Set The Manual Focus Or Auto Focus - GigaPan Epic Pro User Manual

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GigaPan User Guide
2.8 Set manual focus or autofocus
Focus is very important when capturing panoramas with the EPIC Pro. By paying close
attention to the focus both before and during shooting, you can create panoramas wih
ulta high resolition and incredible clarity in their detail. By not paying close attention
to focus, the amount of time and effort spent capturing a large 1000 photograph
panorama may not generate as good of results as the same panorama using a shorter
focal length and 400 photographs.
Manual Focus
Consistent Focus
The use of manual focus to capture a panorama reduces the risk of missing photos,
inconsistent focus, or complete lack of focus. When you choose to use manual focus,
you are assured that the focus will remain consistent over all areas of the panorama.
You will also not need to be so concerned about missing an image in a large panorama.
Consult a depth of field table to become familiar with the distances which will have an
acceptable sharpness.
Maximize Depth of Field
Depth of field is a function of
1. Aperture - diameter of diaphragm opening. Decreasing the diameter will increase
the DOF. Increasing the aperture value too much, such as f/22 versus f/8 through
f/16 will result in diminishing returns in sharpness due to diffraction losses.
2. Focal length - distance from image sensor plane to principle point. Decreasing the
focal length will increase the DOF.
3. Distance to subject - increasing the distance to the closest point that needs to be
acceptably sharp increases the DOF.
4. Size of image sensor { full frame, partial frame, point and shoot } A smaller size
sensor will increase the DOF.
5. Circle of confusion - diameter of circle considered to be one point. This is not a
camera setting, but a definition of what is considered to be sharp. You need to pay
attention to this value so that you do not misinterpret the depth of field. When the
circle of confusion diameter is increased ( what is considered to be one point ) the
standard for what is is considered to be acceptably sharp decreases.
Plan your Panorama
If you have time to plan the capture of a panorama, the measuring tool on Google
Earth allows you to measure the potential distances involved. Google Earth also has a
tool for visualizing the lighting conditions with respect to the time of day and the date.