September 30th, 2004
Panoramic Lens Ring Mount - Multi Row Design Schematics
Click here to view 3d animation (1.6mb)
Shown above and in the 3d animation is the schematic design of a multi-row version of my panoramic lens ring. If you want to see what the built single row version looks like then click here.
My goal here was to provide multi-row functionality while still keeping the device small and easy to use in the field. Below are some notes about the design.
- The basic structure of the lens ring is similar to earlier versions, although in this case it will be made of strong plastic or metal and will consist of two halves vs. a hinged design. An easy to use latching mechanism will join the tube on each side and it is still lined with a foam or rubber to provide an even and tight fit with the lens.
- The main new addition here is the wishbone support that allows the camera to rotate vertically around the nodal point. The vertical post had to be skewed to the side to allow for space for the camera while tilting the lens up. The alternative to skewing the post is to build a much larger wishbone support, and I did not want to do that.
- Because the lens ring now attaches to the wishbone support (by spreading the arms to allow pins to fit in holes within the tube) there is no lens mount on the tube, but rather it is at the bottom of the wishbone support.
- The next part was to figure out how to secure the camera in different positions. I chose to use a pin that will snap into a row of holes in a disc on the wishbone support and then into a second set of holes on the lens ring. I have shown this pin locking system on both sides but it is possible that it may only be needed on one side (on the non flash side of the camera)
- You may notice in the pictures above that to get the 45 degree up shot I rotate the camera all of the way over rather than tilting it down. It of course is like this because it would not fit the other way. It was in fact after I introduced the skewed post that I decided to add extra pin locations for the level and 45 degree down shot to take advantage of the skew desgin to keep the wishbone out of the field of view. The only downside is that one row of resulting images will need to be rotated 180 degrees (of course you could just take care of this in the stitching process). One could take the level and down shots on the same side as the up, but would just have some of the wishbone support in the field of view, seems better to swing it over the top and work from the other side (as pictured above).
- In this model I used an iDeesign Q-top Quick Release system. If I'm using this on a tripod instead of a monopod, the Q-top system will click in at every 30 degrees horizontal rotation. It is also has a very small footprint which works well here, and is very strong. Unfortunately finding one of these to use is like finding a needle in a haystack. It took me six months to get hold of one. (I just checked there website and domain does not exist so not sure if they are around anymore?)
- The camera setup in the model is based on is a Canon 20D with a Sigma 15mm fisheye lens.
page last edited on 09.30.04
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