I am New and need help Canon 40D+EF-S 17-85mm

[kaidot]

Hello
I just received my NN5L and I am trying to set it up. Especially the setting on the upper rotator are giving me some headake.

I am shooting my panoramic multirows (thought I have found the right settings) and I have parallax in the upper row (I shoot at 60¬?, 15¬? and -40¬?) -
Does anybody has a good advise for me or does anyone has the same combination?

I have a Canon EOS 40D, a EF-S 17-85mm (set to 17mm) and the NN5L.

If someone could tell me the right settings that would really help.

Thanks
Kai

[Bill Bailey]

Hi Kai,
Welcome to the forum. We will try to get you up and running.
Since we don't yet have the settings for this lens it is best to learn yourself how to find the right settings. Once learned (quite easy actually) you'll be able to use this for just about any lens and any focal length.
http://www.johnhpanos.com/epcalib.htm
Let us know how you go.
Bill

[kaidot]

Thank you Bill,

I tried and tried... I am currently testing and it seems that I have found the settings. Esp. for the upper rotator. Does 101mm sound correct (or maybe someone knows exactly) for the a Canon 40D + 17-85mm

Also I would like to know if Autopano Giga oder PTGui is better and if it makes sense in general to preprocess RAW to 16Bit TIF.

I have read at PTGUI that it is better to preprocess and at the AutoPano site I read that NO preprocessing is recommended. What are your experiences?

One thing left: what kind of NON-Fisheye lens (not the costy ones -> no budget) can you recommend? It should be a lens that I can use in doors as well as outdoors.

Thanks so much
Kai

[kaidot]

Just one little thing: what Aperature are you using? I tried f4, f8 and f16
Would do you recommend?

[Bill Bailey]

I tried and tried... I am currently testing and it seems that I have found the settings. Esp. for the upper rotator. Does 101mm sound correct (or maybe someone knows exactly) for the a Canon 40D + 17-85mm

Sounds close - can you send an image of your setup so we can confirm you have things setup correctly?

Also I would like to know if Autopano Giga oder PTGui is better and if it makes sense in general to preprocess RAW to 16Bit TIF.
I have read at PTGUI that it is better to preprocess and at the AutoPano site I read that NO preprocessing is recommended. What are your experiences?

I believe most folks (myself included) prefer PTGui: http://nodalninja.com/forum/index.php?topic=62.0

One thing left: what kind of NON-Fisheye lens (not the costy ones -> no budget) can you recommend? It should be a lens that I can use in doors as well as outdoors.

guess you could just use the kit lens that came with your camera.

Cheers
Bill

[Bill Bailey]

Just one little thing: what Aperature are you using? I tried f4, f8 and f16
Would do you recommend?

the smaller the better starting at f8. This gives you greater depth of field.

[hindenhaag]

Hallo Kai,

If you want to learn something about how a program works and what are the problems with your control points, use PTGui and add Pano2VR for flash and hotspots etc for the web.

Autopano Giga is more automatic, takes your pictures from the folders, devides them in different panos when the program thinks to do so, and, after a short while on the right hand side: the pano. Many things are done automatically. But, it comes together with autopano tour so the web and flash part is included.

I use PTGui in first place to learn more about the secrets, and at the moment, APG only to have a look what APG does with my fotos. I do not have the experience that when there is a fault in my pano that it is not there in APG.

But you can download trial versions to test it yourself.

Look out for the hyperfocal distances for your lens, lots of calculators around on google. To avoid movement i would recommend to get a wired or wireless shutter release for your camera, and fix the focus and zoom on your lens by tape. It happens very easily that by moving the camera around or changing the set up you change focus or zoom without recognizing it.

As Bill told you, F8 or F11 are the most preferable apertures, cause most of the lenses are designed that they do their best with these apertures. You have less problems with lens corrections. Have a look to KenRockwell's site to learn about aperture versus sharpness.

Good luck,

Heinz