Lens Question - total Newby

[Wocka]

Gidday,

I liked to get into taking panoramic and landscape shots, at what size lens does the picture start getting the curve in the image (the horizon higher in the middle, lower on the sides).

Is this a lens issue, or a user issue?

I have used Panorama Factory (and love it), am I better off doing panoramic shots, eg 5 photo's and stitching together, or trying to get the landscape with 1 picture?

What sort of lens is good for thei type of photography?

Warwick

[Glen]

Warwick, some lenses have more barrell distortion than others. There is no size where this happens, it is a lens issue. It is also somewhat dependent on the user, as user placement of the elements in the photo can reduce the effect as the centre of the frame usually has least distortion. The Sigma 12-24 is good for landscapes and would fit on your camera

[birddog114]

I'm sure glamy, one of our member can answer your question here, he did a 360 degree of pano of my place and other sites with a Manfrotto Pano rail.

[glamy]

There are quite a few people on this forum who are good at panoramas. I personaly use a 12-24 Sigma and am pretty happy with it. There is not much distortion, build is good and so on... best of all is Birdy's price which I missed out on. There is the issue of shooting handheld or using a tripod. It seems that using "Panofactory" people do get good results handheld, I use "Stitcher" and that is not quite the same application. See
http://www.panoguide.com/
for information.
Cheers,
Gerard

[Wocka]

Glamy,

Thanks for the info. I will look at the site and lens you mentioned.
I hope Birddogs products and prices will work on the Canon platform (once I reach 30 posts, that is).