Seitz today published the new software version for the VR Drive II, Version 1.08, the visual mode is the best new feature, with this mode you can visually define the horizontal and vertical angle. For Giga pano shooters this is a must have function. I did not try the mode, i will try it this weekend.

Not yet released. I asked them to learn about this support. They said, it's quite finished but not yet totally.

BTW : we are testing internally the XML support in VR Drive 2. I like it.

Hi... I don't supose you have a bigger copy of this images you can put ..... I really love it... so clear... in all areas.... It was the image that impressed me enough to get the VR Drive.. with speed mode...

Destiny...

Studio VR wrote:

Thanks for the welcome guys. This week its very busy at the company, i don't have much time to play with the new drive, i have to find the nodal points of the lenses again. So i will use the old VR Drive version I this week, i hope i will get some time to play with the new one. I will keep you informed. The speed mode of the new drive is faster as the speed mode of the old one. You can do nice things with the speed mode. See the attached file, this was done with the old drive in 8 seconds (7 shots with Canon 1D Mark IV and 15 mm Fish eye).

Greetings,

Ivo

oh thank you ivo... its a great pano which I would love to zoom in on... Yes, I realise about the HDR mode.. we have discussed that option in other ticket... I will pass in it.. As long as the VR Drive can do speed mode and quality with bracketing using my D90 I will be happy... I want to keep the price down a much as possible.. I will struggle as it is to buy the VR Drive... Not sure if I can... Sure hope so... but plan B, buy the Panogear....

Destiny..

mediavets wrote:

Does the head have some form of removable data storage?

Yes, it has a USB contact and there is a Seitz (standard) memorystick in the box.
You upgrade the firmware by downloading a new file, put it on the stick and load it to the head.

leifs

Last edited by leifs (2011-12-20 15:40:38)

Destiny wrote:

This VR Drive head is just amazing... http://www.roundshot.ch/xml_1/internet/ … /f1065.cfm

I would expect that the images would come out blurred at this speed, but they don't. The head is so solid.. and sounds sweet....

Given you use about 1/500-1500sec - depending on the focal-length you use - it will not likely be blurred. But most likely you wouldn´t be able to use 1/1500 in combination with, let´s say, f:8 or f:11 without using extremly high ISO values besides of shooting very bright open places. Using it inside of buildings, where you need a sufficient dof and hence small apertures it´s usually impossible to do this way. We tried it sometimes - you´d need ISO 6400 and more inside rooms to use it with f:8.
Using it with fisheyes would make no sense at all. It would be a time-saver when using tele lenses and shooting many images - but here the exposuretime must be even shorter and the dof is very critical. So you might be forced to use f:16 or 22 and about 1/1500-2000sec when using a, let´s say 105mm lens in a surrounding where some objects are closer than 50m for example.

In my eyes the fast mode a good looking and impressing, but widely useless feature.

best, Klaus

Last edited by klausesser (2011-12-22 17:27:27)

I will be buying the VR Drive II now that it supports xml files! But I have one question: on the order page for the item, it lists the "Roundshot VR Drive full with quality + speed mode." Does that include everything I need?

1. Do I need the longer nodal rail (220mm) for big lenses? I will be using a lens that is 325mm long x 180mm wide.

2. What is the base rail?

3. Will I need to buy the cable release for my Canon camera? Or does the device come with a cable release?

4. I'm assuming I don't need to buy the x-motor or y-motor because they are included with this; same goes for the speed mode software. Am I correct in this assumption?

This link might show you what I'm looking at: http://shop.roundshot.ch/online/bag.cfm … amp;id=221

Thanks guys. I don't see any documentation on what these things are; and I'm not sure what the device comes with, and so I just want to be careful.

Happy shooting!
Devin

The manual is downloadable on their club-site, where you have to login. But it seems like the manual is accessible for everyone at
http://46.14.208.130/club/documents/Rou … y_2011.pdf  (??)
Worth a try. There some of the questions will be answered. Current version of the firmware is 1.11 and the manual is for 1.00, so there is nothing about XML or HDR.
The XML export is in the basic software and is available for all combinations of options.

leifs

Destiny wrote:

. . .  but I like it for the fact that it will be much better for VRs with moving people, objects and other things...

