KiWi™-L / Kiwi™+
User’s Guide
Photographic VR
Panoramic Tripod Head
Designed for the professional,
priced for the novice...
Assembling the KiWi™
1
UNPACKING THE BOX
The KiWi-L or the Kiwi + are shipped in a single box and con-
sists of two major components. The components are detailed
below. NOTE: Only the Kiwi+ is shipped with four detent discs
(12,14,18, and 20 positions). Please make sure that all parts
are included. Examine the parts for any signs of shipping dam-
age. In the event of shipping damage, immediately contact
Kaidan to process claims.
If any items are missing or you notice any damage, call Kaidan
at 215-364-1778, between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 PM,
Mon-Fri, EST.
Vertical Bracket
Fore-aft Indicator
Camera Adj. Shoe Knob
Captive Camera Knob
Twin-Axis Bubble Level
Locking Knob
Friction Cap
Side-to-Side Indicator
Horizontal Bracket
Kiwi +
Vertical Bracket
Fore-aft Indicator
Camera Adj. Shoe Knob
Captive Camera Knob
Twin-Axis Bubble Level
Side-to-Side Indicator
Horizontal Bracket
Kiwi-L
Page - 3
Assembling the KiWi ™
ATTACHING THE VERTICAL BRACKET
To assemble the KiWi, simply slide the Vertical Bracket onto the
Horizontal Bracket in the orientation shown in the various im-
ages in this manual. Note: The bottom of the Vertical Bracket
has a clamping mechanism with a spring-loaded nylon ball which
keeps tension on the horizontal bracket while sliding the vertical
bracket back and forth. Before installing the Vertical Bracket
onto the Horizontal Bracket, make sure the Purple Clamping
Knob is turned all the way out in a counterclockwise direction,
which will release the clamping mechanism inside the bottom of
the Vertical Bracket. When attaching the Vertical Bracket to
the Horizontal Bracket, some force will be required initially to
overcome the tension of the spring-loaded ball in the bottom of
the Vertical Bracket.
Purple Clamping Knob
Slide Vertical Bracket
onto Horizontal Bracket
Page - 4
Using the KiWi™
2
ATTACHING YOUR CAMERA
To mount your camera, first select the appropriate slot in the
Vertical Bracket that will best locate the tripod mounting thread
on your camera. You may need to reposition the Captive Camera
Knob in order to achieve this. To remove 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 care-
ful not to crossthread the knob. Replace the knob into the appro-
priate slot by reversing the procedure. Note: Whatever side of
the Vertical Bracket you mount your camera on always keep the
offset portion of the Vertical Bracket towards the rear of the cam-
era.Attach your camera by threading the knob into the threaded
tripod hole of your camera. Note: The camera knob is a two piece
knob, (not shown), with a inner and outer knob. Before installing
the camera knob in the Vertical Bracket, turn the inner knob
clockwise into the outer knob until it won’t turn anymore. Next
install the knob into the appropriate slot then into the tripod
mounting hole of your camera. Turn the inner knob into the cam-
era until it bottoms out, then turn the outer knob clockwise until
the camera is tight on the Vertical 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. Note:If you have a large body
camera that has very long distance from the tripod mounting
surface to the center of the lens, the Vertical Bracket might have
to mounted on the Horizontal the reverse
of how it is shown below with
the camera facing in the other
direction.
Threaded Hole ( 1 of 3 )
Captive Camera Knob
Camera Shoe Adj. Knob
Offset towards rear of camera
Saddle Clamp Locking
Knob
5
Using the KiWi™
REMOVING THE FRICTION CAP
The KiWi+ needs to be disassembled in order to install or change
detent discs. The detent discs come in various settings and pro-
vide the different angular click-stops. (NOTE: See Disc Selec-
tion Chart In Appendix A).
To start, the friction cap must be removed. Loosen the knob
located on the side of the friction cap. It does not have to be
removed from the cap, but just backed out far enough so that
the cap can be unscrewed from the axle. Unscrew the cap. At-
tached to the cap is a rubber washer with a nylon facing.
Page - 6
With the components removed from the top side of the hori-
zontal bracket, the lower hub and axle assembly can be slid
out and removed.
