using a monopod - Nodal Ninja r1/r10
AxonJAG
tripod. I have been looking into a Nodal Ninja r1/r10 and wondered if
anyone out there has used this or has any ideas.
My team are currently using the Manfrotto setup but the airlines are
getting more and more negative about letting the kits on the plane so
we are having to ship the kits ahead of time to the teams. the Monopod
kit (if there is one out there) would be a better option.
best regards
Michael
Ken Warner
study to figure out how to do it. Not something you can totally
explain in email.
Here's a nothing special example:
http://pancyl.com/BackYardSnow.html
Joergen Geerds
(http://www.palmela2011.com/), where Bill and his team were selling R1
like hotcake. In addition, about 80 of the 130+ participants had a
pole with them all the time :-) it looked at times more like a nikon/
canon bamboo forrest :-)
So the answer in short: yes, hordes of photographers use poles and and
R1s successfully.
joergen
360nyc.com
Hugh Anderson
Yes, Using a monopod with an R1 works great.
A good bubble such as a Survey Staff Bubble helps keep the monopod
truely vertical so the camera/lens is rotated around the NP.
I have used one taped to the monopod.
What I mean by a Survey Staff Bubble:
http://www.btowstore.com/epages/17854.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/17854/Products/DUSB1
http://www.triginstruments.co.nz/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=122&osCsid=c670b37c24031f9da4486abe7df486b8
If I can be of further help please ask.
(I'll check back on this forum from time to time)
Ken Warner
Willy Kaemena GM
but even then.... it is possible as you can see in this tight environments when sticking the monopod into a car
http://www.360cities.net/image/palmela2011-vw-sharan-autoeuropa-portugal#126.10,14.70,85.0
Willy
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gravityimage
car? What is your tilt angle?
Bill Mumford
On Jun 30, 9:58 am, Willy Kaemena GM <wkaem...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> I keep my monopod at any angle, without bubble level, important is only to maintain the rotation axis and don't worry about deviations of a few cm, as long as you have no near objects,
>
> but even then.... it is possible as you can see in this tight environments when sticking the monopod into a car
>
> Willy
>
> On Jun 30, 2011, at 15:34, Hugh Anderson wrote:
>
>
>
> > Hello Michael,
>
> > Yes, Using a monopod with an R1 works great.
>
> > A good bubble such as a Survey Staff Bubble helps keep the monopod
> > truely vertical so the camera/lens is rotated around the NP.
> > I have used one taped to the monopod.
>
> > What I mean by a Survey Staff Bubble:
> >http://www.triginstruments.co.nz/catalog/product_info.php?products_id...
Willy Kaemena GM
willy
DennisS
If you take a look at my web site (http://www.dlsphoto.net/
Panoramas.htm), you will find hundreds of examples of monopod
shooting. 5 of the top 6 galleries listed were shot using a monopod.
I am not so sure a monopod option is better than a tripod when you
look at the overall processing time. It all depends on the panoramas
you are shooting and how much processing time you are willing to put
in. Remember, a tripod keeps the camera steady around the NPP while a
monopod does not. I have been flying for years with my camera gear.
United has never raised an issue with my stuff in my carry on,
including my tripod.
Here is my advice for monopod shooting:
http://www.dlsphoto.net/Tutorials/NadirShadow/index.htm explains how
to deal with your shadow. There are two finished examples: One where
the shadow and monopod have not been removed (you can see the
footprint of the top of the monopod) and one of the same scenes with
the shadow and monopod removed.
I have found that a bubble level on the monopod makes stitching go
much easier. The better you hold the monopod plumb, the less work you
will have when stitching. Angular orientation is not too important
and can be "guestimated" but vertical orientation is critical in your
attempt to keep the NPP as accurate as you can.
The key to successful monopod shooting is practice, practice and more
practice. During my Europe vacation in 2009, it took me about 20
panoramas before I finally got the workflow figured out. I returned
with about 125 good quality panoramas from the trip.
Whenever my family goes on vacation I shoot only panoramas using my
monopod. My family takes care of the standard photography. Next week
is Yosemite. You betcha I will have my monopod and R1 along for the
trip. I am leaving half my gear at home since I will be focused on
shooting panoramas.
Dennis
Keith Martin
> only to maintain the rotation axis
is essentially a 9.5ft 'monopod', and the key is to keep the tip turning
in the same position in space - regardless of the angle of the pole.
(Don't worry Bill, I'm just talking about a few degrees here! I'm not
actually extending it horizontally - I know my camera is pretty heavy. :-)
I found that it was actually very useful to combine it with a tripod: I
set up the tripod with legs partially extended to bring the top up to
around waist height, then I use that to help me keep the pole in the
same vertical position as I turn it. Suddenly things are much steadier,
a big bonus if you're used to the absolute precision of tripod work.
