Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/09/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]
on 9/6/01 12:54 PM, Bill Harting at wharting@adelphia.net wrote:
> John, I love those panoramas -- all mine have been multiple frame paste-ups,
> which have their own peculiar charm, but I wonder what if anything can be
> done to minimize the distortion?
you mentioned using a longer lens. in this context anything over 25mm is
'long', and the distortion is less intrusive but the downside is that the
pan is longer and thinner. You can ameliorate this by shooting 180 rather
than 360 for example but to me the 360 thing has a buzz about it. This one,
for example --
http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/360/wasteground-crop1.jpg
- -- was shot using a 25mm lens. As you can see, it is pretty darn long and
thin. Basically, since the horizontal field of view is fixed at 360 degrees,
using a longer lens simply narrows the width of the vertical slice you are
seeing.
17mm is quite extreme, and you might get something you could live with using
a 21mm or 24mm lens.
One additional issue with very wide lenses in this context is vignetting.
You have to avoid it by stopping down or you get distinct dark bands where
the edge of one frame meets another, very obnoxious and destroys the
trompe-l'oeuil instantly.
- --
John Brownlow
http://www.pinkheadedbug.com