Kaidan V1.4 User's Manual
Contents
1. QuickPan Panoramic Iripod Head User s Guide V1 4 Feb 2007 QuickPan Panoramic Tripod Head Overview Welcome to the Kaidan QuickPan and Panoramic Photography Thank you for purchasing a Kaidan QuickPan Panoramic Tripod Head This manual is designed to help you understand how to use your Quick Pan to create quality panoramas This document will be revised from time to time and updated versions can be downloaded from the QuickPan page on the Kaidan web site QuickPan Overview The QuickPan family is built around a sturdy and precise Rotator Base with interchangable indexing ClickDiscs There are several camera brackets that slide and lock onto the Rotator Base The QuickPan IV rotator design supersedes the QuickPan Ill rotator and uses a new flat detent disc design A panoramic tripod head makes it easy to capture a sequence of photos that are stitched to form a complete panoramic image It holds the camera in the portrait orientation positions the camera so that it rotates around the optical center or nodal point of the lens and provides a repeatable and adjustable click stop indexing mechanism QuickPan Rotator with Optional Twin Axis Adapter and Standard Camera Bracket The QuickPan Family Introducing the QuickPan Components Rotator Base QuickPan This heavy duty design is lighter and more com pact than previous models and the competition The QuickPan bases employ interchangeable indexing ClickD2. the tripod 2 Once the thumbscrew is loosened pull the Horizontal Bracket Assembly upward out of the Rotator Hub You may need to wiggle it a bit as you lift it out of the hub 3 Once the Horizontal Bracket Assembly is removed the Detent Disc can be changed by grabbing the protruding tab on the detent ring and pulling it up out of the Rotator Housing Silver Thumbscrew a A So 285 ado ale sdor 345 9 Note The QuickPan IV rotator uses a stainless steel ball plunger that is different from the plastic nosed plunger on the QuickPan III Be sure to use only the stainless steel ball plungers available from Kaidan on the QuickPan IV rotators 4 The new Detent Disc is installed by pushing it into the recessed area in the top of the Rotator Hub as shown at left 5 Replace the Horizontal Bracket Assembly into the Rotator Hub Push the as sembly down into the hub to fully engage and collapse the plunger then tighten the thumbscrew Adjusting the Force of the Spring Plunger The screw shown at left can be used to position the spring plunger up and down You can use a screwdriver or a thin coin to adjust the indexing or click stop force The spring plunger is set from the factory but you may find that you pre fer a harder click stop action Be sure to not overtighten the plunger so that the metal body of the plunger would come in contact with the indexing ring Also be sure that
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4. ation of consequential damages or limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts so the above exclusions or limitations may not apply to you This warranty and any claims which arise with the Kaidan product s are governed by the laws of the state of Pennsylvania By purchasing this product customer acknowledges and agrees to these Limits and Exclusions If a problem with your Kaidan product develops during the warranty period immediately contact Kaidan for assistance C e Product Return Policy All Kaidan products come with a 30 day return policy a minimum I5 percent restocking fees may apply from date of purchase with the exception of software or videotapes Both of the aforementioned items are copyrighted and subject to the laws concerning intellectual property Kaidan will replace defective software videotapes free of charge upon return receipt of defective item s Products returned under this policy excluding replacement of defective items must be shipped at purchaser s expense Purchaser must ship product with an approved traceable service such as FedEx and with appropriate levels of shipping insurance for the item being returned Kaidan will not be held responsible for returned items lost or damaged in transit Kaidan will issue a refund to customer s account if the following conditions are satisfied Receipt of item s in a restockable condition Criteria for Restockable Condition is as follows All parts are incl
5. b the lever and turn clockwise to tighten and counterclockwise to loosen The lever part of the clamp lever is spring loaded and can be repositioned by pulling outwards against spring pressure and moved clockwise or counterclockwise The fore aft adjustment is made by loosening the camera knob and sliding the camera along the slot There are camera adjustment shoes and lugs to locate your camera on the bracket and to help position the camera along the slot These devices will also make it easy to remove and replace your camera when you use it for other tasks Spherical Camera Bracket Camera Mounting Mounting your camera on the Spherical Bracket The Spherical Camera Mounting Bracket has a rotating swing arm which is held into position by large black locking knob The knob allows you to position the arm and your camera from plus 90 degrees to minus 90 degrees Mounted on the swing arm is an adjustable camera mount This mount can be adjusted along the length of the swing arm by loosening and tightening the clamp lever Note The clamp lever can be repositioned by pulling out on the lever to disengage it lo remove the camera mount simply loosen the knob and slide the mount off of the swing arm The universal camera mount shown has a number of slots for you to choose from to mount your cam era It s important to make sure that the centerline of your camera s lens intersects the pivot axis of the swing arm Sinc
