# What Lenses Do You Use for Panoramics?



## mackguyver (May 6, 2014)

Since starting to take panoramic shots more seriously a year or so ago by purchasing a basic RRS single-row pano kit, I've struggled a bit to find my footing with the best lens(es) to use. Lenses in the 35-70mm are frequently recommended, but I've seen mind-blowing panos at much wider and longer focal lengths.

I've been most successful with my 50L (seriously) and mildly successful with my 24-70II at 24-35mm but I'm very curious to hear to what others use and why. If find the 24-70II to have rather high distortion at 24-35 that makes stitching more challenging, whereas the 50L shots always come together perfectly.

If you use primes vs. zooms, or other lenses altogether (macro, fisheye, tilt/shift, etc.) I'd like to hear about that as well.


----------



## J.R. (May 6, 2014)

OK, don't laugh ... The lens I've found most useful for Panoramas is the 40mm pancake - the negligible distortion is a breeze to work with. In fact, I was guided to it by Sporgon here on CR - BTW, I really like his work. 

I recently got the 17mm TS-E lens which has a stellar reputation. I'm still getting my head around the various tilt and shift movements so I haven't tried creating panoramas with it. The learning curve is extremely steep and I'm struggling with time constraints these days


----------



## mackguyver (May 6, 2014)

J.R. said:


> OK, don't laugh ... The lens I've found most useful for Panoramas is the 40mm pancake - the negligible distortion is a breeze to work with. In fact, I was guided to it by Sporgon here on CR - BTW, I really like his work.
> 
> I recently got the 17mm TS-E lens which has a stellar reputation. I'm still getting my head around the various tilt and shift movements so I haven't tried creating panoramas with it. The learning curve is extremely steep and I'm struggling with time constraints these days


That makes total sense and as much (or as little) sense as my using the 50L. I have a TS-E 17 on the way, too, and can't wait to use it. Once you get the hang of it (have you watched the latest tutorial from Canon: Tilt-Shift Lens Basics with Vincent Laforet?) it's awesome. He makes it look easy in the video, but remember that he's been using them for many, many years. The videos are a great overview, though, the best I've seen.

Panos with the T/S are extremely easy if there's nothing the very near foreground. You just rotate shift to the side, shift to -11, shoot, shift to -6, shoot, 0, +6, and +11, and you're done. You can even skip the -6 and +6 settings (at least with the 24mm) if you don't have time. For panos with trees or other objects in the foreground that can cause parallax issues, here's a simple way to eliminate parallax with the TS-E lenses from Outback Photo: Workflow Technique #058: Avoiding Parallax while Stitching with Shift Lenses. Solution #2 in the article is particularly easy if you have a RRS plate.


----------



## Don Haines (May 6, 2014)

It all depends on the subject...

I wanted massive detail of a site so I shot a pano using a 200mm lens.... but that's certainly the exception to the rule...

Most of the panos that I shoot are because a wide angle lens introduces too much distortion and they end up being handheld, portrait mode, two or three rows of 5 to 10 shots. If you are going handheld, you need more overlap to compensate for lack of accurate framing, so I end up using 24mm to keep the number of shots down yet avoiding that fisheye look.....

Sometimes you need to go "free form". I tried a panorama in a gazebo, and you had to be very careful to not get the center of an image in a screen or it would not stitch together.... another hint, avoid blue skies. Images stitch a lot better when there are clouds.

My favourite pano lens is the 17-55 on a crop body. The range lets you either go for a lower number of shots and less detail, or many shots and higher detail. On a FF it's the 24-70 for all the same reasons.


----------



## tolusina (May 6, 2014)

Ditto on the 40mm pancake.

I'm using Microsoft ICE to stitch with, takes CR2s as input, I take output as tiff though I'm sure there are other choices.
RSS angle bracket, level tripod head base and QR plate, nodal rail, 6D in portrait, auto rotate switched on, full manual exposure and focus, live view or tethered live view.
I eyeball overlap about 2/3, recent sets have been 13 frames for 180 degree coverage. ICE stitches such a set in less than two minutes (on this hardware, YMMV), if I've corrected for parallax, lighting is consistent and nothing moves, I see no artifacts.

