DPP Home Technique Camera Technique The Really Wide View   •
Print   • Email  Tuesday, May 29, 2007  The Really Wide View
Panoramas are hot with a lot of clients right now, but shooting
them well takes specialized skill and attention to detail  The
Really Wide View Getting The Alignment Right  To get the best
results, mount the camera on the panorama apparatus with the
nodal point set right over the rotational axis and shoot away.
Ah, if only life was that simple. Lens manufacturers don't mark
the nodal point of the lens on the barrel, and the nodal point
on a zoom lens changes as the lens is zoomed. Therefore, your
first task is to align the nodal point properly.  First, get the
whole setup as level as possible. If you're not level, you'll
end up with distortion, and you'll have to crop to make the
final image. Bubble levels are good tools for leveling
everything up. When you're leveling, do so with the tripod
first, then mount the camera. Panorama mounting setups will
allow you to make fine adjustments to