Hello,

I am contemplating the purchase of a one-shot lens for 360 panoramas and have several questions about them. I have a Canon EOS 20D, Manfrotto tripod, and stiching software as well as PhotoShop and Photoshop Elements.

1) I know they are all suitable for outdoor panoramas of scenery, but what if I attempt an indoor shot of a room, say 10 by 20 feet, with the camera/tripod up against one wall near the center of the 20 foot length. Then edit with PhotoShop to make it 180 degree panorama only? My concern is the auto focus for the EOS 20D. Since the "back" of the camera will only be 1 foot or so from the wall, and 9 feet or so in "front" of the camera the focus may present problems. Since I won't be using the "back" side of the panorama, it does not matter if that wall is out of focus. My conern is that the "front" side be in focus. (If needed, I can use manual focus. About 75% of my panoramas will be outdoor scenery and the rest interiors of rooms.)

2) Any recomendations of which one-shot lens to purchase?

3) Do these one-shot lens come with special mounting brackets or is this something extra I would need to purchase?

Thanks in advance,

Rick Brown

Hmm a 1 shot lens have a very narrow vertical field of view.  The last version I read about.. it would be necessary to place the camera/lens nearly at ceiling elevation in order to get all the area below. 

In other words... when you look (as the lens will ) at the glass/ plastic surfaced reflecting ball ... you can not see around its left/ right/ top bottom edges.. so you basically only can photograph what the ball is reflecting back to the lens.  As a result... at best you see about all 90 degrees to the plastic ball axis.... down to the floor.  This means you have to place the camera gear on a tall pole near the ceiling.

Can you visualize my descriptions ? 

Hi Rick!

The Kaidan 360 One is as I think a very solid one shot lens. At their website you can find a lot of answers to your questions. BTW, Ive discovered this forum and Easypanos softwares thru them. As you will find out, the one shot lens comes with the unwarp software, which will allow you to choose between different outputs. You will also find there a camera siupport database, with instructions for the usage on different cameras. BTW the focus has always to been set at macro.

Good luck, Martin

Firstly I have a 0-360 One Shot Lens and these are full metal construction with real glass mirror. Priced at $595.00 USD make them the best value and one of the widest FOV.

Secondly these One-Shots take pretty ordinary photographs no matter how experienced you are, nor does it matter what brand. That said, you can get low quality usable for small applet display I.E 400x300 panoramas fast. Using one on a DSLR really require a Macro lens (or a point 'n' shoot camera with Macro function) to get the best from the mirror reflection and you would have to shoot it RAW and process the RAW image to get the most from the poor quality you start with. Bracket shooting would be optimal and then using DRI or HDR methods to make even more from the images.

Personally I say give them a wide birth as I doubt you will ever be totally happy with the final results (or if so not for long).

But! If you are keen on a One-Shot Lens then I happy to sell you mine (Mint perfect in Original Box with all original accessories) Selling Price is $400.00 USD + Postage & Insurance.

Regards, Smooth

I would concur with Smooth.  If your goal is to produce very high-quality panoramic images you will quickly find yourself limited with a one-shot lens.

ps.  If you do go with that lens, Smooth is giving you a great price.

mjg