Panoramas: I read someplace that to avoid a lot of distortion in taking a panorama, you should rotate your camera around the axis of the sensor. I have tried to figure out how this can...

AuntieM Loc: Eastern NC

I read someplace that to avoid a lot of distortion in taking a panorama, you should rotate your camera around the axis of the sensor. I have tried to figure out how this can be done, and for the life of me I can't get a picture in my head of how to do it. The sensor is on the left side of my camera (looking through the viewfinder). Dropping an imaginary line from the sensor to the ground would be the axis or pivotal point. If my camera is on my tripod, and I rotate the camera horizontally with the ball head, the imaginary line from the sensor will move either forward or back, depening on whether you are panning right or left. The same would hold true if you were hand holding. Does anyone have any thoughts on how this can be done?

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

The axis you should use is called the Nodal Point.
The location varies from lens to lens, but it is not located at your sensor.

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/Tutorials/Shooting-Tech-and-Tips/Finding-The-Nodal-Point-of/2114189_sdwC9K

Honestly, if I am shooting panormas in daylight and there is nothing very close (20ft or so), I don't even use a tripod.

tramsey Loc: Texas

Nodal Point? I have never heard of it but that is not unusual. I wanted to find out what it is. So I used my friend Google and asked the question and found a site that explained it all. Here's a link

http://archive.bigben.id.au/tutorials/360/photo/nodal.html

Now it's all clear as mud. But I do understand how to find it and what it is. I think what Goofy has is better then what I found,

picpiper Loc: California

GoofyNewfie wrote:

the axis you should use is called the Nodal Point.
The location varies from lens to lens, but it is not located at your sensor.

And - unfortunately - is not in line with the tripod mount on most cameras. As I recall it is inside the lens at the point where all the light rays converge and are flipped on their way to the sensor. Google "panorama camera mount"

This is one of the first hits I got:

http://www.panoramabrackets.com/

AuntieM Loc: Eastern NC

OK, looks like I need another piece of equipment - the nodal slide to do this right. Great, pretty soon I will need another camera bag. :-)

picpiper Loc: California

AuntieM wrote:

OK, looks like I need another piece of equipment - the nodal slide to do this right. Great, pretty soon I will need another camera bag. :-)

Or - JUST DO IT. Here's one of the first panos I did with my first digital camera - 4MP Canon S45 - handheld in 2003.

(Keep in mind this is a 9480 X 1477 pixel image shrunk to 1600 X 249 by me and less than that I think by UHH. And yes you can see where the white tent blew out and did the CCD streaks into the sky and you don't have to look very hard to see some color variations across the frames. But, I've always liked it and it brings back many good memories!)

Mendocino from headlands during music festival 2003

AuntieM Loc: Eastern NC

picpiper wrote:

quote=AuntieM OK, looks like I need another piece... (show quote)

Well this is the pano I took of the Tetons last year, and it has a lot of distortion.

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

AuntieM wrote:

OK, looks like I need another piece of equipment - the nodal slide to do this right. Great, pretty soon I will need another camera bag. :-)

A nodal slide is a nice piece to have if you like to shoot a lot of panos. You can do it without, but the slide helps eliminate parallax problems, which in the worst cases can prevent stitching programs from being able to do their job. If panoramas are an interest, it is better to have one than not.

It also helps to have a leveling base for your ball head, or a ball head which can be configured to act as its own leveling base (such as the Acratech GP.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

If you are worried about using the nodal point of your lens, but do not want to buy a dedicated panoramic adapter, you can always use a macro-slider, reversed on your tripod and take a WAG at the location of the nodal point. You may not be right on, but you'll be closer than using your tripod socket as a pivot point. Except in extreme conditions, however, I doubt the difference will be noticeable.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

AuntieM wrote:

I read someplace that to avoid a lot of distortion... (show quote)

Perfection is overrated. Try a few hand held or on a tripod. Many cameras now do panos within the camera itself. Just hold down the button and rotate.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

jerryc41 wrote:

Perfection is overrated. Try a few hand held or on a tripod. Many cameras now do panos within the camera itself. Just hold down the button and rotate.

As Jerry says, try it!
This was on a tripod, no adjustment for nodal point.
5 shots, camera oriented vertically for more resolution, automatically stitched together in Photoshop CS5. I've had this printed 4 feet wide.

JudyTee23 Loc: Eastern U. S.

AuntieM wrote:

OK, looks like I need another piece of equipment - the nodal slide to do this right. Great, pretty soon I will need another camera bag. :-)

HOLD IT! Do not get all excited about nodal point alignment unless you are shooting panoramas which include objects close to the camera. Landscapes with nothing close by can be handled without undue concern for the nodal point position.

It is much more important to make sure that your camera is level throughout its rotation. Otherwise you may get curved horizons.

Be careful if you want to buy some alignment gadget. There is a lot of junk on the market. I use a closeup slide that I normally use for macro work. It can move the camera fore or aft and right or left with ease. I bought mine for about $60USD.

The nodal point is the point within the lens where the light rays cross. (You know, of course, that the image is upside down.) In a so-called "prime" lens, (single focal length) the nodal point is close to or at the location of the iris. In a "zoom" lens the nodal point may float all over the place, so I do not recommend a zoom for panorama work.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

JudyTee23 wrote:

HOLD IT! Do not get all excited about nodal point alignment unless you are shooting panoramas which include objects close to the camera. Landscapes with nothing close by can be handled without undue concern for the nodal point position.

Absolutely true!

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

GoofyNewfie wrote:

JudyTee23 wrote:

HOLD IT! Do not get all excited about nodal point alignment unless you are shooting panoramas which include objects close to the camera. Landscapes with nothing close by can be handled without undue concern for the nodal point position.

Absolutely true!

Ditto

WYp8riot Loc: Wyoming

While on the subject, maybe some of you can educate myself and others about these questions....

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-97075-1.html