No. The best way to shoot this kind of a motif is to make as few images as possible. That means a circular fisheye and 3-4 shots. This is better made manually without a motor: you can choose the moment you shoot.
HDR is definitely unusable with moving people and so on.
So a speed mode definitely is counterproductive then.

best, Klaus

Last edited by klausesser (2011-12-28 00:54:06)

Destiny wrote:

So what would you use the speed mode for if not moving things....??

Good question . . . In fact: im my eyes it makes no sense at all. But it definitely attracts beginners . . .
If you need to make highres spheres in a short time it might be nice. But you always face the problem of needing very fast exposure-times - and so you need a bright open space. With a fullframe and 35mm taking 3 minutes for a 700MB sphere or taking 1,20 minutes for 48 shots i mean it´s not such a real fortune if you trade it in for very short exp. times which might force you to use wide open apertures . . at the cost of dof.

When you shoot highres images or spheres you wouldnt use a wideangle lens. The longer the lens the shorter exp.-times you need to use and the smaller the aperture you need to choose.
Let´s say you take an 85mm lens on a fullframe - which gives you a 4GB sphere like this www.360impressions.de/Wuppertal (Halle Mitte) - inside a hall you need to use mirror-lock because you need about 1 or 2sec @f:11. Without mirror-lock you not likely will get sharp pictures because of mirror-shake.
Here a speed mode is absurd obviously.

So tell me where you really would NEED a speed mode, please . .

Josef is thinking about implementing a speed-mode too in his new head . . because of marketing reasons I told him "if you think it´s clever: do it. Easy to implement at no cost".

best, Klaus

Destiny wrote:

As you say though, since my D90 does not have mirror lock, speed mode would cause issues..

No - you completely misunderstood: you need mirror-lock for using exp.-times longer than 1/15sec. This has nothing to do with the speed-mode.
For the speewd-mode you need to use exp.-times shorter than 1/500sec. Usually 1/1000 or 1/1500sec. Here a mirror-lock makes no sense.

Destiny wrote:

I did not realise about the wide angle lens issue you talked about either... I really want to buy the Nikon 14-24.. Its an amazing very wide angle lens.. I want to use it to capture VRs and wide angle pano photography... Are you saying that this will not be any good...??

I don´t understand: what "wide angle lens issue"? There is no "wide angle lens issue" at all. There are some basic things about photography you must learn to know - especially related to panorama-photography.

You talked about using the speed-mode - without knowing the basics about it. Like every mode - speedy or nor speedy - it´s related to a) the focal length and b) to the exposure-time you are able to shoot with. Both are related to the aperture you have to use and finally they all are related to the amount of pictures you have to shoot for your purpose.

In speed-mode the camera doesn´t stop at each position - it continuously spins around and fires the camera while spinning. Imagine you hold your D90 and continuously turn around on your heels several times while firing the camera. You can try it easily - watch how sharp you pictures will be at different exposute-times. That´s the best way to learn how the reality (!) is like . . . .

You will learn that you NEED the very short exp.-times i was talking about. Here the aperture comes into the game: the faster the exp.-time the wider open the aperture needs to be - and the shallower the DOF gets. The speed-mode demos show focal-lengths of 50mm or 85 mm as i remember . That means exp.-times of 1/500sec or 1/1500sec to get sharp images in speed-mode. Due to the focal length you need a decent aperture to get a decent DOF. My experiences show that you need about f:8 as minimum using a 50mm in non-landscapes and about f:16 as a minimum using an 85mm.
Longer focal lengths need shorter times. Shorter times need wider apertures or brighter light. Or high ISO - which causes noisy images usually.

So it very much depends on what you need to achieve and what you´re able to do to achieve it . .

Shooting a crowded place in speed-mode definitely makes no sense. Here you better use a fisheye and a manual head - and watch carefully the movement of the people to get the optimal moment to fire the camera manually. The fewer shots the better. On your D90 i guess a 6mm circular fisheye would be clever.
But you can´t get much resolution out of this combination. If you need more resolution a fullframe camera and an 8mm circular FE is the way to go. Here you can do a full sphere with about 4 shots and avoid double-exposed people if you shoot the right moment. That´s where a motorized head makes no sense at all.

Here are some very good basic informations and examples: http://www.panoramas.dk/

best, Klaus

Last edited by klausesser (2011-12-28 14:10:01)

Can anyone confirm that the VR Drive Gen 2 is big enough to still put a lens that is 325mm long x 180mm wide on its nodal point with the use of the longer nodal rail? Thank you!