®
QuickPan
PanoramicTripod Head
User’s Guide -V1.4 - Feb 2007
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The QuickPan Family
Introducing the QuickPan Components
Rotator Base (QuickPan )
Standard Camera Bracket
This heavy-duty design is lighter and more com-
pact than previous models and the competition.
The QuickPan bases employ interchangeable
indexing ClickDiscs or rings that support various
click-stop positions. These can be easily swapped
at any time and contribute to the light weight.
The indexing mechanism requires no lubrication
or adjustments and has no loose parts.The base
contains an integral circular bubble level and ac-
commodates either 1/4” or 3/8” tripod threads.
The latest QuickPan IV Rotator Base (Aug 04)
will also accept older Kaidan camera brackets
(i.e. KiWi+, QuickPan).
The Standard Camera Bracket is designed
to support most digital and film cameras in a
portrait orientation. Used primarily to shoot
single-row cylindrical panoramas it is adjusted
along the horizontal arm to locate the camera
positioning aids, provide the fore-aft adjustment
of the camera's nodal point, over the rotational
center of the tripod head. Earlier models used
high-strength composite material (inset).A Quick
Release Plate is optional.
Twin-Axis Adapter
Spherical Camera Bracket
fisheye lenses, or will appeal to those users who de-
sire two independent axes of adjustment. It can be
so as not to capture any more of the Rotator Base
than necessary. When a camera equipped with a
circular fisheye lens is installed on the bracket, only
ideal for those using iPIX software, Panoweaver and
other software applications that use circular fisheye
images. Both camera brackets support optional
The Spherical Camera Bracket is designed to
support most digital and film cameras and to
permit the angular up/down elevation for the
capture of multirow spherical and QuickTime®
VR Cubic panoramas.This bracket is ideal for
those software applications that stitch multiple
rows of images, including up/down "cap" shots
such as REALVIZ Stitcher.The Spherical Camera
Bracket can also be positioned at a level zero
degrees, thus fulfilling the same functions as the
Spherical Camera Bracket for shooting single-
row cylinders as well. An optional Arca-Quick
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QuickPan Rotator Base
How to install and remove the indexing discs and adjusting the indexing force
Installing Detent Discs
4) The new Detent Disc is
installed by pushing it into
the recessed area in the top
of the Rotator Hub as shown
at left.
1) To install or change the
Detent Discs simply loosen
the silver thumbscrew on
the side of the black Rotator
Silver
5) Replace the Horizontal
Bracket Assembly into the
Rotator Hub. Push the as-
sembly down into the hub
to fully engage and collapse
the plunger, then tighten the
thumbscrew.
Hub by turning it in a counter
Thumbscrew
clockwise direction. Do not
remove the screw, just turn
several times.You do not need
to remove the head from the
tripod.
2) Once the thumbscrew is
loosened, pull the Horizontal
Bracket Assembly upward out
of the Rotator Hub.You may
need to wiggle it a bit as you
lift it out of the hub.
Adjusting the Force
of the Spring Plunger
The screw, shown at left, can
be used to position the spring
plunger up and down.You can
use a screwdriver (or a thin
coin) to adjust the indexing
or click-stop force.The spring
plunger is set from the factory,
but you may find that you pre-
fer a harder click-stop action.
3) Once the Horizontal
Bracket Assembly is removed,
the Detent Disc can be
changed by grabbing the
protruding tab on the detent
ring and pulling it up out of
Be sure to not overtighten
the plunger so that the metal
body of the plunger would
come in contact with the
indexing ring.Also be sure
that the plunger is not set
deep enough as this will cause
excessive play in the indexing
action.
ball plunger that is different from the plastic nosed
the Rotator Housing.
plunger on the QuickPan III. Be sure to use only the
stainless steel ball plungers (available from Kaidan) on
the QuickPan IV rotators.
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QuickPan Rotator Base
Tripod threaded bushing adapter
Mounting camera bracket
The QuickPan III / IV Rotator Bases comes
with a tripod adapter bushing which ac-
commodates both 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch
tripod mounts.
To mount your camera bracket
onto the rotator loosen the clamp
lever at the bottom of the camera
bracket.To loosen the clamp lever
grab the lever and turn coun-
terclockwise.The clamp lever is
turned clockwise to tighten and
counterclockwise to loosen.The
lever part of the clamp lever is
spring-loaded and can be reposi-
tioned by pulling outwards against
spring pressure and moved clock-
wise or counterclockwise. Next
position the end of the horizontal
bracket of the rotator and slide it
into the slot at the bottom of the
camera bracket.
1/4 inchTripod
If your tripod has a 1/4 inch threaded
mount, leave the brass bushing in the
center hole in the bottom of the rotator as
shown at right.
