The Olympus C3030 apparently has a "panorama" feature that allows you to combine separate shots together in a panorama via guides on the LCD (the feature only works with Olympus brand memory cards.) The author of a review on this camera implied that the implementation was better on some other cameras. So here are the questions:

1. What are the other cameras that have this feature and what is their implementation (eg. semi-transparent copy of previous picture for alignment?) 2. Any high-end prosumer cameras with this feature or similar. By this I mean on the order of Nikon 990, Olympus 3030, etc.

Any further information on doing true panoramas and/or in-camera image stitching would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-- Joel Wolfson (bs@wolfsonphotos.com), June 25, 2000

Answers

The Casio QV3000 has this feature. Between the camera and a PC program (Panorama Editor 1.0E), I am able to create very nice panoramas. The camera helps by keeping the right edge of the previous shot when in panorama mode. The software then uses the overlaps to create tne final photograph. The software also allows one to manipulate the images to get better seams.

HTH

-- Tony (vbwriter@hotmail.com), June 26, 2000.

Note: I have an Olympus 2000Z, so all comments apply to *that* camera.

The C2000Z does, indeed, have guide bars to facilitate lining up of adjacent photos. One can dictate the *direction* (that is left-to- right, right-to-left, up and down directions that the photos are taken and (on the C2000Z at least) you can take up to ten photos in this way. The C2000Z does *not* allow you to "mosiac" them. That is, you can't make a (say) three-by-three panorama - straight lines are all you get.

This stitching is *not* done by the camera - it's done by the Camedia software on the computer. Hence, you could, as I did, go surfin' and find some *other* software to do. (The .JPGs tagged as "panorama" photos appear normal in every other way.)

This feature does, indeed, depend on having Olympus brand SmartMedia cards. Hence, with *my* camera, I have to swap from the (alien) 32MB card to the Olympus one to take panoramas. (Olympus "optional" extras are *very* expensice and over-priced in the UK, at least. Olympus thought that batteries, charger and power supply cord should be "optional" extras in the UK... Hence, I only bought the PSU from them and went elsewhere for *everything* else.) I *can* take photos on a non-Olympus card and stitch 'em together *but* the guide bars don't help me to line things up cos they only appear when using the Olympus cards.

I like the idea of using a transparent copy of the previous photo to line things up. I wonder whether some cameras actually *do* this?

By the way, the Camedia software allows fully automated stitching and, if one is careful to get the photos lined up correectly when you take 'em, the results are *very* good.

-- Mark Steven Davis (chaos@glod.net), June 29, 2000.