to minimize that is to minimize the field of view which is of course the exact opposite of what you want to do in panoramic photography. There are specialized projections for architectural subjects that attempt to keep (some) straight lines straight.

[2BeCalifornian]

Hi Nathan,
The Panorama from Treasure Island was stitched with 10 pictures...but...a good deal was actually cropped as the city scape was about 2 mi away! In fact I shot the panorama with a 70mm lens - and through some experimentation, I am now comfortable trying with a 200mm lens. I just need to get the right "cloudiness/fogginess" over the city.

Hi Civoksay,
I experimented with a software called PTLens. This $25 software correct the optical distortions inherent your lens. This is great if you shoot architectural scenes with 12-24mm lenses.

CHeers!

[Civoksay]

Projecting a 3-D world to a flat planar image will always result in some form of geometric distortion, the only way to minimize that is to minimize the field of view which is of course the exact opposite of what you want to do in panoramic photography. There are specialized projections for architectural subjects that attempt to keep (some) straight lines straight.

Thanks Markkuk, that's good information. Some of those projections in those links do much better on my new panoramics. The "pannini" projections are great for interiors, is seems