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Travels with the 360 One VR single shot panoramic optic and the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-R1 Tony Quinn March 2006. Having used the Kaidan one shot solution in the past with the Nikon Coolpix 995 and 4500 Cameras, I was very much looking forward to a try out with the new Sony. The SONY DSC-R1 has a lot in its favour for using with the one shot: 67mm thread fitting on the Carl Zeiss lens fitted to the Sony should mean the 360 One VR optic screws directly to the Camera, GREAT! no rings, adapters or any need to use the Kaidan SLR Bracket. The Sony is a 10 megapixel camera, so LOADS of resolution, and has a flip out and twist LCD screen, again this should be ideal as when used with the 360-One, the camera needs to be pointed directly upwards. [ You can find an independent in-depth review of the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-R1 Camera at Steve's Digicams ]
When the Camera arrived I fitted the 360 One by screwing directly to the camera lens. Bummer. No way will this camera focus on the 360 One's reflector, zoom in, zoom out, macro, nothing will bring the reflector into focus! The Sony DSC-R1 will not focus any closer than 40 cms from the camera imaging sensor. Hmm. However - Kaidan manufactured a kit to mount their device to the Olympus E10/E20 cameras which included an extender tube, about 4.5 inches long, and luckily I knew just where to lay my hand on one of these kits. After screwing in the adapter tube, and zooming the DSC-R1 fully out, BINGO! I did a few test shots with the focus distance set to 40,41,42,43,44 cms. 42cms was definitely the optimum distance - this is approximately 1/2 way up the reflector, so once the F-Stop is set to F16 there is sufficient depth of field to focus on the entire reflector. My settings: Zoom fully extended (120) Downside? well, what had initially looked to be a quick and compact solution was now an assembly almost half a metre long and looking like a Bazooka! The next hurdle was how to stop the lens telescoping by being pushed back towards the camera by the weight of the 360 One and the extender tube. Hmm? I used a couple of stock Manfrotto items, the MN340 Elbow Bracket with an MN625 hexagonal adapter - this gave me a quick method of mounting and dismounting the 'Bazooka' with the added feature that the MN 340 has a small upright brass screw at the top, to which (wait for it!) I fitted a rubber door stopper so that when mounted this rubber pressed against the ribbed zoom ring of the camera preventing it rotating. Heath Robinson eat your heart out! - it worked a treat. Techniques for photographing with this set I decided as follows: Set the kit on a good tripod, level up the bubble levels in the hot shoe bubble level I fitted to the DSC-R1 (the bubble atop the 360 One is great, but on this set up its too high for me to see!). Set the focus to .42, check in the viewfinder that the image of the reflector fills the frame, set the F stop to F16, ISO 100 and then set the self-timer on the camera - press to take the shot then duck under the tripod out of shot until I hear the camera shutter click. I shot a few quick tests around my house using this technique - all proving successful.
FULL RESOLUTION IMAGE SAMPLES:
You can also view an actual FULL RESOLUTION un-warped version of the same image by clicking here (caution - 3168 x 1211 pixels, file size 4.6Mb JPEG) You can also view a FULL RESOLUTION QUICKTIME version of the same image by clicking here (caution - LARGE FILE, file size 4.0Mb MOV) SUNSHINE. Packed up all the kit and set off to Tenerife, one of the Spanish Canary Islands off the African coast. Should be an ideal testing ground, Sunshine most of the time, Sun Sea Sand, Mountains and the tallest Spanish peak - the Volcano Mount Tiede. [ NOTE: Kaidan do NOT recommend using the 360 One VR in a salt-air environment ]
Set out in the early morning to do a photo tour along the coast of Los Cristianos, Playa de las Americas and beyond. The kit performed well, but at F16 the exposure is 1/60th of a sec, so the timer/tripod mounting technique was a must to get a sharp image. I used the same technique as I made the trip up above the clouds which formed later in the day, and found the set up quick and easy to use, although I was starting to find the 'rubber stopper' method of preventing the zoom lens sliding back into itself was not as good as I first thought. Easy enough to re-set, but something which could prove an irritation, particularly if I did not notice and continued taking shots, which would have been out of focus, and clipping off part of the circular image.
I decided to try some hand held shots, I could hold the kit with the viewfinder up to eye level, see the bubble levels to ensure I had the lens perpendicular and just fire off shots. I did of course increase the ISO, first to 200 then 400 to get a quicker shutter speed and prevent any blurring due to my supporting the kit by hand. These shots also proved successful, although I had to take care to make sure I was tight in against the camera so the top of my head did not appear in shot. Overall thoughts? Well, having used the 360 One previously with few models of camera, and even with digital SLR's and the Kaidan SLR Bracket this has to be a simpler way. The shots are a good resolution, and the whole workflow is very quick - and now that the PhotoWarp software shipped with the 360 One will output so many formats, even including FLASH VR - I have the option to create the resulting tour in just about any flavour required. UPDATE 20th March 2006: Slipping a large 'Jubilee Clip' around the rubberised zooming ring on the camera lens and then tightening this so the screw sits against the brass upright screw on the MN 340 Elbow bracket prevents the 'telescoping' happening. Below are some photos showing this set up which should help make this clear. (click on any image to see a larger version).
More samples? The photography from the Tenerife tour is available on http://www.vrtenerife.co.uk Page Views since 17th March 2006:
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