Here’s the acronym for my pre-panorama checklist: WIFEL.
W: White balance, set MANUAL, like Daylight if you’re outdoors
I: ISO, set MANUAL, to the lowest you can use, like 100 outdoors.
F: Focus, set MANUAL and focus for the important depth
E: Exposure, set MANUAL (scan the scene and set to important stuff)
L: Level, is the camera/tripod level?
In other words, take the camera OFF AUTO!
If you have a better checklist, or can improve this, please let me know.
Here’s my latest panorama head
I just shot this panorama using it and a Sigma DP2s. Naturally, I didn’t follow my own WIFEL and left the camera on ISO 800 from the day before.
Click on my name, on the pano, to view others I have done recently.
I also set the camera to a 2-second shutter timer. That way, when the shutter fires the camera is still. This is also important because it gives the camera time to buffer/save the image.
I’m hoping to do some high quality multi-image stiches using the pano head. Here’s a quick test I did recently, freehand. You need to see it large to appreciate the DOF effects.