3/8 inchTripod
Note:There are various images
throughout this manual showing
the mounting configurations of the
cmarea brackets on the rotator.
If your tripod has 3/8 inch threaded mount,
remove the brass bushing by unscrewing it
in a counterclockwise direction and screw-
ing it into the adjacent hole in a clockwise
direction using a coin (or large screwdriver)
as shown at right.
Use the spare outer hole to store the brass
bushing when you're using the 3/8 inch thread.
That way, you won't lose the bushing!
slot
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Standard Camera Bracket - Camera Mounting
Mounting your camera on the Standard Camera Bracket
To mount your camera, first select
The left-right adjustment to center
the appropriate slot in theVertical
locate the tripod mounting thread
on your camera.You may need to
reposition the Captive Camera
Knob.To remove the knob simply
slide it along the slot to the end
fully unscrew the knob out of the
threaded hole, being careful not to
crossthread the knob. Replace the
knob into the appropriate slot by
reversing the procedure.
your lens over the pivot point is
accomplished by loosening the
clamp lever and sliding the bracket.
Be sure to tighten the clamp lever
to lock the bracket in place. Note:
To loosen the clamp lever grab
tighten and counterclockwise to
loosen.The lever part of the clamp
lever is spring-loaded and can be
repositioned by pulling outwards
against spring pressure and moved
Note: Always keep the offset
portion of theVertical Bracket
The fore-aft adjustment is made
by loosening the camera knob
and sliding the camera along the
slot.There are camera adjustment
shoes and lugs to locate your
camera on the bracket and to help
position the camera along the slot.
easy to remove and replace your
camera when you use it for other
Standard Camera Bracket
on the QuickPan Rotator
Next, install the knob into the ap-
propriate slot then into the tripod
mounting hole of your camera.
until it bottoms out, then turn the
tight on theVertical Bracket. Don’t
worry about getting the camera
level at this time, as this is a task
you’ll need to do when you’re
ready to shoot.
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Spherical Camera Bracket - Camera Mounting
Mounting your camera on the Spherical Bracket
The Spherical Camera Mounting
Bracket has a rotating swing arm
which is held into position by large
black locking knob. The knob allows
you to position the arm and your
camera from plus 90 degrees to minus
90 degrees .
that are provided for you to help
locate and position the camera.These
are also helpful when you want to
remove and replace the camera and
return it to the proper location.
An optional camera mount is also
available with a quick-release mount. In
this case you would attach the a plate
(Arca-Swiss) to your camera and this
plate would then dovetail into a mating
plate on the optional camera mount.
Mounted on the swing arm is an
adjustable camera mount.This mount
can be adjusted along the length
of the swing arm by loosening and
tightening the clamp lever. Note:The
clamp lever can be repositioned by
pulling out on the lever to disengage
it.To remove the camera mount,
simply loosen the knob and slide the
mount off of the swing arm.
Adjusting the camera position for the
nodal point is made by loosening the
appropriate locking knobs and sliding
either the camera mount plate along
the swing arm, or sliding the entire
assemblage along the arm of the
Rotator Base. Be sure to tighten the
knobs when you’re done positioning
the camera.
Spherical with Universal
The universal camera mount (shown)
has a number of slots for you to
choose from to mount your cam-
era. It’s important to make sure that
the centerline of your camera’s lens
intersects the pivot axis of the swing
arm. Since some cameras have tripod
mounting threads that are not inline
with the center of the camera, it may
be necessary to use one of the vari-
ous slots on the bracket.
Note:To loosen the clamp lever
grab the lever and turn clockwise
to tighten and counterclockwise to
loosen.The lever part of the clamp
lever is spring-loaded and can be
repositioned by pulling outwards
against the spring pressure and
There are camera mounting shoes
(flat shaped) and lugs (triangle shaped)
Spherical with Quick Release
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Camera Mounting - Standard Camera Bracket
Mounting your camera on the camera brackets
For the Standard Camera Bracket,
shown at right, select the appropriate
slot in the bracket that will best locate
the tripod mounting thread on your
particular camera.You may need to re-
position the camera knob to another
slot in order to achieve this.To re-
move the knob simply slide the knob
along the slot to the end that has the
threaded hole. Carefully unscrew the
knob out of the threaded hole, being
careful not to crossthread the knob.
Replace the knob into the appropriate
slot by reversing the procedure.
The fore-aft adjustment is made by
loosening the solver knob on the
slider and then moving the entire as-
sembly along the arm of the Rotator
Base.
There are camera adjustment shoes
and lugs (shown at left) to help locate
your camera on the bracket and to
help position the camera along the
slot.These devices will also make it
easy to remove and replace your cam-
era when you use it for other tasks.
