topic Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

darth_daniel — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 09:15:09 GMT

I recently purchased a Canon EOS Rebel T6i with a tripod, wireless shutter release, focus 58mm 3 piece filter kit, Focus 58mm wide angle lens and EFS 10 - 55 mm image stabilizer. I was hoping to learn how to take 360 degree panoramic photos but I'm completely clueless on how and where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

🙂

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 13:53:34 GMT

Well, I'd say start small and work your way up. Of course, it all starts with the software used to stitch images together. Simple applications, like Canon's Photostitch, allow you stitch together a series of shots taken side by side into one very wide shot....and usually one rather large file compared to your regular photos.

The shot below was created with a dozen separate shots and merged using Canon's Photostitch, which didn't do such a great job on the sky. To be fair, merging images of skies is one of the more difficult tasks to do.

I would suggest getting started by creating more conventional panoramas, such as this one. That shot was created from 12 separate images [taken left to right], which Photostitch was barely able to digest. I'd suggest starting out with 2, 3, or 4 shots. BTW, the individual shots were taken with the camera rotated into portrait mode.

Some applications allow more flexibility in how the shots can be arranged, which is essential for full 360 panoramas. Some allow you to take "rows" of shots. In other words, imagine in the above photo if each individual photo [left to right] actually had upper and lower halves.

As far as actually capturing a 360 panorama. It starts with your tripod, just as it would for a shot like the one above. I used a high quality ball head, Benro B3, on a very sturdy tripod, Induro Alloy 8M 100mm Bowl with a leveling adapter. I also used an additional leveling base adapter, by Sunwayfoto, to level the head. Beca8use leveling the head is far easier, quicker, and usually more accurate than leveling a set of tripod legs. Leveling the tripod and head are essential to successful panorama shots, because as you rotate the head any leveling errors [yaw, pitch, and roll] will become more and more exxagerated.

A strong and sturdy tripod/head combo is needed so that the setup does not move when you touch the setup to turn the head, and activate the shutter, for successive shots. I used the camera's built-in shutter timer, too.. Or, you could drop four digits on a robotic head that does all of the panning and shutter control for you. In fact, they make robotic heads to take 360 panoramic shots, which come complete with software, in most cases.

Basically, start small and work your way up.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

darth_daniel — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 13:29:03 GMT

Thanks. Really appreciate it

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 13:51:24 GMT

@darth_daniel wrote:
Thanks. Really appreciate it

I hope you don't overlook, or forget, the remark about the original shots for the panorama were taken with the camera rotated to portrait mode. Good luck. Never stop asking questions, either. We all learn some way, somehow, at some time.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

RobertTheFat — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:02:09 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@darth_daniel wrote:
Thanks. Really appreciate it
I hope you don't overlook, or forget, the remark about the original shots for the panorama were taken with the camera rotated to portrait mode. ...

The point is that unless you've done an extremely careful job of rotating the camera, the stitching process is going to cost you some content at the top and bottom of the picture. Rotating the individual frames to portrait mode makes you more able to afford that loss, at the price of having to take more frames.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

kvbarkley — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 15:10:29 GMT

For quick shots there is the Ricoh Theta S, too:

[link removed per forum guidelines]

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 16:31:58 GMT

"The point is that unless you've done an extremely careful job of rotating the camera, the stitching process is going to cost you some content at the top and bottom of the picture. Rotating the individual frames to portrait mode makes you more able to afford that loss, at the price of having to take more frames."

Yes. Yes. Exactly. I cannot empasize enough how critical it is that you can achieve very accurate leveling of the camera, the head, and the tripod.

My bridge photo consists of a dozen long exposures taken in the dark of the night. I had rehearsed it during daylight hours. I had "pre-leveled" the tripod and head. Meaning, I setup the tripod in daylight, and very carefully leveled the legs, which have their own bubble level, which I double checked with a carpenter's level. Next, I re-installed the leveling bowl adapter, and checked that with a carpenter's level.

Next, I re-installed the leveling base adapter, which serves as my "universal joint", and fine adjustment, between the tripod legs, and the head. I have found that while you can level the quick release plate, if the base isn't also level, then you will not get a level pan. The camera will begin to pitch and roll.

