Hi. I’ve just bought a GigaPan Epic Pro and have tried it out with a Nikon D90 with a Sigma DC 18–200 mm lens. Calibrating the device with a low focal length gives me no problem in regards to finding the entrance pupil thus getting no parallax. My problem is that I can’t seem to adjust the rail far enough to shooting with a higher focal length than about 80 mm. So my question is: is it normal to accept some parallax on telelenses such as mine?

Thanks.

Depends on the scene.

If you are in a situation where everything is far away (top of a hill for instance)then you should have no problems.

Ditto if everything is the same distance away, but not too close (side of a building).

If you have a fence, bushes or similar in the foreground then you are likely to find two versions of them appearing.

With shots like these, it really comes down to how well your stitching software handles ‘ghosts’.

In extreme cases, it might be necessary to modify individual shots to remove the offending portions, but this can be tricky if they occupy more than one row.

Say NO to Parallax! This problem can be solved with a longer camera bar, available from Really Right Stuff. I purchased an 18" Camera Bar “CB-18 package” that will work with RRS’s “GP_CB” Epic Pro Conversion Mounting Platform. In use, be sure to set Epic Pro Pro to “Motor Rigid” to prevent camera/lens from tilting backwards due to off center weight distribution.