Note:You can also mount the optional
Quick Release Plate onto the Standard
Camera Bracket.
Install the knob into the appropriate
slot then into the tripod mounting
hole of your camera. Don’t worry
about getting the camera level at this
time, as this is a task you’ll need to do
when you’re ready to shoot.
Note:To loosen the clamp lever
grab the lever and turn clockwise
to tighten and counterclockwise to
loosen.The lever part of the clamp
lever is spring-loaded and can be
repositioned by pulling outwards
against the spring pressure and
The left-right adjustment to center
your lens over the pivot point is ac-
complished by loosening the clamp
lever and sliding the camera bracket
in and out of the slider. Be sure to
tighten the clamp lever to lock the
bracket in place.
QuickPan Rotator with Standard Camera Bracket
and optionalTwin-Axis Adapter.
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Nodal Point
What is it and how do I find it?
This is one of the most frequently
asked questions when it comes to
stitcher-based panorama creation.
Once you understand the basics,
you’ll be able to easily locate the
nodal point for any camera and
lens combination.
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.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. It is this relative
side-to-side motion that we will
strive to eliminate when setting up
Simply put, the nodal point is the
point inside your camera where
the light rays converge and flip
over.When shooting a panorama
it’s necessary to rotate about
this point to eliminate the image
mismatch caused by parallax error.
a camera forVR panoramas.
It’s also worth noting that the
nodal point is not the same as
the film plane, which is often
Parallax error can be easily demonstrated.It’s the relative move-
ment caused by a shifting point of view.In this example,you eye
Step 1:The side-to-side adjustment
marked on the underneath side of is moving with respect to your hand and the background.
many 35mm cameras. Generally,
for most 35mm cameras and
lenses, the nodal point is located
somewhere towards the center of
Once your camera is fastened to
your camera bracket, move to the
front of the tripod head so you’re
looking into the lens.Adjust the
camera bracket so that the center
of the lens is directly over the
pivot axis of the tripod head.Try
to be as accurate as possible.You
should strive to get this adjust-
ment within plus/minus a 1/16th of
an inch.
the lens barrel.
Parallax error can be easily
demonstrated by this simple
experiment. Close one eye and
hold your index finger upright
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Nodal Point (continued)
Step 2: Fore-Aft Adjustment
move with respect to each other
as you rotate the pan from left to
right. Slide the camera to the front
or rear as required to eliminate
This step is most easily
accomplished out of doors. Find
a vertical edge or line, such as a
doorway or edge of a building.
Position your camera and tripod
about 2-1/2 feet away, or as close
as possible with the edge still in
this relative movement.
Step 3: RecordYour Results
After you’ve discovered the two
location dimensions, be sure to
record the settings.The QuickPan
III has convenient indicator
scales for this purpose.These
numbers represent the nodal
point for this given camera and
lens combination. If you change
cameras or lenses, this procedure
may have to be repeated
focus when you look through
the viewfinder. If you’re using
a multirow head such as the
QuickPan III Spherical, set the
swing arm to a level horizontal
position (zero degrees).
Looking through the viewfinder align a close object (brick wall)
with a faraway object (telephone pole).As you rotate the camera
from side-to-side there should be no relative movement between
the two objects as shown to the right.
Looking through the camera’s
viewfinder, find another vertical
edge or line that is far away, such
as another building or telephone
pole.Align the two objects and
rotate the pan head so they are in
the left hand side of the viewfinder.
Step 5: How About Rangefinder
Cameras?
A rangefinder camera is a
camera where you look through
a separate viewfinder and not
through the actual lens. The
process is basically the same.
Locate the Side-to-Side adjustment
as discussed in Step 1.When it
Rotate the pan head so the two
objects move over to the right
hand side of the viewfinder. Unless
you’ve managed to unwittingly
locate the right position, you
If, as shown above, the two objects move with respect to one
and another in the viewinder, slide the camera fore or aft in
order to eliminate this movement. Here, the telephone pole
has moved behind the brick wall.
should notice the two objects will
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Nodal Point (continued)
What is it and how do I find it?
comes to the Fore-Aft adjustment,
you won’t be able to look through
the viewfinder to determine the
proper setting since the viewfinder
is a separate optical path that
doesn’t really “see” the same image
as the film.
Instead, you’ll have to start with
the bracket all the way to the
front and take pairs of test shots.
Each pair will have the vertically
aligned objects in the left and then
the right side of the viewfinder.
After each pair of photos, slide the
bracket rearward and repeat the
process. Slide the bracket the same
increment each time (i.e. 10mm).
Be sure to record the scale setting
for each pair of images. Process
the film, or in the case of digital
cameras, download the images to
your computer.