6. ck Release Plate onto the Standard Camera Bracket Note To loosen the clamp lever grab the lever and turn clockwise to tighten and counterclockwise to loosen The lever part of the clamp lever is spring loaded and can be repositioned by pulling outwards against the spring pressure and moved clockwise or counterclock wise Nodal Point What is it and how do find it This is one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to stitcher based panorama creation Once you understand the basics you ll be able to easily locate the nodal point for any camera and lens combination Simply put the nodal point is the point inside your camera where the light rays converge and flip over When shooting a panorama it s necessary to rotate about this point to eliminate the image mismatch caused by parallax error It s also worth noting that the nodal point is not the same as the film plane which is often marked on the underneath side of many 35mm cameras Generally for most 35mm cameras and lenses the nodal point is located somewhere towards the center of the lens barrel Parallax error can be easily demonstrated by this simple experiment Close one eye and hold your index finger upright Parallax error can be easily demonstrated It s the relative move ment caused by a shifting point of view In this example you eye is moving with respect to your hand and the background about six inches away from your o
7. e some cameras have tripod mounting threads that are not inline with the center of the camera it may be necessary to use one of the vari ous slots on the bracket There are camera mounting shoes flat shaped and lugs triangle shaped Spherical with Universal Camera Mount Spherical with Quick Release Camera Mount that are provided for you to help locate and position the camera These are also helpful when you want to remove and replace the camera and return it to the proper location An optional camera mount is also available with a quick release mount In this case you would attach the a plate Arca Swiss to your camera and this plate would then dovetail into a mating plate on the optional camera mount Adjusting the camera position for the nodal point is made by loosening the appropriate locking knobs and sliding either the camera mount plate along the swing arm or sliding the entire assemblage along the arm of the Rotator Base Be sure to tighten the knobs when you re done positioning the camera Note To loosen the clamp lever grab the lever and turn clockwise to tighten and counterclockwise to loosen The lever part of the clamp lever is spring loaded and can be repositioned by pulling outwards against the spring pressure and moved clockwise or counterclock wise Camera Mounting Standard Camera Bracket Mounting your camera on the camera brackets For the Standard Camera Bracket shown at right s
8. elect the appropriate slot in the bracket that will best locate the tripod mounting thread on your particular camera You may need to re position the camera knob to another slot in order to achieve this To re move the knob simply slide the knob along the slot to the end that has the threaded hole Carefully unscrew the knob out of the threaded hole being careful not to crossthread the knob Replace the knob into the appropriate slot by reversing the procedure Install the knob into the appropriate slot then into the tripod mounting hole of your camera Don t worry about getting the camera level at this time as this is a task you ll need to do when you re ready to shoot The left right adjustment to center your lens over the pivot point is ac complished by loosening the clamp lever and sliding the camera bracket in and out of the slider Be sure to tighten the clamp lever to lock the bracket in place QuickPan Rotator with Standard Camera Bracket and optional Twin Axis Adapter The fore aft adjustment is made by loosening the solver knob on the slider and then moving the entire as sembly along the arm of the Rotator Base There are camera adjustment shoes and lugs shown at left to help locate your camera on the bracket and to help position the camera along the slot These devices will also make it easy to remove and replace your cam era when you use it for other tasks Note You can also mount the optional Qui
9. er proof of original purchase will be required before warranty performance is rendered This warranty only covers failures due to defects in materials or workmanship which occur during normal use It does not cover damages or failures which are caused from accident misuse abuse neglect mishandling misapplication alteration faulty installation modification service by anyone other than an authorized representative of Kaidan Acts of God or by products not supplied by Kaidan This warranty covers any damage incurred during original shipment of product to customer Any item resold or distributed by and not explicitly manufactured by Kaidan will be covered by their respective company s product warranty B Warranty Exclusions There are no express warranties except as listed above Kaidan shall not be liable for special incidental consequential or punitive damages including without limitation loss of goodwill profits or revenue loss of the use of this product or any associated equipment cost of substitute equipment downtime costs or claims of any party dealing with buyer for such damages resulting from use of this product or arising from breach of warranty or contract negligance or any other legal theory All express and implied warranties including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are limited to the applicable warranty period set forth above Some states do not allow the exclusion or limit
