Pano Bracket for Nikon FC-E8 & FC-E9

NEW - PELENG 8mm bracket

NEW - SAMYANG 8mm BETA test bracket

Sigma 8mm - Nikon 10.5mm - Canon A series bracket
I have tested the Canon G7 with the FC-E9
Leica Digilux 3 with 8mm bracket test

Brackets NOW in stock for immediate delivery
- Nikon FC-E9 - Nikon 10.5mm - Sigma f4 -

This system of brackets for panorama photography currently contains 6 models that are light-weight and work as an attachment to your lens rather than a large, cumbersome "thing" on which to mount your camera.

The goal was to create a bracket with as small a footprint as possible. The footprint is the area straight down obscured by the bracket. In the examples above, the two frames show the difference between a Kaidan CS (Camera Specific) tripod head and the travel bracket. Much less data lost due to the bracket , meaning much less time spent in Photoshop, (if only the tripod had invisible legs!), It is rather easy to retouch the tripod legs out of the frame by using the clone stamp in Photoshop.

I get some questions about why the spheres above are shown cropped on the side. I shoot 3 shots for the complete panorama with the camera zoomed in as far as possible... click here for a clip from a previous discussion about vertical versus full sphere.

The design was mostly driven by being an end user, with ease of use, weight and portability being the main factors.

• The bracket was designed to hold the lens instead of the camera because this method eliminates several problems:
  1. Camera leaning, typically happening when a heavy camera is captured from the side, since the bracket is like a clothes pin locked on the lens, there is no leaning and vibration.
  2. Since the camera size and shape is not part of the installation the camera can be updated without having to purchase a new bracket.
  3. Light Weight. = Happiness - As a backpacker this is very important for me; the otherwise great Kaidan CS bracket weighs 1.93 pounds and the wood travel brackets only about 0.3 pounds for FC-E8 and 0.4 pounds for the FC-E9 and they fold up flat for transport.
  
  
• By reducing the footprint I also reduced the amount of time spend fixing the straight down of the panorama.
  
  
• Instead of a large rotator, I am using a Bogen extension which rotates smoothly and has no practical footprint in the picture. I removed the head from the tripod and mounted the Bogen extension directly to the center screw of the tripod which results in a very small footprintthat is easily be retouched using the cloning tool in Photoshop.
  Manfrotto product # 259B - Bogen code (USA only): 3007X
  Cost is about $20 at places like Samy's in LA and B&H Photo.
  NOTE - You NEED this item for the bracket.! Samy's Catalog
  
  
• The wood brackets pack flad for easy traveling..
  
  
• There is no bubble level; instead I mount one in the hot-shooe on the camera, this way I know the actual camera is level. It's the green piece in the pictures.
  
  
• Instructions for setting up and photographing with the bracket.
  
  
• Click here for some of my panoramas, most of which were photographed using my travel bracket (or with earlier test versions).
  
  
  Email:

Back to Bo's Panorama Page

Small = Pocket Sized..!

You can litterally stuff the entire bracket in the pocket of a pair of Levis.

What Cameras Work with these brackets..?

The easy answer is "pretty much any camera you can find a way to mount behind a Nikon FC-E9 or FC-E8 fisheye lens.

* Note, I now also have brackets for these popular lenses.
- SIGMA 8mm
- NIKON 10.5mm
- RAYNOX 180pro
- RAYNOX 185pro

The Panorama bracket was designed to use the Nikon FC-E9 fisheye converter lens. This lens naturally works well with most Nikon Digital cameras; however it is worth noting that it works equally well with many other brands provided you can screw the lens to the front of the digital camera., Most new digital cameras have a way of mounting an "extension tube" for filters and add-on lenses; it is easy to get an adaptor filter ring at your local photo store for fitting the Nikon FC-E9 to almost any camera. You'll also need either a step-up or a step-down ring. So far I have successfully used this lens with the travel bracket on the following cameras.

Pana LX3 Recomended
Canon G5
Canon G6
Canon G7 OK but try a LX3
Canon A60
Canon A75
Canon A80
Canon A520
Canon A620
Canon A640 Recomended
Canon Pro1 Recomended

Minolta Z-3

Nikon 5000
Nikon 5400 - Recomended
Nikon 5700
Nikon 8400 - Recomended
Nikon 8700
Almost all CoolPix Cams

Olympus E20 & E10
Olympus 5050

SONY 717
Sony R1

Fisheye Lens Comparison

Location in the LA River

Other Panorama Brackets

KINGpano is a very simple and elegant bracket for multilevel pano photography.

Italian Agnos is very similar to my design, and beautifully manufactured. Includes bubble level and click stop.

Kaidan are big boys in panorama brackets and VR rigs. These brackets are all somewhat larger than my design.