Acid Battery Test for the Nodal Point.

To determine your nodal point.. try this approach that seems to work with very near and far targets.

take a 8 x 10 piece of paper and set near the edge of a table. Get a set of 4 batteries. Place 2 at the back end of the paper. Place the other two on the nearest end of the paper. Set your camera up right at the table edge and raise the lens UP about 5 or 6 inches above the table plane, so that you can see both sets.

Then with the compact flash card in the camera take 3 each FE 2 images - 1 straight ahead with the back battery tops directly over the top of the nearest set of batteries. Then ROTATE the camera LEFT take a shot -- RIGHT take a shot.

You will know when you have located the nodal point.. When ALL 3 image - THE BATTERIES DO NOT MOVE POSITION.

If the batteries do move postion.. relocate your camera forward or backward on the panorama head.. and repeat image test.

Below is a composite of 3 images.

For more details please see:

http://www.panoramas.de/panoramas/html2e/tips.htm

This is a repost of the image.  This time I added the corresponding camera head orientation below...

The camera and pan head actually are in the same location.  I tried to overlay each camera head ontop of each other to give the affect of swiveling it left and right.. but didn't work out so well even with fading each one a bit.  So I just put the 3 bottom ones close together 'for affect'.

Hope this makes it clearer.

Dave

Really appreciate your tips, Dave.  This one's a gem!  I just upgraded from the i__X rotator to the Kaidan Quickpan III CS and your tip just saved me a whole lot of time and aggravation.  Thanks!!!

You are welcome. 

I was just passing along some really good information found at the website link below the picture.  I tried their process, found that it worked.. and felt that others should know about this technique also.

Of course, the merit of this technique will be apparent when you actually take and process stitch your panorama shots.

Dave