[KevinR]

Some time ago, someone on a different forum recommended photostitching rather than using an UWA lens. I have the Sigma 10-20 and thoroughly enjoy this for many uses especially wide landscapes. But thought I'd give the photo stitching a try with the M-50 f/1.7, and must say, very happy with the result. Stitched in Hugin from 4 landscape shots in quick succession.

IMHO, this technique with a good lens can produce very impressive results without the considerable cost of a good UWA lens.

Obviously, not everything will be possible with this method...Note the occasional dislocated waves...!

[hcc]

Great shot. Well done.

For stitching, I have used Arcsoft PanoramaMaker, AutoStitch 2.2 and Hugin. Autostich was very simple (no brainer) but had a few memory issue with large size photographs. Hugin is more reliable and tend to use it instead. In my experience, however stitching works best is:
- you use a lens with moderate to small distortion and
- you overlap at least 1/3 rd between two adjacent shots.

Hope that the comment may be useful.

[KevinR]

... In my experience, however stitching works best is:
- you use a lens with moderate to small distortion and
- you overlap at least 1/3 rd between two adjacent shots.

Hope that the comment may be useful.

Good points, and to add one more along this same line:
- lens with limited vignetting

[kh1234567890]

Waves and other moving objects are a bugger to stitch properly. Hugin is pretty good, if you can figure out all the tweaks. Autopano is great for mindless quick stitching with very good results. With a fast 50mm, why not give the Brenizer Method a go ?

[boriscleto]

As I'm not likely ever to be able to afford a true wide angle lens I use stitching quite often. For simple auto stitching I actually use HP Photosmart Stitch.

[JinDesu]

Photoshop's stitching tool is quite good - I didn't really see any incongruities when I put almost 8 shots together for this.



All sizes | Panoramic shot on top of Mount Misery at Black Rock Forest | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[KevinR]

And some more examples of photo stitching UWA views with Hugin. This time with K-5 and DA35 f/2.4 Typically about 4-5 shots, but Waterfront is from 10 images.

Waterfront at the V&A


Kite surfing mecca


The other side of the mountain (view from the office)

[cscurrier]

Note the occasional dislocated waves...!

Honestly, with some of stitching I've done, your waves look more natural than mine! I see one spot that's the big giveaway, but only if you know it's stitched, I think.

On that note, does anyone have any good tips to help blend these waves together? I've tried using the clone stamp in PS, which can work in some cases, but not always... I'm no professional Photoshopper in the first place, anyway.

[RioRico]

I use two old tools on my WinDoze machines: AutoStitch (freeware) and PhotoStitch (included with a Canon printer).

Autostitch does horizontal and matrix|array stitching. It is very forgiving of crooked angles, source images turned any whichaway. It is very good at blending the overlaps. It is NOT good with vertical stitching -- for that, I rotate the sources by 90 degrees, stitch, then rotate everything back again. As with any stitcher, misaligned features won't join smoothly. Its options screen looks daunting, but you really only need be concerned with JPEG quality (lower right corner) and output size (upper left corner).

PhotoStitch does horizontal, vertical matrix|array, and 360 degree stitching. It is NOT very forgiving of misalignments and mismatched angles. BUT it has a feature I've seen nowhere else: stitching images not taken from the same point. For example, suppose you need to shoot a very long building. Use any stitcher to assemble a series of shots taken from a swiveling tripod, and you get the handlebar moustache effect -- fat in the middle, tiny ends. To shoot that same building for PhotoStitch, I would put the camera on a tripod and shoot one end of the building from across the street. Then I'd move the tripod about 10-15m sideways and shoot again, keeping the camera at the same angle and distance from the building. Then move and shoot again, and again, and again. In PhotoStitch, I'd specify PARALLEL inputs, and it will keep all the join lines straight. Other stitchers might bend those joins a little.

Those two programs fulfill my stitching needs. Your mileage may vary.

[Frogfish]

AutopanoGiga is superb but for most of us AutopanoPro is more than enough .... they do a great job of stitching handheld panos. Trial software available.

[Frogfish]

PhotoStitch does horizontal, vertical matrix|array, and 360 degree stitching. It is NOT very forgiving of misalignments and mismatched angles. BUT it has a feature I've seen nowhere else: stitching images not taken from the same point. For example, suppose you need to shoot a very long building. Use any stitcher to assemble a series of shots taken from a swiveling tripod, and you get the handlebar moustache effect -- fat in the middle, tiny ends. To shoot that same building for PhotoStitch, I would put the camera on a tripod and shoot one end of the building from across the street. Then I'd move the tripod about 10-15m sideways and shoot again, keeping the camera at the same angle and distance from the building. Then move and shoot again, and again, and again. In PhotoStitch, I'd specify PARALLEL inputs, and it will keep all the join lines straight. Other stitchers might bend those joins a little.

AutopanoPro and AutopanoGiga do that too.

[RioRico]

AutopanoPro and AutopanoGiga do that too.

Yeah, I need to try some more modern warez.

[johngs]

Microsoft have a great free stitch software for panos called Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor)

Its a free download and does the best stitching of any software I've tried.

[Clavius]

Very nice pictures!!

I especially like stitching when I can get a effect a impossible lense woult give. Like bokeh-panorama's. Shooting lots of pictures of a person with a fast 50, stitching them, and end up with a picture that seems to be taken with a 15mm f1.

[RioRico]

Microsoft have a great free stitch software for panos called Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor)

I've been unable to get ICE to install on Win7 or Vista systems. Maybe I'm cursed.