This spring, Novoflex decided to radically expand its presence in Russian market. For our review, we have selected two of the most interesting and promising panoramic solutions on the market: the VR-System PRO II system and the VR-System SLANT system.

The main and fundamental difference between the panoramic head is the ability to use it to turn and tilt the camera around the nodal point of the lens. The nodal point of the lens is the point at which all light rays converge before spreading further. As a rule, the nodal point is closest to the position of the aperture in the lens. By moving the camera around it when shooting a panorama, we eliminate the possibility of parallax distortion.

To shoot a circular panorama, it is enough to take one row of vertical or horizontal frames.

For shooting a large and spherical (3D panorama), one row of frames is no longer enough. Such panoramas are called multi-row or mosaic. To capture such a panorama panoramic head should be able to tilt the camera, up and down. With such shooting, the nodal point should not only be on the axis of the central column of the tripod, but also coincide with the level of the tilt axis of the camera. We will tell you more about the practical shooting of panoramas in future articles.

A bit of history

Novoflex begins its history in post-war Germany. In 1948, the photographer Karl Müller founded the company, and already in 1950 he registered trademark Novoflex. In the sixties, the company successfully developed and manufactured special bellows for cameras such as Contax and Hasselblad. Apparently, working with such eminent brands allowed Novoflex to raise the quality bar to a level unattainable for many companies. In 2006, Novoflex creates its first panorama system and in 2008 expands it with the QuadroPod system.

First meeting

The PRO II system is the most advanced panorama system in the Novoflex range, able to help the photographer shoot any panorama, with virtually any lens (up to 300mm) and any camera. PRO II is primarily designed for professionals and wealthy fans of panoramic photography.

The SLANT system is a special head for quick creation spherical or 3D panoramas. Moreover, the speed of work is the most forte this system. To create a 3D panorama, it is enough to take four frames using a fish-eye lens (fish-eye). As you can see, the camera is fixed at an angle of 60 degrees, which noticeably optimizes the size of the structure and makes it possible to use a monopod when shooting.

For the test, we provided both sets. professional photographer, President of the "Guild of Advertising Photographers" Dmitry Mukhin. Dmitry often has to shoot panoramic industrial landscapes and interiors.

Professional opinion

I have sufficient experience in shooting interior panoramas, landscapes and industrial photography. I have been using the Manfrotto Panoramic System in my work for several years now. I will compare the Novoflex system with it. The first thing that immediately catches your eye is the technical execution of this device, every detail of which is made with precision quality. If someone says that this is not the most important thing, I will allow myself to disagree with him. The level and class of equipment used in the work is of great importance for a professional. Very often, by the level of equipment used, one can judge the qualifications and cost of the services of a professional photographer. And one more important detail: you need to be 100% sure in panoramic equipment, since it is possible to check the result only after shooting, when it is almost impossible to return and repeat the frame.

Constructive

The disassembled PRO II system is compact enough and not too heavy (1.69 kg), which allows the professional photographer to include it in the must-have on-location kit. Often, when preparing for field photography, the question of the size and weight of the equipment is tough. Sometimes you have to refuse to take some components with you to the detriment of future quality, simply because it is difficult to convey.

On the test, the panoramic system was additionally equipped with a compact ball joint Novoflex MagicBalance, which could not but please. No matter what surface the tripod is set on: flat, uneven, or maybe even at an angle. The rotating assembly itself is easy to level. At Manfrotto, when setting the level at the final clamping of the latch, the adjustment often goes astray, this does not happen with Novoflex. The dividing head in the PRO II has the ability to automatically count angles along the horizontal plane at 10, 15, 20, 24, 30, 36, 45 and 60 degrees. Switching between angles is very easy, you just need to turn the control wheel to another position. And this is another design difference from Manfrotto.

For comparison, here are two professional panoramic systems: Novoflex and Manfrotto.

I have been using the Manfrotto system for over five years now and it has never let me down. PRO II looks more compact and less brutal against its background, let's see how it shows itself in work. The SLANT system is an amazing thing. The camera is installed with its help at an angle of 60 degrees, so that the diagonal of the frame becomes perpendicular to the scene being shot. This is very convenient when shooting spherical circular panoramas with a fisheye lens, the offset distance of the camera lens axis becomes shorter, the console is smaller, and it is much easier to control the structure at the time of shooting.

