Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

  New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site
  New Feature: SMS Notification alert
  New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist
  

FM Forums | General Gear-talk | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2015 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?

  
 
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Deleted

Edited on Jan 28, 2015 at 05:23 PM · View previous versions



Jan 25, 2015 at 05:43 AM
EB-1
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


A good ball head w/Arca-Swiss clamp, leveling base, and nodal rail are the basics. Turn off the AF and the focus should not change. If the DOF is insufficient for a pan, then shoot wider and/or at smaller apertures. In the worst case you can bracket focus, but that is more difficult if you don't have experience.

What is your current tripod/head setup? If the issue is only the A-S clamp, there are various adapters to standard 1/4 or 3/8" threads on the tripod.

EBH



Jan 25, 2015 at 11:57 AM
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Deleted

Edited on Jan 28, 2015 at 05:22 PM · View previous versions



Jan 25, 2015 at 12:50 PM
Paulthelefty
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Can you explain what you mean by "ball head dips forward too much"?

I have an Arca BH-1 which has a rotating base, so I lock the ball where I want it and then pivot the whole head/camera using the rotating base. When I do my part, stitches are perfect straight out of photoshop with no adjustments required. I do use a nodal slide. Without a leveling base it can be a bit fiddly, but I don't do enough pano work to justify the leveling base.

Paul



Jan 25, 2015 at 01:15 PM
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Deleted

Edited on Jan 28, 2015 at 05:20 PM · View previous versions



Jan 25, 2015 at 01:28 PM
Theron
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


You might try the arca swiss cube with a rail. Or the arca D4 with a rail. I had the same problem with RRS ball head shooting with H5D and this solved the problem. You can shoot without the rail, but if you have a shallow DOF you'll need the rail to establish a good nodal point.
http://incredibletravelphotos.com go to Oliver Klink Photo site and check his images out. He shoots with a RRS multi row pano head when shoot his multi row images. Some his images are shot with over 30 images using a H4D with a long lens on the vertical axis.



Jan 25, 2015 at 01:45 PM
Paulthelefty
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


My process for a pano:

1. Level the tripod. This is key... I confirm it is level through the full sweep of my intended shot using a tripod level as well as a hotshoe level and the bubble in my nodal slide
2. Confirm framing, and shoot left to right, using the rotating base. There is no loosening of the ballhead at this point, only the set screw for the rotating base. The ballhead itself stays locked.

Now I do not shoot multi-row, so that info may be useless... And would certainly require revising for multi-row. Although your mention of shallow DoF would make a multi-row much more challenging if not impossible because of the field shift.

I cannot offer any advice on pan-tilt or video heads, I disliked my pan-tilt so much I gave it away! I found what works for me and know that it is not necessarily right for others.

Good luck!

Paul



Jan 25, 2015 at 01:48 PM
Mr Joe
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


A proper panoramic head with a leveling base on a sturdy tripod is all you need for panoramas.

No pan-tilt head. No ballhead. And certainly not a video head!

Ask any of the pros in the very active Panoramic Photographers on Facebook group and they'll tell you the same thing: http://www.facebook.com/groups/panoramicphotographers/

I use a Nodal Ninja Ultimate M2 on a 3 series Gitzo for bigger lenses.



Jan 25, 2015 at 06:27 PM
Roland W
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


If you currently shoot a pan sequence and when done the critical focus of the key subject is lost, you either are leaving auto focus on, or you have bumped the focus adjustment on the lens. Always use manual focus on a panorama, unless you want a special effect and distances are changing. Combine that with manual exposure also, and then get enough overlap. From there a merge should work, all though if you have shallow depth of field, the out of focus parts may not stitch right.

A good ball head with a pan base should work fine for single row panos, and can also work for multi row ones too. Level the base of the tripod, so the pan axis is vertical. The you level the camera for side to side, but can tip it forward or tip it back for the scene you want. You can also use the ball head tip for taking multi row sequences.