I have PSE 11 and GIMP 2.8.10, neither can deal with 16 bit color. 
I have stitched jpgs in PSE, results were ok though the file size was quite large compared to ICE's output from raw input, that puzzles me.

8 bit, 16 bit, I can't see the difference, but, conceptually, gotta have 16 bit.

On a lark, I tried a handheld pano sweep in burst mode, got a lot of parallax error artifacts. Deleted all. Learn from failure.

I tried Canon's Photostitch, it stinks, totally garbage. Resolution was destroyed, obnoxiously obvious artifacts, just awful.
---
What is your pano workflow?
I'd especially like hearing from Sporgon.




.


----------



## J.R. (May 6, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> J.R. said:
> 
> 
> > OK, don't laugh ... The lens I've found most useful for Panoramas is the 40mm pancake - the negligible distortion is a breeze to work with. In fact, I was guided to it by Sporgon here on CR - BTW, I really like his work.
> ...



Thanks a lot for the links and the suggestions. These should be very useful. 

I don't have the RRS plate. RRS is not available in India  I plan to get the RRS tripod, ball head, focusing rails and other accessories when I visit the US later this year ... A long wait.


----------



## eli452 (May 6, 2014)

I got the best results with the 24 TS. Good ones with the 24-105 f/4L at about 50mm. Curious enough good one with the 8-15 Fisheye (If you call stitching 2 shoots a pano, but that all it took to cover the scene). The software I use is the "Kolor autopano giga".


----------



## Sporgon (May 6, 2014)

J.R. said:


> OK, don't laugh ... The lens I've found most useful for Panoramas is the 40mm pancake - the negligible distortion is a breeze to work with. In fact, I was guided to it by Sporgon here on CR - BTW, I really like his work.
> 
> I recently got the 17mm TS-E lens which has a stellar reputation. I'm still getting my head around the various tilt and shift movements so I haven't tried creating panoramas with it. The learning curve is extremely steep and I'm struggling with time constraints these days



Thanks J.R. Yes the 40 pancake is my default lens now, assuming no IS required. It has zero distortion and a short nodal point meaning that it (generally) stitches together very easily with little after corrections needed. I don't bother with a sliding panoramic plate anymore as the recent stitching programs are so good.

When in portrait the vertical field of view of a 40 mm is about the same as the vertical field of view of a 24 mm in landscape orientation, so people who like 24 mm are going to find panos with the 40 familiar territory. 

However as Don says, it does depend on where you are and what you are trying to produce. I've attached a few pictures that range from 400 mm, 189 mm ( 135L+1.4II converter), 135 mm, 40 mm and 28 mm. 

On the 189 mm shot I was on the side of a hill and couldn't move any closer without losing too much altitude. In the 135 mm shot I needed to get the trees in front of the minster out of the way as much as possible. By moving back the trees become smaller in relation to the building behind. Google images of Beverely Minster and you'll see how when you are closer the trees obscure more of the church. In the 40 mm shot it was the right framing for the perspective I wanted, and lastly on the 28 mm pano I couldn't move any further back for a number of reasons. 

@Mack, not at all surprised on the 50L. I'm sure you are shooting in portrait so over lapping the long side of the sensor takes away the edge resolution. The sky takes away perceived resolution in the top part, but most importantly you are creating a larger format and so the enlargement of each frame is much less, and is much more forgiving on the lens. ( Just like MF / LF does not put nearly so much pressure on the resolving power of the lens. 

I can honestly say that in my panoramics it is _impossible_ to tell the difference in print between the 24-105L @5.6 - 8 and lenses such as the 35L or 135L at the same apertures. 

I would never use a 17 mm lens for a panoramic.


----------



## RobertG. (May 7, 2014)

Hi,
I use mainly the TS-E 24mm II. But the TS-E 45mm is also used from time to time. Seldomly the TS-E 90mm is used, although it is clearly sharper than the TS-E 45mm. I use some mm of shift in almost every panorama to compose the picture. But I try to avoid multi row panos, so normal lenses are no longer used. In the past I had good results with the EF 35m L and the EF 50mm f1.4 too.

