I need advice on choosing a pano head for use with the Nikon 10.5mm fullframe fisheye lens to create both 360x180 (6 shots around and one up plus ,optionally, one/two down) and cylindrical panos (no up/down shots). I want to do as little post-production editing as possible, I'm not too bothered about the nadir.

My old Coolpix 995/5000, WC-E63/WC-E68/FC-E8 and Kaidan 995 setup is OK for what it is (and was once not so very many years ago state of the art) but it is just not capable of achieving the results I seek now - fullscreen 360-180 panos - so I am making the leap (considerable for me in terms of relearning and cost) to a DSLR based setup which I hope to enhance incrementally with better camera bodies and additional lenses over the next few years.

If possible I would prefer to choose a pano head (or head system) that can 'grow' with me rather than having to be replaced regularly with all the additional cost and learning curve that would involve.

Agno's offers several possibilities - the MRotatorTCP (for 360x180) or RingT (for cylindrical panos) seem like they might be good choices. However I don't quite see the point of the rather expensive combination of the two with the ring lens mount on the vertical swing arm. RingT alone limits use of Nikon 10.5 fisheye to cylindrical panos with is too restrictive for my plans.

But the new Nodal Ninja 5 lite is less expensive and looks competent and with the add-on adapter for cameras with offset tripod connections I think I could also use it with my old Coolpix 5000 camera and WC-E68 wide and FC-E8 fisheye adapters (currently used with an old Kaidan Kiwi 995 pano head limited to horizontal rotation only).

Neither of these offers indexing on the vertical swing ram - although the Nodal Ninja should be upgradable at low cost later this year - is this a major drawback?

Perhaps others will suggest other/better alternatives?

I may add or switch to alternative fisheye lenses in future - Sigma or Tokina - so I would like to choose a pano head (or head system) that offers scope for change of camera and/or lenses at relatively low cost (or better still no cost).

I would not want to leave the camera on the head all the time nor to dedicate the camera to pano shooting only so it is important to be able to take the camera on and off the head easily and to replace rprecisely without recalibrating every time. Likewise I may wish to use differnt camera bodies so easy reconfiguration would be a plus.

Weight and size not that much of an issue as I don't intend to carry the gear far - initial plans are for 360x180 fullscreen panos of interiors of old churches; no long hikes or treks involved - but small and light is always attractive everything else being equal.

I don't want to spnd any more than I need to but equally I want a system that is robust, quick and easy to setup/breakdown and reliable.

Looking forward to your expert advice and opinions.

Regards,

Andrew