10. hould overlap by anywhere from one third to one half That s a good rule of thumb for most stitching applications You should check with the recommendations of the software that you intend to use in order to determine overlap requirements How many Shots Once you ve determined the overlap you ll be able to figure out how many shots The easiest way to do this is to simply look through the viewfinder and turn the camera to achieve the desired amount of overlap You then check the angle readout to see how far you turned the camera Round the angular value to the nearest convenient value For most stitching programs it is generally not that important to use a precise overlap value However it should be noted that some programs are more sensitive to an overlap value that constantly repeats from shot to shot You may need to experiment somewhat to obtain the best results Taking the Photos When you re ready to shoot make sure that the camera is securely attached to the QuickPan Ill You should use a tripod that is sturdy ideally one that has a center support system of braces to help keep the camera from flexing Proper leveling is important and often misunderstood When it comes to leveling there are two things that are fairly important With multirow panoramas i e Stitcher the issue of leveling is less crucial and primarily involves aestethics and placement of the horizon We ll concentrate primarily on cylindrical o
11. is far away such as another building or telephone pole Align the two objects and rotate the pan head so they are in the left hand side of the viewfinder Rotate the pan head so the two objects move over to the right hand side of the viewfinder Unless you ve managed to unwittingly locate the right position you should notice the two objects will Looking through the viewfinder align a close object brick wall with a faraway object telephone pole As you rotate the camera from side to side there should be no relative movement between the two objects as shown to the right If as shown above the two objects move with respect to one and another in the viewinder slide the camera fore or aft in order to eliminate this movement Here the telephone pole has moved behind the brick wall move with respect to each other as you rotate the pan from left to right Slide the camera to the front or rear as required to eliminate this relative movement Step 3 Record Your Results After you ve discovered the two location dimensions be sure to record the settings The QuickPan Ill has convenient indicator scales for this purpose These numbers represent the nodal point for this given camera and lens combination If you change cameras or lenses this procedure may have to be repeated Step 5 How About Rangefinder Cameras A rangefinder camera is a camera where you look through a separate viewfinder and not through the ac
12. iscs or rings that support various click stop positions These can be easily swapped at any time and contribute to the light weight The indexing mechanism requires no lubrication or adjustments and has no loose parts The base contains an integral circular bubble level and ac commodates either 4 or 3 8 tripod threads The latest QuickPan IV Rotator Base Aug 04 will also accept older Kaidan camera brackets i e KiWit QuickPan Twin Axis Adapter The Twin Axis Adapter is designed to support most digital and film cameras that are equipped with fisheye lenses or will appeal to those users who de sire two independent axes of adjustment It can be used with either the Standard Camera Bracket or with the Compact Camera Bracket The two axes of adjustment positions the lens in such a manner so as not to capture any more of the Rotator Base than necessary When a camera equipped with a circular fisheye lens is installed on the bracket only a small segment of the Rotator Base will appear in the image This feature makes the Twin Axis Adapter ideal for those using iPIX software Panoweaver and other software applications that use circular fisheye images Both camera brackets support optional Quick Release Camera Plates Standard Camera Bracket The Standard Camera Bracket is designed to support most digital and film cameras in a portrait orientation Used primarily to shoot single row cylindrical panoramas it is adjusted along
13. of the entire head being level with respect to the horizon This can be corrected by rotating all the images a slight amount in your authoring program You can also shim the camera head to compensate for such misalignment errors as well A few layers of tape is usually all that it takes Let me also reiterate what s not as important as some people think The overall level of the head camera is not as critical in order to produce good stitched results As long as the camera is not tilted or rotated and as long as the camera is positioned so that the optical axis is parallel to the rotation plane you can tilt or position the entire head so that it s not level to the horizon and it won t affect the image Now it might produce a panorama that is tilted with respect to the horizon but that might be an artistic choice or something you want to do on purpose As long as the optical axis is parallel to the rotation plane and the camera CCD is not rotated slight variations in level as the head rotates is generally not a problem As you shoot around the circle try to avoid capturing any moving objects that might come into your field of view There is no harm in waiting for example while a person walks past before shooting the photo You may also want to check with the software developer of the stitching software that you re using to get their recommendations for exposure settings and other camera settings We hope you enjoy shoo
14. pen eye Rock your head from side to side Notice how your finger moves with respect to the background This relative movement is due to the fact that youre not rotating your head around your eye s nodal point which is somewhere in the center of your eyeball Instead you re rotating about your spine which is several inches to the rear and off to one side It is this relative side to side motion that we will strive to eliminate when setting up a camera for VR panoramas Step The side to side adjustment Once your camera is fastened to your camera bracket move to the front of the tripod head so you re looking into the lens Adjust the camera bracket so that the center of the lens is directly over the pivot axis of the tripod head Try to be as accurate as possible You should strive to get this adjust ment within plus minus a 16th of an inch Nodal Point continued What is it and how do find it Step 2 Fore Aft Adjustment This step is most easily accomplished out of doors Find a vertical edge or line such as a doorway or edge of a building Position your camera and tripod about 2 1 2 feet away or as close as possible with the edge still in focus when you look through the viewfinder If you re using a multirow head such as the QuickPan III Spherical set the swing arm to a level horizontal position zero degrees Looking through the camera s viewfinder find another vertical edge or line that