I like the view of wide angle lenses (24 till 35mm) but I don't like the perspective change of super wide angle lenses because of the too strong accentuation of the foreground. With the tele lenses the compression of the scence is often clearly visible, no matter how wide the panorama later on is. The whole scene looks then easily a bit flat. So I choose the focal length depending on the intended compression of the scene and also the needed final picture size later on.


----------



## wickidwombat (May 7, 2014)

i know the 50 art will be my weapon of choice for pano from now on....


----------



## agierke (May 7, 2014)

the biggest problem with lens choice and panos is distortion and parallax. these issues are more likely to be a problem the wider the focal length used so i'm not surprised by those who have found the 40-50mm focal length ideal.

stitching software can mostly mitigate any problems that arise but sometimes cannot handle extreme instances of barrel distortion and parallax thus resulting in ghosting and dali-esque edges. it's usually not difficult to photoshop these errors by hand but it does add time to the PP.

ideally you would want to use a low distortion lens and correct for parallax using an appropriate tripod head but its certainly not a necessity anymore with the software solutions available.


----------



## mackguyver (May 7, 2014)

J.R. said:


> I don't have the RRS plate. RRS is not available in India  I plan to get the RRS tripod, ball head, focusing rails and other accessories when I visit the US later this year ... A long wait.


I'm sure India is a fascinating place to shoot, but not the best for getting things in terms of gear, based on your stories. Good luck with the RRS later this year and I hope you have fun with your new lens as well.



eli452 said:


> I got the best results with the 24 TS. Good ones with the 24-105 f/4L at about 50mm. Curious enough good one with the 8-15 Fisheye (If you call stitching 2 shoots a pano, but that all it took to cover the scene). The software I use is the "Kolor autopano giga".


2 shots for the fisheye, wow, I guess 180 degrees really is WIDE! I enjoy my TS-E 24 as well - it makes it so easy to do panos.



Sporgon said:


> I would never use a 17 mm lens for a panoramic.


Sporgon, as one of our resident pano masters, I appreciate your reply and the many excellent samples and explanations you posted! What a huge variety of focal lengths you use and I really like your work. I'm sure the 40mm works well and now I kind of wish I'd kept mine. As for the 17mm comment, I feel that way, too, but then I've found myself looking at some amazing panos and read that they were shot at 14-17mm  Obviously some scenes are suited for it.



RobertG. said:


> Hi,
> I use mainly the TS-E 24mm II. But the TS-E 45mm is also used from time to time. Seldomly the TS-E 90mm is used, although it is clearly sharper than the TS-E 45mm. I use some mm of shift in almost every panorama to compose the picture. But I try to avoid multi row panos, so normal lenses are no longer used. In the past I had good results with the EF 35m L and the EF 50mm f1.4 too.
> 
> I like the view of wide angle lenses (24 till 35mm) but I don't like the perspective change of super wide angle lenses because of the too strong accentuation of the foreground. With the tele lenses the compression of the scence is often clearly visible, no matter how wide the panorama later on is. The whole scene looks then easily a bit flat. So I choose the focal length depending on the intended compression of the scene and also the needed final picture size later on.


I find the T/S lenses are excellent as well and share your feelings about compression, though Sporgon's shots show that it can be done well when the scene calls for it.



wickidwombat said:


> i know the 50 art will be my weapon of choice for pano from now on....


When I saw how low the distortion was for this lens, that was my first thought - it's going to be great for pano!



agierke said:


> the biggest problem with lens choice and panos is distortion and parallax. these issues are more likely to be a problem the wider the focal length used so i'm not surprised by those who have found the 40-50mm focal length ideal.
> 
> stitching software can mostly mitigate any problems that arise but sometimes cannot handle extreme instances of barrel distortion and parallax thus resulting in ghosting and dali-esque edges. it's usually not difficult to photoshop these errors by hand but it does add time to the PP.
> 
> ideally you would want to use a low distortion lens and correct for parallax using an appropriate tripod head but its certainly not a necessity anymore with the software solutions available.


I've had the same issues, particularly with my 24-70II at 24mm. PS even had such a problem stitching that my composite has come up as 2 or 3 rows! Not good.


----------



## Sporgon (May 7, 2014)

RobertG. said:


> With the tele lenses the compression of the scene is often clearly visible, no matter how wide the panorama later on is. The whole scene looks then easily a bit flat.



