Panoramic Head

Of his two panoramic heads, Yuval prefers Agnos Mrotator when traveling. It is smaller and lighter than Manfrotto's 300N, however there is a price to pay as it is less versatile and lack a few other features of the heavier Manfrotto.

Agnos Mrotator

The Agnos Mrotator head is small and light. It click-stops at fixed intervals of 60 degree. It is designed for six or three shots around.

Three shots around are effective in situations where high resolution is not so important such as real estate tours. There is very little overlap of the images. Proper calibration of camera position on the nodal point adapter is critical. The degraded resolution at the edge of the fisheye lens will be visible at high resolutions.

Six shots around offer plenty of overlap. The degraded resolution of the edge of the fisheye affects only Zenith and Nadir and can be compensated with added handheld zenith and/or nadir shots. In a crowd or under bright sunlight the generous overlap of the six shots around gives the photographer more control over seams and lens flare.

The Agnos Mrotator could be improved with a screw to lock it in position. It is not possible to use the Agnos Mrotator if the rotation plan is not close to horizontal.

Manfrotto 300N

The Manfrotto 300N offers more flexibility. Ten different settings between 5 degress (72 click-stops) and 90 degrees (four click-stops) allow for the use of different lenses to capture higher resolutions partial or full panoramas and, with an appropriate nodal point adapter, multirow panoramas.

The adapter is fixed on a plate that can be adjusted to the start of the click-stops - an unnecessary luxury in most cases as it is possible to turn the whole tripod around its axis instead.

The lock screw locks the angle. It makes it possible to shoot at non-horizontal rotation plane and make it for easier transport.

The drawbacks of the Manfrotto 300N are its weight and price.

Next: Nodal Point Adapter