Tests

To test both panoramic systems in the field, I decided to take three surveys in different conditions. The first is the plein air “Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum”, the second is the large room “Vadim Zadorozhny’s Museum of Technology”, and a very small chamber room is the “Valentin Ryabov Gallery”.

Photographing at the Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum

Of course, shooting panoramas in Arkhangelsk in winter is not a rewarding business, the entire famous park is covered with snow, and the sculptures are packed in wooden boxes. But my goal was to test Novoflex in our cold winter. But with this everything is in order, the weather is sunny and minus 18 degrees. I decided to shoot a line panorama of the facade of the “Grand Palace” in order to create a large file suitable for large format printing, and a circular panorama of the courtyard of the palace to check the accuracy of the entire system during further assembly. The dividing head, moving smoothly between the shooting angles, at the same time very clearly fixed them, thereby eliminating frame skips. Those who shot panoramas will understand me - you start to collect a picture, but there is no one frame from the panorama, you just missed it and did not notice. Of course, this is a photographer's mistake, but with the PRO II you have to try very hard to miss a frame.

The unique four-legged QuadroPod tripod I took for the test also received a good test for frost resistance. Let me explain why: in our case, the QuadroPod was equipped with carbon legs (there are other configurations), and we were strongly advised not to work with it in the cold, they say the thing is expensive and can crack. But nothing terrible happened, the whole system worked at a low temperature without complaints and breakdowns.

A licensed copy is included with the VR-System PRO II panoramic system professional program Panoramastudio 2pro. This program allows you to stitch cylindrical and spherical panoramas. And since I did not make any gross mistakes when shooting, it took only a few minutes to select the necessary parameters for creating and exporting a panorama, and the program did the rest automatically.

Examples of captured and assembled panoramas:

Photographing at the Museum of Technology of Vadim Zadorozhny

Here it was decided to test the Slant system. To prepare the system for work, I remove one leg from the QuadroPod tripod, thereby getting a monopod, and attach the Slant to it. Then I fix the camera and in a minute I'm ready to shoot. I will briefly describe with which optics the manufacturer recommends using the Slant system:

For crop sensor cameras:

• Sigma 4.5mm/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM
• Sigma 8mm / 3.5 EX DG Fisheye
• Bearing 8mm / 3.5 Fisheye

For cameras with full frame sensor:

• Tokina AT-X 10-17mm / 3.5-4.5DX Fisheye
• Sigma 10mm / 2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM
• Nikkor AF 10.5mm/2.8G ED DX Fisheye
• Samyang 8mm/3.5 Fisheye
• Canon EF 8-15mm/4L USM Fisheye

To create a spherical panorama, you need to shoot only 4 frames, approximately at 90-degree intervals. The entire shooting of the panorama takes about a minute, and then only because it takes some time to level the camera. If this is not the first time doing this, I think you can fit in 30 seconds.

I recommend collecting the footage in the PTgui program. This is the most complete and widespread program for assembling panoramas. I also note that PTgui is an intuitive program, and you can figure it out without tedious reading of the manual.

Photographing at the “Valentin Ryabov Gallery”

In the gallery, I decided to shoot a spherical panorama, but with the PRO II system. It was necessary to achieve such image quality that the viewer had the opportunity to examine and evaluate for himself each picture in the interior. To do this, with the help of a panoramic head, I shot 60 images, which I then assembled into an interactive panorama. High Quality. I also shot several multi-row 180-degree panoramas suitable for high-quality printing.

I collected all these panoramas in the PanoramaStudio 2 Pro program, which collected them quite quickly and automatically.

QuadroPod

I also want to dwell a little more on an amazing product - a four-legged QuadroPod tripod. At first glance, sheer madness, but you understand that the Germans are crazy only in porn. It is not so easy to install it, since you have to put three legs and adjust the fourth to the surface. So what is it for?

In fact, a four-legged tripod is needed just for shooting panoramas. The fact is that four points of support give the same stability as a conventional tripod with a smaller leg radius than a conventional tripod tripod. And accordingly, if the legs are not widely spaced, they do not fall into the field of view of the camera when shooting a spherical panorama.