So if you use a 150 mm lens on a 5x4 camera do you get compression ?  Or a 300 mm on a 10x8 ?


----------



## Sporgon (May 8, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> Sporgon, as one of our resident pano masters, I appreciate your reply and the many excellent samples and explanations you posted! What a huge variety of focal lengths you use and I really like your work. I'm sure the 40mm works well and now I kind of wish I'd kept mine.  As for the 17mm comment, I feel that way, too, but then I've found myself looking at some amazing panos and read that they were shot at 14-17mm  Obviously some scenes are suited for it.



That's the beauty of the 40 pancake; at that price and size you have absolutely no excuse for not getting another one  

It's a question of style really; a 17 mm would not suit my style at all.


----------



## Sporgon (May 8, 2014)

Here's a couple of different takes on the panoramic wide angle approach. Shot on 70 mm ( 24-70 f4 IS), and for all you guys who like an f1.4 or 1.2 for shallow depth of field: these were both shot at f10. ( But then I have had my leg pulled for saying 2 metres is a shallow dof  )


----------



## neuroanatomist (May 8, 2014)

I've used lenses from the 16-35 II to the 100-400 for panos, but the 24-70 II is the one I use most, usually in the 50-70mm range and in portrait orientation.


----------



## climber (May 8, 2014)

neuroanatomist said:


> I've used lenses from the 16-35 II to the 100-400 for panos, but the 24-70 II is the one I use most, usually in the 50-70mm range and in portrait orientation.



Do you also stitch several rows together?


----------



## neuroanatomist (May 8, 2014)

climber said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > I've used lenses from the 16-35 II to the 100-400 for panos, but the 24-70 II is the one I use most, usually in the 50-70mm range and in portrait orientation.
> ...



Sometimes, yes. My RRS gimbal works as a multi-row pano head.


----------



## mackguyver (May 8, 2014)

I was thinking about starting a photo sharing thread for Panos, but then I looked at my own work and realized I have yet to create one that I'm happy with  For me, the difficulty is in learning how to visualize the final scene, but like all things in photography, it's nothing that a whole lot of practice can't fix.


----------



## candc (May 9, 2014)

i have done a lot of panos and qtvr using a crop body and a 15mm fisheye with a panosaurus head then ptgui for the stitching

with the fisheye 2 rows portrait orientation 45 degree increments one row 30 deg and one at 60 deg plus a zenith and nadir. thats 18 shots total


----------



## Vivid Color (May 9, 2014)

What pano stitching software would you recommend for a Mac user?


----------



## Sporgon (May 9, 2014)

Vivid Color said:


> What pano stitching software would you recommend for a Mac user?



PTGui prof


----------



## Vivid Color (May 9, 2014)

Sporgon said:


> Vivid Color said:
> 
> 
> > What pano stitching software would you recommend for a Mac user?
> ...



Thank you, Sporgon!


----------



## David_in_Seattle (May 9, 2014)

When I have time to setup a tripod and filter kit, I'll use my 17mm or 24mm Tilt Shift lenses.

But when I don't have a tripod on me, then I'll use my 24-70 v2 at 24mm and will take overlapping photos then stitch them together in PS.


----------



## mackguyver (May 9, 2014)

David_in_Seattle said:


> When I have time to setup a tripod and filter kit, I'll use my 17mm or 24mm Tilt Shift lenses.
> 
> But when I don't have a tripod on me, then I'll use my 24-70 v2 at 24mm and will take overlapping photos then stitch them together in PS.


That's probably what I need to do from now on - you can't goof around or rush with TS-E lenses and expect good results


----------



## David_in_Seattle (May 9, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> David_in_Seattle said:
> 
> 
> > When I have time to setup a tripod and filter kit, I'll use my 17mm or 24mm Tilt Shift lenses.
> ...



Yeah. I often go on high elevation hikes and carrying a tripod in addition to my day pack is just too cumbersome. By the time I make it to the top of the mountain I'm already too tired to fiddle around with a tilt shift lens.

Even lugging around a 5Dmk3 with the 24-70 can be bothersome. Hence why I bring my 60D or 70D with the 17-55. Great for both photo and video while weighing at least a pound less...plus I'm not too concerned if I accidentally drop it off a cliff face.


