NOVOFLEX VR-SYSTEM SLIM User manual

MANUAL
© NOVOFLEX Präzisionstechnik GmbH
Brahmsstrasse 7; D - 87700 Memmingen; Germany
phone [phone]; fax [phone]
mail@novoflex.com; www.novoflex.com
© Jan Röpenack

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12 PANORAMA 48
Page 18
Example
Last checkup:
• System leveled to the horizon (veryfy with the spirit level on the lower locking screw)?
• Set panning angle (increment), depending on the focal length?
• Correct values on the lower and upper scale?
• Set xed white balance (e.g. sunny)?
• Manual exposure mode?
• Correct exposure (f-stop in the middle range, corresponding exposure time)?
• Focused on the main subject of the scene?
• Auto focus system turned off?
24 single shots, full-frame camera, 17 mm focal length,
horizontal increment 45°
(n=8, lever to 16, 2 clicks),
vertical increment 50°.
Result: Spherical projection 360° x 180°
Result: Cylindrical projection
Result:
Cubical projection
Interactive presentation see
www.pixelmagazin.de/sonnenaufgang
Camera and lens not included
Panorama VR-SYSTEM SLIM
PANORAMA 48
(bottom)
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Page 1
Backside
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5
Backside

Parts identification and package contents:
Quick release locking screw
Quick release Q=MOUNT Mini 90, can be mounted crosswise or length-
wise on the upper horizontal arm, see page 5 to 8)
Upper horizontal arm locking screw with lever
Camera-plate QPL Slim 50 with engraved scaling
Upper horizontal arm (part of the L-bracket) with engraved scaling
Upper rotator with engraved markings (0°, 30°, 50° and 90°) and rotator
stop screw
Long leg of the L-bracket
L-bracket screw (for easy disassembling and assembling in order to en-
able space-saving transport)
Angle locking screw (normally open)
Increment selector lever (the number left of the lever is showing the se-
lected increment n = number of exposures per 360° turn)
Lower locking screw with spirit level
Mark, showing the scale value on the lower leg of the L-bracket
Alignment pin tting into the slot on the lower leg of the L-bracket
Arrow showing the recommended rotational direction (clockwise)
1/4“ thread hole for the lower locking screw with spirit level (11). On the
other side of the PANORAMA 48 there is a 3/8“ thread hole with adapter
to 1/4“ for mounting a leveling device, a 3-way head, ball head or tripod.
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Recommended accessories:
A digital compact-, mirrorless- or SLR-camera, focal lengths between 8
mm and 160 mm (full-frame camera equivalent) and sheye lenses.
A stable tripod (recommendation: Novoex TrioPod or QuadroPod)
A leveling device (recommendation: Novoex MagicBalance) or a ball
head (recommendation: Novoex ClassicBall or MagicBall).
A current computer with a lot of ram and a large hard disk.
A stitching software, that can process multirow panoramas and can deal
with sheye lenses if necessary such as PTgui or PanoramaStudio PRO.
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The VR SYSTEM SLIM consists of the L-bracket with upper rotator (6), the upper
horizontal arm (5) with quick release Q=MOUNT Mini 90 (2), the camera-plate
QPL Slim 50 (4) and the lower rotator PANORAMA 48 with 4 adjustable incre-
ments (click-stops) and the stepless operation. The complete panorama bracket
including the quick release Q=MOUNT Mini 90 is called QPL-VR Slim.
To estimate the distance between the rows, look through
the viewnder while tilting your system through the
scene. The overlap of two rows should also be at least
20%. Always use a constant tilting angle between all
rows. Characteristic values are 30° when using a 35
mm lens or 50° when using a 17 mm wide angle lens
on a full-frame camera.
Tip:
Don’t take large charts with you, when you go out for
taking panoramas, but narrow them down to the infor-
mation you really need on location: The values on the up-
per and lower scale on the L-bracket and the increments
of your favorite lenses. It is very useful to write down this
information on a little label and x it to the angle bracket
or tripod.
Page 17
Step 7:
Camera settings:
For best quality, standardize the exposure in each single frame, meaning choose
manual exposure mode. When it is not possible, because the intensity of light
varies between the single exposures strongly, consider the HDR technique using
autobracketing with your camera.
The optimal f-stop is located between f8 and f16. In this range you have enough
depth of eld and fewer problems with vignetting of the lens (dark corners).
Place the focus on the main subject of the scene. Then turn off the auto focus
system.
Use a xed white balance such as sunny, cloudy etc. (don’t use automatic white
balance, otherwise you will have frames with different colors). When taking the
pictures in RAW format you can match the white-balance afterwards also.
