I have, at last, received all the equipment for making 360 panoramic photos or have I?

I have a Canon EOS 350D camera, a Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, the manfrotto panhead, tripod etc.

I have just realised that I require to take more than the 6 photos required by Panoweaver. I have to take at least 8 with my setup to get the full 360.

The problem is that I cannot use the Panoweaver software with my 8 images (plus 2 for top and bottom).

I have looked at taking 12 photos and stiching together 2 by 2 and then reducing the size to make them fit with no luck.

It looks like I need to buy a different lens and try another program.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

New2this

The Sigma 15mm F2.8 EX DG is a Diagonal Fisheye.

We do not have this lens, but I suspect since it is 180 degrees measured on the diagonal upper left to lower right corner of image it might be similar to the Nikon 10.5mm 180 degree diagonal lens.

Your images might be called "Full Frame 6 +X".  Where you take 6 around and optionally Top and Bottom.

There also is an option for Full Frame 4 +X.

Try that option when loading your images.

This is a new lens type for the forum to read about.  Please let us know how it works out.  I looked it up on Sigmas web site.

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3279&navigator=4

Thank you Dave for your reply.

The problem that I have encountered is that taking 6 photos the FOV appears to be less than 60 degrees making it impossible to stitch the photos together. I like the setup with Panoweaver but it looks like I may have to look elsewhere or buy a different lens.

Thanks again.

Regards,

New2this

You need an 8mm fisheye with a non full frame DSLR or a full frame DSLR with a 15mm fisheye like the Canon 5D.

Using a 5D and 15mm fisheye you could successfully use Panoweaver to stitch. (Full Frame)

Using a 350D and 8mm fisheye you can also use Panoweaver to stitch. (Drum)

Regards, Smooth

Thank you for the reply.

I have tried for the last 4 months to purchase the Sigma 8mm lens, for my Canon camera, without any luck. There is even a supplier that took my money saying that they had the lens and as a result...no lens.....no money. So I went for the 15mm and now realise, too late, that the combination was a bad one.

Does anyone know of a supplier of the 8mm lens for a Canon camera or any software that I can use with my 15mm lens? Otherwise back to saving up again!

Thanks again.

Regards,

new2this

Thanks for the information.

Going to check it out. Cannot get a Sigma 8mm lens until August. So I will give this one a try meantime.

Thanks again.

Regards

new2this

The 15mm on a full frame sensor like the Canon 5D has exactly the same focal length as the nikkor 10.5mm on a 1.5x sensor like on the D70. This means you can shoot 6+T+B on Full Frame sensor. It produces the exaxt same image as the 10.5mm on a 1.5x sensor. Panoweaver will stitch this just fine.

The 350D has a 1.6x focal factor. So this means a 15mm is actually a 24mm lens on the 350D.

Turns out that the verticle"Angle of view" of your 15mm lens on a 1.6x sensor is 61 degrees. Most people incorrectly refer to this as the FOV of the lens. But FOV changes depending on distance to subject. We want to know the FOV of the lens at a certain sensor size/focal length. This is called the "angle of view". You should shoot the images vertically to maximize your verticle AOV. We are calculating based on the camera in verticle position so we are disregarding the horizontal AOV.

You need at least 30% overlap between frames to get a good stitch. And 50% overlap is the best. So taking 50% of 61 degrees and dividing that into 360 degrees will give you the number of images to shoot to achieve a 50% overlap. That number in your case is 12 images.

Unfortunatly Panoweaver can't stitch this lens combonation as stated earier. This is a "panoweaver" forum but until you can get a different lens you can still stitch panos using panotools. Big learning curve and a bit complicated. You can find more info about this on the panotool list at Yahoo.

Panoweaver is much easier to use and does an awsome job

I hope I didn't break the rules too bad but he is a panoweaver user he just can't use panoweaver yet. Just tryen to help the brother out.....LOL.....Smooth edit this if you need too

General Lee.

Good point General.

I do not have any issues with helping him out.  Pointing him to the PTgui solution is fair considering his camera inve$tment.

Thank you General Lee,

As my name suggests I am new to this and all the comments are of help.

I am currently trying out other software which appears to do the job. I have almost managed with 2 rows of 8 photos plus top and bottom. Also a little help from photoshop has given me a starting point.

When I receive the 8mm lens then I will be back with more questions.

Until then.......................

Thanks again.

Regards,

new2this