Again, I leveled the base adapter, using its' bubble level, and checked it with a carpenter's level. As it turns out, the bubble level indicators are very accurate, and I will not need the carpenter's level in the future. Using the seemingly redundant base adapter allows me set the legs in their most stable position on uneven terrain, which is frequently not the most conducive angle to leveling the camera. Instead of 10-15 degrees of adjustment, I have 20-30 degrees to work with. Besides, the leveling bowl adapter isn't very easy to adjust with fine accuracy. The leveling base is my fine tune.

Finally, I re-installed the ball head, and very carefully leveled the quick release plate, which also had its' own bubble level, and which I double checked with a carpenter's level. Next, I mounted the camera, EOS 6D, and verified what the camera's internal level was telling me as I rotated the camera, using the ball head's panning adjustment, a full 360 to check for any deviations from level.

It all checked out, and so I was ready for the dark, and the uneven terrain from where I would be shooting. I left everything pre-assembled and pre-aligned, with the exception of the camera, of course. Once on site, all I would need to do would be to stabilize the tripod, and adjust the leveling bowl adapter to get a coarse level adjustment. Next, I mounted the camera, and used it's internal level to fine adjust the leveling base adapter, rotating the camera a full 360 degrees to verify that the base of the head was perfectly level. Remember, I had already leveled the quick release plate with the base of the ball head ahead of time.

Despite all of those careful preperations, I still wound up with about 2-3% of the shots being chopped of the top and/or bottom of some images. The very first time I tried to do it in broad daylight, I wound up with the last couple of shots having about 25% chopped off.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

ebiggs1 — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 20:44:24 GMT

"... with a tripod, wireless shutter release, focus 58mm 3 piece filter kit, Focus 58mm wide angle lens and EFS 10 - 55 mm image stabilizer ..."

Before you start on this fascinating new venture, just what is all this stuff you just bought?

Is the lens perhaps the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens? Or mayby the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens? Are the 58mm 3 piece kit, WA lens adapters filters that screw onto the front of a real camera lens? These questions need to be known before anyone can advise you intelligently.

Now the tripod? Do you have model and brand name for it?

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

ebiggs1 — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 21:00:23 GMT

To get a start put just the real camera lens on your T6i and set it to a lower focal length. Like 24mm for instance. Put the T6i on your tripod and take three shots of some interesting scene. Anything really. Have the camera set on the "P" mode and the lens in AF. Make sure part of the scene is visible in each frame. Maybe a quarter or so. This is how it gets stitched.

Load the three shots in to Canon Photostich and it will do the rest. You first pano!

Right now it doesn't matter which way the camera is positioned vertical or horizontal. It is a good idea that not much moves in the three shots. For instance don't try a scene with moving cars like a traffic location.

I do panos all the time. You will quickly see what works and what doesn't. The best way to learn is, just do it ! You don't even need a tripod to get good panos. As seen below............

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 08:42:37 GMT

"Make sure part of the scene is visible in each frame. Maybe a quarter or so. This is how it gets stitched."

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If it is not clear, Ernie is saying that you need some overlap between the successive images. Photostitch needs at least a quarter of the frame to overlap. Otherwise, you can get inconsistent results or subtle stitching errors with Photostitch.

To be fair, Photostitch can do a decent job on pretty basic panoramas. Just allow for sufficient overlap. I would aim for 1/3 overlap, because it is better to have a little too much, than not enough. Again, take your shots starting on the left, and work your way towards the right.

I went to all of the lengths that I did to capture the bridge because of the number of shots invovled, 12 images, which were a bit too much for Canon's Photostitch to handle. It was able to process the images because they were so well aligned.

Stick to simple panorama shots of 2 or 3 images, initially. I have captured long exposure images at night that contained content and subject matter that was movng [car headlights]. Provided that the movement is a minor part of the overall individual image, the stitched resutls can be dramatic looking.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 08:39:47 GMT

"To get a start put just the real camera lens on your T6i and set it to a lower focal length. Like 24mm for instance."

If you are using Canon's Photostitch 3.1, then using a very wide angle lens will not work. The application will read the EXIF data to obtain the focal lengths that you used, and automatically configure merge settings. This is where using a prime comes in handy, because you know every shot will have the idnetical focal length. Be aware of lens creep if you are using a hand held zoom.

If your image files do not contain shooting data,, then the application's merge settings prompts you for the focal length of the lens you used to capture the image frames. The lowest focal length in the drop down box is 35mm, and the lowest custom focal length that you can configure is 20mm.

