Select a .jpeg file from your camera. (File | Open) below is the opening screen:
Cyclovision Parashot Tutorial page:
Note: Since I bought my lens system and wrote this article, remotereality.com appears to have taken over the parashot system. Their website say no longer need licensing fee per pix. Buyers on the yahoo panorama groups have reported un-advertised specials of $500 per unit. and there is a sideways bracket to increase the vertical angle (so you can see the sky and the ground in one shot, 360o x 360o) but this requires multiple shots
some of my complaints below are with the awful coolpix, not the lens, and newer models have addressed some concerns like lithium batteries instead of NiMH. I can barely turn on my older model coolpix as all my dozens of AA NiMH batteries appear dead even after a full charge.
below screen shots are suggestions for accessories, care, safe transport and quick shooting.
What the Parashot(tm) does:
The Parashot takes in one picture a panorama.
This has obvious benefits that will not be covered here.
This page is assuming you already want or have the Parashot and would like a few more tips
and know how it works.
The panoramas can be 'image mapped' with clickable hot spots that link to any URL
including another panorama page.
To start: the 'Viewer' is really the 'Developer'. (with a preview function)
Select a .jpeg file from your camera. (File | Open) below is the opening screen:
I'd suggest copying all pix for a particular subdirectory. The Nikon Coolpix has a sequential numbering option. Use it if you'll ever more than fill up one card. Then you can copy all the files for a project to one directory without renaming files.
If you get this message either you have dark areas around top of panorama or you took
picture with edge of mirror not in view.
This means you will have to recenter the image.
Note that I have resolution at 800x600 or the picture would all be visible. Except for making centering easier, it is OK to be at this setting. Now click on purple cross and drag so the it is in the center of the black post. Also check the black area around the edge of picture, inside the outer purple circle. Reduce the circle so only a tiny amount of black area is around edge of picture. This will make it easy to see if all edges are evenly spaces. Then reduce picture size to have NO black area (just picture to show).
Some pictures will edge detect OK, and all you need to do is resize the inner circle to cover up the person taking picture if you were not using a timer.
Note picture now appears to be centered.
Now expand the center portion to cover the photographer.
Reduce the outer circle to the edge of the photograph now (not shown).
Next click on the disk icon or 'File | Save'. This saves your original modified
photograph (as a 'tiff' file.)
Now you are ready to publish. Click on the icon of a computer (second to right
icon). When finished, click on 'CD-Rom publish' (right hand icon). While
processing, start Netscape to preview the panorama. Do and 'Open Files' and browse
to a subdirectory under where you opened the .jpeg. The viewer created a
subdirectory under here with the 'rollout picture' and the java code necessary to
download. Open the only ".htm" file in the folder to view your source.
Open the .jpg file in this directory to see what the viewer does. (shown below)
The java code (or 'Live Picture' plugin rotates this picture in the window when you open the panorama.
The finished picture (click on this link) for low-res version (no plugin needed): www.rth.org/sdzoo/pans/dscn0097_pf.htm
The finished picture (hi-res, you need to load the live pix plug in 1st): www.rth.org/sdzoo/pans/97cd/Dscn0097_pf.htm
You can hit 'preview' in the view program or open the file in netscape or MS IE. MS IE 'forgets' the path you chose for the previous preview so you have to reselect the complete path. For this reason I preview in Netscape.
Problems with the viewer program:
1. after opening and developing 40-50 or so pictures, the program seems to take a dump
sometimes: when you open a .jpeg it shows 'TV snow' instead of a picture when you try to
open a jpeg. (It may be leaking memory).
One time I was able to simply close the program and rerun it, the other time I had to
reboot the computer. (this is why I suggest you copy your original 'raw capture'
files to a second directory for the viewer use).
2. The finished image shows 'floaters'. I do not know what causes these. These are reduced in the high resolution version. It may be slight imperfections in the mirror or lens, and may be agravated by incorrect centering but happened on auto-centered pix too. Due to the processing of the picture info (from the real world into a circular image via optical means, then into a 'rollout' image via calculated deforming of the image, then onto your screen), any slight imperfections are bound to be amplified in the final picture..
