Panoramic headsThe spherical panoramic head (VR head) is installed on the tripod and allows camera to be installed the way, when its rotation is executed around the nodal point of the lens. That draws the parallax effect to minimum, which makes the process of stitching the panorama together more complicated because of the adjacent frames mismatch (parallax is especially evident when shooting the subjects with objects on the forefront).
The «usual» ball or 3D heads for the spherical panorama shooting are not suitable. With some success one can shoot the cylindrical panoramas and sometimes even the single-row spheres, but the parallax will be evident, especially if the camera will be installed in portrait orientation. Position of the nodal point relative to the rotational centre of the camera:
There are 2 main types of panoramic heads:
Single-row head - for the single-row panorama shooting. Such head makes it possible to make the rotation only around one axis – the vertical one. The single-row panoramic heads can be of different construction types. One type allows installing the camera only in the landscape orientation, the 2nd one – only in the portrait orientation and the other ones are suitable for all the abovementioned positions. Some cameras are lens-attached to the heads. Such heads are called the “rotators”, often have no options of set-up* and are produced mainly for the usage with the circular fisheye lenses.
Using the single-row head one can shoot both cylindrical and spherical 360 panoramas, but the latter ones only with the circular fisheye lens type. *There are ways to regulate the camera tilt (Nodal Ninja Ultimate)
Multi-row head (spherical, VR head). This head ensures the 360° rotation around the camera’s vertical and horizontal angles. It is used for the multi-row panoramas, including the 3D spherical ones.
The panoramic head selection on the market is quite big. The majority of manufacturers produce several types of panoramic heads at the same time for the different kinds of tasks and of different price categories – the budget ones and the professional ones.
I know the following panoramic head manufacturers:
When choosing the panoramic head I’d recommend to pay attention to its compatibility with your camera (alongside with the other criteria of selection). Not all of the panoramic heads can be used with the big professional cameras or with the cameras with the battery grips. When using the camera with the big Fisheye converter there can be the limited tilt down on some panoramic heads. 360 Precision Absolute
 The panoramic heads 360 Precision Absolute are selected for the concrete camera-lens combo. This can be considered both as their advantage (the set-up of the head is not required at all) and their disadvantage (if you’d change the camera or lens, you’ll have to make the head upgrade as well, which means to spend the additional ~200$). 360 Precision Absolute is compatible with the big DSLR cameras and even with some of the medium format cameras. The disadvantages – high price, large base diameter, weight and size.
To find out more about the 360 Precision Absolute panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
360 Precision Adjuste
 The spherical head 360 precision Adjuste is the all-purpose one, it can be used with any camera. It has the click-stops both at the horizontal and vertical rotators (on the vertical one – with the lock). The advantages – quality, accuracy of adjustment, social ease. The disadvantages – high price.
To find out more about the 360 Precision Adjuste panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Agno’s MrotatorUT
 MrotatorUT panoramic head is made for the use with compact cameras and light DSLR cameras. It allows the camera to be installed both in the portrait and the landscape orientation. There are several variants of that head, which are differentiated by the presence and the level of rotators. Except for MrotatorUT, the Agno’s company has a huge selection of the other panoramic heads. From the simple heads for the cylindrical panoramas to the One-shot VR heads for the shooting with 3 cameras at the same time ().
To find out more about the Agno's panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Kingpano
 The acrylic panoramic head KingPANO is attractive because of its not high price, small dimensions and low weight. It has its own mechanism for the level adjustment. The rotation device is equipped with the 48 clucks (in increments of 7.5°). The disadvantage of the KingPANO panoramic head is the low bearing capacity – up to 1.5 kg.
To find out more about the Kingpano panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Manfrotto 303SPH
 Manfrotto 303SPH is, most likely, the most well-known spherical panoramic head. It was introduced to the market a long time ago, and, unlike the other panoramic heads, it can be bought in the different retail photo shops. Manfrotto 303SPH is compatible with all the DSLR cameras. It has 3 guidel rails the vertical rail can be easily folded by 90°, this way the head occupies the smaller amount of space during the transportation. The main disadvantage of the Manfrotto 303SPH panoramic head is its large dimensions and weight. Besides, under the weight of heavy cameras the horizontal rail can bend, which can result in the nodal point move.
To find out more about the Manfrotto 303SPH panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Nodal Ninja 3MKII
 The upgraded version of the popular spherical head Nodal Ninja 3. Just as its predecessor, Nodal Ninja 3MKII is made from the aluminium alloy. The user can on his or her own configure the required amount of the pan steps by the simple detent ring change. The advantages of the NN3MKII are not the high price, dimensions and weight – this is the lightest spherical head on the market. Besides the not big rotator diameter of Nodal Ninja 3MKII - only 5см – appreciably eases the nadir footprint editing, which counts as the advantage when shooting the spherical panoramas.
To find out more about the Nodal Ninja 3MKII panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Nodal Ninja 5
 Unlike Nodal Ninja 3MKII, on the panoramic head Nodal Ninja 5 can be installed both the dimensional cameras (Canon Eos1, Nikon D3, etc.) and the cameras with the battery grip. Nodal Ninja 5 can hold up to 10 kg of weight (NN3 – up to 1.8 kg).
To find out more about the Nodal Ninja 5 panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Novoflex VR System 6/8
 The VR System 6/8 panoramic head can be used with all the DSLR cameras. It has 2 rotators – for the horizontal and vertical rotation. Both rotators are equipped with the clucks in increments of 45° и 60°, and, if necessary, one can switch to the «non-step» mode. Except for the VR System 6/8, the Novoflex company produces one more spherical head which is more expensive.
To find out more about the Novoflex panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
Panosaurus
 The main (and, as I’m inclined to think, the only) advantage of this head is its affordability – it is the cheapest one from our list. The spherical panoramic head Panosaurus is made from polyvinyl chloride. It has the rotator without click-stops, the pan illusion force can be controlled. The max possible weight the head can handle is only 1.4 kg. One can’t install such cameras, as Canon Eos1, Nikon D3 and the others on Panosaurus panoramic head.
To find out more about the Panosaurus panoramic head you can visit the manufacturer’s website.
*The prices are according to the manufacturers, excluding the shipping costs, taxes and fees as of 30.11.2009. The dealers’ prices may vary.
The self-made panoramic heads To photographers, who want to shoot the spherical 360 panoramas, but for some reason can’t buy or don’t want to buy the “commercial” panoramic head I can give a piece of advice to make the self-made panoramic head. The good results can be achieved even when using the self-made panoramic head (if it’s well-constructed). By the way, the self-made panoramic heads are used even by the professional panorama photographers. One can find many guides of how to create a self-made panoramic head on the Internet, here’re some of them:http://www.chem.uky.edu/xray/people/Parkin/panohead/panohead.html
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