Kaidan Digital Camera Tripod manual Shooting the Panorama, Correct

Shooting the Panorama

The KiWi™ has a female 1/4-20 thread on the bottom of the Indexing Hub for mounting to most standard tripods. Be sure that the KiWi is securely attached to the tripod. Use a tripod that is sturdy, ideally one that has a center support system of braces to help keep the cam- era and KiWi from excessive flexing. It may be possible that your tripod uses a larger 3/8 inch thread. If this is the case, you can pur- chase a 3/8 to 1/4 adapter at a camera store or photographic equip- ment supplier.

When ready to shoot, it is important that the KiWi is level. Observe the twin-axis bubble level on the KiWi while leveling the tripod. Of course, this task is much easier if the tripod is equipped with a tilt head. If the tripod does not have a tilt head, a QuickTilt™ leveler can be purchased from Kaidan for use with the KiWi. The QuickTilt is a convenient aid for making the small leveling adjustments you’ll need to make as you move from spot to spot.

Once the KiWi is level, double check to see if the camera is mounted level in elevation (up and down). This is even more important that the leveling of the unit done previously. Use the Camera Adjustment Shoe and place it against the camera. By placing the shoe squarely and snugly against the camera, it will help to vertically align and position the camera so that the camera’s optical axis is parallel to the plane of rotation.

	Camera squarely located against
	Camera Adjustment Shoe
Correct	Incorrect
	Camera
	optical axis
Parallel to	not parallel
rotation plane	to rotation
	plane

You are now ready to begin capturing your first panorama. You should also, at this time, review the documentation of the pan- oramic stitching software that is being used in order to get recom- mendations for exposure settings and other camera settings. You’ll want to try and position the camera and tripod so as to avoid direct sunlight. Try and locate the unit so that the sun (or other bright lights) is behind a tree or a building. Cloudy days are also helpful in this regard.