The illustration below shows this clearly:

In addition, the quadropod has removable legs, each of which can be used as a monopod, and in the Variabel configuration, the QuadroPod left without a leg easily turns into a familiar tripod tripod.

Approximate retail prices in Russia: VR-System PRO II - 31,200 rubles. VR-System SLANT - 10300 rubles.

This spring, Novoflex decided to radically expand its presence in the Russian market. For our review, we have chosen two of the most interesting and promising panoramic solutions on our market, these are the VR-System PRO II system and the VR-System SLANT system.

The main and fundamental difference between the panoramic head is the ability to use it to turn and tilt the camera around the nodal point of the lens. The nodal point of the lens is the point at which all light rays converge before continuing to spread. As a rule, the nodal point is closest to the position of the diaphragm in the lens, moving the camera around it when shooting a panorama, we exclude the possibility of parallax distortion.

To shoot a circular panorama, it is enough to take one row of vertical or horizontal frames.

For shooting a large and spherical (3D panorama), one row of frames is no longer enough. Such panoramas are called multi-row or mosaic. To shoot such a panorama, the panoramic head must be able to tilt the camera up and down. With such shooting, the nodal point should not only be on the axis of the central column of the tripod, but also coincide with the level of the tilt axis of the camera. We will tell you more about the practical shooting of panoramas in future articles.

A bit of history

Novoflex begins its history in post-war Germany. In 1948, the photographer Karl Müller founded the company and already in 1950 he registered the trademark "Novoflex". In the sixties, the company successfully developed and manufactured special bellows for cameras such as Contax and Hasselblad. Apparently, working with such eminent brands allowed Novoflex to raise the quality bar to a level unattainable for many companies. In 2006, Novoflex creates its first panorama system and in 2008 expands it with the QuadroPod system.

First meeting

PRO II system is the most advanced panorama system in the Novoflex line, able to help the photographer in shooting any panoramas, with almost any optics (up to 300 mm) and any camera. PRO II is primarily designed for professionals and wealthy fans of panoramic photography.

SLANT system is a special head for quickly creating spherical or 3D panoramas. Moreover, the speed of work is the strongest side of this system. To create a 3D panorama, it is enough to take four frames using a fish-eye lens (fish-eye). As you can see, the camera is fixed at an angle of 60 degrees, which noticeably optimizes the size of the structure and makes it possible to use a monopod when shooting.

For the test, we provided both sets to a professional photographer, the president of the Guild of Advertising Photographers, Dmitry Mukhin. Dmitry often has to shoot panoramic industrial landscapes and interiors.

Professional opinion

I have sufficient experience in shooting interior panoramas, landscapes and industrial photography. I have been using the Manfrotto Panoramic System in my work for several years now. I will compare the Novoflex system with it. The first thing that immediately catches your eye is the technical execution of this device, every detail of which is made with precision quality. If someone says that this is not the most important thing, I will allow myself to disagree with him. The level and class of the equipment used in the work is of great importance for a professional. Very often, by the level of equipment used, one can judge the qualifications and cost of the services of a professional photographer. And one more important detail, you need to be 100% sure in panoramic equipment, since it is possible to check the result only after shooting, when it is almost impossible to return and repeat the frame.

Constructive

The disassembled PRO II system is quite compact and not too heavy (1.69 kg). That allows a professional photographer to include it in the mandatory field set of equipment.

Often, when preparing for field photography, the question of the size and weight of the equipment is tough. Sometimes you have to refuse to take some components with you to the detriment of future quality, simply because it is difficult to convey.

On the test, the panoramic system was additionally equipped with a compact MagicBalance ball assembly, which could not but please. Whether the tripod is on a flat surface or even at an angle, the rotating assembly itself is easy to level. At Manfrotto, when setting the level, when the latch is finally clamped, the adjustment often goes astray, this does not happen with Novoflex. The dividing head in PRO II has the ability to automatically count angles along the horizontal plane at 10,15,20,24,30,36,45 and 60 degrees. Switching between angles is very easy, just turn the control wheel to another position, and this is another design difference from Manfrotto.

For comparison, here are two professional panoramic systems Novoflex and Manfrotto.

