Top Equipment for Shooting Perfect Single Row Panoramic Photos on a Budget

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First, What is a Panoramic Photo?

When most people think about panoramas, the first thing that comes to mind is a very wide photo with a shorter height. The elongated view is usually made at 2:1, 3:1, or even 4:1. If made with you cell phone, you would simply take a series of photos while holding the phone (or camera) horizontally. Then your phone’s software, or Google would stitch the photos together for you to create a very wide panorama. These photos are a great way to capture a larger area than your eye can see, but using the tools below will help you take it up a notch or two, or three.

Photographers now create much larger panoramas by taking a longer series of images with the camera fixed vertically, or in portrait mode. This captures far more of the scene and pixels as can be done other wise.

Panoramas can also be made vertically, where the camera is mounted in landscape mode, and the series of images moves from the lower image to the sky.

Multi-row panoramas create enormous images that have incredible detail, and can be printed in a massive scale. But I will go over how to make multi-row panos in another article.

Below is a 5 image single row pano, with the stitched image below.

Tool Number One - A sturdy Tripod (already have a tripod? Scroll down to the Pano head section)

The very first tool you want to make sure you have when taking panoramic photos is a good sturdy tripod. Yes, you can make good panoramic photos with hand-held shots, but a good sturdy tripod will give you sharpest pictures, and require less post processing.

When you consider buying a tripod, there are so many to choose from it can make your head spin. There are cheap tabletop tripods, full-sized carbon fiber tripods, aluminum tripods, and all in varying qualities. I’ll talk about three very good tripods that you can choose from that will be based on three different budget points.

At the higher price point for travel tripods is the Manfrotto Befree Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod with a ball head. (listed at $319.88 at time of posting. Click on photo for current pricing)

If you’re looking for a sturdy, lightweight travel tripod and have a some extra padding in your wallet, this is a great contender to consider. This tripod has a maximum height of 55.91 inches, and closes down to 15.75 inches small for compact storage during travel.

The following description is from the Manfrotto website

A great choice for any travel photographer. The BeFree Carbon Tripod weights just 1.1kg, which is 20% less than the aluminum version. At 40cm when closed, it's also small enough to fit into your carry-on luggage and backpack, meaning you benefit from a lightweight, highly portable tripod with head that you can take anywhere. That also means you don't have to worry about paying extra to store your tripod in hold luggage.

BeFree's 100% carbon fiber legs are particularly rigid and transportable, while the ball head is strong and easy to operate, giving you more shooting freedom. Thanks to its compact design, you can benefit from a product that offers excellent portability without sacrificing on image quality.

The BeFree Carbon Tripod has an impressive payload of up to 4kg, which means you'll be able to shoot with precision and achieve sharper images, even with longer-zoom lenses. This tripod also keeps your camera securely locked in the intended position, and offers two inclinations with new patented leg angle selectors so you can position your equipment as accurately as possible.

With a dedicated padded carry bag included, you can easily protect your tripod from damage and carry it comfortably when you're on the go. This product also has a durable Italian design and eye-catching graphics so you can stand out from the crowd. In fact, it's Manfrotto's first tripod to include graphics on its first section, and is manufactured to very high standards in Italy.

A more affordable option than the Manfrotto that is just as sturdy, has an additional 3 inches in height, is 3 inches more compact, and only a little heavier is the Three Legged Things “Punks Corey” Tripod. Click on photo below for current pricing.

This is another option for a sturdy, lightweight tripod that doesn’t bite quite as hard on your paycheck. This tripod beats the Manfrotto with a maximum height of 58 inches, and folds up to smaller 13.7 inches small for even more compact storage during travel.

Corey is the entry level micro-traveler system. Featuring many of the same technologies that are found on our professional ranges, but made of durable, aircraft grade Magnesium Alloy, Corey is the perfect travel option for photographers who need their tripod to be as compact as possible.

Punks Corey is a new generation of 3 Legged Thing micro traveler tripods. Packed full of features, with extraordinary functionality and capability, the new Corey tripod is our best ever Punks tripod designed for traveling. With 5 section legs and a 2 section column, Corey extends to a workable height, whilst retaining the ability to fold down to an incredibly compact size for stowage. With a load capability of 14kg / 30lbs, Corey is the perfect combination of weight, size and capability for photographers of all genres and abilities.

One of my recommended travel tripod is the tripod I use a lot, and has been a very welcome tool in my kit. It is the MeFoto Classic Aluminum Roadtrip Tripod/Monopod.

