Panoramas: Hardware

Camera
- Nikon D70 is the camera which I currently use for most of my panorama work. The lenses I use most often are the Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5@28mm, the Tokina 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5@20mm or Nikkor 50mm f/1.8. I would very much like a Nikkor 12-24mm f/4, but that is just a distant dream.
- Pentax Optio 33WR is a very simple camera. The lack of manual exposure control and poor manual focus interface makes it rather unsuitable for panoramic photography. The advantage is that it is small, rugged and water resistance, so you have no excuse for not bringing it with you every day. I do not intend to use this for serious panorama work, but sometimes you find a scene which is to beautiful not to capture and then this might come in handy.
Support
- Panosaurus is a panorama head made by Greg Wired. If you are a registered PTAssembler user you might be entitled to a discount on this head as I was. It is rather simple to use although you might be forced use a screwdriver to fasten the camera to the head (but I keep one in my camera bag so it is no hassle). The Panosaurus is much cheaper than the other panorama heads out there. Some costs as much as ten times more. Of course, this is not as advanced as those but for me the Panosaurus is more than enough for the time being.
- Manfrotto 055PROB is nice since it is rather tall when legs are fully extended and allow me to work with the camera eye-level without having to resort to raising the rapid column. It is also rather heavy (although I wish for an even heavier one) and stable. On the 055 I have the discontinued ball head 308RC mounted. A quick-release plate is permanently attached to the Panosaurus to make it easy to take on and off. I am considering placing a 323 on the panosaurus to make it easier to use the panosaurus without having to use a screwdriver to remove the camera. My concern is that the safety pin on the 323 would hit the rubber surface of the Panosaurus camera mounting block. I will look into this if I get the opportunity.