3. A 'moire' image shows on finished image sometimes. This is normal. It is related to the minimum pixel size related to features in the picture. It shows up in particular on regular lines in picture. It is the same reason you see it on TV when looking at certain sized gratings.
4. Only about 1/3 of the pix I took autodetected the edge in the viewer program even tho I tried to keep the mirror edge in th viewfinder. This means you have to manually set the center.
Care & cleaning of your lens:
When I received my brand new Parashot lens I noticed specks of dust betwen the lenses (and a fingerprint smudge on edge of top lens). Apparently part of the manufacturing process, these do not seem to be noticable in the final picture. (doesn't mean I like them). The lens magnifies them when you look inside the parashot. Evidently not made in a 'clean room'.
Dirt or smudges on the lens would stay in same place as you rotate the image, so probably not cause of 'floaters' mentioned above. To avoid these, be sure lens is clean, at home before you leave. Take a lens cleaning kit with you in case of emergency smudge with suntan lotion, bird droppings, water spray, etc. Look at the lens in reflected light while cleaning to see smudges or dirt. Use an air bulb with soft brush found in all lens cleaning kits to get small speck of dirt off without cleaning. Use only an optical lens cleaning cloth dampened with lens cleaning fluid to protect the AR coating when cleaning more serious smudges. Dry off all fluid quickly with the cloth to prevent fluid spots on the lens. When out in the field, used the hood that comes with the lens.
Travel with the lens:
I have a small table pod (the Sima ST-10) so I can stand the lens upright on its tripod mount. Cover with hood when you can to keep dust and moisture off. The Velbon table pod (more expensive and with wide 'deck' not needed for Parashot) does the same thing. Both double as hand hold for taking pictures if you don't want to use a tripod or a monopod. Some organizations charge a fee if you want to setup a tripod for photos. Leave the step up ring screwed onto the bottom of the parashot to help protect the bottom as it comes with no dust cap.
Make Your own travel case:
The cardboard box it came in is bulky and ugly. Save the foam packing material inside the box. Right now I'm trimming this and I picked up an 'Akron-Mills' plastic lockable tool box ($8) with removable tray which I plan to use as the new transport box after trimming the foam to fit. I'll let you know if this works OK. I'd prefer a different kind of foam: soft-cel foam tho, so I may trim some of this from computer cartons to shape for final version.
Field work stowage:
While on my most recent shoot I used a small Case Logic camcorder bag (the one with just a large front pocket and main compartment.. one of the velcro moveable inserts has a U shaped slot and I moved this to support the lens stem while resting it sideways. It has lots of soft foam. This worked well but as it was the smaller case I had to remove the tripod mount. The larger case with end pockets would fit the lens with the tripod mount on.
The Parashot Tripod Mount:
The tripod mount: when I got it, was slightly loose. Keep a 9/16 hex key (from an auto or tool store) handy to tighten or undo the machine screw on the tripod mount. This does not hurt lens to remove it. Bigger hex wrenches allow you do undo the bottom tripod threaded piece in case you want to mount a camera that is blocked by the bottom tripod mount bar. It can be reversed and placed sticking outwards instead of inwards with the same screws retightened.
Dust Caps:
I'm still looking for a plastic lens cap to go over the parashot bottom 46mm male threads just to keep dust out. Telephoto lenses come with these, why doesn't Cyclovision send one with the Parashot? I like to complain, I'm sure they'll hear about this from me. A cover for top of lens would be nice too. [yes, I would like my breakfast in bed] (Hey, if you're not at least slightly disgruntled, the world changes you to conform instead of you changing the world)
Step-Up Rings:
Camera stores sell Tiffen 'step up rings' from 37mm to 46mm Parashot male threads. many popular cameras including many Sony models use 37mm threads, so just about any 37mm threaded digital camera could be physically attached to the parashot.
d-store.com also sells a 28mm-37mm step up ring from Japan (new product) for $9.95. These can be combined to form a 28mm-46mm step up ring. (I have tried this) and it is a replacement for the stepup ring sold by cyclovision as a one piece unit. You could be creative and insert 37mm filters between these for outdoors shooting or other uses. This is handy since 28mm filters for the Nikon 950 seem to be almost non-existant and I have a bunch of 37mm filters.
