Hello Everyone.  I first want to thank everyone who answered my last few posts.  I have managed to do enough virtual tours this month, that I think I might want to buy some new equipment.  As I have said before I use a coolpix 8400 with a Nikon Fc-E9 lens. Does anyone know of a good combination of camera and lens that will work with the Stitcher DS.  I have a budget of about $9,000. Also, is the qaulity of the pano going to change drastically enough that makes it worth it to spend that much.  Thanks again for everyones time.  
 
Best Regards,
 
Chris

Chris
You probably wouldn't need to spend that much.
 
One of the better Nikon or Canon dSLR cameras goes for $1,500
A Sigma 8mm or Nikkor 10.5mm is about $650
For a rotator, a Nodal Ninja is only $250 or a 360 Precision for $1000.
 
You would see a very noticable improvement in quality, mostly from the change from the Coolpix to a dSLR camera. The sensors are about 4 times bigger in the dSLRs with the same resolution as the Coolpix
 
To spend $9000 you could buy a Canon 1Ds or Nikon D3 for about $5000, a Coastal Optics fisheye for $4500 that would let you do 2 fisheye stitching like your 8700/FC-E9 can. (The Coastal Optics comes with its own rotator I think, so you won't spend more for one) That's $9500

Thank you for the information.  I had bought a camera kit when I first starting doing virtual tours. The company I bought the kit form said that the only way to use the DS option is with a camera that has a wide angle range and a lens that is more than 180 degrees viewing.  Is their a particular dSLR camera that you had in mind.

Hi Chris,
 
The company was correct. To use the "DS" option of Stitcher needs a camera/lens combination that gives a FULL circle image with greater than 180 degs on each frame, such as the Nikon 8400 with the FC-E9.
 
But, you can create 360 degree images in Stitcher DS using lenses with less than 180 degrees. You just need to take more pictures.
 
So because you have the "DS" version of Stitcher, your options are:
 
1. Buy new hardware for taking 2 x shots to create a full 360
2. Buy new hardware for taking more than 2 shots to create a full 360
 
To achieve option 1, you are now very limited with what hardware you can use. You can use the Coastal Optical Lens but not with a Canon 1DS / Nikon D3 as these are full frame cameras. You'll need a reduced sensor DSLR. Any one will do (except for the Olympus 4/3 system cameras) good models are the new Canon 40D or Nikon D300.
 
To achieve option 2, you again can use any DSLR (except Olympus 4/3 system) and as Doug says, either the Sigma 8mm or Nikon 10.5mm.
 
To answer your final question, yes. Changing to a DSLR with the Sigma 8mm or Nikon 10.5mm will change drastically the quality of your panos.
 
If you're used to seeing 2 shot images from the 8400, prepare to have your socks blown off.

Chris
Just to let you know, I'm in the process of switching from a Coolpix 5400/FC-E9 setup to a Canon XTi/Sigma 8mm combo. I have the Canon and a Nodal Ninja rotator, just getting the money up for the Sigma
 
I've already switched all the still photography work I do for Realtors over to the Canon with a Canon 10-22mm lens and the quality is heads and shoulders over what I was getting with the 5400 and the WC-E80 wide-angle. Its not just the extra pixels, the larger sensors and therefore larger photosites on the sensors really make a difference.
 
Andrew
Out of curiosity, why can't the Coastal Optics lens be used on full frame cameras like the Canon 1DS and new Nikon D3?

Assuming you mean the 4.88mm f/5.2 the answer is it can, but because it's designed for a reduced sensor, the circle coverage is quite small on a full sensor.
 
Coastal Optical Systems make a larger lens for full frame sensors but that comes in around $7,500.

I get it....I looked the 4.88mm f/5.2 up and the image size is a 14.9mm circle, so it would fit really well on an APS sized sensor.
 
But cameras like the 1D and D3 would be a little over-kill with a 24x36mm full frame sensor?

Exactly. Thats' why Coastal have 2 x lenses, one for reduced and one for full sensors.

Badders,  
 
Is there a website that you can refer me to, that shows some pano's or virtual tours taken with that elit camera & Lens combo you describe in the above post?

One more question. Does the Canon 40D or Nikon D300 need to be used with the coastal optics lens or is there another lens that can be used for the 2x shot that will produce a better quality 360VT than my original camera setup?
 
 

Chris
The only lens currently available for Nikon or Canon dSLR cameras that can produce the circular image with a Field of View greater than 180° needed for 2 fisheye stitching is the Coastal Optics 4.88mm f/5.2 Fisheye lens. That's it.
 
The other option you might consider with your generous budget is a camera with a Full Frame sensor like the Canon 1D or 1Ds or the Nikon D3 and a Sigma 8mm. On a Full Frame sensor, the Sigma 8mm produces a 180° circular image. With the camera tilted up slightly, you could produce a full 360° x 360° image with just 3 shots.
 
This is a link to a virtual photo taken with a Canon 1D and one of the Coastal Optics lenses
http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/worl [...] Addie.html

Chris
I've got 3 sets of source photos taken with a Coastal Optics 4.88mm lens. Andrew was generous in sharing them with me.
 
