On 30/06/07, Sandy Harris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 6/30/07, Bill Lawlor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > ... I want one! > > http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~globalconn/gigapan.html > > Me too! But what will it cost? > > Also, what lens would be optimal for panoramas? > > My guess is not really long because then you'd > need too many shots, and not really wide because > you'd get too much distortion. > > But in between, say 24-105, I'm not certain. Wider > means fewer shots and better depth of field, but > the longer lens gets more detail. > > Any comment from those with panoramic experience?
It's possible to shoot panos with virtually any lens (rectilinear or fisheye) and pretty much any focal length as the stitching software geometrically transforms each image to match adjacent images in order to produce a composite image with the chosen projection type. http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-projections.htm The system shown relies on a long lens not to minimise distortion but to provide a sufficiently limited field of view to allow the generation of a composite image with the desired resolution. In the case of a GigaPixel image There will be literally a hundred plus shots taken (consider the number of shots that would be required if shooting 10MP per shot less 30-50% of the total image area for overlap). The automated head makes it possible through as great precision is required when shooting many shots of limited FOV. There are a few other very similar automated solutions already available on the market (some for three years or more) the problem is generally in the limitations of the stitching and image post processing applications, few off the shelf solutions can handle that volume of data. If this crowd can deliver a complete package at a reasonable cost then they may achieve their goals. However I can't see it being under US$3-4K before even considering camera or lens given the prices of competing hardware alone. http://www.peaceriverstudios.com/pixorb/index.html http://www.marc-kairies.de/english/MK_PanoMachine.html -- Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://picasaweb.google.com/distudio/PESO http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~distudio//publications/ Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