I have been working with the Manfrotto system for more than five years and it has never let me down, PRO II looks more compact and less brutal against its background, let's see how it shows itself in work.

SLANT system amazing thing. The camera is installed with its help at an angle of 60 degrees, so that the diagonal of the frame becomes perpendicular to the scene being shot. This is very convenient when shooting spherical circular panoramas with a fisheye lens, the offset distance of the camera lens axis becomes shorter, the console is smaller and it is much easier to control the construction at the time of shooting.

Tests

To test both panoramic systems in the field, I decided to take three surveys in different conditions. The first is the plein air "Museum of the Arkhangelskoye Estate", the second is the large room "Museum of Technology of Vadim Zadorozhny" and a very small chamber room is the "Valentin Ryabov Gallery".

Photographing at the Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum

Of course, shooting panoramas in Arkhangelsk in winter is not a rewarding job, the entire famous park is covered with snow, and the sculptures are packed in wooden boxes, but my goal was to test Novoflex in our cold winter. But with this everything is in order, the weather is sunny and minus 18 degrees.

I decided to shoot a line panorama of the facade of the "Grand Palace", in order to create a large file suitable for large format printing, and a circular panorama of the courtyard of the palace, to check the accuracy of the entire system during further assembly. The dividing head, moving smoothly between the shooting angles, at the same time very clearly fixed them, thereby eliminating frame skips. Those who shot panoramas will understand me - you start to collect a picture and there is no one frame from the panorama, you just missed it and did not notice. Of course, this is a photographer's mistake, but with PRO II you have to try very hard to miss a frame.

The unique four-legged QuadroPod tripod I took for the test also received a good test for frost resistance. Let me explain why, QuadroPod in our case was equipped with carbon legs (there are other configurations), and we were strongly advised not to work with it in the cold, they say the thing is expensive and can break. But nothing terrible happened, the whole system worked at a low temperature without complaints and breakdowns.

The VR-System PRO II panoramic system comes with a licensed copy of the professional Panoramastudio 2 pro software. This program allows you to stitch cylindrical and spherical panoramas. And since I did not make any gross mistakes when shooting, it took only a few minutes to select the necessary parameters for creating and exporting a panorama, and the program did the rest automatically.

Panorama 12000x6000 pixels (download)

360 degree panorama

Photographing at the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology

Here it was decided to test the Slant system. To prepare the system for work, I remove one leg from the QuadroPod tripod, thereby getting a monopod and attach Slant to it. Then I fix the camera and in a minute I'm ready to shoot.

I will briefly describe with which optics the manufacturer recommends using the Slant system:

For crop sensor cameras:

• Sigma 4.5mm/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM
• Sigma 8mm / 3.5 EX DG Fisheye
• Bearing 8mm / 3.5 Fisheye

For cameras with full frame sensor:

• Tokina AT-X 10-17mm / 3.5-4.5DX Fisheye
• Sigma 10mm / 2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM
• Nikkor AF 10.5mm/2.8G ED DX Fisheye
• Samyang 8mm/3.5 Fisheye
• Canon EF 8-15mm/4L USM Fisheye

To create a spherical panorama, you need to shoot only 4 frames, approximately at 90-degree intervals. The entire shooting of the panorama takes about a minute, and then only because it takes some time to level the camera. If this is not the first time doing this, I think you can fit in 30 seconds.

Shooting 4 frames in the museum.

I recommend collecting the footage in the PTgui program, which is the most complete and widespread program for assembling panoramas. I also note that PTgui is an intuitive program and you can figure it out without tedious reading of the manual.

An example of a captured and assembled panorama:

Panorama of the Museum of Technology Vadim Zadorozhny.

Photography at the Valentin Ryabov Gallery

In the gallery, I decided to shoot a spherical panorama but with the PRO II system. It was necessary to achieve such image quality that the viewer had the opportunity to examine and evaluate for himself each picture in the interior. To do this, with the help of a panoramic head, I shot 60 images, which I then assembled into a high-quality interactive panorama. I also shot several multi-row 180-degree panoramas suitable for high-quality printing.

I collected all these panoramas in the PanoramaStudio 2 Pro program, which collected them quite quickly and automatically.

Examples of captured and assembled panoramas:

Panorama in the Valentin Ryabov Gallery.