Okay, it isn't *quite* that perfect - there's pole flex for one thing.
But it really helps.
Especially if you're in a situation like mine last weekend, shooting at
night in the middle of a heaving, dancing crowd at a dubstep stage in
Glastonbury festival, with shutter speed around 1/15th sec and the pole
at full stretch! :-)
k
Hans
He says
getting more and more negative about letting the kits on the plane so
we are having to ship the kits ahead of time to the teams."
virtual Tours and in that case a monopod is absolutely not a good
option.
There is no way that you can do real professional virtual tours of
that kind using a monopod.
I do not see the problem with a tripod on airlines. There are lot of
good tripods that are small and still stable enough for virtual tours.
Most monopods are actually longer than the standard size for a Hand
baggage case.
Doing monopod panoramas are fine for hiking or action panoramas but if
you do professional virtual tours from indoor areas you need to do
long exposure and bracketing so forget all about it.
Hans
Willy Kaemena GM
Willy
RTLB
Fiber. It is really small and legs folds up instead of down.
Roger D Williams
> Sorry but it looks like no people has read what Michael writes.
> He says
> "My team are currently using the Manfrotto setup but the airlines are
> getting more and more negative about letting the kits on the plane so
> we are having to ship the kits ahead of time to the teams."
>
> From that I assume that what his company do is Hotels or similar
> virtual Tours and in that case a monopod is absolutely not a good
> option.
> There is no way that you can do real professional virtual tours of
> that kind using a monopod.
>
> I do not see the problem with a tripod on airlines. There are lot of
> good tripods that are small and still stable enough for virtual tours.
> Most monopods are actually longer than the standard size for a Hand
> baggage case.
>
> Doing monopod panoramas are fine for hiking or action panoramas but if
> you do professional virtual tours from indoor areas you need to do
> long exposure and bracketing so forget all about it.
While that is a valid summary of the disadvantages of the monopod approach for indoor work and indeed wherever high precision is necessary, I have developed a sort of half-way approach that combines acceptable accuracy with almost the lightness and convenience of the monopod.
When the situation calls for it, I remove the foot of the monopod and screw it into a small tripod, more the kind of thing you would use to position a light source than something to actually support a heavy camera. This gives me a firm location for the foot of the monopod, and I slacken the clamping screw so that the little head on the mini-tripod can rotate freely. This means that the foot of the monopod is kept in place AND allowed to rotate. Provided I keep the pole vertical (and I have a bubble level velcro'd to the monopod to make that easy), I find it perfectly accurate and have no problem stitching the resulting panoramas.
And when I'm just stitching scenery out of doors, I can leave the mini tripod in the side pocket of my camera bag (it's that small).
I must confess that I have only tried this with a monopod, not a lengthy pole, but I don't see why the same idea shouldn't work, perhaps with a slightly beefed up mini tripod...
Roger W.
gravityimage
hole in my direction and a smaller hole at the "zenith"(which is away
from me), and if I shoot 6 instead of 4 around I get rounded holes
instead of square, to clone or patch. Is this pretty much what you are
getting Willy?
DennisS
Change your tilt to 5 degrees up. The Zenith should close right up.
With the Simga 8mm on your D90, you should only need 4 around plus a
hand held Nadir patch shot in order to get the entire sphere.
Dennis
Hans
On Jul 1, 8:24 pm, gravityimage <gravityim...@mac.com> wrote:
> When I use a tilt of +2.5* (with D90, Sigma 8mm, R1) I get a small
> hole in my direction and a smaller hole at the "zenith"(which is away
> from me), and if I shoot 6 instead of 4 around I get rounded holes
> instead of square, to clone or patch. Is this pretty much what you are
> getting Willy?
Sounds like you are doing a bad optimizing which results in a smaller
FOV. Your optimized FOV should be at least 180.
With correct crop it should be 181 with a sigma 8mm 3.5.
Cropcircle could also be wrong. Especially if you use an older PTgui.
Check that it is cropped right inside the circle.
Hans
Willy Kaemena GM
and I achieve 182-183 FOV after optimization
here a typical monopod action shot made with 4-5 shots around. Monopod handheld at any desired angle
The picture shows the PTGUI output without any retouch
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150226848766263&set=o.146240618753391&type=1&theater
Willy
DennisS
When converted to a spherical panorama, this picture shows that you
really need to rotate around the NPP no matter what angle you hold the
monopod (or pole) at. There are bad stitching errors.