At this point, you’ll be able to install the detent disc into the
recessed area on the bottom.
Page - 7
With the disc removed, you can insert a different disc to change
the angular detent spacing. Kaidan offers a variety of discs,
with detents ranging from 2 to 22 per disk..
When changing discs, be sure the disc is seated properly and is
flush with the top surface of the plate.
With the new disc inserted, you can begin to reassemble the
assembly. Start by reinserting the axle and hub back into the
bearing in the
horizontal plate.
Page - 8
Push the axle through the bearing and plate as shown below.
Reverse the disassembly.
Replace the cap by threading the cap onto the axle as shown
below. Continue to thread the cap so that there is no free play
in any of the pieces and to compress the rubber washer
slightly.
When the friction drag feels adequate, turn the Friction cap
so that the knob is aligned with one of the flats on the axle.
Tighten the knob to lock.
Page - 9
The spring plunger that provides the detent action can also be
adjusted to vary the force of the click action. Use a flat blade
screw driver to move the plunger in and out as desired. A con-
venient way to adjust the plunger is to screw the plunger all
the way in, until it bottoms out. Then unscrew the plunger about
one turn.
Removing the Detent Disc
Once the indexing hub is removed, the detent disc can be re-
moved from its recess in the bottom of the horizontal
bracket.The disc may slip out once the indexing hub is removed.
If it sticks inside the recess, simply insert the tip of a small ball
point pen or a pin into the detent disc ejection hole on top of the
bracket and push the disc out of the detent disc recess.
Page - 10
Using the KiWi™
HOW DO I LOCATE MY NODAL POINT ?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes
to QTVR panorama creation. Once you understand the basics,
you’ll be able to easily locate the nodal point for any camera
and lens combination.
Simply put, the nodal point is the point inside your camera
where the light rays converge and flip over. When shooting a
QTVR panorama It’s necessary to rotate about this point to
eliminate the image mismatch caused by parallax error.
It’s also worth noting that the nodal point is not the same as
the film plane, which is often marked on the underneath side
of many 35mm cameras. Generally, for most 35mm cameras
and lenses, the nodal point is located somewhere towards the
center of the lens barrel.
Parallax error can be easily demonstrated by this simple ex-
periment. 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. 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 a camera for VR
panoramas.
Page - 11
STEP 1: THE
EASY PART -
THE SIDE-TO-
SIDE
ADJUSTMENT
Once your cam-
era is fastened to
your pan head,
move around to
the front of the
unit so you’re
looking into the
lens. The center of
the lens should be
directly over the
pivot axis of the pan head. Adjust the side-to-side adjustment
so the lens is centered over the pivot.
With the KiWi™ you can also measure (in millimeters) the
distance from the camera’s mounting surface to the center of
the lens. Then, slide the bracket until the outside edge of the
bottom aligns with the appropriate number on the scale.
Step 2: The Slightly Harder Part - Fore-Aft Ad-
justment
This step is most easily accomplished out of doors. Find a ver-
tical edge or line, such as a doorway or edge of a building. Posi-
tion your camera and tripod about 2-1/2 feet away, or as close
as possible with the edge still in focus when you look through
the viewfinder.
Looking through the camera’s viewfinder, find another vertical
edge or line that is far away, such as another building or tele-
phone pole. Align the two objects and rotate the pan head so
they are in the left hand side of the viewfinder.
Rotate the pan head so the two objects move over to the right
hand side of the viewfinder. Unless you’ve managed to unwit-
tingly locate the right position, you should notice the two ob-
jects will move with respect to each other as you rotate the pan
from left to right. Slide the camera to the front or rear as re-
quired to eliminate this relative movement.
Page-12
It may help to first locate the camera all the way to the front
or rear and then move it a little bit at a time. This way you’ll
more readily see the parallax effect and notice how it im-
Looking through
the viewfinder
align a close ob-
ject (brick wall)
with a faraway
object (telephone
pole). As you ro-
tate the camera
from side-to-side
there should be
no relative move-
ment between the
two objects as
shown to the
proves as you slide the bracket.
right.