In the case of longer exposure time, we recommend using a remote cable and -
if possible - the mirror lockup or live-view function of your SLR camera. Please
refer to your cameras manual.
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4
Safety references:
Before starting up, read these safety references carefully. Pay attention
to warnings and advices in this instruction. When selling or passing on your
Panorama VR-System Slim, please include the manual also by all means.
Never move your Panorama VR-System Slim with mounted camera. The as-
sembly of the camera is always the last step in the set-up.
When working on the upper quick release (2), always hold the camera in
one hand, while making adjustments with the other hand. The upper quick
release (2) has a safety pin, to prevent inadvertent dropping of the equipment.
However, this only works when the locking screw (1) is open less than a half
turn. When sliding the camera plate (4) (e.g. to set up nodal point adjustments)
don’t open the locking screws (1) completely, but only a 1/4 turn. This is
enough for a comfortable and safety handling.
Never open any screw, while not holding the camera with the other hand!
When installing a camera-plate (4) pay attention, that both clamps of the quick
release (2) are grabbing at the profile of the plate. The easiest way to check
this, is to exert pressure on the camera slightly, while verifying if the camera
moves.
The lower angle locking screw (9) should be open any time, except you are
working in the stepless position of the increment selector lever (10) and want
to x the current position e.g. when taking long exposures. Never turn the
system by force when the angle locking screw is tightened. This could
damage your Panorama VR-System Slim!
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Page 3
9
2
Clamp
Savety Pin
1
Page 16
Lever 2x click 3x click 4x click 5x click
16 (22.5°) 8 (45°) 4 (90°)
30 (12°) 15 (24°) 10 (36°) 6 (60°)
36 (10°) 18 (20°) 12 (30°) 9 (40°)
48 (7.5°) 24 (15°) 16 (22.5°)
Tip:
When using a camera, whose sensor size is not listed in the table, convert the focal
length into the full-frame value using the cameras „crop factor“. After that, use the
column for full-frame sensor in the table.
The following chart shows the possible increments using „multi-clicks“. On this
basis, you can create your own nely tuned table for your lenses.
Experimental increments determination
Not having your increments table at hand in front of the scene, you can determine
the horizontal panning angle by trial and error visually.
Search for a remarkable object in
the right area of the view-nder.
Pan the system clockwise to the
next click-stop. When you see the
object now in the left area of the
view-nder, the selected incre-
ment was right. If you don’t see
the object, the increment was too
large, select a smaller one (great-
er number n) and try again.
Try “mulit-clicks“ as well. When using too small increments, the object will appear
not in the left, but rather in the middle area after panning clockwise. Try a larger
one (smaller number n).
Define a vertical tilting angle
When taking a multi-row panorama you tilt the
camera around a specic vertical angle between
the single rows, using the upper rotator (6). This
joint has stops every 10°. The most common tilting
angles, 30°, 50° and 90° are marked with lines.
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Page 15
More increments by counting the “clicks“
When taking the pictures not at any snap in, but at every second, third or fourth
“click-stop“, you have notable more selectable increments available. Here’s an
example: The increment of n=8 (45°) can be achieved by selecting n=16 (22,5°)
with the increment selector lever and taking the pictures at every second stop.
Although your PANORAMA 48 panning base has only 4 selectable increments (due
to small dimensions and low weight) you can use all required increments by count-
ing the clicks up to a focal length of 160 mm (on full-frame camera).
The table below is based on an overlap of 20-50% between two single shots and
shows the recommended adjustment of the increment selector lever (10) as a
function of the camera (full-frame or APS-C sensor size) and the focal length of the
lens in mm.
Example: You are using a full-frame camera and a 28 mm lens (corresponds
roughly to a camera with APS-C sensor size and 18 mm lens). According to the
table you set up the value 36 with the lever and take the pictures at every third
click-stop.
focal length
full-frame
sensor
focal length
sensor
APS-C size
increment
in °
exposures
per 360° turn
n
adjustment
at lever
Fisheye
8-12 mm
Fisheye
4-7 mm
90 4 16 (4 clicks)
Fisheye
13-16 mm
Fisheye
8-10 mm
60 6 30 (5 clicks)
14-21 mm 8-14 mm 45 8 16 (2 clicks)
22-25 mm 15-16 mm 36 10 30 (3 clicks)
26-30 mm 17-19 mm 30 12 36 (3 clicks)
31-34 mm 20-22 mm 24 15 30 (2 clicks)
35-44 mm 23-28 mm 22,5 16 16 (1 click)
45-54 mm 29-34 mm 20 18 36 (2 clicks)
55-65 mm 35-41 mm 15 24 48 (2 clicks)
66-89 mm 42-56 mm 12 30 30 (1 click)
90-105 mm 57-66 mm 10 36 36 (1 click)
106-160 mm 67-100 mm 7,5 48 48 (1 click)
Recommended horizontal increment and adjustment at lever (10)
Basic assembly:
Before doing precise adjustments, rst assemble all of the parts of your system.
