Recommended settings for panoramic photos?

[limvo05]

Hello Experts,

I was wondering if there's such a thing as recommended settings for panoramic photos? By settings I am referring to focal distance, focal length, Tripod, L Bracket, Manual focus, manual settings, etc.?

Lastly, what would be the ideal number of photos needed for an optimal panoramic photo? 3, 5, 7, 9? How much overlapping would you be taking?

Thank you,

LV

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@zimou13 wrote:

I recommend you make any post-processing image adjustments after your images have been stitched into the final panorama. If you need to make adjustments prior to stitching, be sure to apply the same adjustments to all of the images that will comprise the final panorama.

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But the final panorama is a JPEG file, isn't it? Which limits the range of editing that you can do, doesn't it?

If you edit the RAW files in DPP, you can use a recipe file to ensure that the same changes are made to each component. Lightroom probably has something similar.

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I agree with making the same adjustment to all frames.  But, it is best to do as little as possible prior to the stitching.  

Remember, the JPEGs produced from the RAW files are what get stitched, not the RAW files.  Once you start editing, then JPEG compression can cause the overlappping areas to not line up as well as they should.  You wind up with jagged overlaps.

Lens correction for barrel distortion is one of the worse culprits to cause alignment errors, which is why it is inadvisable to use a wide angle lens to make a panorama.  Canon’s Photostitch application defaults to lenses having a minimum focal length of 50mm.

Not using lens correction is why I like to use my 70-200 to make panoramas so much.  It does not need much correction.  The only adjustment I make prior to stitching is White Balance.  

I even have a color temperature dialed in when I take the photos, to guarantee that the exposures come out the same.  I have always wondered whether or not WB has any impact on how the camera meters the exposure.

[ebiggs1]

"But the final panorama is a JPEG file, isn't it? Which limits the range of editing that you can do, doesn't it?"

It is better to have all the images similar to start with.  One other thing is to try and keep the horizon level beside to other tips I suggested.  In my humble experience anyways.

[limvo05]

All,

What do you think of this? The one thing I don't like about this photo is that, I used a 3 stop Soft ND Grad and placed the filter line a bit too high aboe the horizon, as a result, the upper portion of ther sky is a bit darker than the lower section. This is mostly because it was rather difficult to judge when looking through live view and bright daylight. Perhaps, the next time, I put a towel over my head to block direct sunlight from messing up with the LCD display?

Thanks,

LV

[Waddizzle]

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@limvo05 wrote:

All,

What do you think of this? The one thing I don't like about this photo is that, I used a 3 stop Soft ND Grad and placed the filter line a bit too high aboe the horizon, as a result, the upper portion of ther sky is a bit darker than the lower section. This is mostly because it was rather difficult to judge when looking through live view and bright daylight. Perhaps, the next time, I put a towel over my head to block direct sunlight from messing up with the LCD display?

Thanks,

LV

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Your image does not appear.  Remember there is a 5MB. Maximum File size limit.

I do to recommend using a graduated filter to make a panorama shot.  

What I have done is take a series of HDR shots, and then stitch those together into panoramic shot.  This actually produced more noise than simply stitching the original 0 Ev shots, and then processing them in Lightroom with its’ digital filters.

[ebiggs1]

"I recommend you make any post-processing image adjustments ..."

No not really.  It is better to have all the images similar.  The closer the better. But some people try to make panos harder than to do then they are.  There is lots of software that will combine images but LR is just about the best.  Not surprising I guess.

While just about any lens can be used, one thing to remember is to turn your camera vertical and not horizontal.  It is surprising how many experienced folks forget the camera can shoot in the vertical position.

The one I offered of Ellis Island was seven shots with a 28mm lens and in vertical position.  They are just quick snapshots because the scene was bigger than I could show with one shot. Nut'in fancy!

LR has an option, Sync Settings. I always use that first. I also have a certain import preset that gets applied automatically.  DPP4 has a similar feature but I don't remember or if it has pano ability since I don't use it very often.

[Mitsubishiman]

Practice - Practice - Practice

Full Size Download =

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[TCampbell]

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@Mitsubishiman wrote:

Practice - Practice - Practice

Full Size Download =

 **Link Removed per Forum Guidelines***

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That... and a bit of time in Photoshop faking in the moon.

You might want to learn a bit of astronomy before trying to fake a photo that includes the moon.

[limvo05]

I took this last Saturday at USAFA. Setting f9.0 at 24mm. 8 Frames total.