Panoramics

[blarg]

On my old Canon G3, there was a setting where taking panoramic shots was made easy as each previous shot was left on the lcd display so it is easy to line up the next shot.

Now I have upgraded to a DSLR (Eos 450d or Rebel Xti in American I think it is), this option is not to be found. I dare say doing a panoramic with DSLR's requires more skill.

Does anyone have any tips for doing this?

I do a lot of interior photography whereby taking panoramic shots of rooms to show them as best as possible (as opposed to real estate agents point and click efforts where you see 5% of a room) is essential. Most of the time a tripod is not possible due to the small size of French house rooms and intricate bendy body positions are necessary to get into position. This is where I would be using this technique the most.

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Ta.

[Sime]

Bonjour Blarg!

What software do you "edit" your shots in? Have you tried stitching them together manually? Have a look at Panorama Tools - they make some cool little apps.

http://www.ptgui.com/ - There is a demo version, the full version is a little pricey, but from all reports works quite well - I'm sure others will give you some different options.

Sime

[blarg]

That was quick!

I don't have problems once I have the images, I normally use photostitch which comes with the Canon software.

It's actually taking them, that I have a problem with, lining them up etc.

[Sime]

Ahhh, gotcha - I was having a daft moment! And, you say that you don't have the room to use a tripod? What about a little table top tripod, just so you can use it to sit the camera on and rotate it (sort of) around the central point?

[blarg]

Hmmm, might work in many cases. And then just rotate it slightly for each shot.

Good idea.

As I say, French houses (the traditional ones) are awful or interior shots. I think it's one reason why real estate here is so poorly presented. That and the crap descriptions.

Anyway, Ebay, here I come....

[rpcrowe]

I use a small SLIK Pro 330DX tripod which weighs less than a kilo without a head and with a short center column. This tripod stands only about 1.5 meters tall. I use a Flashpoint Magnesium Swiss Arca Compatible ball head available from New York City based Adorama .

The entire setup weighs only 1.22 Kilograms but the Arca Compatible head allows me to use a Really Right Stuff L-Bracket so that I can shoot my images in the vertical or portrait configuration. This allows me greater top to bottom coverage while the side to side coverage is controlled by the number of exposures which I stitch together. The L-bracket also keeps the camera directly over the ball head, making stitching easier. I use the stitching program in Photoshop CS3.

I bounce my flash but, I do not have the flash attached directly to the camera. I have it attached with an off camera cord and on a separate small light stand so that the lighting will be the same throughout the various exposures.

I also shoot in manual so that my exposures will match. It is really a fairly simple and easy way to shoot panos.

However, if you cannot accommodate a tripod in the small spaces where you shoot; a careful photographer can make do with a monopod. I still like an Arca Compatible head with an L-bracket on the monopod. Kirk enterprises MPA-1 is one of these