----------



## Hjalmarg1 (Jun 4, 2014)

Very nice pictures


----------



## eml58 (Jun 4, 2014)

24TSE II, more recently Otus 55 

Software used to stitch, Autopana Giga 3.5

RRS Pano Head

Work in progress !!


----------



## Superka (Jun 4, 2014)

I use Fuji SW 90/8 on 617


----------



## Superka (Jun 4, 2014)

I use Fuji 45mm/4 on Fuji TX-1


----------



## Superka (Jun 4, 2014)

I use Canon 10-22 For SPH panoramics






*So, how should I vote?*


----------



## keithcooper (Jun 4, 2014)

*Depends on what the pano is for*

Depends on what the pano is for (and how much I'm being paid ;-)

For my hand held landscape work (1-3 metre prints) 24-70 2.8L or sometimes EF14. Up/down stitches with TS-E17

The attached one was created the other day when testing the new EF-S10-18 (hand held)

With a GigaPan:
For high res rectified architectural views TS-E90 or EF50 1.4
For very high detail EF70-200 2.8L

For multiview panoramic prints (10-15 metre prints) EF50 1.4
(A 'making of' overview http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/14m_pano_print.html )

All stitched with Autopano Giga
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/stuff2/?p=2651


----------



## mackguyver (Jun 4, 2014)

Wow, lots of activity on this post today, thank you guys for the information and the great photos. I'm learning a lot from everyone who's replied to this post and appreciate all of your responses. Panos are a source of frustration for me in terms of composition. I see the photo in my mind but when it's stitched together, it never seems to match my vision. The information and samples you're posting will be really helpful next time I attempt a pano. Thanks 8)


----------



## keithcooper (Jun 4, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> Wow, lots of activity on this post today, thank you guys for the information and the great photos. I'm learning a lot from everyone who's replied to this post and appreciate all of your responses. Panos are a source of frustration for me in terms of composition. I see the photo in my mind but when it's stitched together, it never seems to match my vision. The information and samples you're posting will be really helpful next time I attempt a pano. Thanks 8)



Glad it's all helping!

One problem that I see with a lot of pano shots, especially with gigapan based ones, is that it's often a case, of 'never mind the quality, see the width' - i.e. picture are taken because they _can_ be taken, rather than with the intent of creating a great image.

Visualising composition for a huge image is a skill, just like effective use of wide angle lenses. Choice of cropping on a stitched set of images can make all the difference (I've not the patience to try wide film ;-) 

One problem people have is that you often only see the real feel of an image as a big print - what works great as a 96" width print may look a bit weak on screen. 

I've a 72" canvas of this one outside of my office (my wife's choice, since we spent part of our honeymoon there  The perspective is spot on if you stand just across the landing, to look at it from about 5 feet away.

(hand held multiple shots with 24-70 on 1Ds3 - taken quickly to avoid wave stitching errors)


----------



## aroo (Jun 4, 2014)

I make a lot of big panos, almost always handheld. The 40mm pancake turned vertically is usually ideal. Also use the 24-105 @ 70mm pretty often, but I will really try any lens for panos. When stitching, my process is to shoot in RAW, pick the single image with most variety of tones and open it in ACR. Correct WB, exposure, color, sharpening, distortion and vignetting. Then apply those same settings to the whole batch and photomerge. This keeps PS from mangling the geometry, and helps even out continuous areas like the sky.


----------



## mackguyver (Jun 4, 2014)

Keith & aroo, thank you both for the additional tips! 

Keith, I have a large pano of the beach where my wife and I married/honeymooned as well, but I paid a lot of money for it. It's nice to have such a beautiful and personal shot of your honeymoon location. My goal is to go back to my location and try to top the photo we have  I understand what you're saying about trying to appreciate it on the small screen, too, and find that applies to a lot of my work, pano or not. There's a tendency these days to shoot for the thumbnail as I call it, but I'll save that discussion for another post. I've always focused on shooting for large prints.

aroo, I've had good luck using that same technique in post, and have often used DxO to pre-process my photos and then stitch them in PS. I haven't invested in the dedicated pano apps yet, as it doesn't comprise enough of my work to justify it, but I have had issues with PS, so I can see the value. The biggest problem I've had with PS is when the scenery is too homogenous or I didn't overlap enough. I end up with 2 or 3 rows of photos in PS, which is really irritating. I have a pano that I think turned out really well, but PS did this too it and after several tries to fix it, I gave up.