First off, I can’t say enough good about this tripod. It brings an amazing combination of strength, size, weight, and a very attractive price of around $147.00. I have used this tripod in a number of crazy configurations to allow it to be set up in rocky creeks, the side of hills, and on uneven and jagged lava rock. I have yet to find a location that I could not set this tripod up for great photos.

The RoadTrip tripod converts into a full size, 64" monopod by screwing together the removable center column and tripod leg.

The tripod legs can be inverted and folded back 180° giving it a compact size of 15.4"

Five extendable leg sections give you a height range of 15.4"-61.6".

The RoadTrip only weighs 3.6 lbs. but can support up to 17.6 lbs. making it perfect for your mirrorless or DSLR cameras.

Two leg angle positions provide flexibility and enable shooting in cramped quarters or on irregular surface areas.

Twist lock legs with anti-rotation system, paired with rubberized locking grips enable fast and fumble-free set-up plus weather and dust resistance.

Comes with a precision matched Q series ballhead, Arca-Swiss style compatibility quick release plate and integral bubble level to prevent uneven pans and head movements.

Separate head and pan lock secure your camera at any desired angle and obtain accurate panoramas with 360-degree panning.

Comes with a carry case for transport and protection.

Another panoramic example is shown below

Panoramic Tool Number Two - An L-Bracket for your Camera

Without an L-Bracket, you will not be able to take these pictures in portrait mode, which is the whole idea here.

To put it simply, once you’ve attached this to your camera, it allows you to quickly mount the camera in either landscape or portrait mode. Just attach it to your tripod’s ARCA Swiss compatible clamp in the mode you want, tighten it down and start shooting.

You can spend a fairly stupid amount of money on one of these, or you can buy a nice cheap one. As long as it is made of metal and fits your specific camera model, you almost can’t go wrong here.

Unfortunately, the one I purchased some time ago is no longer available. However, the bracket pictured here is virtually identical to it, and is a reasonably priced. Take a look and find the right L-bracket that fits your camera and your budget. (Make sure it works on your specific camera model.)

If you like to own name brand items, you can always go-for-broke and get one for closer to $200! But…. why would you want to do that?

Panoramic Tool Number Three - Panoramic Ball Head

Now that you have a nice, sturdy tripod you’ll want to consider a panoramic ball head. This will help you make the perfect adjustments when panning your camera, and help you get the perfect overlap for easier and smoother stitching in Lightroom, or the editing software of your choice.

So what exactly does a panoramic ball head do? It allows the photographer to shoot overlapping images for panoramas by taking the guesswork out of where to shoot the next shot. Once you set the head up to the proper setting, you can twist the camera, trigger the shutter, and make the next twist without even looking. The Head I use is the Gemtune DH-55 Panoramic Ball Head, which can be difficult to find at times. The one pictured above is very similar.

Using this tool is a simple breeze, and it makes shooting large panos a joy. Simply clamp the bottom ARCA Swiss compatible plate to your tripod, and clamp your camera into the top (an extra ARCA Swiss bracket comes with the kit). Determine the number of degrees needed to ensure a 30%-50% overlay on each shot, and set the detent pin into the proper hole.

As you take each shot from left to right (or vice-versa), turn your camera until the pano head clicks into place, then take the next picture. Repeat this process for as many pictures as you need to cover the view you want.

Camera settings: How you shoot each image is dependent on your camera and level of experience, but there should be some constants to ensure the stitching process goes smoothly.

• Set your exposure based on on an average of the entire image area you’ll be shooting. This will help ensure that the exposure doesn’t change half-way through your panorama, which could have some strange effects when you stitch your images together.

• Set your focus at the point where you have the largest area of the image in focus, and leave your camera in manual focus. This will ensure that the focus doesn’t change as you pivot your camera, which would also result in some strange transitions between each photo during stitching.

• Of course, you can always Auto Exposure (AE) bracket your photos as well. Doing this will ensure your exposure is good no matter your setting.

BONUS - Panoramic Tool Number 4 - Adobe Lightroom

The final tool you need to create perfect panoramic photos is software. The software I use is Adobe Lightroom, but there are other options out there for you to use as well.

Using Adobe Lightroom to stitch your panoramas together is so easy to do, I highly recommend using this software in your post production. If you’re not already using Lightroom or another software solution, click on the advert below and check the prices to use the software. It might look a little expensive at first glance, but you will be getting the most up-to-date software that will never be obsolete (all upgrades are included in the price).

Shooting: Okay, now that you’ve got your shopping list, go get your items and start shooting!

Thanks for reading and please share this article with someone it might help out!