photo stitching/large pano guru's help needed

Hey all...

So i have a bit of an issue, I have been given the task of creating a large (gigapixel image) which will be of an indoor labratory, the issue i am having is the equipment is dark, the lab is dark, I only have approximately 3ft of room to take these pictures.
What i have done so far was to put my 50mm prime onto my T1i, on a tripod and shoot the pictures, i am moving the tripod left/right, up/down to get everything into view (160+ images). The problem I am having is that when I move the tripod to capture more of the equipment, the perspective changes and when it comes time to PP in either Photoshop or Autopano, the software freaks out and can't compensate for the multiple perspectives....
What can i do?
here is an image or 2 of what I am trying to photograph...

http://t5qmra.blu.live​filestore.com …19-10%20images%20copy.jpg



http://t5qmra.blu.live​filestore.com …/Diesel%20Trail​er_163.jpg

That's the wrong way to go about it essentially. You need to minimise camera movement around the axis of the lens, even using a normal ball head will introduce parallax errors, particularly close up, which the software will be unable to stitch. You need to shoot a panorama from only one position for it to work.

If you've only got 3ft of space, reducing these errors will be crucial. Really you need a dedicated panoramic head such as a Nodal Ninja head. Alternatively, if you're a bit handy with wood/metalwork, you might be able to fashion something yourself.

Yep, what the Shepherd said. You need a pano head capable of rotating your gear around the len's entrance pupil (usually, and incorrectly, called the nodal point).

Given the dynamic range of the stuff you're shooting, you may also need to consider HDR - both Hugin and PTGui can handle this. I'm not sure if Autopano will.

To acquire the images you have a couple of choices - 1) fix your camera position and rotate about the nodal point of the lens (like suggested above) or 2) keep the camera perpendicular to the plane of the wall of equipment and pan the tripod/camera parallel to the wall, like a scanner. In the second case you would set the height of the camera, scan across the scene, then change the height of the camera and rescan - think about it in terms of breaking the scene into scanlines. It sounds like option 2 may not be possible, if you only have 3 feet of space in which to work.

If you are going with option 1, consider a wider angle lens - possibly even a fisheye. Most stitching programs are capable of stitching fisheye pano shots.

Are you shooting just that one wall of racks of equipment, or the entire (rectangular?) room? Do you need to capture the ceiling and floor (zenith and nadir)? Is this for print? You ma also want to consider some more attractive lighting, maybe blue gelled lighting to give some interesting hi-tech accents on the equipment, etc.

Good luck.

Kirk

I'd prefer to use a lens just wide enough to get the height you need for a vertical shot. Why push the limits of the software if you don't have to?

Maybe kick in some manual flash for a second series & see how that works with the situation you have there.
Simple "every-day-emergency" location lighting

After looking at the second shot you posted I would say a wider lens would be needed. Also as Frank pointed out, a vertical shot would be the best choice (as it usually is for pano's). If I only had 3 feet to work with I'd move the camera rig parallel to the equipment for each shot. Use manual settings to keep the exposure the same and Kirk's idea for a blue gel would add some nice detail to the shot as well. Again, shoot it manually including the flash. Have them wipe the equipment down too. You don't want smudges and lint on everything.

I know everyone has their favorite pano stitching applications but I still like PhotoStitch. It's always worked fine for the stuff I've done. It may have even come with your T1 software.

Jon.

If you're cheap, you don't really need a dedicated panoramic head. All you really need for your current head is an adjustable quick release plate that is long enough to move the camera so that the center of the entrance pupil of the lens is collinear with the axis of rotation.

To do this, simply use the DOF preview button to stop down the diaphragm and look through the front of the lens. The apparent location of the aperture is the entrance pupil. If you visually estimate where this is located, you can usually get acceptably close to the correct point around which to rotate the camera.

However, this method only works well if you need to take photos about a single axis, and not both horizontally and vertically, for example. That's what the special panoramic heads are for.

