panorama stitching programme-which is best ?
 

Following my earlier question (dedicated panorama camera) and looking at some of the excellent landscape shots on here-can anyone advise on a programme for stitching shots on the computer?
Priorities are:-
Ease of use (me being a technophobe):confused:
Success
cost (although I have no idea of cost)

I have trawled through all the old threads on here and spent a couple of hours surfing but no success.

Out of interest-I know someone who purchased a phone with decent camera-it has a stitching tool built in AND IT WORKS!

I use panorama factory www.panoramafactory.com I've been using it for years, don't know how well it compares cost or performance wise with the competition. It gets upgraded on a regular basis, so presume it's on a par with others. It is undoubtedly very, very easy to use. Can be used to produce ultra wide images or even QuickTime Virtual Reality movies. Open this file with QuickTime (which you may already have integrated into your browser):
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/duncan....use%20Wood.mov
Move around with mouse+left button, zoom in and out with shift and ctrl
This sort of subject is about as difficult as it gets for panorama programs to stitch without seeing the joints.

P.S. I should perhaps add that if you're stitching a large number of dSLR files together, whichever program you use, it will take a while on anything but a high end PC.

Not up on the programmes but do not forget that it is best to have a good solid tripod which is level, overlap each shot by about a quarter or third with the next one and remember to set focus and exposure settings manually so you can keep them the same for each shot for continuation. Same with white balance, set it manually on sun or cloud or whatever but not auto. If you are really keen it is best to have a specialist tripod head for panoramas which allows the camera to swing through the nodal point. Try panorama first though and only bother with the specialist head if you become hooked.

some ideas here

http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=2574

All you need is to Google or Yahoo a few rightly chosen keywords.
An eg here:

LINK

Many are either free download or give you a One Month free trial.

But again as I sail before, it is a lot easier if you try a good brand camera that provides a dedicated Panorama mode and also software for free. My suggestion among the older excellent point and shoots is: Canon A95 or may be S2 or S3 that you should be able to find on ebay for dirt cheap price.

David just be patient to see this video clips and you will never feel that way again.
LINK
Have fun.

Thanks again-
What time is Linda coming around?:D (you have to watch the link;))

Mmm, Linda is kinda cute. Beat a tripod any day.

I use Canon's PhotoStitch which comes free with any Canon Camera. Might not be the most sophisticated but it is easy to use and works perfectly - I have never noticed a join in any shot I have stitched.