15. r single row panoramas First the camera s optical axis should be parallel with the rotation plane of the tripod head In other words the camera should not be pointed up or down with respect to the plane of rotation Secondly it s also somewhat important for the camera and film CCD to be properly aligned with respect to rotation when viewed from the front looking into the lens This can happen because the camera is not seated flush against the upright bracket This is pretty common since many cameras have mounting screws that are not in the center of the base Many cameras have screws off to one end of the camera or at the edge of the camera and this can cause the camera to not be pulled down evenly onto the tripod head mounting plate Another problem is that CCDs may not be accurately positioned within the camera body and respect to the mounting surface It only takes a fraction of degree and with other manufacturing tolerances this can add up to be noticeable This misalignment can also happen if the upright bracket is bent or is not exactly perpendicular to the rotation plane of the head At Kaidan we check this dimension very closely to ensure it s as close to 90 as reasonbly possible The effect of a rotated camera when viewed looking into the lens is a Shooting Panoramas continued How do I begin stairstepping of images as you progress around the panorama Stairstepping has nothing to do with the state
16. stomer will reflect the difference of the actual product SRP from the amount of credit due customer Shipping Costs All shipping costs VAT duties and return costs are sole responsibility of customer If customer purchases thru Kaidan distributor or reseller customer is responsible for all shipping and VAT costs incurred by that distributor or reseller These charges are non refundable For instructions on the return of your product follow the Product Return Procedure below D Product Return Procedure When returning a product customer must first contact Kaidan or the distributor reseller and obtain a Return Material Authorization Number RMA After receiving the RMA customer will be instructed to return product directly to Kaidan Returned goods must be shipped with an approved traceable service such as FedEx and with appropriate levels of shipping insurance for the item being returned Kaidan will not be held responsible for returned items lost or damaged in transit RMA numbers are valid for 15 days and the product s must be received by Kaidan before the RMA expires We are unable to accept for return any product s received after the expiration of the RMA Return Packaging The product packaging must reflect customer name address RMA as well as Kaidan information Kaidan Incorporated 703 E Pennsylvania Blvd Feasterville PA 19053 U S A Attention Return Department per RMA Contact Information Voice 215 36
17. the horizontal arm to locate the camera in the side to side orientation There are three slots in the bracket that when used with various positioning aids provide the fore aft adjustment of the camera s nodal point over the rotational center of the tripod head Earlier models used an aluminum bracket while recent models use a high strength composite material inset A Quick Release Plate is optional Spherical Camera Bracket The Spherical Camera Bracket is designed to support most digital and film cameras and to permit the angular up down elevation for the capture of multirow spherical and QuickTime VR Cubic panoramas This bracket is ideal for those software applications that stitch multiple rows of images including up down cap shots such as REALVIZ Stitcher The Spherical Camera Bracket can also be positioned at a level zero degrees thus fulfilling the same functions as the Standard Camera Bracket You can also use the Spherical Camera Bracket for shooting single row cylinders as well An optional Arca Quick Release Camera Plate is also available QuickPan Rotator Base How to install and remove the indexing discs and adjusting the indexing force Installing Detent Discs To install or change the Detent Discs simply loosen the silver thumbscrew on the side of the black Rotator Hub by turning it in a counter clockwise direction Do not remove the screw just turn several times You do not need to remove the head from
18. the plunger is not set deep enough as this will cause excessive play in the indexing action QuickPan Rotator Base Tripod threaded bushing adapter The QuickPan Ill IV Rotator Bases comes with a tripod adapter bushing which ac commodates both 1 4 inch and 3 8 inch tripod mounts 4 inch Tripod If your tripod has a 1 4 inch threaded mount leave the brass bushing in the center hole in the bottom of the rotator as shown at right 3 8 inch Tripod If your tripod has 3 8 inch threaded mount remove the brass bushing by unscrewing it in a counterclockwise direction and screw ing it into the adjacent hole in a clockwise direction using a coin or large screwdriver as shown at right Use the spare outer hole to store the brass bushing when you re using the 3 8 inch thread That way you won t lose the bushing Mounting camera bracket To mount your camera bracket onto the rotator loosen the clamp lever at the bottom of the camera bracket To loosen the clamp lever grab the lever and turn coun terclockwise The clamp lever is turned clockwise to tighten and counterclockwise to loosen The lever part of the clamp lever is spring loaded and can be reposi tioned by pulling outwards against spring pressure and moved clock wise or counterclockwise Next position the end of the horizontal bracket of the rotator and slide it into the slot at the bottom of the camera bracket Note There are various images throughout