Dennis
Willy Kaemena GM
but the purpose of the photo was not the NPP issue but to show that there are no zenith or nadir holes using a monopod and Sigma8 on Nikon.
Willy
Simon Nobes
I've enjoyed reading all the monopod users' observations and advice in
this thread and thought it might be useful to add my own tuppeny-
worth . . .
I bought an extending microphone boom (carbon fibre)a few years ago
and have my NN3 mounted on the top almost all the time. The pole is a
Gitzo GB3560 and seemed stupidly expensive at the time but it is very
light and extends to about 4 metres. It has a standard tripod screw
mount at the top, so no mods were required. The top section is quite
whippy, so using it in a strong wind is a challenge (I usually don't
extend it to full height if the wind is strong).
I learned quite early on that keeping the pole vertical is a must and
found a very cheap (if slightly ugly) solution in a DIY store locally
- a fence post level. It was stupidly cheap (in comparison to the cost
of the pole) at around £5. Here's an example
http://www.drapertools.com/b2c/b2citmdsp.pgm?pp_skmno=69555&ipadd= .
I've tightened up the horizontal rotator screw on the NN3 to fix it
permanently (as I rotate the pole of course!) but as my Canon 20D &
Tokina 10-17mm requires 2 sets of shots to get a whole panorama, the
tilt arm on the NN3 remains adjustable. I have removed the foam hand
grip at the bottom of the pole and carved a flat piece of nylon board
(the cheap kitchen-chopping variety) to form a round "socket" for the
pole to rotate in. Usually this ground plate stays still enough during
the shoot but if it slips around at all (concrete and stone are
troublesome) then applying a little pressure with a big toe can secure
it well enough. As my camera & lens combo requires 6 shots around I
have placed an index mark on the pole and six marks on the ground
plate to aid alignment. I found I was leaving gaps in the scene if I
trusted my own judgement and ended up taking 8 shots around, so the
ground plate saves a bit of work . . .
It's a pain to have to take two rows of shots as it necessitates
collapsing the pole to adjust the camera angle. In reality it still
works very well and the height of 4 metres can be an asset. I don't
shoot horizontally because the pole flexes so much - I think the
panoramas would work but a) I'm concerned about suspending the camera
and lens over the edges of high buildings or cliffs (and where else
would you do this anyway?) and b) I'm a bit scared of heights!!!
Here's my favourite pole shot:
http://www.panoscope.co.uk/2008/olympichomecoming/index.html
This was quite a challenge - people were moving into this area en mass
and I really had to stand my ground - they just didn't see the pole in
their haste and tried to push past with no regard to my requirement to
stay in the same place! You can see that the pole gave me a viewpoint
at about eye-level with the top floor occupants of the double-decker
bus - a real asset in a scene like this. I think PTGui did a fine job
with the stitching - considering the extent to which folks kept moving
around.
One last tip - with the camera being so high it's sometimes difficult
to hear if the shutter has fired. Just put your ear to the pole as the
sound travels down it very well . . .
gravityimage
image by not paying attention to how PTGui was cropping my images. My
biggest challenge is getting the camera back into the same spot in the
air for those special horizontal pole shots.
Bill
Ed
Rather than toting a pole AND a tripod on location, I've had pretty
good luck using a big Bogen light stand that I've had for years. When
in use, I overlap the sections a bit, but at full extension the camera
is 12'/3.6 meters in the air on a fairly sturdy support. There's a
1/4"x 20 tpi stud on the very top so one can fasten the pano head and
to rotate I just loosen the lowest clamp and turn the upper sections.
Granted, it's not tremendous in the wind and if doing interiors with
longer shutter speeds, you have to wait a minute for the sways to calm
down after rotating it. The only other drawback I can say is that it
doesn't collapse very small, but it isn't heavy at all. Below is one
of the shots I've done with this assembly.
http://www.edsewell.net/pano/qtvr/curtis_ctr_8x6c.mov
Ed
On Jul 1, 8:01 am, Keith Martin <ke...@vortex.co.uk> wrote:
> > I keep mymonopodat any angle, without bubble level, important is
Tom Sharpless
surveyor's pole like here http://tksharpless.net/CrainPole.htm
The pluses: 1) a really good big bubble level built in. 2) a clip
that lets you hold it vertical with a tripod (etc.) while freely
rotating it. 3) a stout steel point to go in the ground.
The minuses: 1) you have to modify it yourself to fit photo gear. 2)
5.5 feet closed length.
Various max lengths up to 20 feet are available, in carbon fiber or
aluminum. Prices quite comparable to photo monopods.
-- Tom