See also the illustration on page 1.
Assembling the L-bracket The legs of the L-bracket are mounted
with the L-bracket screw (8). Use this
screw also for disassembling and space-
saving transport.
Advice:
It is not recommended to disassemble
the stabilization-triangle.
8
In order to bring the upper horizontal arm (5) to
the 90° position, open the rotator stop screw
(6) slightly, move the arm upwards and tighten
the screw in the 90° position. You will notice,
that the rotator slightly stops every 10°. With
the help of these stops and the marking lines
at 0°, 30°, 50° and 90° on the rotator, you can
move quickly to specic vertical angles.
Folding out the upper horizontal arm
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8
2
35
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13 11
Place the lower (shorter)
leg of the L-bracket on the
panning base and position
the alignment pin (13) into
the slot of the leg. Place it
in the center, slide the lower
locking screw (11) up to the
1/4“ mounting hole of the
panning base and tighten
the screw.
Mounting the L-bracket on the panning base
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Page 4

Page 5
Lengthwise or crosswise quick release installation on the upper arm
Installation on a tripod
Tip:
When using a ball head (such as Novoex Clas-
sicBall 3 II) or a leveling device (recommenda-
tion: Novoex MagicBalance, see illustration
on the left), the complete panorama head can
be leveled very quickly and easily with the help
of the above mentioned devices and the spirit
level on the lower locking screw (11).
Next mount the system on a stable tri-
pod (recommendation: Novoex TrioPod or
QuadroPod). For this purpose there is a 3/8“
mounting hole in the center of the panning
base on the bottom. The 1/4“ adapter can be
unscrewed if required.
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lengthwise
The quick release (2) can be mounted lengthwise or
crosswise on the upper horizontal arm (5). Loosen the
locking screw (3), turn the quick release 90° and tighten
the screw again.
Lengthwise installation is recommended when the tripod
socket has an offset compared to the optical axis (see il-
lustration below on the right).
crosswise
Page 14
Step 6:
Define the horizontal and vertical panning angle “increment“:
In each row you rotate the system horizontally with the lower panorama base
around a specic angle. This angle depends on the wanted overlap, the camera
you use (crop factor) and the focal length of the lens. For optimal performance the
software needs an overlap of 20-50%. Between each exposure use a xed panning
angle. To estimate the increments, look through the viewnder while panning your
system through the scene. This works ne, but it’s much easier to orientate yourself
with the chart on page 15. The numbers of shots for a complete 360° turn can be
selected directly at the increment selector lever (10). Between two exposures, pan
the system to the next click-stop, where you take the picture.
Selected increment:
The number left of the lever is showing the selected increment n = number of
exposures per 360° turn.
Example: Here 30 was
selected, this is equiva-
lent to a panning angle of
360°/30 = 12°
Example: Here 48 was
selected, this is equiva-
lent to a panning angle of
360°/48 = 7,5°
When the lever is on the left
end, „stepless“ is selected. This
means panning will be done with-
out stops. In this case you can set
up the wanted angle with the help
of the side angle scale and x the
current position with the angle
locking screw (9). 9
Advice:
Please keep in mind, that the angle locking screw (9) is open when using click-
stops.
Tip:
In order to simplify your complete workow, we recommend to work with only a few
lenses for a start and to try out your settings with the help of test panoramas in the
forefront. With an approved operating sequence and a bit practice you will make
fewer mistakes at the scene.
10
Tripod socket offset compared
to the optical axis (lengthwise
installation recommended)
optical axis
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5
2
2

optical axis
Page 13
The setup in front of the scene is done as described on page 4 „Basic assembly“.
However, don’t insert your camera into the quick release for now. This should al-
ways be the last step, after all adjustments are done.
Step 2:
Level the system with the horizon:
Watch the spirit level on the lower locking screw (11) and level the system by the
ball head or the leveling device.
Step 3:
Bring the upper arm in the 90° position
Open the rotator stop screw (6) slightly, move the arm
upwards and tighten up the screw in the 90° position
(there is marking line on the rotator at this position).
