[P-E]

Any tips for a hand held pano?

Do I just stand as still as possible and slowly move the camera from left to right in a sort of arc movement while standing in the same position?

[Charlotte]

Yep. But without a proper pano head, there will be some cropping when you piece it together.

What software will you use to join it all up? I have Serif Panorama Plus 3, which does an excellent job

[P-E]

I have something somewhere on my PC (forgot what it's called) plus the one in CS3 ........might try a few others

[silkstone]

Aye, basically that's it. Try to rotate about one point as if you were a tripod, and keep the camera dead level. Not trying to teach grandmother but meter for the lightest frame and then use manual exposure, manual focus (and manual WB if shooting JPEG).

[Charlotte]

And don't take too long with framing all the shots from first to last, or the light will change + they won't match properly, i.e. you'll end up with inconsistent lighting across the final pano frame

[P-E]

Thanks I will give it a go when I can and if it doesn't work I know who to blame

[Charlotte]

You'll have to do it properly this time around, so you can enter your pano to win the pano head, so that you can REALLY do it properly the next time around Which came first, the chicken or the egg

[Steve]

Have you not got a tripod P-E?

Even without a proper pano head a tripod will give you better results to work with than shooting hand held. Don't forget to overlap each shot as well, I found that about a third gives great results and allows some room for play should errors creep in.

[P-E]

Yes I have a tripod Steve and more than happy to work off it but I want to try an inside pano of Sheffield Cathedral......unfortunately they do not allow tripods.

My first try a few weeks a go was and I can't say I'm that hopeful of doing any better this time but I will give it a go.

Cheers Ian.

[Dave Canon]

As others have said, use manual exposure, take overlapping pics and ensure you are steady when pressing the shutter before moving round.

If you have CS3 then look no further. The new panoramic software in CS3 is a major improvement. While I still suggest that you use manual exposure to ensure that each picture is similar, CS3 can and does correct this if you did use auto exposure. I have found it can even stich photos taken with a 10mm lens.

[P-E]

Cheers Dave

[Charlotte]

Oh and don't frame too tightly, you'll need to leave a reasonable amount of space around the outside of the frame to allow for straightening + cropping when joining the shots together.