----------



## zim (Jun 4, 2014)

For holiday (ie casual) pano's and stitching

40mm Pancake vertical orientation
pre-processed in Dx0 Optics
stitched in PTGui
re-touched in PSE

Love that little pancake, must dig out some examples but will have to downsize them a heck of a lot not sure how that will turn out

(Also influenced by Sporgon's comments)

Regards


----------



## Sporgon (Jun 4, 2014)

keithcooper said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > Wow, lots of activity on this post today, thank you guys for the information and the great photos. I'm learning a lot from everyone who's replied to this post and appreciate all of your responses. Panos are a source of frustration for me in terms of composition. I see the photo in my mind but when it's stitched together, it never seems to match my vision. The information and samples you're posting will be really helpful next time I attempt a pano. Thanks 8)
> ...



I don't believe you can pan round faster that the wave action !

I certainly couldn't move faster than the water in these shots, especially as they are five-across, two-up panos, creating a sensor size of 60 x 90 (ish) and a megapixel count in the region of 100. 

First shot is Hardraw Force where the 1991 film Robin Hood, Price of Thieves' was shot, and I have included an enlargement of the little boy by the plunge pool. This was shot at 45 mil.

The second is Aysgarth falls, again used in the film where Robin fights Little John with Long Staffs for passage over the river. This ten frame pano was shot at 40 mil. 

These were shot hand held. I do prefer shooting panos this way for the greater freedom.


----------



## keithcooper (Jun 4, 2014)

Sporgon said:


> >>(hand held multiple shots with 24-70 on 1Ds3 - taken quickly to avoid wave stitching errors)
> 
> > I don't believe you can pan round faster that the wave action !



Actually you can - look how far they are way from where I'm standing... ;-)

It does of course get much more difficult if they are close too you.

But seriously, if there are moving elements in the pano, it does help to give some thought about potential stitching issues.


----------



## ray5 (Jun 4, 2014)

Sporgon said:


> J.R. said:
> 
> 
> > OK, don't laugh ... The lens I've found most useful for Panoramas is the 40mm pancake - the negligible distortion is a breeze to work with. In fact, I was guided to it by Sporgon here on CR - BTW, I really like his work.
> ...



Beautiful Images!


----------



## keithcooper (Jun 4, 2014)

*very wide options*

Although what works with it takes a lot more guesswork/experimentation, I've stitched 14mm shots, such as below and used a shifted TS-E17 for wide coverage.

To stitch vertically shifted images I first extend the canvas by twice the shift (the same technique that I use to fix residual CA if needed)

The wider the pano view, the more important it becomes to consider the projection geometry used after the initial stitching. 

Just a few more options to push things a bit beyond the usual pano look ;-)


----------



## DigitalDivide (Jun 5, 2014)

Superka said:


> I use Fuji SW 90/8 on 617



Nice shots Superka! I was wondering if someone would mention any of the medium format panoramic film cameras. I'm curious - did you need to use a center filter for these pictures?

I have lusted after the Fuji GX-617 for a while, but it is a bit expensive for what would be very much a niche camera for me. Even more so the insanely pricey Horeseman models. I do however have a Noblex 6/150 Pro that I recently got on eBay; it just came back from a complete overhaul and repair, and I'm really looking forward to using it for the first time. 8)


----------



## aroo (Jun 5, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> I end up with 2 or 3 rows of photos in PS, which is really irritating.


Ya for sure. Break them up into smaller groups and then stitch the stitches, it usually works!


----------



## mackguyver (Jun 5, 2014)

aroo said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > I end up with 2 or 3 rows of photos in PS, which is really irritating.
> ...


Hmm, didn't try that one. I'll have to dig those photos up this weekend and give them another try. Thanks for the tip!


----------



## Logan (Jun 5, 2014)

17-40 handheld unless the subject is very far away, then 70-200 
photoshops auto stitching, on auto or sometimes cylindrical.


