Shot Calculator
Enter your gear and desired coverage to plan your panorama
Essential Gear for Panorama
Wide-angle zoom
Most landscape compositions live at 16–35mm.
See mount picksCircular polarizer
A CPL is the one filter that still cannot be faked in post: it cuts glare on water and leaves, and deepens a blue sky at 90° to the sun.
View on AmazonTravel tripod
Blue hour, fog, and any shutter slower than 1/15s need a locked-down camera.
View on AmazonScenario Guide
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Panorama Shooting Checklist
Essential settings and technique reminders for clean stitches
Manual Exposure
Lock aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Exposure changes between frames cause visible seams. Meter for the brightest part of the scene.
Manual Focus
Autofocus may shift between frames. Focus once (typically at hyperfocal distance), then switch to manual.
Lock White Balance
Set a specific Kelvin value or preset — not Auto WB. Auto may shift between frames, making color matching difficult.
Shoot RAW
RAW files give maximum flexibility for exposure and white balance correction before stitching.
Level Your Tripod
A level base prevents the horizon from curving. Use a bubble level or the camera's electronic level.
Overlap Generously
30–40% overlap gives stitching software the best match points. More overlap in complex scenes (trees, water).
Shoot Portrait Orientation
Holding the camera vertically gives a taller final image and requires more shots for the same width — resulting in higher resolution.
Nodal Point (No-Parallax)
For scenes with close foreground, rotate around the lens's no-parallax point to avoid parallax errors. Less critical for distant landscapes.