Furthermore, Photostitch doesn't seem to handle shots that contain significant barrel distortion. It will abort the merge. I have gotten the most consistent results with shots taken using 50mm or 85mm on a full frame body. Just never tried it with an APS-C though, but I suppose the results would be similar, as far as the focal lengths of the lenses are concerned. Although, seeing how the application reads the focal length of the shots, it just may also read the camera body information, too.

Another photo stitching application that I have used is not so finicky, though.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

ebiggs1 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 11:33:51 GMT

I just stitched a pano using a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM Zoom Lens for Canon @ 17mm and it did it without a hitch.

I don't use Photostitch beyond curiosity as you know I use Adobe 99% of the time. But it seems to not care what lens it is or what camera for that matter.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 12:56:30 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
I just stitched a pano using a Sigma @17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM Zoom Lens for Canon @ 17mm and it did it without a hitch.
I don't use Photostitch beyond curiosity as you know I use Adobe 99% of the time. But it seems to not care what lens it is or what camera for that matter.

I have stopped using Photostitch, too. I would think using a lens that did not communicate with the camera would be a much more sensible test. Don't you? If you were not prompted for a focal length, then the application read the EXIF data from the image file to obtain shooting information.

When I use images shot with my manual focus Rokinon lenses, Photostitch prompts me for a focal length because the EXIF data is empty of shooting info. The ComboBox dropdown menu offers a handful of choices: 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm, plus "custom".

If you select "custom", then you are prompted to enter a focal length in mm. If you enter a value below 20mm, then you get gonged with an error message telling you that your focal length is out of range.

BTW 17mm x 1.3 = 22.1mm

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

ebiggs1 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 13:41:22 GMT

"BTW 17mm x 1.3 = 22.1mm"

17mm = 17mm. A lens focal length can not change no matter what. Photostitch is designed to work with a T6i and a kit lens.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 13:49:06 GMT

"17mm = 17mm. A lens focal length can not change no matter what. Photostitch is designed to work with a T6i and a kit lens."

17mm x 1.6 = 27.2mm

No matter how much you insist, the application will not accept images identified with 35mm equvialent focal lengths of less than 20mm. I find it amusing to hear you, of all people, argue about something that you never use. Spilled my coffee.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

kvbarkley — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 14:16:31 GMT

Has PhotoStitch been updated at all recently, like the last 3 years? I use PhotoShopElements.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

ebiggs1 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 14:43:48 GMT

Glad to see you are amused but even though what you say is true, this is still valid, "To get a start put just the real camera lens on your T6i and set it to a lower focal length. Like 24mm for instance." I guess that is what got you started?

I don't use Photostitch but the few times I have out of curiosity it worked as promised and it will do so for the OP and his gear.

Further....

" I just stitched a pano using a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM Zoom Lens for Canon @ 17mm and it did it without a hitch." ....... was to show you it would work with the OP kit lens. Since I don't have a kit lens to try, that is as close as I could come.

Clean up your coffee....I think you need another cup!

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 14:55:27 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
Has PhotoStitch been updated at all recently, like the last 3 years? I use PhotoShopElements.

I wouldn't know off the top of my head. It should be easy enough to check out, though. Photostitch definitely reads the image file's shooting info, for a fact.

I have also had image files that Photostitch simply refused to process until I stripped out all shooting info during the JPEG export, which causes the program to prompt you to manually input a focal length when you add the images. I cannot recall which camera/lens combo caused that to happen, but I remember the shooting date and locatoin. I would have to get back to you later on it, so I can go into my archives and look it up. It's mostly all a blur, man.

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

kvbarkley — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 15:02:43 GMT

That's OK, MicroAdjust might help a bit with that blur. 8^)

Re: Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

Waddizzle — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 15:10:29 GMT

"To get a start put just the real camera lens on your T6i and set it to a lower focal length. Like 24mm for instance."

If you are using Canon's Photostitch 3.1, then using a very wide angle lens will not work.

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Actually, Ernie, just above is what got you started. I simply pointed out that using a very wide angle lens will not work. A 24mm focal length is not my idea of a "very wide angle lens", and I don't think it's yours, either.

Like I said, Photostitch will also abort the merge if you feed it images with significant [overlapping] barrel distortion, too, because the vertical lines would lean in opposite directions near the side edeges on successive images, not to mention keystoning. Instead of trying to make sense of very WA images, apparently a line has been drawn in the sand at 20mm.

Depending upon how the shots were taken with a 24mm lens, Photostitch may, or may not, be able to merge them. I have found Photostitch to get pretty grumpy when working with images that are not rectilinear.