Location: Home > Virtual Tour Service

Panorama Photography - Preparation

Prepare necessary equipment for panorama photography before taking photos and stitching them in Instant Pano.

Preparation Before Taking Photos

1. Main photography equipment: Digital camera (abbreviation as DC); Tripod (Optional); Pano Head (Optional)
2. Calculate the minimum number of shots required for shooting:

To stitch a 360 degree panoramic image, the number of shots required for stitching varies with different cameras and lens. Instant Pano has provided a tool for calculating number of shots needed, please refer to following instructions.

How to calculate number of shots?

Click Tools>Calculate Number of Shots in the menu bar, a dialog will appear as below:

Input the focal length and sensor size of your camera, click Calculate. The FOV and number of shots required for stitching in both situations of holding camera horizontally and vertically will display in the Calculation Results. 

How to calculate sensor size?

Please see the chart below to get useful info if you don't know the sensor size (mm) of your camera.

Sensor Size Reference Chart

Sensor Size (inch)

Sensor Size (mm)

Sensor Size (inch)

Sensor Size (mm)

1/7"

1.85x1.39mm

Kodak KAF-5100CE CCD 4/3"

17.8x13.4mm

1/6"

2.15x1.61mm

Foveon X3 F7-35X3-A25B

20.7x13.8mm

1/5"

2.55x1.91mm

Canon D30 CMOS

21.8x14.5mm

1/4"

3.2x2.4mm

Canon D60 CMOS

22.7x15.1mm

1/3.6"

4.0x3.0mm

Nikon D100 CCD
Nikon D1x CCD

23.7x15.6mm

1/3.2"

4.536x3.416mm

APS Film

25.1x16.7mm

1/3"

4.8x3.6mm

Canon EOS-1D CCD

27.0x17.8mm

1/2.7"

5.27x3.96mm

Kodak KAF-6303CE CCD

27.8x18.5mm

1/2"

6.4x4.8mm

35mm Film

36.0x24.0mm

1/1.8"

7.176x5.319mm

Canon 1Ds

36.0x24.0mm

2/3"

8.8x6.6mm

Kodak 14n

36.0x24.0mm

1"

12.8x9.6mm

    

You could also use a formula to calculate the sensor size if the camera you are using isn't listed in the above chart, the formula is as below:

  • Width of CCD (mm) = 64/5*S
  • Height of CCD (mm) = 48/5*S

Note: S represents CCD size (inch).

>> Next: Workflow of Panoramic Photography

BACK TO TUTORIAL