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Archive 2017 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?

  
 
fplstudio
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Hi all,

I am considering to buy an L bracket for my 5DsR. The main point is to facilitate portrait framing for landscape photography but would be great if they add additional benefits to vertical pano work.
Do you find L brackets a good investment? Any increase in chances of success for your pano works?

Thanks
Francesco



Apr 17, 2017 at 07:33 PM
Two23
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Every time I buy a new camera, I immediately stick a dedicated L bracket on it. It makes rotations much faster, makes the camera MUCH more stable on the tripod (vertical), and it gives me a bit more to hang on to when not using the tripod. I use a shift lens for panos.


Kent in SD



Apr 17, 2017 at 07:38 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


An L bracket is a practical necessity for pans with lenses that don't have tripod mounts.

EBH



Apr 17, 2017 at 09:16 PM
Roland W
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


A dedicated L bracket is very useful for vertical (portrait) oriented images, allowing you to turn the camera vertical, and mount it directly to a panoramic rotating base or clamp, or directly on to a nodal rail. If you have a full spherical pano setup, the L bracket is ideal for horizontal mounting of a camera by clamping to the side of the camera, but you only need a bottom plate if you are mounting the camera horizontally to the spherical pano rig.

I highly value an L bracket for landscape photography, as well as for any photography where you use your camera on a tripod. It is very fast to convert from portrait to landscape orientations using the L bracket. I find using a Really Right Stuff lever release clamp means it is even faster and easier to change orientation, and recommend their lever clamp as a great product.

The fitted L bracket for the 5Dsr includes an extra clamping method that can secure the side leg of the L bracket to the strap lug on the camera, increasing the rigidity of the combined parts. That attachment is probably not really needed for most photography, but might add a touch of extra sharpness to the high resolution images your 5DSr produces.



Apr 17, 2017 at 10:38 PM
ontime
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Yeah, they are kind of required for high-quality portrait-orientation pano work. L bracket + panning clamp + ballhead does wonders.




Apr 17, 2017 at 10:47 PM
fplstudio
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Roland W wrote:
I highly value an L bracket for landscape photography, as well as for any photography where you use your camera on a tripod. It is very fast to convert from portrait to landscape orientations using the L bracket. I find using a Really Right Stuff lever release clamp means it is even faster and easier to change orientation, and recommend their lever clamp as a great product.


I have looked at the RSS lever release clamps. I am not sure what would be the advantage over a good ball head with panning knob and graduated rotating head....



Apr 18, 2017 at 06:48 AM
Flowernut
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


I would not be without an L bracket for any camera to be used on a tripod.


Apr 18, 2017 at 06:54 AM
Roland W
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Really Right Stuff lever release clamps are an alternative to screw knob clamps, and the lever action is much faster than a screw knob. You can put a lever release clamp on a ball head or panning head, and can also set up a nodal slide with a lever release. I have even added a long lever release to my Wimberley head. You can also buy panning heads with the lever release built in, and can get leveling heads that have built in too. Screw knob clamps work fine, and cost less, so if the speed and ease of use are not of value to you, stay with them.

I have configured most of my tripods and leveling heads to have RRS lever releases on them, and change the head from ball to gimbal to geared to fluid as needed. The interchangeable system is expensive, and for sure not for everyone, but I really like it.



Apr 18, 2017 at 07:50 AM
WestTexas Sky
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Not a fan of the L bracket. I am a landscape photographer interested in small and an L bracket makes the camera too big. It make it hard to use a wired remote unless you slide the bracket farther out, thus making the camera even "bigger". Add in you now have to loosen the plate on the ballhead, reset the camera and retighten and I think it's more work than just flipping the camera into the notch for a vertical. Plus all the taking the camera on and off the ballhead is more opportunities to drop it or not tighten it. As a landscape photographer in the dark, wind, rain etc I just found them the wrong tool for me.


Apr 18, 2017 at 07:51 AM
uscmatt99
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Short answer, get the L-bracket, preferably one designed for your camera. Long answer below.

You can do pano on a budget if you're willing to use slightly less convenient components that cost less.

At a minimum you can use a panning clamp on top of the ballhead or a flippable head like the Arca-Swiss P0 or Acratech GP series heads. Or you could get a leveling base and attach a panning clamp, which limits your degree of freedom but is nice and compact. With either of these, you could mount your camera vertically with an L-bracket and do landscape panoramas. You are limited to single row with the horizon splitting the middle of the image, neither allows for vertical tilt.

Let's say you want to include elements in the scene close to the camera. Now you have to deal with parallax and you need to add a nodal slide. You adjust this to the NPP (no parallax point) which you've predetermined for your particular lens, camera body, and focal lengths. I keep a little chart on my phone so it's always with me.

Let's say you want to go further and adjust the position of the horizon in your single-row horizontal pano. Now you need to introduce a way to vertically tilt your rig above the level of your horizontal panning base, which has already been leveled to the horizon. Just put a ballhead on top of your leveled base, put the nodal slide in the ballhead clamp, then attach your camera and make sure it's also horizonally leveled on the head.

Or you can go all out and use a panorama head. Mine is comprised of, in the following order, the tripod, the leveling base, a panning clamp, a horizontal arm, a vertical arm, a second panning clamp, the nodal slide, then the camera. The beauty of a panorama head is that once assembled it's easy to level and quick to capture single or multi-row panos with your camera oriented vertically or horizontally depending on how you want the final image to look. Here is a link similar to the one I assembled, though you can find cheaper rails on eBay:
https://www.hejnarphotostore.com/product-p/scv-8-inch.htm

Some people use indexed rotators. I do mine in live-view and just shoot for 50% overlap.




Apr 18, 2017 at 08:24 AM
sk66
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Roland W wrote:
Really Right Stuff lever release clamps are an alternative to screw knob clamps, and the lever action is much faster than a screw knob.


The problem with RRS lever clamps (and many others) is that they are not user adjustable and they do not have much/any tolerance. If you're willing to upgrade plates for RRS/Wimberley versions as needed, or buy them together, then you should be fine.

Some screw clamps are slower than others (finer threads).



Apr 18, 2017 at 08:31 AM
jcolwell
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Hejnar plates work well with RRS lever clamps, too.


Apr 18, 2017 at 02:07 PM
fplstudio
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · L bracket any benefit for landscape and pano work?


Thanks for the advice. Just bought a Sunway L bracket, I will see how it performs.

Francesco



Apr 20, 2017 at 01:21 AM





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