Panoramas with the Fuji X10
Last post detailed my trip to the Stockton Opencast Mine, and eluded to the incredible vistas that you can see from the top of the Stockton plateau.
These are some amazing views - too grand to simply capture with one image. So naturally, with my DSLR hat on, I immediately thought 'panorama'. Shoot a series of images, stitch them together in photoshop and bingo, you got yourself a pano.
But, of course, I didn't have my DSLR with me. I had the Fuji X10. Which just happens to have a 'Panorama' mode in the 'Advanced' dial on the camera.
Switching to the advanced mode and choosing 'Panorama', gives you several options. You can choose to shoot a 120, 180 or 360 degree panorama (by default it will start at 360). You can also choose to sweep the camera from left to right or right to left, up to down or down to up (for vertical panoramas).
I started with the 360 degree panorama, but it was a bit 'too' much - I didn't really want a complete 360 degree view. Switched to 180 degrees, but this also seemed too wide - whereas 120 degrees was about right. Left to right felt natural as well - which just happens to be the default sweep action.
Starting from the left hand side, you push the shutter button (you don't need to hold it down during the sweep action) to begin, and then rotate (sweep) the camera around as you would if you were panning the camera. A grey progress bar moves across the screen as you pan, indicating how far through the sweeping action you are. When the grey bar makes it to the end, the panorama is captured. If you stop during the sweep, the camera will tell you that the image was unsuccessful and to try again.
At 1000ft up, you can also get stunning views of the township of Westport (my home town), and again 120 degrees was about right to capture the view.
I think I read somewhere that the panorama mode on the Fuji X10 doesn't take a series of photos and stitch them together (unlike the Sony cameras which do exactly that), but instead actually uses the video mode to create a sweeping video that it then converts to a single image. I'm not sure whether that's true or not - the manual certainly indicates that you are taking 'multiple frames', but then it also says that you press the shutter to start 'recording'. The camera makes shutter type noises, but is relatively quiet while the panorama is being captured.
One thing I do know for sure is that the Sony style of taking panoramas sounds completely different. When I was taking these panormas, I also had a fellow tourist standing next to me using her Sony digicam. Her camera fired off dozens of images as she moved the camera around - the shutter sounded like a sports shooter firing off a salvo of 20 frames per second. Whereas when I pushed the shutter button once - at the beginning of the pan - the camera was relatively noiseless throughout the panorama sweep - exactly as it would be if it were creating a video?
Another thing that makes me think it's a video capture and not a series of single images is because there is an option in the camera to 'Save Original Images' when using the advanced features - but, it doesn't save the original images when shooting panoramas!? Sounds like a video to me.
The resulting panorama from the Fuji X10 isn't all that big (in terms of file size). The final image from the 120 degree view is 3840 x 1080 pixels. At 300dpi, this gives a native 32.5 x 9.1cm image once printed. The file is around 3MB, which opens up in Photoshop to an 11.9MB Jpeg file (the panorama mode only shoots jpeg). Of course you can upsize that - maybe even double if you're lucky - but I wouldn't imagine you could get much bigger.
So as limiting as some might find the Panorama mode on the Fuji X10 - I actually enjoyed the simplicity and ease of the feature. And 30 x 10cm (approx) is plenty big enough for me, especially if they are only going to be used on the web or for small prints (although maybe that defeats the purpose of a panorama?). It's Jpeg only (shame it's not RAW), and the size might be limiting, but it's actually a feature I can see myself using quite a bit.
These are some amazing views - too grand to simply capture with one image. So naturally, with my DSLR hat on, I immediately thought 'panorama'. Shoot a series of images, stitch them together in photoshop and bingo, you got yourself a pano.
But, of course, I didn't have my DSLR with me. I had the Fuji X10. Which just happens to have a 'Panorama' mode in the 'Advanced' dial on the camera.
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| Stockton Opencast Mine, Stockton Plateau |
I started with the 360 degree panorama, but it was a bit 'too' much - I didn't really want a complete 360 degree view. Switched to 180 degrees, but this also seemed too wide - whereas 120 degrees was about right. Left to right felt natural as well - which just happens to be the default sweep action.
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| Stockton Plateau zoomed in tighter, with a 120 degree field of view |
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| View of Westport from Mt. Augusta |
I think I read somewhere that the panorama mode on the Fuji X10 doesn't take a series of photos and stitch them together (unlike the Sony cameras which do exactly that), but instead actually uses the video mode to create a sweeping video that it then converts to a single image. I'm not sure whether that's true or not - the manual certainly indicates that you are taking 'multiple frames', but then it also says that you press the shutter to start 'recording'. The camera makes shutter type noises, but is relatively quiet while the panorama is being captured.
One thing I do know for sure is that the Sony style of taking panoramas sounds completely different. When I was taking these panormas, I also had a fellow tourist standing next to me using her Sony digicam. Her camera fired off dozens of images as she moved the camera around - the shutter sounded like a sports shooter firing off a salvo of 20 frames per second. Whereas when I pushed the shutter button once - at the beginning of the pan - the camera was relatively noiseless throughout the panorama sweep - exactly as it would be if it were creating a video?
Another thing that makes me think it's a video capture and not a series of single images is because there is an option in the camera to 'Save Original Images' when using the advanced features - but, it doesn't save the original images when shooting panoramas!? Sounds like a video to me.
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| OutWest Tour, Stockton Plateau |
So as limiting as some might find the Panorama mode on the Fuji X10 - I actually enjoyed the simplicity and ease of the feature. And 30 x 10cm (approx) is plenty big enough for me, especially if they are only going to be used on the web or for small prints (although maybe that defeats the purpose of a panorama?). It's Jpeg only (shame it's not RAW), and the size might be limiting, but it's actually a feature I can see myself using quite a bit.
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