Pickup nikon accessories, telephoto lenses, lens leashes, 37mm caps, t-barrel step up rings (connect your nikon to spotting scopes) at ckcpower.com. They're polite, reasonable and ship most stuff right away via inexpensive priority mail.
Using non-supported cameras with the parashot:
due to a backorder delay at globe-mart on the step-up ring, I first tried the parashot with my Sony PC-10 digicam, with a Tiffen 37-46mm step up ring. To attach some camerase you have to remove the tripod mount or place the mount bar backwords as described above. While LOW resolution only (640x480 millions of colors) it can take stills or do VIDEO!. Cyclovision says they have software to view video streams produced by the lens. It is probably just like the still viewer but would let you select any of 360o portion while video is running.
Licensing of enduser viewing software (downloaded java applet):
anything in the directory that the 'viewer' generates with the finished .htm file can be given to the customer of yours, and the .htm file modifled to whatever you want as long as you leave in their logo while loading.
Licensing the viewer (development) software:
The 'viewer' (which creates the final rollout photo for end user viewing) is another matter. For purchasers of the parashot, to be legal it appears you need to 'develop' the pictures in the parashot viewer for the customer and then give them the finished picture and html. You or they can of course modify the .html code, just not remove their logo on the display as the picture loads.
Alternatively the customer's web master might be able to do the same thing in 'Live Picture' which they can purchase.
Problems with the Nikon Coolpix 950:
The Nikon coolpix 950, which has some rave reviews on the web (and a few bad ones under yahoo reviews) took the pix OK but has some problems. (after reading the below problems note that it still may be the best camera to use with the parashot)
1. battery power (even NiMH batteries don't last very long); my Sony
digicam batteries last 3 to 12 hours EACH.
2. zoom setting changes when powered off
3. hard to get batteries out some times (I brought along a needle nose
pliers for this)
4. edge fringing of high contrast areas (a known nikon 950 problem)::
in some pix where there were dark areas, there were mysterious 'blue ghosts',
documented in the dpreview article on the
Nikon 950 caused by high contrast edges in photo.
5. slow transfer to PC: simple to solve, get a $35 sans-disk USB CF card
reader from Buy.com
6. nikon coolpix problems unrelated to use with the Parashot:
a) macro focus sucks. I guess I've been spoiled rotten by Sony
cameras that can usually focus automatically even at 1" unless there is a huge
difference in positions of objects within field, and then the manual focus can usually
resolve to object you want. You CAN focus close up but not automatically. This
means wasted time taking shots, time is my most precious commodity nowadays.
b) lack of storage: my Sony DV cam stores 500 lo res 640x480 true color
jpegs or ONE HOUR of digital video (a gigabyte or more) on ONE tape ($10). In 'fine'
setting at 1600x1200 the nikon stores approx 48 pix on a 48meg card. ($110 at
buy.com). At $10 I can buy 10 spare tapes. Not with CF. And the larges
you can buy type I is 128megs as of now.
c) lack of zoom: again most of the sony digital cameras have at least 5x
optical zoom, my OLD Sony mavica 7 has 10x and my Sony mini-DV video cam, not much bigger
than the nikon has 12x zoom plus a battery that lasts 3 hours with it on all the time
taking pictures and zooming in/out. Sure you can get addons that increase the zoom
for the nikon (see ckcpower.com) but so can I for my Sony. Their new digital
video cams do 22x optical (300x digital) and has standard 37mm threads for tele/ macro
lenses, filters.
Nikon Coolpix 950 Battery Use Problems:
1. It uses alot of them. I'd read the reviews saying 'Buy NiMH' rechargeable batteries. I bought 3 sets, two of which were fully charged. During my shoot I took 106 panoramas, and in the process used up ALL THREE SETS and had to buy 4 AA's at the zoo. Needless to say I've now aquired 5 sets total and an extra charger. (Fry's electronics sells these cheap at $7.99 for a pair of AAs).
2. Ease of replacement. You have to sit down to replace the batteries. On my Sony digicam the batteries snap on so can be done with one hand without disassembling your gear. get a quick release for your tripod, you can leave the Parashot attached while replacing the batteries but you'll need to sit down on a bench, lie the lens/cam assembly flat and rotate the battery compartment up to open it.
