So I have a little project coming up, and I want to supply our Client with 3D/360 photographs of their site/building... Something like you would find on a Hotel Website, etc that allows you to pan around the image 360 degrees, and zoom in/out. I know about there's a few different options in regards to this stuff, but hoping that some fellow TS'ers might have had some experience with this technology... I have a Tripod, and a Nikon D40x with a Basic Lens. I figure I will at least need to purchase a special Lens (fisheye?) and the software, for stitching the photographs together... Any recommendations? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

I've done some 360 panoramic photos before if that's what you have in mind, but I also recently worked with a photographer who does something more along the lines of what you're talking about. He used a circular fisheye (Sigma 8mm, iirc) on a Canon 5D and took 6 images going around in a circle. It's really easy to take the photos but I would imagine that stitching them together to make an animation will be the harder part. I'm not sure what software he used but I'll do some looking and see if I can find out for you. One thing you'll want to make sure you do is to lock the exposure as you spin around on the tripod so all the photos blend together better.

 

Thanks Alex... I'm still doing research, not alot of good info out there on this stuff. Might go down to my local Hooper Camera and see what they know.

 

The program you need is QuickTime VR, you bring the images in, place them in the correct spot and it creates the interactive 360 Degree panarama with zooming and sliding! I've done it once before but it takes some getting used too.

 

360 Flash panorama gallery

This is the best software I've found so far - and at $99 figure its worth a try.

For lens's I've found - 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor or Sigma 8mm F3.5 (or F4) EX DG Fisheye - which is better?

 

Neither lens will autofocus on your D40, iirc, but the 10.5mm Nikkor will give you a rectangular picture while the 8mm Sigma will be a circular image. I'm not sure if that'll make it harder or easier for you. I think the key will be to have as wide of a viewing angle as possible, so go with whichever lens gives you the closest to a 180* angle as possible.

 

the D40x has the Autofocus - Luckily. The D40 does not. Well the Sigma is bit more expensive so I think I'm gonna go with the Nikkor, just still trying to figure out how this will work, and how long it will take, etc.