The creation of panoramas is a rather difficult and painstaking exercise, but the result of painstaking actions will delight you, as a creator, and users. Creating panoramas is not such a simple task as it may seem at first glance. I came up with the fact that users say the following: “To create panoramas, you only need to photograph several frames with overlapping, and then align the frames in a special program, glue them together and get a ready-made panorama.” We can say that this statement is true. but only for a novice photographer. The result can satisfy. But, if the photographer wants to develop professionally, then you need to treat with criticism his previous works. See them as the first base brick. The basis of the future mastery in creating seamless panoramas.
Why is the statement about “alignment and gluing images into a panorama” not quite right? The answer is simple: the statement does not take into account what needs to be corrected and taken into account in the
post : distortions that are introduced by the lens, perspective and spatial distortion, color corrective and many other factors.
In order to secure less work on the post, it is recommended to initially shoot the panorama as “right” as possible. And for this you can not do without aids.
Panoramic tripod head is one of the important devices that will allow you to create high-quality panoramas, spending less effort on post-processing. In more detail about why it is necessary to use a panoramic head it is possible to read in very good
article .
I would like to consider the choice of a panoramic staff head: buy a ready-made solution or make one yourself.
Turnkey solution
There are several solutions on the market. The most popular are
Manfrotto303SPH ,
FANCIER FT-900H ,
Really Right Stuff ,
Nodal Ninja 5 .
Manfrotto303SPH
Manfrotto303SPH - a great panoramic head. Durable aluminum construction, guarantee of reliability from a well-known manufacturer, accurate fixation. It is favored by the fact that the
Hermitage’s panoramas were made by photographer Natalia Kovarskaya precisely with the help of this head. A detailed description of this head can be found in
this article.
But the price cools down a little: about 20000 r. in the Russian Federation.
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FANCIER FT-900H

Head from the Chinese manufacturer, the quality is satisfactory, but the price is about 14000 p.
Really right stuff

Quality head, convenient to use.
But the price is about $ 640.
Nodal Ninja 5

Allows you to use a heavy camera and lenses, lightweight, easy to use. Accurate positioning.
Price - about $ 450 for the top version.
Homemade heads
If you are a novice photographer, you can try to make a panoramic head yourself.
On the Internet you can find several solutions with drawings and / or detailed descriptions.
Michel Thoby Solution

Self-made head, not inferior to commercial counterparts. Detailed scheme and description on starnitsa in his
blog .
Head from Yuri Nadyozhin

The decision from our compatriot, with a detailed description of the creation and drawings on his
website .
Slimmer, industrial manufacturing

You can say a professional solution for the manufacture of which you need a metalworking machine. Drawings can be found
here or
here .
Head from Andrei Zubts

Homemade head price 200-300 p. Andrew even patented this invention. Withstands heavy photography. More information on the personal
page of Andrew.
findings
The purpose of this article was to give an idea to a novice or professional photographer about the panoramic heads that exist on the market or can be made with your own hands. It all depends on the photographer. If he has money and no desire to do something, he can choose a ready-made solution. If there is no money or you want to make something of your own, then there are options for creating a head with your own hands.
PS I tried to show only the most popular solutions, but of course, I could miss something. I would be happy for amendments and additions. I hope the article will be useful to photographers who want to touch the magical world of panoramic shooting.
Sources:
goza.ru ,
cambridgeincolour ,
article by Andrei Zubtsov .
ps Thank you all for found ochepyatki