Jordi,

While the 40D is a great camera it would be a total waste to use the Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye in my eyes. The reason is you will not be making the most out of the camera sensor area. Much the same as using a Sigma 8mm on a Canon 5D. You end up with a whole lot of black! This is not so bad on the 5D because it is a 12.7 megapixel camera but still the maximum final stitch size is only around 5800x2900 pixels and you get larger than that using a Canon 10D 6.0 megapixel using the same lens.

Anyway, I would suggest buying the Sigma 8mm Fisheye for a couple of reasons. It's cheaper and will give you larger 360x180 panorama stitched images. OK, so you will have to shoot 4 (Drum) shots instead of 3 (Circular) shots, no big deal!

Now for the panohead: The Manfrotto 303SPH is a great big heavy chunk and not the best in class. You would do far better with an Agnos MrotatorTCPS or for that matter a Nodal Ninja 3 Both these products are better suited to full spherical panorama shooting. Allowing you to shoot 90 degrees up and down shots. Weigh less and most likely cost less. I do not know I one person who favours the Manfrotto 303SPH. Though I do know of plenty who did buy one only to regret it and then sell it. Fact is, it's the most offered secondhand panohead in the world. Too heavy, too expensive and just not as good as others.

As a consideration you should look at the Tokina 10-17mm Zoom Fisheye for the Canon. You would have to shoot 6+TB @ 10mm (Full Frame) but the quality would be higher than the Sigma 8mm (4 Shots or 4+TB) 

Another point for the cost saving is that the images from the 40D are unlikely to be any better than those from a Canon Rebel XTi (400D) and the only reasons for buying the 40D over it would be build quality and some minor menu options. (The the LCD View Finder is nice also).

Panoweaver 5 will handle all that has been discussed.

All points to be considered.

Regards, Smooth

Jordi,

I'll try and start from the beginning of your post.

40D for only $950? Very Cheap! Best I have seen is around $1100.00 most charge $1400+ using this camera you would still get 8000x4000 no worries with the Tokina 10-17 Zoom Fisheye @ 10mm setting (6+TB)

Regardless, If you go the 400D you will no doubt save plenty of cash along with weight and again you will get 8000x4000 no worries with the Tokina 10-17 Zoom Fisheye @ 10mm setting (6+TB) the sensor size is the same between these cameras.

Possibly the Agnos MrotatorUT would be a better panorama head than the Nodal Ninja 3 based solely on the Rotator Base and Detents click stops on the horizontal upper arm. But either will do the job using the lighter weight plastic body 400D. Both are value for money. I have both and tested them fairy extensively.

Yes, you would stitch using Tokina 10-17mm Zoom Fisheye images with the setting Full Frame Fisheye 6+TB in Panoweaver 5.0 and you can stitch directly with RAW files and produce HDR. Masking is not so straight forward with Panoweaver as the .PSD output is not in layers. Though using Smartblend as a plug-in will help greatly with double ups in image seams. I.E: where a person may overlap two images.

Setting the NPP (entrance pupil) is no big deal, though people can make it seem hard. Basically you just need to set the NPP over the X & Y axis over the exact centerline of the tripod column. Most correct positions are listed on the Nodal Ninja website camera settings page and includes the 400D and 40D fitted with the Sigma 8mm Fisheye and also the Tokina 10-17mm Zoom Fisheye at many zoom settings. So basically you can just use these and your in business. Learning how to do it by yourself is something that you really should know though! It is not a major task and should have it completely under control within 1 hour.

The difference between Panoweaver 5.0 and Panoweaver Batch 5.0 is the convenience of batch stitching. That is it. So unless you have many to stitch everyday. I doubt you would want to spend the extra money. On top of that you must trust everything, as it becomes totally automated. Personally I would check each panorama individually for errors. I suppose if it was for quick and dirty real estate jobs it would be OK, but I don't cover that market.

As for the lenses: The Sigma 8mm Fisheye is a proven and popular lens. It has been around now for many years although has been updated over the years (It is a circular fisheye lens). The Tokina 10-17mm Zoom Fisheye is relatively new to the market (being a re-badged co designed Pentax Tokina lens) and has been around for the Canon mount for about 1 year. (It is a full frame fisheye lens) Both lenses are very good and have only minimal lens flare. Note: Sigma 8mm F/3.5 EX DG version)

Regards, Smooth

Jordi,

Euros! Now it makes sense.

The main issue's with the Nodal Ninja 3 over the Agnos MrotatorUT is simply in the rotator and click stops, it is not as defined even after adjusting correctly and doesn't feature a lock. The Nodal Ninja 3 doesn't like to be turned in an anticlockwise direction. If it is the centre screw comes loose and the head in not stable. Of course being cautious and avoiding this will help. That said, it is a widely used and appreciated panohead. The Agnos on the other hand is far superior in this regard with either the RotatorT or RotatorM base.. Apart from that the Nodal Ninja 3 is a fine panohead and works well, if anything the Nodal Ninja 3 @ 176 Euros is a little more solid in the support arms over the MrotatorUM @ 190.00 Euros (no lock). I suppose it's a case of you get what you pay for. Either when purchasing from Bill at Nodal Ninja or Agnos let them know Smooth recommended you to them.

Let me just say, if it was me I would be buying the MrotatorTCPS which is my number one used panohead.

Stitching: Panoweaver 5.0 offers ease of use and three output viewers and provides options for your own loader splash screen along with Full Screen Flash option. It IS possible to add your own control points much the same as Hugin or PTGui etc making it NOT fully automatic should you need it to be. That said, if you have set up the NPP correctly Panoweaver 5.0 is so good you shouldn't need to add any control points and allow it to be automatic. It is not a difficult piece of software to use. Of course if you need maximum control, multi row stitching and such then you should look at other options. As this is Easypano's website and forum it would not be fair to talk about or recommend any other brand here.

Regards, Smooth