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Before I start experimenting, I would like to ask panorama specialists:
There are situations where a 28mm wide equivalent lens is not wide enough, or is apt to distort persective too much. I have seen good hand held panoramas and I wonder if the following would be feasible.
You are shooting a cathedral in landscape mode and are forced to tilt your camera upward with your 28mm equivalent, resulting in a typical perspective.
I would like to merge 3 shots taken in portrait mode with the camera kept horizontally to avoid this perspective.
- would you use a focal with less distortion, like 35mm ?
- or would you correct distortion before merging?
- would it be good enough without a tripod?

Even if I crop the lower part of the resulting image, I should have more detail ?
Michel B
PSE6, 11,12,13.1 - LR 5.7 Windows 7 64 - OneOne Photo Perfect Suite - Canon 20D, Pana TZ6 - Fuji X100S
Most used add-ons: Elements+


Mes Galeries
Michel, I am NOT a panorama Expert, but my instinct tells me it would probably be better to correct distortion before photomerge. As you change the angle, don't you get more distortion? And you would definitely need to change the angle to get a church tower or skyscraper. Of course, a longer focal length would be better as there is less barrel distortion. 35-50mm, maybe?

These may help you a bit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspectiv ... hotography)
http://photo.net/architectural/exterior
http://www.picturecorrect.com/photograp ... y_tips.htm

Thanks for posing this question. I like questions I know little about...they force me to learn! :)
Reka
CS3 on Vista, Nikon D40 (50mm1.4, 18-55mm and 70-300mm VR) and FIREFOX
ImageMOM

My galleries <------------------> My blog
Thanks, Reka.
I know the usual tricks about perspective with a single shot, and I suppose it will be better either to use the zoom lens at its best focal length for distortion: 24mm to 40mm according to photozone.
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/312-s ... ew?start=1
... or to correct it with ptlens before going to merge. Or maybe a compromise like 21mm plus ptlens.
Most of the time its difficult to use a level ('niveau à bulle') or a tripod.
I'll take this into account for my next tests, I'd like to compare the quality of a single shot at 17mm, with correction of barrel distortion in ptlens then perspective in PSE, with that of muiltple shots taken with a good level, merged and cropped. To be followed...
Michel B
PSE6, 11,12,13.1 - LR 5.7 Windows 7 64 - OneOne Photo Perfect Suite - Canon 20D, Pana TZ6 - Fuji X100S
Most used add-ons: Elements+


Mes Galeries
I just tried it on a suitable subject I pass by everyday walking the dog...
You can compare here:
Single 17mm shot :
http://www.prestophoto.com/photos/view_image ... id=1151029
Photomerge of 3 vertical 21mm shots:
http://www.prestophoto.com/photos/image/1151028/21411
You can judge by yoursef.
Michel B
PSE6, 11,12,13.1 - LR 5.7 Windows 7 64 - OneOne Photo Perfect Suite - Canon 20D, Pana TZ6 - Fuji X100S
Most used add-ons: Elements+


Mes Galeries
The photomerge is amazing, Michel.
Sunny
My Galleries
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Canon 40D; EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM; EF 50mm f/1.4 USM; Tamron 17-50 f/2.8; EF-S 55-250mm IS.
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Thanks, Sunny!
You know, I never print or order very big prints, generally A4 is fine for me; but I find that downsizing them for the web or even the PrestoPhoto galleries is terrible and does not do justice to your editing. Showing crops is sometimes a solution, but here, to make a comparison, it is necessary to download the full size.
To make it short, I regret not having tested photomerge sooner!
Michel B
PSE6, 11,12,13.1 - LR 5.7 Windows 7 64 - OneOne Photo Perfect Suite - Canon 20D, Pana TZ6 - Fuji X100S
Most used add-ons: Elements+


Mes Galeries
Michel,
How do you do it? Photomerge gives me fits! 9 out of 10 of my panos are done using ArcSoft's PanoramaMaker3.0. Why? Because it does a better job than Photomerge,IMHO. PanoramaMaker 4.0 is supposed to be even better. The biggest problem I have with Photomerge is the way it doesn't blend things. I'm always fighting a diagonal line across the sky where two of the photos merge. This condition doesn't appear with the ArcSoft program.
Chas
Chas's Gallery
f/16 on a sunny day.....:)
chas3stix wrote: Michel,
How do you do it? Photomerge gives me fits! 9 out of 10 of my panos are done using ArcSoft's PanoramaMaker3.0. Why? Because it does a better job than Photomerge,IMHO. PanoramaMaker 4.0 is supposed to be even better. The biggest problem I have with Photomerge is the way it doesn't blend things. I'm always fighting a diagonal line across the sky where two of the photos merge. This condition doesn't appear with the ArcSoft program.
Chas


That was my first try, and I just wanted to see if I could get a slightly larger field than my 17mm with better correction and resolution. So my test was with 3 vertical shots at 21mm (slight barrel correction to be expected) side by side, with a minimum tilt towards the sky and a large overlapping of the 3 pictures. This is not very ambitious for a panorama and can explain it was easier to get a smooth transition in the sky.
My first photomerge with 'automatic' did show a slight difference in the sky. Then I tried 'perspective' and got a curious angle, as if I was not shooting perpendicular to the building. So I decided to use Ptlens to correct distortion and 'distort' in Elements to prepare each of the 3 pictures. Then I used photomerge with 'perspective' and got this result. I'll have to experiment more, of course, and try really large panoramas.
Michel B
PSE6, 11,12,13.1 - LR 5.7 Windows 7 64 - OneOne Photo Perfect Suite - Canon 20D, Pana TZ6 - Fuji X100S
Most used add-ons: Elements+


Mes Galeries
Chas, How recently have you tried photomerge? It is vastly improved, I now love it and use instead of another program.
Since I just installed PSE7, I haven't used it yet. My other version of it is with PSE5. I'm sure it will get a test run soon.
Chas
Chas's Gallery
f/16 on a sunny day.....:)
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