Lately I've been enjoying making panoramic photos on my iphone. The convenience is nice but past that iphone isn't so great - its easy to end up with a wavy horizon and streaky exposure. A small investment in technique could yield a significant improvement in image quality.

I don't have a CC subscription and would like to avoid it for now.

What tools do you recommend?

Todays pic -

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2020 07:32PM by mattkime.

I think it's odd that an iPhone isn't correcting exposure and blending the pano image together better...

What iPhone is it? An older model? I shot this a couple of years ago on an older Samsung galaxy and just shot it "normally", that is, a left to right slow pan. This is straight from the phone:

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OK, are you shooting individual pix, then trying to stitch them together on the computer? If you're using your phone for the images, just shoot in Pano mode on the phone.

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DP
What iPhone is it? An older model?

7 Plus.

The pic used pano mode on my phone. I'm curious about shooting individual stills.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2020 07:55PM by mattkime.

The pic used pano mode on my phone

Hmmm. Still not sure why you'd get a crummy blend and exposure result.

I would use a camera if you want to construct panos on your computer. The best results are obtained by using manual mode so your exposures are identical. Using a device (camera or phone) that shoots in an automatic mode will result in different exposures like what you show. PS has improved their panoramic stitching with regard to blending exposures and matching, say, horizon lines if you aren't exact with keeping your device level. I'm not familiar with other apps, tho.

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Don’t have an answer for you expect to perhaps suggest that less is more. A pano that’s nearing 180 degrees is kinda distracting because it becomes obvious it’s not “real.”

At any rate that would also mitigate exposure issues too.

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deckeda
Don’t have an answer for you expect to perhaps suggest that less is more. A pano that’s nearing 180 degrees is kinda distracting because it becomes obvious it’s not “real.”

At any rate that would also mitigate exposure issues too.

I do them on my 6s and I find what deckeda suggests is what works for me. Shortening the pano width solves most problems. For wider panos shot on my 6s I bring them into Photoshop and usually distort and puppet warp to straighten out issues.

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JoeM

I left out an important detail - I’d probably use my Sony rx100. Pano mode isn’t very good but I’d have more control over exposure. Maybe even use a tripod.

The exposure problems with wider panos should be easy to address with manual exposure.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2020 09:25PM by mattkime.

I've used DoubleTake. I haven't used it in a while; I've been very happy with it.

Update: that's on my Mac, with pictures from my Sony mirrorless.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2020 11:29PM by anonymouse1.

.....pano say....what....???

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For wider panos shot on my 6s I bring them into Photoshop and usually distort and puppet warp to straighten out issues.

What? That's way too much adjusting! You shouldn't need to distort and warp at all!

I'll post a tutorial a little later. Again, your phone should shoot a very good pano by itself and use a camera if you're going to put it together on a computer.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2020 06:25AM by DP.

If one were to want a really wide pano using a cellphone, would it be better to shoot 2 separate panos and merge them? Just curious.

I've taken numerous panos going back as far as my iPhone 7 (maybe earlier, but don't remember). Never had an issue with them turning out too bad unless I didn't pan fairly level or I went too fast.

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DP
For wider panos shot on my 6s I bring them into Photoshop and usually distort and puppet warp to straighten out issues.

What? That's way too much adjusting! You shouldn't need to distort and warp at all!

I'll post a tutorial a little later. Again, your phone should shoot a very good pano by itself and use a camera if you're going to put it together on a computer.

DP, here's two examples of two very wide panos on my 6s that are distorted:


This image is originally 10052px by 3698px


Couldn't find the original of this but I think the dimensions are similar.

If you can tell me how to get a straight shot I'd really appreciate it.

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JoeM

Sorry I haven't gotten to a tutorial yet. Things got hectic all of a sudden-

How old is a 6s? I'm sure newer models are improved but I also see you going up from left to right as you pan.

I find that if I choose a level "horizon" line to follow before shooting that helps. And keep your motion as even as you can, try not to wobble or tilt.

But here's another pano I did recently with my Galaxy S8. I know, the cars look bizarre as I panned but that was because the cars were moving right to left and I was panning left to right. But this pano too is right from the phone:

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DP
Sorry I haven't gotten to a tutorial yet. Things got hectic all of a sudden-

How old is a 6s? I'm sure newer models are improved but I also see you going up from left to right as you pan.

I find that if I choose a level "horizon" line to follow before shooting that helps. And keep your motion as even as you can, try not to wobble or tilt.

But here's another pano I did recently with my Galaxy S8. I know, the cars look bizarre as I panned but that was because the cars were moving right to left and I was panning left to right. But this pano too is right from the phone:

Thanks, I guess it will be a moot point for me as I have an iPhone 12 Pro arriving Tuesday and I’m trading the 6s in towards it. I don’t expect to be traveling anytime soon, which is when I like to use the pano feature but I’ll keep your tips in mind if I have the same issues with the new phone.

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JoeM