----------



## Vern (Jun 5, 2014)

I most often use the 24mm TS II for it's optical quality and ability to shift for seamless, distortion free panos. Also use the 70-200 II a lot.

Here's a pano from Canyonlands, the Needles, Druid Arch - 4 portrait oriented shots w the 24 + HDR. Too wide an angle to cover by shifting this time.


----------



## Superka (Jun 5, 2014)

DigitalDivide said:


> Superka said:
> 
> 
> > I use Fuji SW 90/8 on 617
> ...



Hello! Yes, I use Center ND, for 617 and 90mm it is a "must have". 
Fuji GX is really expensive. I use Chinese DaYi camera, there is also Gaoersi brand, that is more affordable then Fuji. Still, there is one great camera for 6x17 - it is Shen Hao PTB 617. I never used it, but those who did - were happy. If I would buy 6x17 now, I'll go for Shen Hao PTB 617, probably. 
I don't like Noblex because of its cylindrical projection. I prefer rectangular.


----------



## surapon (Jun 5, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> Since starting to take panoramic shots more seriously a year or so ago by purchasing a basic RRS single-row pano kit, I've struggled a bit to find my footing with the best lens(es) to use. Lenses in the 35-70mm are frequently recommended, but I've seen mind-blowing panos at much wider and longer focal lengths.
> 
> I've been most successful with my 50L (seriously) and mildly successful with my 24-70II at 24-35mm but I'm very curious to hear to what others use and why. If find the 24-70II to have rather high distortion at 24-35 that makes stitching more challenging, whereas the 50L shots always come together perfectly.
> 
> If you use primes vs. zooms, or other lenses altogether (macro, fisheye, tilt/shift, etc.) I'd like to hear about that as well.




Dear Friend, Mr. mackguyver .
Yes, Long time ago, I use most 24 mm Lens ( 24-70 mm) to take 3-4 Photos and Stitch to gather in PS.
But Until last year, I get TS-E 24 mm. F/ 3.5 L MK II and never go back to use 24-70 L for Panoramic again.
Yes, For TS-E, I use Shift ( Vertical position VIA. Camera Body), and get 3 times of larged files.
Yes, I just get 14 MM Lens, But I never use for Panoramic Photos, because of the Distortion of the edges of the photo that hard to get the great Stitched Photo.
And So many time that I use 8 mm Fish eye Lens and shoot at the middle of the View, For Minimum Fish eyes effect, and Crop as the Panoramic Picture.
Have a great day, Sir.
See you next 12 days, After I come back from Utah National Parks Trip.
Surapon


----------



## atkinsr (Jun 5, 2014)

Assuming distance isn't an issue (requiring either super telephoto or ultra wide angle), when I shoot panoramas, it's usually with the idea of printing a large image, so i tend to shoot vertical with the highest resolution lens I have with me. if I plan on going *really* large (canvas, etc) and I'm stitching anyway, I will sometimes zoom in as far as possible and take a ton of images (20-30 isn't uncommon) and make one large image out of them for increased pixel density... something akin to (though smaller than) a gigapixel type image.


----------



## surapon (Jun 5, 2014)

Yes, Long time ago, I use most 24 mm Lens ( 24-70 mm) to take 3-4 Photos and Stitch to gather in PS.
But Until last year, I get TS-E 24 mm. F/ 3.5 L MK II and never go back to use 24-70 L for Panoramic again.
Yes, For TS-E, I use Shift ( Vertical position VIA. Camera Body), and get 3 times of larged files.
Yes, I just get 14 MM Lens, But I never use for Panoramic Photos, because of the Distortion of the edges of the photo that hard to get the great Stitched Photo.
And So many time that I use 8 mm Fish eye Lens and shoot at the middle of the View, For Minimum Fish eyes effect, and Crop as the Panoramic Picture.


----------



## Rocky (Jun 5, 2014)

In my mind, the reason of making Pano is because the lens is not wide enough to cover the scene that you want. On the survey, I see the percentage of people using normal and tele is almost the same as people using wide or ultra wide. If you can take one picture with the wide lens, why people want to stitch 4 picture from a normal lens to get the same scene? If the scenery includes water or trees, you can never get a perfect stitched scenery if you look at it at pixel level.