19. this manual showing the mounting configurations of the cmarea brackets on the rotator Standard Camera Bracket Camera Mounting Mounting your camera on the Standard Camera Bracket To mount your camera first select the appropriate slot in the Vertical Camera Bracket that will best locate the tripod mounting thread on your camera You may need to reposition the Captive Camera Knob To remove the knob simply Slide it along the slot to the end that has the threaded hole Care fully unscrew the knob out of the threaded hole being careful not to crossthread the knob Replace the knob into the appropriate slot by reversing the procedure Note Always keep the offset portion of the Vertical Bracket towards the rear of the camera Next install the knob into the ap propriate slot then into the tripod mounting hole of your camera Turn the knob into the camera until it bottoms out then turn the knob clockwise until the camera is tight on the Vertical Bracket Don t worry about getting the camera level at this time as this is a task you ll need to do when you re ready to shoot Standard Camera Bracket on the QuickPan Rotator Ste Stang te arg slot Standard Camera Bracket The left right adjustment to center your lens over the pivot point is accomplished by loosening the clamp lever and sliding the bracket Be sure to tighten the clamp lever to lock the bracket in place Note To loosen the clamp lever gra
20. ting your panoramas and if you have any questions or problems using our equipment please let us know Warranty and Product Return Information Copyright 2007 Kaidan Inc All Rights Reserved First Edition Feb 20027 QuickPan is a trademark of Kaidan Inc Other products mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies Patents Pending Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Kaidan No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying recording or information storage and retrieval systems or translated to another language for any purpose other than the licensee s personal use and as specifically allowed in the licensing agreement without the express written permission of Kaidan Kaidan Warranty and Return Policy A Limited Warranty In the event of a defect in materials or workmanship Kaidan will repair the product with new or rebuilt parts for a period of three hundred and sixty five 365 days from the date of original purchase Such work will be performed free of charge Follow the Product Return Procedure Section D following Likewise any software purchased from Kaidan also comes with a one year warranty if your disc or media is defective or damaged This warranty is extended only to the original purchaser and is not transferable A purchase receipt or oth
21. tual lens The process is basically the same Locate the Side to Side adjustment as discussed in Step When it Nodal Point continued What is it and how do find it comes to the Fore Aft adjustment you won t be able to look through the viewfinder to determine the proper setting since the viewfinder is a Separate optical path that doesn t really see the same image as the film Instead you ll have to start with the bracket all the way to the front and take pairs of test shots Each pair will have the vertically aligned objects in the left and then the right side of the viewfinder After each pair of photos slide the bracket rearward and repeat the process Slide the bracket the same increment each time i e Omm Be sure to record the scale setting for each pair of images Process the film or in the case of digital cameras download the images to your computer At the end of this process you will be able locate the pair of images with the least relative movement If no single image is optimum you may need to interpolate between two images to find the closest value Shooting Panoramas How do I begin How much Overlap The amount you turn the camera for each shot varies It is dependent on a number of factors such as the field of view the angle of your camera and lens as well as which program you intend to use For example in their QuickTime VR Authoring Studio Apple recommended that the images s
22. uded in box hardware manuals discs nuts bolts tools e No signs of damage scratches bent parts missing pieces markings alterations or additions to the product All packaging materials are intact foam peanuts cardboard bubble bags e No signs of excess usage or wear to the product Items of Non Restockable Condition are subject to the following e Restocking Fee s a minimum of 15 and possible additional fees based on the condition of the product how the product best meets the criteria above at Kaidan s discretion Non Restockable Condition constitutes the following e Missing parts hardware manuals discs nuts bolts tools and packaging materials foam peanuts cardboard bubble bags e Signs of damage scratches bent parts missing pieces markings alterations ad ditions to the product e Signs of excess usage or wear to the product Damage or loss incurred during uninsured shipping to Kaidan In this case Kaidan cannot issue any type of refund Customer will be responsible to submit claim with their shipping company e If damages occur in shipping customer must submit claim with shipping company prior to any action by Kaidan Items Part of Special Bundle If item s are part of a special bundle offer return of part of the bundle will void any special pricing and the item s remaining in the possession of the customer will revert to their regular Suggested Retail Price SRP The credit to cu
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