Product Description

Panamatic by LensPen is a unique new device that helps you take perfect panoramic pictures every time. Including a 360o indexer and level, Panamatic allows you to work with PhotoStitch and QuickTime VR ® software to create seamless panoramic photos every time.

Product Details

• Brand: Lenspen
• Model: LENPN1
• Dimensions: 7.50" h x 1.25" w x 5.75" l, .0 pounds

Features

• Creates seamless panoramic photos
• Arc coft stitching software included.

Customer Reviews

Very nice gadget for the occasional panorama shooter


For a few dollars, you can put this in your gadget bag. Take it and a lightweight tripod wherever you go and you'll be ready to shoot very precise panoramas anywhere - provided your camera doesn't weight more than a pound or so.

Several years back, a firm made a lightweight pano head similar to this that sold for about five times the price. It was machined from metal as I recall, while the Panamatic Plus is made of plastic. The metal product went off the market before I could get one. I've always regretted that or more accurately, I did until this little gadget arrived.

It is small: about two inches across and four inches long and about an inch high. While made of plastic, it is a sturdy little thing. A large bullseye level occupies one half with a rotating table occupying the other.

Mount the unit on your tripod, then mount the camera and level the assembly.

That's it. You're set. Rotate the Panamatic Plus head and snap away. The stops are 30 degrees apart, the optimal setting for panorama photography. Depending on what stitching program you are using, it is up to you to decide whether to use manual or automatic exposure. I didn't even try the included Arcsoft software because I've found products from that company to be problematic and the supplied version will not run under Vista.

As an experiment, I took a camera with an off-center tripod mount and did several shots of close up stuff on a table. I expected there to be massive parallax problems. I was in for a very pleasant surprise: the six images stitched very nicely and I had a high quality panorama of a very messy table.

This panorama head is designed strictly for single-row panoramas with no parallax compensation. There are other far more expensive pano heads that are capable of doing more.

But the Panamatic Plus is perfect for carrying with you along with a lightweight tripod. Those two items and a camera weighing a pound or less put perfect panoramas within your grasp.

Jerry

Works as Advertised, Bad Software
Very simple piece of equipment, I attached my Nikon D60 and it rotates very smoothly.

The included stitching software is not very good, slow in stitching, hangs and crashes constantly. Just Google for a 3rd party stitching software and it should work much better.

Piece of plastic junk
Never even had a chance to use this, seeing as how the screws came loose and it all fell apart simply by turning the dial. Here's the thing, this is useless if you use a little common sense. When you take panorama photo, make sure each photo overlaps enough that software can find common points. The end. No need for crappy plastic junk. Plus, this will not work if the tripod is set to portrait orientation, which is useful for taking larger panoramas.