Do not buy a video head if you only want it for panoramas. Use a good ball head, or us a panorama setup of some sort. An arca swiss nodal slide is the simplest to set up and use, but you really only need a nodal slide if you have items close to the camera.

If you actually want and need a video head for video, and you get one, it will have its own slider plate system on it. You can attach an arca swiss clamp on one end of a video slider plate, and adjust that to achieve nodal point rotation.



Jan 26, 2015 at 03:35 AM
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Deleted

Edited on Jan 28, 2015 at 05:21 PM · View previous versions



Jan 27, 2015 at 05:03 PM
jecottrell
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


How would a tripod cause your camera to lose focus?

How about sharing some examples of your problem images?

What camera are you using? Lens? How about the EXIF for your images that demonstrate the problem?

It's really not the difficult to do panos...




Jan 27, 2015 at 08:34 PM
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Deleted

Edited on Jan 28, 2015 at 05:22 PM · View previous versions



Jan 28, 2015 at 02:06 AM
jecottrell
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


This is interesting...

stormhalvorsen wrote:
An unsteady tripod causes you to lose focus if you shoot up to 150 images on it at f1.4 of f2.0, and you jerk the camera ever so slightly every time you move it.


150 images? Are you doing a Brenizer or a horizontally stitched pano?

What tripod are you using now? Do you weight it? Do you use a remote release, timed release and/or mirror lockup?

It sounds like your focus issues are camera motion, not focus lock, no? That's what I think of when you say "jerk the camera".

Your example image, is that a stitch or a single image? I can't tell from the EXIF.



stormhalvorsen wrote:
I'll try to find some examples of problems tomorrow. Although I don't quite see what that would acomlish.


The more information available, the easier it is to solve a mystery.



Jan 28, 2015 at 10:33 AM
jecottrell
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Here is an approved solution to capturing images for horizontal stitching. It includes everything necessary for success.

Sturdy tripod
Weighted for vibration damping
Leveling base (I rely on a ball head)
Pano base (If you leveled the tripod, you could use the pan feature of the ball head)
Nodal slide
Remote release
Camera with mirror lockup






Jan 28, 2015 at 10:53 AM
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Deleted

Edited on Jan 28, 2015 at 05:20 PM · View previous versions



Jan 28, 2015 at 10:58 AM
jecottrell
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Slowly, we're learning more about what your trying to do...

From your posts, I think you might be confused how to do a Brenizer or what it's limits and purposes are.

stormhalvorsen wrote:
... I need to refocus and quickly cover the new body pose...


If you're refocusing between images, of course you're going to have stitching errors.

If you need to refocus and capture the primary subject, you need to capture every image again.


stormhalvorsen wrote:
I have a fairly light Benro carbon tripod. Today for instance I set it down on hard grey wet ice. It has no spikes. I had to move the head carefully so as not to set the entire thing sailing. And at full leg extension (no center collumn extension) you can press down on it and see that the legs bend a little. So I want a tripod with either double legs or a center cross. Or both. Weighting is an interesting idea but I'll rather just get a new one that is a bit sturdier. And a new head.


What you had today was not a tripod. A tripod holds a camera steady. But, with some simple well proven techniques, you could have had a tripod.

I think what this thread is about is your looking for rationalization from the community to purchase a video tripod with a video head. Everyone has told you it's not necessary and I would venture a waste of weight and money. ...And ultimately not the correct solution for your problem.


stormhalvorsen wrote:
To begin with I used the camera hand held for panoramas so I got the tripod just for the nodal point.


A tripod doesn't solve nodal point problems.

stormhalvorsen wrote:
I got a half decent tripod that I knew I would actually bother to carry around all the time.


A heavy, multi-legged tripod will cure you from wanting to carry it around.


BTW, a tripod isn't necessary for Brenizer.


Post a 100% crop of a section of an image with the focus problem. It would be interesting to see whether it's a focus problem or movement problem.