At the end of this process you will
be able locate the pair of images
with the least relative movement.
If no single image is optimum, you
may need to interpolate between
two images to find the closest value.
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Shooting Panoramas
How do I begin?
constantly repeats from shot to shot.You
may need to experiment somewhat to
obtain the best results.
aligned with respect to rotation when
viewed from the front (looking into the
lens).
How much Overlap?
The amount you turn the camera for each
shot varies. It is dependent on a number of
factors such as the field of view (the angle)
of your camera and lens, as well as which
program you intend to use. For example,
in their QuickTimeVR Authoring Studio,
Apple recommended that the images
should overlap by anywhere from one-third
to one-half. That’s a good rule of thumb
for most stitching applications.You should
check with the recommendations of the
software that you intend to use in order to
Taking the Photos
This can happen because the camera is not
seated flush against the upright bracket.
This is pretty common since many cameras
have mounting screws that are not in the
center of the base. Many cameras have
screws off to one end of the camera or at
the edge of the camera and this can cause
the camera to not be pulled down evenly
onto the tripod head mounting plate.
When you’re ready to shoot, make sure
that the camera is securely attached to the
QuickPan III.You should use a tripod that is
sturdy, ideally one that has a center support
system of braces to help keep the camera
from flexing.
Proper leveling is important and often
misunderstood.When it comes to leveling
there are two things that are fairly
important.With multirow panoramas
(i.e. Stitcher) the issue of leveling is less
crucial and primarily involves aestethics
and placement of the horizon.We’ll
concentrate primarily on cylindrical or
single-row panoramas.
determine overlap requirements.
Another problem is that CCDs may not
be accurately positioned within the camera
body and respect to the mounting surface.
It only takes a fraction of degree and with
other manufacturing tolerances this can
add up to be noticeable.
How many Shots?
Once you’ve determined the overlap, you’ll
be able to figure out how many shots.
The easiest way to do this is to simply
look through the viewfinder and turn the
camera to achieve the desired amount of
overlap.You then check the angle readout
to see how far you turned the camera.
Round the angular value to the nearest
convenient value. For most stitching
programs, it is generally not that important
to use a precise overlap value. However, it
should be noted that some programs are
more sensitive to an overlap value that
This misalignment can also happen if the
upright bracket is bent or is not exactly
perpendicular to the rotation plane of the
head.At Kaidan we check this dimension
very closely to ensure it's as close to 90° as
reasonbly possible.
First, the camera's optical axis should be
parallel with the rotation plane of the
tripod head. In other words the camera
should not be pointed up or down with
respect to the plane of rotation.
Secondly, it's also somewhat important for
the camera and film/CCD to be properly
The effect of a rotated camera (when
viewed looking into the lens) is a
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Shooting Panoramas (continued)
How do I begin?
stairstepping of images as you progress
around the panorama. Stairstepping has
nothing to do with the state of the entire
head being level with respect to the
horizon.This can be corrected by rotating
all the images a slight amount in your
authoring program.
rotation plane and the camera/CCD is not
rotated, slight variations in level as the head
rotates is generally not a problem.
As you shoot around the circle, try to
avoid capturing any moving objects that
might come into your field of view.There
is no harm in waiting, for example, while
a person walks past before shooting the
photo.
You can also shim the camera/head to
compensate for such misalignment errors
as well.A few layers of tape is usually all
that it takes. Let me also reiterate what's
not as important as some people think.
You may also want to check with the
software developer of the stitching
software that you’re using to get their
recommendations for exposure settings
and other camera settings.
We hope you enjoy shooting your
panoramas and if you have any questions or
problems using our equipment, please let
The overall level of the head/camera is
not as critical in order to produce good
stitched results.As long as the camera is
not tilted or rotated and as long as the
camera is positioned so that the optical
axis is parallel to the rotation plane, you
can tilt or position the entire head so that
it's not level to the horizon and it won't
affect the image.
us know.
Now, it might produce a panorama that is
tilted with respect to the horizon but that
might be an artistic choice or something
you want to do on purpose.
As long as the optical axis is parallel to the
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Warranty and Product Return Information
Copyright © 2007 Kaidan,Inc.All Rights Reserved.First Edition,Feb 20027 QuickPan
is a trademark of Kaidan, Inc. Other products mentioned herein may be trademarks
of their respective companies. Patents Pending.
damages,or limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts,so the above exclusions
or limitations may not apply to you.This warranty and any claims which arise with the
Kaidan product(s) are governed by the laws of the state of Pennsylvania.By purchasing
this product, customer acknowledges and agrees to these Limits and Exclusions. If a
problem with your Kaidan product develops during the warranty period,immediately
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Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent
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