I find it amusing how "Nodal Ninja" uses the wrong optical terminology to describe the correct point about which to rotate the camera to eliminate parallax. But "Entrance Pupil Ninja" doesn't roll off the tongue quite so smoothly.

yeah, what other have said about rotating the camera around the nodal point in the lens should resolve your issue.

I build my own camera mount that allowed me to shoot this kind of stuff in portrait and landscape camera positions out of a couple or flash brackets. It worked well. Just search the Internet for nodal point and you'll find plenty of articles o how to determine a lens's nodal point.

Hey thanks for the tips, it's all been quite educational.

For some of the questions you all had.

Scottes--- I have a 580EX II. With the flash do you think it will still be necessary to do an HDR set for each "block" of the panorama?

kirkt--- I am only photographing the equipment, not the ceiling or anything else. The reason i am doing this is because we are spending some $$$$ to put an image on the side of our mobile lab.
we have hired a separate company to design these images and this is what they have come up with... we think an image on the inside of the lab (my task)... on the outside would be visually appealing.
To answer the question you are all asking now... yes our main lab is inside a trailer... We do onroad diesel emissions testing/certification.​...
We are hired by EPA, CARB, Cummins, Detroit, Mercedes Benz, and any other heavy duty diesel engine manufacturer to do emissions testing.
we charge the EPA/CARB $2k per test... when things are busy depending on the program, we will run 12 tests a day for them... and ya wonder why california has no $

I do not advise using flash at all, for two reasons:

1. If you are using a very wide angle lens, a flash will not give you even illumination across the frame.

2. Flash will give you a stark look to the equipment that is not particularly flattering, and for any reflective objects, a stitched panorama will show multiple flash highlights off each reflective surface. The lighting will look unnatural.

Because you will be using a tripod anyway, my suggestion is to simply increase the exposure time. Don't use too high an ISO, keep it at most 400-800. This will cause some of the instrumentation to glow a bit brightly, but that is how the actual interior looks without the additional light a flash would provide.

Again, be sure to align the entrance pupil of the lens with the panoramic axis, according to the instructions I provided earlier.

wickerprints wrote in post #8592497
I do not advise using flash at all, for two reasons:

1. If you are using a very wide angle lens, a flash will not give you even illumination across the frame.

2. Flash will give you a stark look to the equipment that is not particularly flattering, and for any reflective objects, a stitched panorama will show multiple flash highlights off each reflective surface. The lighting will look unnatural.

Because you will be using a tripod anyway, my suggestion is to simply increase the exposure time. Don't use too high an ISO, keep it at most 400-800. This will cause some of the instrumentation to glow a bit brightly, but that is how the actual interior looks without the additional light a flash would provide.

Again, be sure to align the entrance pupil of the lens with the panoramic axis, according to the instructions I provided earlier.

The lab is poorly lit and with standard flourescent tubes...
What about having the flash + diffuser be stationary on a stand, would that not solve the multiple flash highlights issue?

If that does not work out i do not mind having long exposure times as i do have a remote shutter....

seems i will need to do some experimentation....

thanks again!

So i've been doing some thinking about my situation here... I sort of have a plan on how to reproduce the effect of a pano-head. Since i am in an enclosed room i will hang a plumbob from the ceiling directly in the middle of the image i want to capture. From there i center the plumbob with the nodal point of the lens. When it comes time to rotate the camera to capture more of the equipment i move the tripod and re-center the lens under the plumbob...

What do ya all think?

Sounds like a plan, if a fiddly one. Have you searched on DIY panoramic heads? Some folk have knocked up reasonable contraptions using only a bit of MDF/ply and some fixings.

ewitt wrote in post #8616087
What do ya all think?

Been there, done that. Exercise in frustration probably.

Tried it once, then made something out op an old QR and a flash bracket.

With PTgui you can take different exposures of different angles of view, i took +1 for the sky, 0 for the "normal" view and +1 for the ground . The panorama came out seamless and pleasing. (btw im not a guru)