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Which pano head is good.?

I also have the boat anchor heavy old Manfrotto pano head. Sometimes I still pack it in, like I did yesterday when I was photographing a Giant Sequoia grove in Yosemite National Park. (8 miles of hiking, total) It was dark in there, and I needed huge depth of field.

But when I am backpacking or going on a long hike I usually bring just a monopod and a 90 degree bracket, the one from my Manfrotto head, and a bubble level only. This system works great and I get images that stitch just as well as the ones from my Manfrotto pano system as long as I don't need to have super depth of field or am shooting in reduced light conditions.

The trick is to not attach the camera exactly parallel with the 90 degree bracket. You attach the camera so points down slightly and then you attach a bubble level to the flash shoe. Since the camera is pointed down slighty if the 90 degree bracket is exactly vertical, you have to lean the monopod a bit toward yourself to get the bubble level level, which means the camera is pointing straight out in a horizontal direction. Get a bubble level that works on two axes so you also hold the camera level in the left to right axes too.

Thanks to the small tilt of the monopod, the node of the lens is moved back until it is over the pivot point, which is the spot on the ground where the monopod rests. You will have to fool around a bit with the angle you want to tilt the camera on the 90 degree bracket so you get it so when you get the camera level it moves back the correct distance to bring the node of the lens over the pivot point.

Then just sight through the lens to make sure you get adequate overlap between shots. You look through the viewfinder to line up the shot, then cover the viewfinder with your thumb to keep out unwanted light, rock the monopod until the bubbles indicate level, then click the shutter. Look through the viewfinder, find the next shot and repeat until you are all the way around.

It takes some practice to remember to make a mental note of what you were looking at when you did the first shot. This setup works great and once I got used to it I find it easier than using the pano head system and get at least as good results. I have shot hundreds of panos this way.

I have a Manfrotto 676B and it weighs about 400 grams. I also carry a mini tripod that weighs 1 kilo if I am carrying a telephoto lens, which needs more stablity than the wide angle lens I use for panos.

Paul Fretheim
Inyo Pro
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