Panorama Photography Gear

Panoramic heads make the difference between a perfect and an almost perfect panorama photo. These specialized heads are designed to rotate the camera around the entrance-pupil of the lens to avoid parallax errors. Like most highly-specialized items, panoramic heads are expensive.

Panoramic heads come in two varieties:

• Flexible ones which can accommodate most combinations of cameras and lenses.
• Fixed ones which are precision-made to match a fixed camera and lens combination.

Flexible panoramic heads like Andoer Panoramic Head are advantageous because they can be used with an entire collection of cameras and lenses. The double sliding-rail system is designed to place the camera in portrait orientation which gives a greater vertical field-of-view and reduces the need for multi-row panoramas which are more difficult to stitch. The disadvantage of such a system is that the rails must be carefully each time. They are also rather bulky.

Fixed panoramic heads are available from specialty retailers and must be ordered for a specific combination of camera and lens. These heads are generally available for premium configurations such as a full-frame DSLRs and high-grade prime lens. The primary advantage is that there is nothing to adjust. Fixed heads are still bulky but less than flexible ones.

For those who cannot afford a panoramic head or are not willing to carry one, it is still beneficial to get a suitable ball-head. Plus, by adding a nodal or macro rail, you can still rotate around the entrance-pupil with the camera in landscape orientation. In this case, what to look for is a ball-head with an independent pan-lock. This lets the camera rotate without changing tilt or pitch, as long as the head itself is level.

Two highly recommended ball-heads suitable for panoramic photography are the Manfrotto Midi Ball-Head RC4 and the 054 Mag Ball Head Q2. The former is light and holds up to 8kg, the latter holds 10kg and uses a small quick-release plate. The larger plate gives more grip but may be bothersome if left attached to the camera when off the tripod.