Gallery Valentin Ryabov

Backstage

QuadroPod

I also want to dwell a little more on an amazing product - a four-legged QuadroPod tripod. At first glance, sheer madness, but you understand that the Germans are crazy only in porn. It is not so easy to install it, since you have to put three legs and adjust the fourth to the surface.

So what is it for?

In fact, a four-legged tripod is needed just for shooting panoramas. The fact is that four points of support give the same stability as a conventional tripod with a smaller leg radius than a conventional tripod tripod. And accordingly, if the legs are not widely spaced, they do not fall into the field of view of the camera when shooting a spherical panorama.

The illustration below shows this clearly.

In addition, the quadropod has removable legs, each of which can be used as a monopod, and in the Variabel configuration, the QuadroPod left without a leg easily turns into a familiar tripod tripod.

Approximate retail prices in Russia: VR-System PRO II - 31,200 rubles. VR-System SLANT - 10300 rubles.

Quite a long study of the posts on the "musk", on the issue panoramic photography led me to believe that in total, no one brought all the purchases in one place. And by adding an insignificant detail, it is possible to make a completely working panoramic head, and start shooting and assembling spherical panoramas very budget funds.

It all started with this post:

But with the method described by the author, the vertical viewing angle is greatly reduced, respectively, the panorama will turn out to be quite narrow (even when using fisheye)
Then the ball found the following post:
Very simple and cheap, and most importantly - it works. Only not ergonomically (the second corner covers half of the camera), but the idea interested me. And I started looking for something similar in Tao. Having found the “hero of the review”, I began to look for a photoshop where there are both corners and a flash bar, and found:
The order came in a month, along the way I collected small things (photo screws, adapters 3/8 -1/4, "anti-loss" for lens caps), shorter than what our Siberian photo stores do not have, or costs bad money. The parcel was a team, it is difficult to calculate the total cost, so I post a link to a similar product on Ali. Unpacking and other things, too, will not.
So I start. Plank in a bag, a couple of 1/4-inch male-female screws, a hot shoe adapter nut. A rubber sealing tape is glued along the groove.


The corners have already been described on the muska, but here's what came to me:


The material of both is apparently duralumin, or another light alloy, since the magnet does not stick. The result of the assembly is the following construction:


Ishsho and small things will remain:

Photos of the finished panoramic head on a tripod:

And here is the whole assembly:

I have a "Samyang" 8mm, though I bought it from my hands on "Avito", but I think the link is not much different from mine.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot the longitudinal displacement, it's easier to look at the video once. Until I saw him, I didn't understand. In fact, everything is simple:

I plan to buy +30 Add to favorites Liked the review +33 +60

If you already have some experience shooting panoramic images, you know that the standard kit necessary equipment consists of a camera, a sturdy tripod and a special panoramic head. Of course, some craftsmen manage to shoot a panorama with a conventional head, and sometimes even without a tripod, but sooner or later, with the growth of skills and craftsmanship, the photographer will still face the need to have a panoramic head in his arsenal, especially since its use significantly reduces the occurrence artifacts, and hence the time spent on further computer processing of panoramic photographs.

Basically, artifacts arise for two reasons - due to the movement of objects during shooting (in which they fall into the frame overlay zone) and due to the rotation of the camera around a point other than the nodal one. Recall that the nodal point is a point located at a certain distance inside the lens, in which the rays that form the image cross. Ordinary tripod heads allow you to rotate the camera around its center of rotation, usually located in the area of ​​the tripod socket when rotating horizontally, or 5-10 cm below the camera with vertical slopes. The nodal point is located in the center of the lens, approximately at its beginning.

Having previously studied many options for homemade heads, I designed my “product”, which consists of four main parts - an X-Y bracket, a Z bracket, a camera platform and a tripod platform.

I will start the characterization of my head from the bottom. The platform for a tripod is presented in two parts - a quick-release platform from a Culmann tripod and a metal profile trim 20x40. In our case, the piece had a length of 48 mm, but 40 mm would have been enough. Both parts are fastened with an M6 screw, the task of which is to prevent the rotation of both parts relative to each other. At the same time, if the platform were a little stronger, and if the protrusion on the tripod near the platform did not interfere, then there would be no need to use a piece of metal profile.