3. it loses settings on power off: The camera can be programmed to stay on for 30 minutes but it eats batteries doing this. I'm used to keeping my Sony cameras on and ready to shoot in my pocket. the Lithium Ion -Vanadium batteries (expensive) last 5 to 12 hours. (one np- 950 battery lasts 6 hours with a video light on all the time. Practically nuclear powered. I've done all day shoots that bear this out).
I think someone has a battery pack you can strap to your belt to power the Nikon, that plugs into the 6.5v power port.
Nikon Coolpix 950 Autoshutoff Irritation:
About the power shutoff: to compose a parashot picture with the Nikon, Cyclovsion recommends the edge of the mirror be at the edge of the picture in the viewfinder. Problem is turning off the Nikon sets it back to Wide zoom. Most irritating is that when you turn it back on it temporarily is at the last zoom you had it at, so it DOES remember this, they just override it. Hopefully a firmware upgrade or a setting on the next version of the camera will let you keep current zoom. Doing parashots you will not need to change the zoom all day. It DOES remember the manual focus on M-Rec (1.5m) settings Cyclovision recommends. And the automatics for outdoors use usually put the Fstop in the recommended range once you setup to shoot.
Quick setup in the field:
You probably don't want to transport your rig assembled (out). Also visiting a tourist spot you may want to leave it in your case till you get to your first shooting spot to avoid dumb questions by gate personnel. Set down on a bench near your 1st shot and bolt on the tripod mount if you removed it. Screw on the quick release for your tripod or monopod (or screw in your table pod) to the tripod mount Unscrew the 28-46mm step up ring from the parashot. Screw the 46-28mm or other adapter onto your camera. If you didn't read your manual, note there is a slip ring on the cyclovision, so you don't have to remove the tripod brace to screw on the camera. But the 46mm threads are more substantial so thats why these will be the joining step. You have to loosen the bottom ring slightly to turn the slip ring. Screw it onto the step up ring+camera by turning this and the slip ring. Then tighten up the bottom ring while holding the slip ring still when the camera is in place so it won't rotate easily. be sure to tighten all your tripod/monopod screws so you can hold the whole assembly by the monopod when carrying it.
Quick Shooting in the field:
I brought a monopod. Since you only need one shot if composed correctly, to work fast you need quick setup. Loosen two leg joints & extend, snap your picture, shorten up the monopod again and be on your way. Choose a monpod with quick release so you can easily replace batteries in the field, etc. Mine has a bubble level under the qr head but I rarely used it. It is pretty easy to level it by looking in the viewfinder. . Zoom in/out till edge of mirror just within the LCD. Scrunch down low below the camera, swivel the LCD almost straight down to view and you'll reduce the center portion you have to eliminate in the final picture to a very small amount. If you are going to go a way till next shot, put the included hood over lens before you continue on to next location.
Sunlight washout of the nikon: a fix
LCD: it is HARD to see outdoors, as are most LCDs on cameras. the Hoodman (H-180) product is a nylon sun hood that velcros or elastic straps onto the camera. I had no problem taking shots with this in place. Be sure not to cover any of the viewscreen edges with the hoodman or you'll get a picture too small to show detail (about $20 from d-store.com and others).
Lost cp 950 lens cap: you can find them cheaply
Lost the lens cap for the nikon? This happens easily. Tie a thread to it and tie the thread to your camera strap or get a 'lens leash' and loop it around the nikons strap. I found 5 web sites devoted to making your own replacement lens caps out of film caps. Get the real nikon replacement from d-store.com for $2.25 but you'll need to order other stuff such as the lcd hood and 28-37mm adapter so you're not paying $10 shipping just for the lens cap.
I hate to admit it but I lost my lens cap 5 minutes after opening the nikon box in a park - no lens leash is included. The landscapers had conveniently aerated the lawn, spreading 'lawn poopies', plugs of brown earth the approximate size and color of the cap I dropped. I never found it. Even local stores that sell the nikon 950 don't carry the lens cap.
