My Autopano Pro forum

gkaefer wrote:

Hi all,

Canon EOS 400D using with batterygrip - so default merlin crown (and L-bracket from TA and using landscape orientation of cam) is not optimal,

can I fix a prism like following directly to the crown?
http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/pro … 2345_.html

thanks in advance,
Gruesse,
Georg

Why not just shoot without the battery grip with the camera mounted in portrait orientation?

Just remove the two bolts that hold the two parts of the L-bracket together and use the part with the mounting screw to attach the camera in portatit orientation. Some people have also removed the large knob to give more clearance between the rail and the body of the head.

Alternatively use a third party dovetail rail, such as the one you mention above, to mount the camera (without the battery grip) in portrait orientation with longer lenses. I use this one, which has the adavanatage of alowing the camera screw ( a simple 1/4-20 bolt, large washer and a reversed wing nut) to be fully recessed within the rail:
http://www.pulsar-optical.co.uk/prod/Sc … tailm.html

mediavets wrote:

gkaefer wrote:

Hi all,

Canon EOS 400D using with batterygrip - so default merlin crown (and L-bracket from TA and using landscape orientation of cam) is not optimal,

can I fix a prism like following directly to the crown?
http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/pro … 2345_.html

thanks in advance,
Gruesse,
Georg

Why not just shoot without the battery grip with the camera mounted in portrait orientation?

Just remove the two bolts that hold the two parts of the L-bracket together and use the part with the mounting screw to attach the camera in portatit orientation. Some people have also removed the large knob to give more clearance between the rail and the body of the head.

Alternatively use a third party dovetail rail, such as the one you mention above, to mount the camera (without the battery grip) in portrait orientation with longer lenses. I use this one, which has the adavanatage of alowing the camera screw ( a simple 1/4-20 bolt, large washer and a reversed wing nut) to be fully recessed within the rail:
http://www.pulsar-optical.co.uk/prod/Sc … tailm.html

for small lenses - without battery grip - its no problem, because changing batteries is not needed.
I don't want to crash the big kbob (as described to heaten the screw - seems not to work for me - two left hands or so....)

thanks for your link...  time for shopping ,-)

seems to be the easiest solution for the purpose...
battery grip is finally needed with longer lenses (plan to use a 400mm sigma and 2x converter....). in portrait and landscape version mounted the batteries cant be changed without removen cam from panohead.... so battery grip doubles energy and gives free access to batteries inside the grip.
and with 400mm ... gigapixels bracketing and foucsstacking the change of batteries is a real need.
... but for this combo the merlin is not the right equipment... this wil be the nodalninja5... time to save some money for next shooting seasin ;-)


Liebe Gruesse,
Georg

gkaefer wrote:

battery grip is finally needed with longer lenses

NO, there are alternatives 

guckst du hier: http://href.to/CXR

gkaefer wrote:

and with 400mm ... gigapixels bracketing and foucsstacking the change of batteries is a real need.
... but for this combo the merlin is not the right equipment... this wil be the nodalninja5... time to save some money for next shooting seasin ;-)

I strongly suggest to take Merlin instead of using a NN for that purpose! I use a 300mm Nikon on a 20D sometimes and i´d never do it manually - too small steps, too much pictures and you very easily miss some releases during shooting that much exposures. Happened to me several times.
Besides: the Merlin-generated xml file to tell APG the positions is the more vital the more shots you take - you´ll find yourself having lots of hardly detectable pictures in the end when there´s water, clear sky or monochrome walls and so on. You can´t make templates for those shootings manually.
Editing those panos is a mess.

best, Klaus

gkaefer wrote:

so the NN5 would be waste of money? which benefit (in which situations) would it be using this head (using it additional to the merlin)?

I always have my modified manual Manfrotto as backup - you never know . . .
So i´ts definitely no waste of money to have a manual head.

I suggest not to use the L bracket but only the part of it with the slit and to fasten the camera there. Put away the battery grip and tighten the vertical move screw. That should work already - if you have problems still use a little counterweight to balance the camera/lens to prevent it from slipping away.
Merlin´s stronger than you might think!

best, KLaus

Last edited by klausesser (2010-02-08 01:05:49)

Andrew,

You seem to be missing the point.

You've obviously right. Finally I dont want to be restriceted by my pano heads. The questions is how many do I need so
I can do short lens panos with correct NPP and no parallax errors up to 400mm gigapixels and if possible anyhow in furture fullspherical 400mm ones... but I know its like dreaming, christmas and birthday wishes and of course a lot of practise missing until now.... ;-) so how to reach the best result without investing in 5 heads...

that's nowhere near enough to enable you to shoot using click stops with a Canon 400D and a 400mm lens with the camera mounted in either landscape or portrait orientation;

Im aware of that.

but I am not aware that you can mount the camera in landscape orientation on a NN5.

the 400mm lens from hama has its own "doevetail" which I can fix on the head and so I can use any degree of fov turning the cam and lens in any position I like...

I calculate the FOV with a 400mm lens on a Canon 400D to be approx. 3.2 degrees HFOV by 2.1 degrees VFOV, with the camera in landscape orientation; so do you think you'd be happy positioning your shots by eye - peering through the viewfinder?

ok is this practicable: lets start at 0,6,12,18.... degree and doing the same row again with 3,9,15,21... degree?
and the verticals  - there're no clickstops, so manually choosing the 2 degree seems the only possible way...

but finally 400mm is the far goal... so NN5 would also be ok for me to be able to use the 70-210mm canon lens for full sphericals panos with correct NPP.
But this seems to be also possible with the merlin without grip and with alternative dovetail - without the L-bracket...

so my "so the NN5 would be waste of money" statement is ment as a provocative statement, I'm aware that the NN5 is a good piece of hardware and currently my favorite as second head for future. I've to think about it if I need one finally and I've to do practise a lot more with merlin so I get the limits ...

so finally the measurements of the NN5 and the funcionality of the merlin (motor driven x,y axis and PW capable...) combined to one new head would be great.

Liebe Gruesse,
Georg

mediavets wrote:

http://www.pulsar-optical.co.uk/prod/ScopeTeknix-accessories/halfdovetail-bar/dovetailm.html

Andrew,
is there any other source available for exact this part?

several email inquiries from different emailadresses ... ignored.
the given phonenumber on homepage ... wringing for minutes, but now answer.
live help - button on homepage.... "status unavailable".
buying via onlineshop: outside of UK... "please contact via email for delivery costs"...

Liebe Gruesse,
Georg

EDIT: ok - now busy... lets hope the best ;-)
13:29: 18 punds delivery extra costs.... I got the info to buy it nearer to Austria, from germany www.astrocom.de...
16:20: ok astrocom.de feedback - they will order some of them. in 2-3 weeks they're in stock. I'll be contacted ;-)

Last edited by gkaefer (2010-02-10 16:28:00)