----------



## DigitalDivide (Jun 5, 2014)

Superka said:


> Hello! Yes, I use Center ND, for 617 and 90mm it is a "must have".
> Fuji GX is really expensive. I use Chinese DaYi camera, there is also Gaoersi brand, that is more affordable then Fuji. Still, there is one great camera for 6x17 - it is Shen Hao PTB 617. I never used it, but those who did - were happy. If I would buy 6x17 now, I'll go for Shen Hao PTB 617, probably.
> I don't like Noblex because of its cylindrical projection. I prefer rectangular.



Thanks - I have seen some of the Chinese options online and wondered if they were any good. I haven't come across Shen Hao though, I will have to keep an eye out for it.

Yes, the Noblex is a swing lens design so the projection is quite different. It will be interesting to see how I get on with it. I think I will have to be careful with my choice of subject matter - architecture is probably to be avoided unless you want a very particular effect, or you prefer your buildings to be cigar-shaped!  It is also crucial to ensure that the camera is precisely level, and it is equipped with bubble levels for this purpose (one of which is visible through the viewfinder for handheld shots).

To (sort of) answer the original question posed by the thread, my Noblex features a Tessar 50mm f/4.5 lens which swings through an arc of 146 degrees. By my calculation this is approximately equivalent to stitching with a 35mm lens on FF in portrait mode or 24mm in landscape orientation, which seems to be within the range of what most people here are using.

One big advantage of the swing lens design is that light reaches the lens through a narrow slit, so there is no issue with sharpness in the corners - even with 146 degrees of view, which is wider than anything short of an 8-15 fisheye zoom on the Canon. 8)


----------



## keithcooper (Jun 5, 2014)

Rocky said:


> In my mind, the reason of making Pano is because the lens is not wide enough to cover the scene that you want. On the survey, I see the percentage of people using normal and tele is almost the same as people using wide or ultra wide. If you can take one picture with the wide lens, why people want to stitch 4 picture from a normal lens to get the same scene? If the scenery includes water or trees, you can never get a perfect stitched scenery if you look at it at pixel level.



Larger more detailed prints - I regularly print full width on our 44" Canon iPF8300

The 72" wide shot of Cannon beach I showed earlier would be a pretty low res crop from a single shot.

As to perfect stitching - it's a compromise and sometimes requires more post production work than others. Fortunately stitching software continues to get smarter, meaning I very rarely have to do much work related to stitching errors.

Trees and water are not the problem they might seem (it needs practice though - one reason I'm regularly trying panos, even if not for an actual print).

As to "perfect stitched scenery if you look at it at pixel level" - I don't really care, since it's the overall print that matters. The only people who can spot tiny stitching errors are people who do a lot of panoramic work, and they never ever buy prints ;-)


----------



## Rocky (Jun 6, 2014)

keithcooper said:


> Rocky said:
> 
> 
> > In my mind, the reason of making Pano is because the lens is not wide enough to cover the scene that you want. On the survey, I see the percentage of people using normal and tele is almost the same as people using wide or ultra wide. If you can take one picture with the wide lens, why people want to stitch 4 picture from a normal lens to get the same scene? If the scenery includes water or trees, you can never get a perfect stitched scenery if you look at it at pixel level.
> ...


Thanks. That answers quite a few questions in my mind. I have done a lot of stitching, mainly for the scenery that I cannot capture with my widest lens. at pixel level I can see the wave of the sea does not match and the trees does not match due to the wind. Now you have confirmed that is normal. Thanks


----------



## Superka (Jun 7, 2014)

*Some of my thoughts about panoramics and how I came to it.*

*http://superka-01.livejournal.com/2616.html*


----------



## dgatwood (Jun 9, 2014)

Rocky said:


> In my mind, the reason of making Pano is because the lens is not wide enough to cover the scene that you want. On the survey, I see the percentage of people using normal and tele is almost the same as people using wide or ultra wide. If you can take one picture with the wide lens, why people want to stitch 4 picture from a normal lens to get the same scene? If the scenery includes water or trees, you can never get a perfect stitched scenery if you look at it at pixel level.



Speaking only for myself, I enjoy creating 360-degree panoramas. Sadly, even my 16-35 L II won't go that wide.


----------

