I'm interested in buying a panorama lens for my Nikon D3100 camera. Any suggestions?
I have the 18-55mm lens and the 55-200mm lens. I have no idea what brand or kind to get. I looked on amazon and there were so many different types, I was overwhelmed!
Actually what you're wanting is called an ultra wide angle lens like the Nikon AF-S 10-24mm f3.5-4.5G ED or the Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM.
The Sigma is much less expensive than the Nikon and looks pretty darned good from the reviews I've seen. In my opinion it will suit your needs. You can buy it here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...EX_DC.html
Why not just put your camera on a tripod, set your lens to 18mm and take a series of overlapping images?
Panoramas are wide angle shots. You can do it using your 18-55mm lens set to widest. Take the shot then crop the top and bottom of the picture in the computer before printing it out.
If you want wider angle shots, look for lenses that have a shorter focal length than 18mm. I caution you not to go down too low. Starting at 11mm, distortion will be very pronounced producing a fish-eye effect which is not what you want with panoramas.
http://keerok-photography.blogspot.com/2011/05/lenses-so-many-of-them-there-is-no-best.html
It is most preferable to get from Nikon for best compatibility with your camera although Tokina has very good glass while Zeiss is better than the original.
Photoshop Elements can stitch a series of pictures into a panorama. If you are using the 18-55mm use a focal length longer than 24mm.
Here is why:
http://www.photozone.de/...vr?start=1
At 18mm there's noticeable barrel distortion. There's still some at 24mm. The less distortion, the better the stitching.
Use manual exposure and a white balance pre-set. You want to keep these uniform in the shots you are stitching.