Photo tripods and telescopic poles

In this second part dedicated to photo equipment you need to realize panoramic photographies by stitching, we'll review more specific equipment. I'm talking about the photo tripod and the telescopic pole. In the next page, we'll talk about a very useful particularity it can have and finally about levelling bases, so convenient to save time because levelling the panoramic head is almost essential.

Photo tripods, monopods and telescopic poles

The process of shooting mentioned in the first page makes using a tripod almost essential when you want to be rigorous, hence productive. It is one thing to manage to stitch a panorama correctly and it's a different thing to make several "easily". The framings and focusing will be even more accurate.
But of course, you'd better take a photo without a tripod than no photo at all if the subject lends itself to it occasionally. Some images need to be taken instantly and some photographers specialized in virtual tours don't hesitate to work with a Fisheye lens with the camera hand-held or with a monopod in the middle of a crowd. The photographer can also be looking for special artistic effects: camera shakes or anamorphosis...

"Classic" photo tripods

It's the most stable solution. Any tripod can be fine, of course, but it can also be useful to place it very close to the floor in certain cases or even at an important height (photo here on the right) - it's less common though because a height of 1.50 m seems very interesting to me... see preparatives - and finally as stable as possible, above all in the particular case of the realization of a gigapixel panorama. In many cases you'll just make it work! For their settings possibilities and their value for money, Manfrotto, Benro tripods are very interesting and for their quality only, Gitzo carbon tripods are among marvelous tools because light and rigid.
It's interesting to note that there's a new generation of tripods which central column can be slightly tilted, like on the models Gitzo LVL or by adding a special column to Manfrotto - 555B and 556B -. It appears to be especially convenient when levelling the panoramic head because 15° of tilting in all directions enable to fix almost any situation in one screw movement. See below.

A few suggestions of tripods I like...

	FEISOL CT-3472LV $724.95

Feisol really makes very good carbon tripods, very light and yet stable enough and they also possess what I find most convenient to quickly level a panoramic head, a central column that tilts on about 10°, as on the famous Leveling Gitzo... But unlike Gitzo, Feisol offers a tripod that would be the equivalent of a serial 3.

Buy on... Support this site, buy this advice from affiliate retaillers ! FEISOL CT-3472 LV Price Seller   $724.95 $698.95

	GITZO Carbon LVL tripod $564.99

Gitzo has among its range of carbon tripods - hence expensive, unfortunately! - two tripods which central column can be completely tilted on 15° unlike the Manfrotto one on which only the ball tilts. It is more convenient because the clamping screw is easier to reach. I love these tripods which qualities I praise everyday to realize panoramas! You can change parts very quickly and level it...

My note : 10/10 - I love these tripods that I use to realize my virtual tours for ten years. They are light, absorb very well vibration and the reclining column is so convenient!

Buy on... Support this site, buy this advice from affiliate retaillers ! 2531 or 2540 LVL Price Seller   $564.99 -

Monopods and telescopic poles

Another solution is to use a monopod as support for the panoramic head. It's more convenient when you want to make panoramas in few photos only to go very fast, anywhere like in a crowd for instance...

Unless it's about realizing a panorama in height, with a telescopic pole. With lots of carbon tripods now on the market, light and not too expensive, this shooting mode is expanding. It will then be easy to make monorange panoramas at a height of more than 6m without heavy installation to set up. It prevents of course long exposure times but when technically the photos can be shot, the point of view of the panorama. As for now, one telescopic pole stands out: the carbon pole Nodal Ninja Series 2 . It is light to carry, not too long once folded, very well made and designed... a true revolution, very pleasant to use.

	Nodal Ninja pole Series 2 Complete (5.9 m) €718.99 VAT *

There are many variants to reach different heights. So you have to do your market according to your needs.

Qualities :

• Lightweight: less than 2 kg!
• Choice of height: from 1.3 m to 6 m,
• Short when folded: less than 1.20 m,
• Finish,
• Practice !

Excellent value for money to discover another world, perched at 6 m high!

My note : 10/10 - Much less restrictive to use than a drone (no legislative arsenal against its use), P2 Fanotec mast is really the mast best designed to perform virtual tours at 6 m high. Distributed again in Europe by panosociety.com ...

Buy it from... Nodal Ninja pole complete Price in € Retailer   €718.99 *   $659.95

* Price without accessories - You'll need to add the base, the carrying case, the rotator hence about 180.00 € more.

Let's go on with an almost essential accessory in panoramic photography by stitching to level the tripod: the leveling base

Pratical Guide N°1 : The Nodal Point $12.90 USD   My practical guides in e-books - N° 1! "Find the nodal point or no parallax point accurately in less than an hour"... whether you are photographing a simple panorama or a 360° photo - PDF of 100 pages - More information...          panosociety.com from this site !