Our next “spare part” is the X-Y bracket. It was made from a 25x3 metal strip, with an X distance from the center of rotation of 57mm (350D mount center 35mm from the bottom of the camera + 3mm platform + 1mm platform pad + Z3mm bracket + 13.25mm + 1.75 shims mm). As a result, the total length X reaches 57+15=72 mm.

In principle, the length X from the axis of rotation to the outer edge can be made larger, but I don’t see much point in this, since the center of gravity of the structure is shifted to the opposite side and it will not work in this direction.

But the Y-axis, on the contrary, I made the longest. The length was determined in such a way that it would be possible to shoot the "cap", that is, a frame at +90 °. At the same time, from the axis of rotation Y to X, there will be enough space for the bracket with the camera attached to it. Moreover, with such a length of the bracket, if you accidentally miss the device (for example, when you loosen the screw along the Y axis), it will not hit X. In total, the distance from the Z rotation axis to Y to X was 175 mm, and the total length was 185 mm. Since Z is less than Y, the head folds quite compactly.

In order to make X-Y, I used a strip of metal with a total length of 185 + 72 = 247 mm, which was bent in a vise, then slightly tweaked with a hammer and bent with a gas wrench. After the above manipulations, I got a thing that was not ideal in appearance, but geometrically correct along the axes. It remains only to drill two 6 mm holes under the axle.

The length Z was not chosen by chance, but after a series of preliminary fittings, when a consensus of 142 mm was finally reached, while from the center of rotation to the axis of the platform - 58-116 mm. Thus, I got an adjustment range of 58 mm. This Z geometry fits all the lenses I have at my disposal, and the Z can be shortened down to 136mm. Bracket Z is separated from XY by adjusting washers (in my case, a nut and washer).

This was done so that during shooting + 90 °, the bolt fixing the camera platform does not touch Y. In addition, by removing the washer or slightly reducing its thickness, it becomes possible to install a camera with a higher optical center, although you will lose the opportunity shooting +90°. The axis is a bolt with a diameter of 6 mm, which, if possible, should be welded to the Z bracket. I drilled it from the side and secured it with an additional M3 screw.

And finally, the last part of the head is the platform for the camera. Because the 350d has a tripod socket on the lens axis, making the platform wasn't difficult. The platform was made from a strip of metal 35×72 mm, in which I drilled two holes - 6.5 mm in diameter for a tripod socket, and for a pin that prevents the camera from turning on the platform.

Due to the fact that I did not want to spend time calculating the position of the hairpin and tripod socket, I simply scanned the device using flatbed scanner and then, in Photoshop, I drew the platform, marking the axes. Having printed out the resulting scheme on the printer, I pasted it on my workpiece and drilled through the paper.

According to the original plan, the stud was supposed to be made from an M3 screw screwed into the platform, but since I had some problems with the drill (I used an electric screwdriver instead), the screw had to be cold welded, but due to the fact that the hole at the bottom of the camera has a diameter of less than 3 mm, the screw has been filed. After that, I screwed the platform to the Z axis, and cold-welded the spoke guides on its sides. As a result, the platform could only move along the axis, and without turning. And in order for the camera to “softer” sit on the platform, a piece of dermantine was previously pasted on it.

A few words about limbs. I considered the limbs graduated by 5 degrees to be inconvenient, so I decided to make limbs with dots, while each dot should correspond to one frame. Since I want to shoot panoramas with a standard 29mm (18x1.6) lens, I need to take 10 horizontal frames in one row. Therefore, the points on the limb should be located at 36 degrees. But this solution did not turn out to be convenient enough - an arrow is needed for more accurate positioning. As a result, I managed to come up with a more original version of limbo. On it, I marked the lines through 36 degrees, indicating the near side of the bracket.

I just set the bracket parallel to the line, take the shot, rotate the bracket again, and so on. The limb for vertical slopes is made in a similar way. There, the limb is fixed on the Z axis, and the Y axis serves as an arrow. If during the shooting there will be a change of lenses, you can draw lines of different colors, or make interchangeable limbs. In my case, the limbs were drawn in Photoshop and provided for the use of brackets with a width of 24 mm. The printed and cut limbs were placed between the polyethylene lid and the bottom of the can of ear sticks.

