By Andrew Liszewski
At one point panoramic photos and interactive viewers like Quicktime VR were pretty popular online, but over the years they’ve kind of disappeared like so many other internet fads. However that doesn’t mean you still can’t take the occasional panoramic photo. In fact a lot of point and shoot digital cameras actually include the functionality to make shooting and stitching together a series of photos really easy. But what if your particular model doesn’t? The Panamatic is designed to mount on any standard tripod and ensures that each photo you take is properly lined up with the next.
Once it’s attached to your tripod and you’ve ensured it’s level with the built-in bubble center, you simply index the ratcheted wheel (which your camera is attached to) one click at a time around its own axis. A full rotation equals 12 photos which you can easily stitch together with any piece of software designed for that purpose. And if you’re shooting skyscrapers or other tall objects, the Panamatic can also be mounted in a vertical position but you’ll need to buy a third-party angled mounting bracket for your tripod. (It’s not included.)
The Panamatic seems to be exclusively available from Lenspen.com for $24.95.
[ Panamatic ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]
Forget about indoor images.
The rotation point has to be below the nodal point of the lens, which for the vast majority of cameras is not aligned with the mounting screw. An offset of a few millimetres can already mean that closer objects cannot be aligned.
Even if you only intend to photograph wide open spaces, you’ll get difficulties because the images won’t exactly add up to 360 degrees, which makes the pano want to buckle.
This product is of limited use, unprofessional, and overpriced.