Panoramic tripod head for 5D MKIII

Folks, I have been thinking very hard on whether or not to get the 17-40 for my iceland trip, but due to circumstances...I will anyway not manage to get it, so the problem is gone. I never liked the lens...if this would have been 14-24 of Nikon...a different story.
I will manage to cover it with 24mm...whatI will do is I will take several shots for a panorama and stitch them later. It will give a better effect.

I only have a ballhead. Can you suggest a good head for panoramas? Thank you for your help.

light_pilgrim wrote in post #16304568
I will manage to cover it with 24mm...whatI will do is I will take several shots for a panorama and stitch them later.

I only have a ballhead. Can you suggest a good head for panoramas? .

A lot of ballheads have panoramic rotation. I have a Manfrotto 498 that works well.

Ballhead is never perfect.....rotating is not everything....keeping a perfect angle is important and ballhead is not ideal here

I love ball heads from Sunwayfoto. I now have three tripods and all three have Sunwayfoto ball heads. And I have used them for panoramas with a lot of successes.

A ballhead with a panning base works - you just need to level the base of the head. Easier is a panning clamp that sits on (or in place of) the clamp you currently use. Then you don't have to level the base (PITA because you have to tweak the tripod legs) you use the ball itself to level the RRS panning clamp (or Sunwayfoto's)and voila

too late for this trip, but this is what I will get for my next one

http://reallyrightstuf​f.com …3a-PG-02-Full-Gimbal-Head

light_pilgrim wrote in post #16306160
too late for this trip, but this is what I will get for my next one

http://reallyrightstuf​f.com …3a-PG-02-Full-Gimbal-Head

That would be serious overkill! I suspect you are joking, but just in case not... That's primarily a large lens head, 300/2.8 and up. Yes, it can double for panoramic purposes, but IMO there are better choices if you don't need the large lens handling capabilities.

If really into panoramics and willing to spend that kind of money, I'd be looking at the Gigipan system. More info and example photos here: www.gigapan.com (site seems to be having some problems right now). George Lepp's article in Outdoor Photographer is helpful, too.

Another option for half the price if you don't NEED the gimbal for really big lenses is the Acratech GP. It works well as a gimbal for up to my 400 f5.6, and the head can be reversed to use as a level panorama head. I have the GP and the GP-s and they are both flawless. Do a search here and you will find some good reviews of them.

light_pilgrim wrote in post #16306160
too late for this trip, but this is what I will get for my next one

http://reallyrightstuf​f.com …3a-PG-02-Full-Gimbal-Head

If you want something similar, I can sell you my Wimberley WH-200.

RRS makes arguably the best heads. But I think you can find a better choice from RRS that's not so expensive and fits your needs perfectly.

light_pilgrim wrote in post #16306160
too late for this trip, but this is what I will get for my next one

http://reallyrightstuf​f.com …3a-PG-02-Full-Gimbal-Head

Yeah, a gimbal mount might serve dual purposes: tracking birds (for instance)with a super telephoto as well as being used as a pano head. FWIW, I've tried using a Wimberley gimbal head for shooting panos, but was disappointed with the results.

But you'll also need a nodal slide with that gimbal mount to make it a true pano head that will correct for parallax (nodal point) errors.

Now having said that, I schlepped my 1D IV with a 24-70 f/2.8 lens up Mt. Mansfield a couple of years ago - without any tripod. My goal was to shoot a panoramic view from the summit. Twenty-two separate shots were taken simply by rotating my torso & making sure there was sufficient overlap between any two shots.

Ps CS5 Extended was used to stich all of the photos together; see the results below.

My point is not that this is an example of a really fantastic panorama, but rather the stitching capabilities that CS5 provides us these days - even when the pano is shot freehand.

Of course I know that things will not work out so well if I were to shoot, say, a church interior; there would probably be plenty of stitching errors on repetitive stuff like the pews.

For that I have the RRS panorama multi-row package. Combined with a RRS ballhead, it makes shooting even 360 degree panos fast, simple, and accurate. See:

http://reallyrightstuf​f.com …Omni-Pivot-Package&key=it

Hope this helps.

- Mike

Gregg.Siam wrote in post #16306429
RRS makes arguably the best heads. But I think you can find a better choice from RRS that's not so expensive and fits your needs perfectly.

Can you recommend?

I own pano gear from RRS and Nodal Ninja, and shoot a lot of panos.

If you want to shoot single row panos, you may not need anything more than your ballhead. This is especially true when using a shorter lens and if your subjects are not within 10 feet of the camera. Having an L-plate is necessary for verticals. Try to overlap about 25-30% between shots. You'll be surprised how much you can get away with when stitching in Photoshop CS5 or CS6.

The next step for single row would be to use a nodal slide with your ballhead. I prefer the RRS 192 FAS because you can use it with ultrawide and fisheye lenses. You can also check out cheaper options from Sunwayfoto and Hejnar on eBay. http://reallyrightstuf​f.com …?key=cat&code=N​odalSlides

If you want to level the axis of rotation, you can use a panning clamp on top of your ballhead, such as the RRS PCL-1, Benro PC-0, or Sunwayfoto DDH-02. Another option is to use an inverted ballhead design like the Acratech GP or Arca Swiss p0.

If you want to shoot multi-row, consider the Nodal Ninja 4 series as a much less expensive alternative to the RRS PG-02 system: http://shop.nodalninja​.com/nodal-ninja-4/

The PanoTools wiki has a long list of other options: http://wiki.panotools.​org/Heads

Cheers,

Joe

I use the Nodal Ninja 4 for 360-degree interior panos, and am satisfied with it. Build quality is good, and it's plenty heavy-duty enough for the moderately large 5D3 body. Comes with a carrying case for secure storage and travel.

I picked up the Acratech pano-head and nodal rail and love it: http://acratech.net/pr​oduct.php?productid=84 Very small and compact, sturdy, quality... no problems except finding the time to get out and shoot with it.