Step up rings: allow you to use 37mm lenses (for non-parshot use of coolpix)
You can put a 37mm cap on a 28-37mm step up ring but it won't fit back in your stock nikon case with this on. I'd keep a few of these handy anyway. You can use them to protect 37mm tiffen filters when removed from the camera without their case.
For indoors work in poorly lit areas you may need to use a tripod for longer exposures needed to avoid picture too dark.
First light on the Parashot:
First light on my cameras/lens combo I took at the San Diego Zoo. This was an all day shoot, and I took 106 panoramas.
Wow, did I say 106 shots? In spite of all my griping above I really had no major problems except for dead batteries. I was able to crank out panoramas quickly as I could walk to a location. On one shot only did I forget to zoom to the edge of the mirror before shooting. I started at 9:30am, and finished up at 2pm when my 48 + 8 megs of memory were all filled up. batteries would have run out after a few more shots anyway. To save time bs'ing with curious onlookers, just mumble 'cyclovision.com' and they'll leave you alone. Out of thousands of tourists on location who ignored me, and hundreds who noticed my unusual device, only 5 people actually asked me what it was, and 3 had guessed anyway that it was panoramic lens. Others must have thought I was from the future, beaming down to scan the vicinity.
All these pix filled up a 48 meg card and the 8 meg card the camera came with. This was at 1600x1200 resolution suggested by Cyclovision, but at 'Fine' setting instead of 'Hi'. Fine setting does 4x jpeg compression, 'Hi' is uncompressed and due to a bad choice of encoding by Nikon takes up 8megs/picture. They could have got this to 2 megs uncompressed by saving in a raw format according to the article in dpreview.com on the nikon 950. This left me with 48 pictures to take on the 48 meg card. Halfway thru, I changed resolution down to 'Normal' which means still 1600x1200 but 16x compression. This allowd me to bump up the #pix I took.
Picture results
Because of the lack of detail, pictures look different when produced than from when you are standing at picture location. While this is more the realm of art, you will see yourself when you take some shots. The closer features are the more interesting in the finished picture as you can see them better. Also regular structures in the field of vision look good (such as looking out from a covered porch. . Areas with manmade structures with fine lines produce moire patterns sometimes in the finished picture. Natural objects like trees do not due to randomness of edges.
Resulting picture quality:
Frankly I did not like alot of the pictures for content reasons. I took alot of pix but I had no idea how they would come out. About 20 or so I liked very much and will probably publish these. Actually if I think about what the easy panoramas enable I may like even more some pictures that did not seem to show enuf detail: Since the panorama allows clickable 'hot spots' just the idea of being able to show more detail by clicking on a 'hot spot' makes lower detail pictures very useful, and not so bad after all. Since I was mapping out the zoo, to test my idea of a 'virtual tour' some not so interesting pictures will have a place as 'waypoints' just like you were walking from one part of the zoo to another. They will be like 'transit hubs', not always pretty but they get you to where you want to go and you don't stay there long.
The Virtual Tour
I think of the zoo as the animals but there are alot of support buildings, restaurants, restrooms, etc. in key spots that people kind of tend to ignore as they walk by them to get to the animals exhibits. And they probably still will in the virtual tours. . My goal, tho probably far fetched is that someone could take the 'virtual tour' then come visit a large place and know their way around without a map. They might even have kiosks inside the sites, sort of 'you are here' and how to get to other parts.
Dealers who sell the Parashot:
You can obtain the parashot lens itself from several other vendors besides from
cyclovision the manufacturer
You get no discount from cyclovision for the usual reason they don't want to undercut
their dealers. I saved $140 by ordering from globe-mart. You may want to get
the stepup ring from cyclovision tho. They'll always have it in stock.
These dealers have web pages listing the parashot for sale:
globe-mart.com (found via 'mysimon.com' search for parashot)
digitalpolestar.com (found via web search)
and digital solutions camera in miami (found via websearch)
My gripes with Cyclovision:
their web site should mention that you can put clickable links in pictures. I had
to call their help line before buying it to see if it did this.
They didn't respond to my email at all in 5 days. . I ended up calling with my
question (see above).
Their recent price increase: %#@#*)!
Cyclovision should: