A Panorama with the Platyball

Images and text by Bob Coates

This is my first field use of the Platyball. Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Being able to set the camera in place and lock it with NO "lens creep" whatsoever with a few finger pulls is a treat. With my other ball heads, that tiny little shift after setting drove me crazy and sucked up quite a bit of time.

Having the rotation on the top vs bottom makes gathering level panorama captures a breeze. Note: use a longer Arca-Swiss lens plate to place your lens over the light entry point for the best rotation point. You will get cleaner blends. The built-in level of Platypod Elite helps with processing panos as well.

The Setup with Platyball:

The below image is the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in Northern Arizona. It’s an eight image vertical pano, which was then cropped. I used an L-Bracket to mount the camera in the vertical orientation.

The Final Image

Check out more of Bob's work at: successful.com or http://coatesart.net