Step 4:
Adjust your system
Now, setup the scale values you determined before,
(see chapter “Preparatory steps“): The value on the
lower leg is dependent on the camera: Use the lower
locking screw (11) for setup. The value on the upper leg
is dependent on the lens, respectively focal distance
when using a zoom lens. Use the upper locking screw
(3) for set up.
Step 5:
Insert the camera with premounted camera-plate
into the quick release:
Open the quick release locking screw (1) and insert
the camera-plate complete with camera. Slide to
the prepared position (according to whether you use
lengthwise or crosswise installation, see page 7 or 9)
and retighten the screw. Before releasing your cam-
era, check for secure connection to the quick release.
Advice:
Please keep in mind when using lengthwise installa-
tion: The camera-plate insertion into the quick release
should be done only at the far end of the upper arm
(see page 6). After that, slide the camera including
quick release to prepared position (step 4).
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1
3
11
6
3
Page 6
Installing the camera-plate QPL Slim 50
When mounting the quick release lengthwise
on the upper leg, the camera-plate is mounted
crosswise comparing to the optical axis (see
illustration above).
Align the plate precise parallel to the camera’s
bottom edge, 90° to the optical axis. The cen-
ter of the camera-plate should be roughly at
the level of the optical axis.
The plates scale should be seen
from behind, otherwise mount
the plate the other way around.
Insert the camera-plate unit into the quick release
Open the quick release locking screw (1) and slide the
camera-plate unit into the quick release from above. At
the middle position tighten the locking screw (1) again.
The precise adjustment will be done afterwards.
Before releasing your camera, check for a secure con-
nection with the quick release (see safety references
on page 3).
First open the locking screw (3) a
bit and slide the complete quick re-
lease to the far end of the upper arm.
Now tighten up the locking screw (3)
again.
3
1
1
Advice:
The camera’s plate insertion into the quick release
should be done principally at the far end of the upper
arm, because only at this position do you have unre-
stricted access to the quick release locking screw (1).

Page 7
When doing this adjustment, you have to observe the
system from the front and operate the locking screw (1)
on the reverse side. For safety reasons we recommend
the help of a second person at this working step.
Changing the height is done as follows: During this pro-
cedure hold your camera in one hand. Open the quick
release locking screw (1) slightly, move the camera up
or down and tighten the locking screw when the optical
axis has reached the height of the rotators axis. Before
releasing your camera, check for a secure connection
with the quick release.
Read off the scale value on the camera-plate (see il-
lustration right) and write it down in order to set it up
again at the scene.
1
Precise level adjustment
Observe the system from the front and
move the camera up or down until the
optical axis has reached the height of
the rotators axis. For better assess-
ment it’s a good idea to use a ruler and
hold it horizontally.
Page 12
Repeat the procedure until the vertical lines don’t move (see g. 3+4). Now the
whole system is panning around the entrance pupil of the lens.
Write down these settings for future exposures with this camera-lens-combina-
tion. For this purpose read off the values given by the indicator scale at the upper
horizontal arm (5).
7.
8.
Tip:
When installing the quick release crosswise on the upper leg (right illustration),
the quick release edge can be used to indicate the scale value.
Advice:
Repeat this test for all lenses, you want to use for your panoramas. When using
a zoom lens, you have to nd out the position of the entrance pupil for each focal
length separately.
5
Field use:
Step 1:
Transport:
The system can be moved with minimum space requirements and stowed in any
photo bag instantly. It can be disassembled and set up at the scene very quickly.
For disassembling open the upper rotator stop screw (6) and bring the upper leg
in the lower position, open the L-bracket screw (8) completely and use the quick
release (2) to x the lower leg including panning base for transport. The camera
plate (4) remains on the camera.
Tip:
It also makes sense
to leave the panning
base on the tripod’s
head.
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2
rotators axis
wrong right

Page 11
Now set another distance on the upper arm. Open the locking screw (3) a bit,
move the quick release at the upper arm a few mm forward or backward and
tighten up the screw. When panning again you will notice that the movement of
the lines will either be stronger or weaker. In the last case you shifted the quick
release in the right direction.
6.
Look through the viewnder. Find
a vertical edge or line, such as a
oor lamp, which is located in the
foreground and bring it in line with
a vertical object in the background
e.g. a door frame (g. 1).
Now pan the camera from right
to left and back while looking
through the viewnder. Observe
if the objects move to each other
(see g. 1+2) or stay together (see
g. 3+4).
Here: When panned the camera to
right, the oor lamp moved to left
in relation to the door frame (g.
2). This is an indication of rotating
outside the entrance pupil.
3.
4.
