"Virtual" wide angle via stitching seems to have less distortion

David J. Littleboy wrote:

I have a true panoramic camera (swing lens)
and if the horizon isn't perfectly level it will come out curved.

So use a different tool. Use a shift lens.

Not an option, swing lens cameras don't use interchangeable lenses. In
spite of their limitations they have one big advantage over stitched panos -
the ability to include movement, for example crashing waves on the shore,
branches swaying in the wind, or even fast moving clouds racing across the
sky.

The same thing happens with stitching software.

So use a shift lens to get the composition you want...

That would be an option, but to be honest I don't take that many stitched
panos and I don't find it a problem to level the camera and crop later. Now
that I've got PTGui, curved horizons can be corrected fairly easily anyway,
or I could take multiple rows of shots and simply keep the central row
levelled.

As a general rule though, I try to choose a viewpoint which gives me as much
interest above as below the horizon so that the image doesn't need to be
cropped. Provided there's no actual horizon visible in the image it's not
likely to offend the rule-of-thirds fantatics.

In fact, it can often be difficult to visualise what a stitched pano
will eventually look like so it's worth covering a larger area than
you think you'll need in order to give yourself some leeway for a
nice crop afterwards.

But the above is _really really really_ good advice. I shot the
following one at 13mm (300D + 10-22mm) and should have used 12, or
even 11 (the building at the left got clipped). Oops.

http://www.pbase.com/davidjl/image/43504169/large

Very nice image, almost... :-)

I've often made that mistake in the past. The thing to remember is that
it's the centre of the edges that bulges out when lens distortion is
corrected, so that's what tends to get clipped. If there are important
details that you don't want to be clipped, try to ensure they are visible in
the corners of the frame as you pan.

Paul

Mr.T wrote:


"David J. Littleboy" wrote in message
...
So use a different tool. Use a shift lens. On a 1.6x camera the +/- 11 mm
of
shift provided by the Canon TSE lenses means that with the camera mounted
perfectly level, you can place the horizon anywhere from 3 mm above the
frame to 3 mm below the frame (landscape orientation of the camera) or
anywhere from 1 mm from the top of the frame to 1 mm from the bottom of
the
frame with the camera mounted vertically.

Good advice for those who can justify it's cost. (or a proper view camera
even.)
For those who can't, more shots and more work in photoshop is required.

If you can't afford the Canon, the Russian TS lenses are reported to work
remarkably well, especially given their prices.

MrT.

--
--John
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