Jan 28, 2015 at 12:48 PM
stormhalvorsen
Offline

Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


Sorry, this thread has been a waste of time for everyone. I really asked about a simple matter of quick release plates but since nobody gets what I want to achieve it has been all about trying to educate me on how to do this and that the way they do it. It doesn't help me and is a waste of everyone's time.(but I applaud your confidence)! Probably my fault for explaining badly what I really wanted ro know. Thank you and bye!


Jan 28, 2015 at 05:37 PM
jecottrell
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Nodal rail fit onto video head. Best solution?


It's too bad you feel that you're getting the help you requested and decided to delete your posts.

stormhalvorsen wrote:
I have come to believe that maybe I need a video tripod with a video head for my stitched panoramas. My regular tripod and pan & tilt head is giving me problems. I use very shallow DOF and the focus is lost along the way. A panoramic head wouldn't do either for the same reason: Too many jerky movements. And why the need of preset click stops when you can simply see through the lens and get a proper overlap between shots.


A panoramic head is not jerky and doesn't have click stops. The RRS product is incredibly smooth and easy to use. I use the same method that you mention, I look through the lens during my rotations to manage my overlap.


stormhalvorsen wrote:
So I'm looking at the Benro BV6 and H6 head kit and similar products. The under five kilos range but still sturdy. Double legs. No need to fasten or unfasten anything during a row of shots.


While the BV6 may work, it seems an incredibly large solution and it appears, once its legs are extended, to be rather thin and flimsy?

What pano setup requires anything to be fastened/unfastened?




stormhalvorsen wrote:
But how do I fasten a simple nodal rail to those video heads? They all use a different rail type quick release than all of the nodal rails I have seen, which are Arca. So I cannot fit the nodal rail straight into the tripod head like I can with my ball head and pan/tilt heads.


Any tripod is most likely going to have a 3/8-16 male threaded stud sticking out of it. The female thread you'll find in the bottom of cameras and adapter plates is 1/4-20. All you need is the pieces to make it so you can slide your camera fore and aft on the video tripod platform to locate the lens's no parallax point directly above the point about which you're pivoting the camera. With that video head, it will only work for panning and not tilting. So, you're stuck with single row stitches.

This would thread onto the stud and could be used to adjust camera positioning with this.

You would also need an Arca/RRS compatible adapter plate/L bracket for your camera.


stormhalvorsen wrote:
And the mounting screws on top of these video quick release plates are either for camcorders or dSLRs. They don't fit the bottom of the nodal rails I have seen, unless you fasten it with one single screw and no pins, which is no good either.


I hope the previous paragraph explained it clear enough. If not, I'll try a little more.

Right, the adapter plates are made with the 1/4-20 male stud that screws into the camera. The clamp that grips the adapter plate is made with a 3/8-16 female threaded hole to attach to tripods. It's simply a matter of using pieces like I described earlier to interface between the camera and tripod while getting the "slide" functionality that you need.

Lots of low cost, parts and pieces are available on Amazon. Do you have easy access to Amazon in Norway?


stormhalvorsen wrote:
It's such a simple little problem. I'm sure there are plenty of existing solutions but the various product web sites give very little information.


I agree. If you've never had to do it before it can get frustrating and confusing.


stormhalvorsen wrote:
Any suggestions?


Answer the questions the community poses regarding your problem and request. Redirect the conversation back to what you think is your problem. Don't be offended by what people type on the Internet. Many times it's very difficult to read what is written in the same manner that the author had meant. I would imagine even more gets lost in translation.


stormhalvorsen wrote:
Sorry, this thread has been a waste of time for everyone. I really asked about a simple matter of quick release plates but since nobody gets what I want to achieve it has been all about trying to educate me on how to do this and that the way they do it. It doesn't help me and is a waste of everyone's time.(but I applaud your confidence)! Probably my fault for explaining badly what I really wanted ro know. Thank you and bye!


It's not a waste of time at all. At some point a Google search return will link to this thread and it may help someone with a similar problem to yours.

You have wonderful images on your website. I hope you get your questions answered.

Best regards,

John



Jan 28, 2015 at 07:42 PM





FM Forums | General Gear-talk | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.