5.
fig. 1
fig. 3
fig. 2
fig. 4
Preparatory step 3:
Forward-Backward Adjustment:
Now bring the camera to a precise vertical posi-
tion. For this purpose use the rotator stop screw
(6) and the 90° marking.
Mount the lens, whose entrance pupil position you
want to nd, to the camera body. When using a
zoom lens, set the required focal length. In the
following, you need a one-time set-up for testing.
This set-up, should have vertical lines in the fore-
ground as well as in the background.
1.
2.
6
3
Page 8
Left illustration: The tripod socket is in line
with the optical axis. Usually the case with
bigger mirrorless- or DSLR-cameras.
When using such a camera, the already dis-
cussed lengthwise installation is possible
just like the crosswise quick release in-
stallation on the upper arm.In the last case
you have to mount the camera-plate parallel
to the optical axis, meaning perpendicular to
the cameras bottom edge.
When installing the plate on the camera bottom, please note that the engraved
scale is aligned to the top, so that you can easily see it later from above.
on very small cam-
eras.
By installing the camera-plate as far as pos-
sible forward or backward, you can extend
the available adjustment range. However,
this is only needed in very rare cases, e.g.
when using especially long zoom lenses
with very big cameras or very short lenses
Crosswise quick release installation on the upper arm
(Alternative to lengthwise installation)
Only when using a camera, whose tripod socket is in line
with the optical axis, the crosswise installation is useful (see
illustration below).
Big advantages are: You have fast and easy access to the
quick release locking screw (1) from above, the possibility
to extend the available adjustment range (e.g. with a longer
camera-plate) and it’s not necessary to adjust the height
(compared to lenghtway installation).
Crosswise instal-
lation
1
optical axis

1
Page 9
How to insert the camera into the quick release
(crosswise quick release installation on the upper arm)
Open the quick release locking screw (1) and slide
the camera-plate into the quick release from behind.
At the middle position tighten the locking screw (1)
again. Before releasing your camera, check for secure
connection with the quick release (see safety refer-
ences on page 3).
This panorama head enables the rotation of the system around the center of the
entrance pupil of the lens, also called the “nodal point” or “optical center”. By doing
this, shifting of the foreground in relation to the background is avoided which is of
vital importance for the stitching of the individual images.
Preparatory steps - finding the nodal point:
The position of the entrance pupil “nodal point” is dependent on the camera-
lens-combination and - when using a zoom lens - on the focal length you use.
Therefore you should try to nd the position of the nodal point of all lenses that
you will use and write them down. When taking the pictures later, you only have to
transfer the values to the scales on the L-bracket, before you start shooting.
Preparatory step 1:
Assemble all components of your system and level it with the horizon
Use the method depicted in the last chapter. Set up your tripod securely. You don’t
have to align the tripod. While watching the crossed spirit level on the lower lock-
ing screw (11) level the system with a ball head or a leveling device beneath. Now
insert your camera: Open the quick release locking screw (1) and slide the camera-
plate unit into the quick release. Tighten the locking screw.
Advice:
In order to mount the plate repeatedly into the quick release, you should stop al-
ways at the same position. Therefore use a xed scale value (Illustration above: red
arrow) or the bottom end stop*.
Slide the camera-plate unit within the quick release backwards while the locking
screw (1) is open only 1/4 turn. The quick release safety pin will stop this move-
ment at the bottom end stop.
*
Page 10
12
11
After that, tighten the lower locking
screw (11) and write down the value
given by the indicator scale at the
lower leg for future exposures with
this camera body. For this purpose
use the marking line (12) on the pan-
ning base.
•
Turn your camera in the position shown on
the right, while paying attention to the safety
references. Align the camera properly to the
bottom. For this purpose open and tighten the
rotator stop screw (6).
Now, look through the viewnder of your
camera, open the lower locking screw (11) a
bit and slide the L-bracket back and forth un-
til the center autofocus point is aimed at the
spirit level on the lower locking screw (that is
the mark for the rotation axis).
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•
11
6
Preparatory step 2:
Side-to-side adjustment: Move the camera into
the pivot axis of the panning base
Tip:
Many cameras with electronic view-
nder are able to show center mark-
ings within the viewnder image.
Use such assistance tools in order to position the op-
tical axis accurately within the pivot axis. Please refer
to your cameras manual.
If the viewnder image is out of focus, slide the cam-
era to the upper stop, close the aperture or use a
wide angle lens.
Tip:
The found value on the lower leg of the L-bracket is only dependent on the
camera you are using - not on the lens. For this test, another lens of your choice
can be used, when not changing the camera.