mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

Anybody out there shooting 360 panoramas with conventional equipment? There are some clever instant 360 cameras like the Ricoh Theta (I have one) but to really capture a quality shot you need a real camera and good lens. I shoot mine with a Canon 5D III with a Canon ES 8-15MM L fish-eye and a Nodal Ninja tripod head. You also need some software to process the images but the results are rewarding. I use PTGUI to process the images and KOLOR Panotour Pro to display them. I typically shoot at 12MM and take from 4-6 frames to capture the entire sphere (4 is minimum at 12MM). Here are some recent shots I've done.

Historic church in South Carolina. http://alantigner.org/pano/obc/
Hilltop scenery shot I took in Ontario, Canada http://alantigner.org/pano/fh1/
Two caves in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam http://alantigner.org/pano/vietnam/phong_nha_paradise_cave/ and http://alantigner.org/pano/vietnam/phong_nha_dry_cave/
Museum of Flight Restoration Center in Everett, Washington. http://alantigner.org/pano/mofrc/

I got hooked on this while traveling with a professional 360 pano shooter on a trip to Myanmar in 2016. It's a lot of fun but can be a bit of work trying to manage your shooting environment (people, etc.).

Enjoy!!

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

I did a 360° pano of my back yard a few years ago. Nothing special about it. Used my DSLR, a tripod and a stitching program. I have been thinking about posting it if I can find it.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

I do 360's. Not having a web site I just use FSPview for my own purposes.
Have to look into the one you mention.
I also use Nodal Ninja and PTGui

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

Did not get a hit when I looked up that software you mentioned (FSPview) KOLOR (parent) and Panotour Pro (they also sell a non Pro version for quite a bit less) are the defacto standards in this space. I have purchased all my software from Nodal Ninja at a nice discount.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Very nice work. My favorites were the church (gives new meaning to being in the pews) and the cockpit. How do you get the introductory zoom in?

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Look for
http://download.cnet.com/FSPViewer-64-Bit/3000-18488_4-75761240.html

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

I tried that software and think the viewer that comes with PTGUI works better. What is your setup for taking 360s?

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Won't disagree - FSPViewer is good for those who do not have PTGui; its viewer is relatively new, within the last 2 upgrades I believe. I've been using FSP for may 10 years

My set-up:
I use whatever Nikon camera I have - now an 810 and 500. For 360's I use either the 10.5 fisheye with a DX or the 8-15mm fisheye (replaced the 16mm fisheye) with the FX setup. Did have a Sigma 8mm until Nikon came out with its 8mm capacity. I have a Nodal Ninja M-1 and recently obtained the Ultimate R-1 for use with the 8mm. I'm not yet very proficient with the R-1; broken femur and acute stages of stenosis caused diminution of leg capacity - hopefully recent surgery has corrected that.

As you know the 10.5 and 15 mm need 6 shots around, 2 down and if you don't use elevation 1 up. The 8mm allow 3 around the zenith can be skipped even without elevation.

What else can I tell you - what's your setup?

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

I did enjoy - especially the Museum of Flight - the seating area. Given no stitching errors you've done a great job on calibration.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

I do not have any preference. I select tools and software depending on the need.

To me the end, regardless of the means, is what counts.

Kcolor is known to make good products but so is PTGUI, Adobe and quite a few others. Each has strong points and limitations. This is basically why I would be interested in folks posting reviews on the software they use to get their real life experience on what works and what does not.

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

I use the R1 with the ring mount for my Canon 8-15 http://shop.nodalninja.com/r1-w-rd5-adj-tilt-pkg-f6120v/. I set the calibration number on the center line on the R1 head where the lens/camera mounts at 31 mm on the scale and the lens at 12 mm and tilt at 5 degrees up. This is what my professional friend recommended and what I use. He believes, however, that four images are sufficient with these settings but I have been shooting six which also works well. On the other hand if you are shooting a busy environment with movement then less overlap would be better. I have also been shooting a bracketed set for HDR which PTGui will process. The only requirement is that you shoot in manual mode or PTGui won't process it. I'm an AV or TV shooter so it takes a bit of setup before it works. The church shots were HDR and luckily I had enough light. With this setup I get a six-sided nadir (bottom) patch that basically covers most of the tripod and a completely filled in zenith (top). I either clone in the nadir using Photoshop after creating a clip of the nadir area in PTGui using the "extract floor" template. After it's cleaned up I use the "insert floor" template to reinsert it into the pano. The other option is to insert a graphic in the nadir area like I did with the panos that I packaged using Panotour Pro. I also added a leveler http://shop.nodalninja.com/ez-leveler-ii-no-case-f3138/ to help get everything level which is important and far easier than adjusting tripod legs.

I find shooting the panos to be very easy but are often complicated by having to control the shooting environment (i.e. getting people out of the picture). I also find it's easier to not have any encumbrances like a non-photographer (wife) in tow when you are shooting 360s. I took the following pano two years ago when I was first getting started. It's of a street performer in Key West known as the Catman. Having seen his show for many years he was kind enough to let me in during his act to take the shots. I only used four shots and you will notice he is in each one of them as I moved him around as I shot http://alantigner.org/pano/cm2/ and http://alantigner.org/pano/cm3/.

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

Many of the pano tools like those from Kolor or PTGui are very specialized and not generic "stitchers" that will put most pano sequences together. For regular linear panos I typically use either Lightroom or Photoshop. Apart from software, I believe proper technique is more important and more likely to be unknown to many photographers. I recently picked up a linear pano head and when used with a nodal rail and 50MM lens on my 5D III, will produce wide shots with virtually no scalloping.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

You don't mention lens calibration but I assume you do that to avoid parallax errors...

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

Not sure what calibration you are referring to.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Centering your camera and lens over the no parallax point.

Here's a Wikipedia article:
https://wiki.panotools.org/No-parallax_point
One from Really Right Stuff:
http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/finding-the-no-parallax-point
A RRS You Tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWbGM8AU8s
and a "starter..." from Lynda
https://www.lynda.com/Lightroom-tutorials/Understanding-what-parallax-how-parallax-point-helps/447239/514622-4.html