One set, taken with a Nikon D1X, was used as an example on the iPIX website, the other 2 sets were taken with a Nikon D200 by Andrew.
 
I don't have the means to set them up for download, but could e-mail them to you so you could "try the camera & lens out yourself."

That would be great. julio.christopher@gmail.com.  thank You

Doug,  
 
I checked out your website, looks great.  I am having thoughts on starting an actual LLC company with a website, instead of just doing free lance work.  Would you say that you investment into virtual tours and oyur website was worth it.  Is this a full time job for you or just a part time thing?

Chris
The 3 sets of 2 fisheyes taken with Coastal Optics Lenses have been e-mailed to you as attachments. You'll see a big difference compared to the photos you're used to working with from your 8400/FC-E9.
 
Thanx for the compliment on www.VirtualAlbuquerque.com. I didn't want the typical virtual photographer's website that had a little about the photographer and a few quickly outdated samples.  
 
The website started as a Demonstation of how virtual photography could be used. The webmaster was one I worked with who did 50 or so real estate agent websites. I asked him what he would charge for a website using the idea of navigation from a map of Albuquerque. What made it work was he offered to do it free, if he could use the content for the Relocation sections of his Realtor websites.  
 
If you visit www.SharieRutledge.com you'll find a group of buttons under Relocation Tools, with the first one being ABQ Virtual Tour. If you click it, you'll find the central frame of www.VirtualAlbuquerque.com
 
We worked out a deal that he could offer it free for a year or until I built up the number of locations & events, then there would be a subscription fee of $60 a year per site, that I would bill the agents directly and he and I would split it. Its been a great deal for both of us. I get a free website, he can offer content none of his competitors have and we both make a little money out of it. We also had a lot of fun doing things like the Virtual Golf Course Tour and the Virtual Ski Area Tour. I've had some interest from some other golf courses and ski areas about doing a tour for them and only get that by having the tours online on my site
 
What surprised us was how popular the main site became. After 5 years online VirtualAlbuquerque.com is averaging 25,000 visits and 55,000 pages viewed each month. With that volume I started offering Ad Banners & Buttons using most of the money to promote the site with Google Adwords.
 
I see my sites (there's www.VirtualSantaFe.com too), my real estate work and my hotel work as intertwined. I had my webmaster set up a sample tour of a hotel I had done a tour for using a building layout they had online to navigate from. When I suggested the idea to them I just guided the manager to the page on VirtualAlbuquerque.com for their hotel. http://www.virtualalbuquerque.com/Hotels/Lobby.htm I have a new home builder I sold on the same idea, using floorplans of his homes to navigate, by showing him the hotel sample and a sample using a house plan on the site. His site is www.MaxwellCustomHomes.com.
 
So you can see the site is a stand-alone profit center and a demonstration site for my virtual photography, still photography and floorplan work (I do them for Realtors on re-sale homes).
 
Doing real estate photography, virtual tours and floorplans is what I do for a living. But, I'm trying to expand my income from other sources like the city tour websites and a virtual photography information website that will start off selling and eBook called "Introduction to Virtual Photography" for just $10. The eBook is almost done and the photographers who have previewed it have consistantly said they which they had it years ago because it had what they have taken years to learn about Virtual Photography. I plan to add more useful tools like "working webpages" with simple setup instructions for some of the more popular viewers for around $10 and other useful tools and information for Virtual Photographers

I would really like to read that ebook when it is finished.  Let me know and I will gladly buy it.  Now do you shoot your virtual tours with the coastal optics lens?  Doug, thanks again.

Chris
I'll post something here when "Introduction to Virtual Photography" is  done.  
 
Unfortunately, I don't have a Coastal Optics Fisheye Lens. Andrew Baddeley provided them. The D1X shots are from the iPIX website. They sold the Coastal Optic lens re-branded with the iPIX name. The other 2 sets were taken by Andrew with his D200 and Coastal Optics lens.
 
I currently use a Nikon 5400 with the FC-E9 on an iPIX Rotator
 
One of the other "useful tools" I'm putting together is a Camera/Lens Library where virtual photographers could download source pics from various camera & lens combinations to try out without having to buy the camera or lens. Andrew is letting me include his Coastal Optics photos in the library. The idea is to let photographers actually see what different lenses can do by actually stitching sets of photos, instead of making purchase decisions based on personal opinions.
 
And they can try different techniques; I'm very interested in trying out tilting the Sigma 8mm I plan to buy up 10-15° to eliminate the need for a Zenith shot. That should leave a small "hole" where the tripod is, but would let me have the improved image quality of a Canon XTi/Sigma 8mm over my Coolpix setup while keeping the number of shots down to four. A tripod cap should cover the hole. I'd put a sample set shot this way for other photographers to try out on their stitching program.
 
I'm thinking of initially a $10 subscription to the Camera/Lens Library which would give access to 10 sets of photos. As the Library grows, the subscription would go up to $15-20. I think it would save newbies a lot of time as well as somebody like you and me, looking to move up to better equipment.