korfhage@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/08/85)
Sometimes, particularly in mountains or desert, I come across scenes that
just scream for a 360 degree panorama or some other very wide angle shot.
In these cases, taking pictures with a wide angle lens on a 35 mm camera
just doesn't cut it - you get an enormous expanse of sky, and your landscape
is reduced to a thin strip occupying only a fraction of the negative.
Because I can't afford a Widelux or other specialty camera, I take a tip from
NASA and take a number of photos of the scene and mount them together to
form one large photograph.
This works very well on some occasions and awful on others; obviously I
haven't figured out the proper technique. Is there anyone out there who has
done this and can give the world some tips on taking panoramas?
Specific questions:
- Exposure: the proper exposure can vary immensely over 360 degrees. If all
exposures are metered individually, without out regard for the others, the
edges may be hard to match up nicely, with regard to color or darkness. But
if you leave the camera on one exposure setting, you may get horrible
over/under exposure. What is the proper balance between these extremes?
- Lenses and matching the size of objects: What is the best way to match the
size of the objects in the protographs? You don't want an object big in
one photograph and small in another - you'll never be able to line up the
photos. Is the standard 50 mm lens best? Can I use a short telephoto and
still make a good composite image? I know that wide angle lenses don't work
at all for such matters.
Thanks very much.
--
Willard Korfhage
ARPA : korfhage@ucla-ats.arpa
UUCP : {ucbvax,ihnp4,randvax,trwrb!trwspp,ism780}!ucla-cs!korfhagehoward@sfmag.UUCP (H.M.Moskovitz) (12/11/85)
> > Sometimes, particularly in mountains or desert, I come across scenes that > just scream for a 360 degree panorama or some other very wide angle shot. > In these cases, taking pictures with a wide angle lens on a 35 mm camera > just doesn't cut it - you get an enormous expanse of sky, and your landscape > is reduced to a thin strip occupying only a fraction of the negative. > Because I can't afford a Widelux or other specialty camera, I take a tip from > NASA and take a number of photos of the scene and mount them together to > form one large photograph. > This works very well on some occasions and awful on others; obviously I > haven't figured out the proper technique. Is there anyone out there who has > done this and can give the world some tips on taking panoramas? > There is an item sold by Spiratone (of N.Y.) that is EXACTLY what you need. It is an attachment that mounts between your camera and your tripod. It is a calibrated pivot. The calibrations take into account your lens length (35mm, 50mm, etc.) and by reading the scale you pivot the camera the right amount. The result is a set of consecutive shots that, when enlarged identically, fit end-to-end to make a panorama view (up to 360 degrees) that match perfectly. I have used it and got the most breahtaking shot from the top of the World Trade Center. Best of all it is not expensive (<$40). Check it out! -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Howard Moskovitz AT&T Info. Systems attunix!howard
jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (12/31/85)
> There is an item sold by Spiratone (of N.Y.) that is EXACTLY what > you need. It is an attachment that mounts between your camera and your > tripod. It is a calibrated pivot. Also some tripods, e.g. some of SLIK's higher-priced models, have markings specifically for making panoramic photographs, which work like the above. -- UUCP: Ofc: jer@peora.UUCP Home: jer@jerpc.CCC.UUCP CCC DNS: peora, pesnta US Mail: MS 795; CONCURRENT Computer Corp. SDC; (A Perkin-Elmer Company) 2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642