Virtual tours are HOT! Stand out from the competition by taking very high quality 360 photos — with almost any camera! The secret is to use a panoramic head — a tool previously reserved for experts and specialists. But in this panoramic head tutorial, I will show the complete process — everything you need to know to start using a pano head for 360 photos, from shooting through stitching. (In the tutorial, I used the Nodal Ninja 3, but the techniques I showed can be used for any multi-row pano head).
I will discuss:
– 6 advantages of using a DSLR / panohead for 360 photos instead of a 360 camera
– How to setup the panoramic head
– What kinds of camera and lens combinations work best for 360 photos
– What kinds of settings to use
– What is the no parallax point (NPP or “nodal point”) to minimize stitching errors.
– A simple but effective way for finding the nodal point — yes you can do it even with a fisheye lens
– How to shoot the spherical panorama
– How to stitch the panorama
Here are sample photos, comparing 360 photos with a panoramic head vs. popular 360 cameras:
360 camera vs. DSLR: which is better for virtual tours? Comparison of 360 photo image quality
Hyperfocal distance calculator: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
Where to buy: shop.nodalninja.com
Get a 10% discount by using the code 360r10 during checkout!
Nodal Ninja 3 is part F3504
Nodal Ninja 6 for longer lenses (up to 200mm): part F6001
More info:
How to shoot a high quality 360 photo with a DSLR or any camera — panoramic head tutorial
