Taking 360 panoramic photo with EOS Rebel T6i

[darth_daniel]

Hi

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

🙂

[Waddizzle]

"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.

[ebiggs1]

 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.

[Waddizzle]

---

@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 

[ebiggs1]

"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.

[Waddizzle]

"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.

[kvbarkley]

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

[ebiggs1]

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!

[Waddizzle]

---

@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.

[kvbarkley]

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

[Waddizzle]

"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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.