What is the NODAL POINT?

Simply put, the nodal point is the point inside your camera where the light rays cross and flip over. It is not an obvious spot, you have to test for it by doing a couple of easy checks! You want the camera’s rotation point and the nodal point to line up!

What happens if I don't find the nodal point? Parallax!!

Parallax is the apparent shifting of foreground objects relative to background objects when you change your point of view position.

When shooting a panorama it’s necessary to rotate about the nodal point to eliminate the image mismatch (that you will find when stitching the images) caused by parallax error.

Parallax error is caused by not rotating the camera on the nodal point! It will ruin your QTVR panorama!

Parallax error can be easily demonstrated by this simple experiment. Close one eye and hold your index finger upright about six inches away from your open eye. Rock your head from side to side. Notice how your finger moves with respect to the background.

If you open one eye, then the other, the finger will also appear to jump relative to the background. It is this side-to-side motion that we will try to prevent when setting up a camera for QTVR panoramas. This relative movement is due to the fact that you’re not rotating your head around your eye’s nodal point, which is somewhere in the center of your eyeball. Instead, you’re rotating about your spine which is several inches to the rear and off to one side.

What about Exposure Settings?