And finally, the last nuance - nuts with collars. In order to rotate X-Y axis you won’t have to look for a particularly powerful nut, an ordinary lamb will be quite enough. But to fix the Z axis, you need a nut with a larger knob. I went through many options and settled on a nut from some part, with a metal plate screwed on. The force applied in the process of twisting turned out to be sufficient so that the bracket with the camera does not slip. That's basically it!

We just have to collect all of the above details into one whole and go to a panoramic photo session. In total, I spent 3-4 hours on making a working sample, without limbs and flaws, and a few more evenings were spent experimenting with washers and limbs, as well as other little things. But if you have the tools and materials, all this can be done in half a day.

And finally, let's calculate the financial costs. A strip of metal 24x3 and a piece of profile 20x40 cost me construction market for only 10 rubles. In the same place I bought washers, at a price of about 1 ruble / piece, bolts for 5 rubles / piece. The 1/4' bolt was borrowed from an old Ewa Marina box, the limbs are printed on Epson SemiGlossy paper (with ink for 2 limbs - about 10 rubles). The quick-release platform migrated from the Culmann tripod, the rest of the small things were found in our own bins. As a result, 10+1×3+2×5+0+10+0 = 33 rubles. That is, we got a panoramic head with horizontal-vertical rotation and settings for various lenses for only 33 rubles!

Creating panoramas is a rather difficult and painstaking task, but the result of painstaking actions will please both you, as a creator, and users. Creating panoramas is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. I have seen users say the following: "To create panoramas, you only need to photograph a few frames with overlap, and then align the frames in a special program, glue them together and get the finished panorama." We can say that this statement is true. but only for a beginner photographer. The result can be satisfactory. But, if the photographer wants to develop professionally, then you need to be critical of your previous work. Look at them as the first basic brick. The basis of future skill in creating seamless panoramas.

Why is the statement about “aligning and gluing images into a panorama” not entirely true? The answer is simple: the statement does not take into account what needs to be corrected and taken into account at the post: distortions introduced by the lens, perspective and spatial distortion, color correction and many other factors.
In order to provide yourself less work on the post, it is recommended to initially shoot the panorama as “correctly” as possible. And for this you can not do without aids. Panoramic tripod head- this is one of the important devices that will allow you to create high-quality panoramas, spending less effort in post-processing. You can read more about why you need to use a panoramic head in a very good article.
I would like to consider the choice of a panoramic tripod head: buy a ready-made solution or make it yourself.

Turnkey solution

There are several solutions on the market. The most popular is .

Excellent panoramic head. Rugged aluminum construction, trustworthy manufacturer's guarantee, precise fixation. It is supported by the fact that the panoramas of the Hermitage were made by the photographer Natalya Kovarskaya with the help of this head. A detailed description of this head can be found in this article.
But the price cools the ardor a little: about 20,000 rubles. in RF.

head from Chinese manufacturer, the quality is satisfactory, but the price is about 14,000 rubles.

High quality head, easy to use.
But the price is about $640.

Allows you to use a heavy camera and lenses, light, easy to handle. Precise positioning.
The price is about $450 for the top version.

Homemade heads

If you are a beginner photographer, you can try making your own panorama head.
On the Internet you can find several solutions with drawings and / or detailed description m.

Homemade head, not inferior to commercial counterparts. Detailed scheme and description on the page in his blog.

Head from Yuri Nadezhin

A solution from our compatriot, with a detailed description of the creation and drawings on his website.

One can say professional solution, for the manufacture of which a metalworking machine is needed. Drawings can be found or.

Homemade head at a price of 200-300 rubles. Andrey even patented this invention. Withstands heavy photographic equipment. More details on Andrey's personal page.

findings

The purpose of this article was to give an idea to the novice or professional photographer about panoramic heads that exist on the market or can be made by hand. It all depends on the photographer himself. If he has money and does not want to do something, then he can choose a ready-made solution. If there is no money or you want to do something of your own, then there are options for creating a head with your own hands.
P.S. I tried to show only the most popular solutions, but of course, I could miss something. I will be glad to corrections and additions. I hope the article will be useful for photographers who want to touch the magical world of panoramic photography.

P.s. Thank you all for finding the bugs

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