Help with setting of canon rebel 550d - 360 panorama

[99designs]

Hi, I am trying to do setting of the camera to shooting virtual tour 360 degree with canon 550d + Samyang 8mm F3.5 Fisheye. I read a lot of information and videos and all of them the starting with shooting of the images. My problem is that I can not uderstand how correctly do setting of the camera. I got it how to shoot the images and build the 360 panorama. But I can not find right combination of the setting :

- white balance - but how actualy choise white balance setting ? some of the bloggers write about "lock white balance" how to do it ?

- ISO - so need to be high or low ISO ?

- manula mode - that is ok I found it

- exposure - how to set up ?

I found step by step tutorials but the part with canon setting no ...

Thanks!

[kvbarkley]

I assume you want to take several pictures and merge them in post.

If you are using RAW, don't worry about white balance.

If jpeg, set one of the white balance settings: Press the WB button and select the appropriate one: Sunny, Cloudy...

Adjust ISO to keep the shutter speed down. Low for bright days, higher for less light.

Use Manual Mode 'M' and set the exposure like your manual says:

Keep those settings for all the shots.

[diverhank]

First you need to take a look at your camera manual (you can download it from the internet) and know where all of the settings are.

You need to be able to set your camera to manual mode where you manually set White Balance, Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO.  The main idea is to get all 8 or more pictures that you will end up using to stitch - all look the same in brightness and colors.

White Balance: The easiest way is to manually set the temperature yourself (degrees Kelvin).  Use Liveview and look at some object then  set the temperature to a value that the colors looks correct.

ISO: as any pictures, you want the smallest ISO possible so set it to 100

Aperture:  if you want everything to be in good focus, set Av to f/8 or f/11

Shutter: since you will be on a tripod, set it to whatever necessary to get good exposure after ISO and Av are set.  Again use Liveview to determine if you have good exposure (eyeballing and histogram)

[kvbarkley]

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@diverhank wrote:

Aperture:  if you want everything to be in good focus, set Av to f/8 or f/11

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He has an 8mm fisheye, most things are going to be in focus at any aperture. 8^)

[Waddizzle]

I would think that most software that merges shots into a panorama would have difficulty with images from a fisheye lens.

Are you trying to produce one of those "planet looking" shots, where everything looks like a marble?  If so, all you need is a conventional rectilinear lens an Adobe Photoshop.  I'm not sure of PS Elements can do it.

[ebiggs1]

"...most software that merges shots into a panorama would have difficulty with images from a fisheye lens."

In Lightroom there is a size limit of 65,000 pixels on the long side of a file or, 512 MP whichever comes first. I also seem to remember there is a low focal length limit too.  But I can't remember how short it is.  Ask Adobe.

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"...most software that merges shots into a panorama would have difficulty with images from a fisheye lens."

In Lightroom there is a size limit of 65,000 pixels on the long side of a file or, 512 MP whichever comes first. I also seem to remember there is a low focal length limit too.  But I can't remember how short it is.  Ask Adobe.

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I think I ran into the 2^16 pixel limit when I once tried to merge a large number of shots, more than 10, I think.  Canon's software limits you to a minimum focal length of 50mm, although you can fool it creating your own custom focal length setting. I strongly suspect that the single biggest reason for this "arbitrary" limit is lens barrel distortion.

I think that I have merged focal lengths as short as 16mm with LR, but I do wish to point out that I had VERY carefully leveled the tripod legs, then the tripod head sitting on a level base, and finally the QR plate on the tripod head, all in the name of minimizing barrel distortion.  

It shouldn't have made a difference to the LR software, but i did shoot with the camera in a portrait orientation, which is the standard way I shoot panoramas.  One manual setting for all shots, including manually setting ISO, in Manual mode.  I also dial in specific WB setting, although it should not make a difference if you shoot RAW.

I suspect that the software first converts the images to JPEGs, and then performs the Panorama, or HDR, Merge.  Doing so would mean that the WB setting, and any other image adjustments, would be reflected in the JPEGs used for the Merge.  I have had better results, and more importantly, fewer aborted Merge operations, by following these guidelines.

[ebiggs1]

"...some of the bloggers write about "lock white balance" how to do it ?"

Shoot in RAW format and forget about WB.  Exposure and WB and other settings can be changed and equalized easily in post when you use RAW.  Use full manual.  Use the camera's built in light meter to get the best exposure settings.  Use a good tripod.

The scene will determine the ISO setting.  If it is dark set it high.  If you have plenty of light set it low.

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"...some of the bloggers write about "lock white balance" how to do it ?"

Shoot in RAW format and forget about WB.  Exposure and WB and other settings can be changed and equalized easily in post when you use RAW.  Use full manual.  Use the camera's built in light meter to get the best exposure settings.  Use a good tripod.

The scene will determine the ISO setting.  If it is dark set it high.  If you have plenty of light set it low.

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Yes, you can ignore WB when shooting RAW, but I think there's an EV cost to doing that. Any WB correction done in post-processing has to involve removing, not adding, intensity in selected pixels; otherwise you risk blown highlights. So then you have to turn up the brightness (if you safely can) to compensate. If you get the WB right in the camera, it should compute a more accurate exposure and save you from having to do at least some of the PP correction.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"...some of the bloggers write about "lock white balance" how to do it ?"

Shoot in RAW format and forget about WB.  Exposure and WB and other settings can be changed and equalized easily in post when you use RAW.  Use full manual.  Use the camera's built in light meter to get the best exposure settings.  Use a good tripod.

The scene will determine the ISO setting.  If it is dark set it high.  If you have plenty of light set it low.

---

Yes, you can ignore WB when shooting RAW, but I think there's an EV cost to doing that. Any WB correction done in post-processing has to involve removing, not adding, intensity in selected pixels; otherwise you risk blown highlights. So then you have to turn up the brightness (if you safely can) to compensate. If you get the WB right in the camera, it should compute a more accurate exposure and save you from having to do at least some of the PP correction.

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I say that you should not ignore WB, or any other image adjustment that you can apply in post.  Most software algorithms seem to internally convert the images to JPEG, and then perform the Merge, Panorama or HDR, on these temporary JPEG to create a final JPEG.  All shots should be taken with identical settings, including WB.

Everywhere I look in documentation advises you to either do not apply any post-processing, or to apply the same processing to all images in your shot sequence.  Dialing in a specific WB setting makes sense, especially when using LR.  DPP creates an JPEG, which has limited options for post processing.  Lightroom creates a DNG, which allows you to apply the same post processing adjustments as you would a RAW file.  Then, after you have made your final adjustments, you export to JPEG.