If, as shown to the
right, 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.
STEP 3: LEVEL THE CAMERA
Once you have located the fore-aft position, you now must level
the camera. If your camera has a flash hot shoe, you can use a
bubble level designed to slide into the shoe. You should be able
to get these at a good photographic supply store. Kaidan also
has these levels for sale at competitive prices.
If your camera does not have a hot shoe, then you’ll need to
level the camera another way. If the camera has a flat, level
Page - 13
surface, then you can use a bubble level. You should be able to
locate a small level at a hardware store. If your there are no
level surfaces, then you may have to resort to “eyeballing”.
STEP 4: RECORD YOUR RESULTS
After you’ve discovered the two location dimensions, be sure to
record the settings. The KiWi has convenient indicator scales
for this purpose. These numbers represent the nodal point for
this given camera and lens combination. If you change cam-
eras or lenses, this procedure may have to be repeated.
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 pro-
cess is basically the same. Locate the Side-to-Side adjustment
as discussed in Step 1. When it comes to the Fore-Aft adjust-
ment, you won’t be able to look through the viewfinder to de-
termine 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 verti-
cally aligned objects in the left and then the right side of the
viewfinder. After each pair of photos, slide the bracket rear-
ward and repeat the process. Slide the bracket the same incre-
ment 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 digi-
tal 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.
Page - 14
TAKING PHOTOS WITH THE KIWI™
HOW MUCH OVERLAP?
3
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, Apple recommends that the im-
ages should overlap by anywhere from one-third to one-half.
You should check with the recommendations of the software
that you intend to use in order to determine overlap require-
ments.
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 de-
sired 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 sen-
sitive to an overlap value that constantly repeats from shot to
shot. You may need to experiment somewhat to obtain the best
results.
TAKING THE PHOTOS
When you’re ready to shoot, make sure that the camera and
KiWi™ are securely attached. You should use a tripod that is
sturdy, ideally one that has a center support system of braces
to help keep the camera and KiWi™ from flexing.
Proper leveling is important. We discussed earlier, the process
for leveling the camera in elevation (looking up and down on
the Vertical Bracket), now that you’re ready to shoot, it is im-
portant that the rotation plane of the camera is level as well.
Page - 15
TAKING THE PHOTOS (CONTINUED).
You can use the level on your KiWi™ and observe it while you
level the tripod. Of course, this task is much easier if your tri-
pod also has a tilt head.
Once the tripod and KiWi™ are level, now is the time to double
check to see if the camera is straight up and down. If it needs
to be adjusted, loosen the Captive knob just a slight amount
and tilt the camera accordingly. Be sure not to change the Fore-
Aft dimension. Tighten the Captive knob.
If your using the KiWi-L rotate the camera so that the groove
on the Horizontal Bracket aligns with the zero point on the
circular barrel. Depending on whether the stitching software
that you’re using prefers the having the photos taken in a clock-
wise or counterclockwise sequence, you’ll have to either count
down from 360 degrees or count-up from zero degrees.
NOTE: Starting with KiWi™-L units produced after July 1,
1997, we have added a bonus Label Sheet. This set contains
self-adhesive labels with the popular degree increments. Since
there are no other markings, the labels make it easy to rotate
and stop at the correct position for your particular camera and
lens combination.There is a “List of Lens FOV versus Number
of Shots” chart and a “Degrees of Angle” chart in Appendix A.
As you shoot around the circle, try to avoid capturing any mov-
ing 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 may also want to check with the software developer of the
stitching software that you’re using to get their recommenda-
tions 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 us
know. We would also like to see the results of your work and
would be glad to consider placing your work on our website, or
to put a link to your website as well.
Thank you,
The Kaidan team.
Page - 16
Appendix A
List of Lens FOV versus Number of Shots
Lens
Disc for
Disc for
Disc for
(35 mm 50% overlap of
33% overlap of
images
25% overlap of
images
equiv)
images
14-15
18-20
22-24
27
12
14
16
18
20
10
12
14
16
18
8
10
12
14
16
35
SHOTS
DEGREES OF ANGLE
8
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
45
36
30
26
22
20
18
90
72
60
51
45
40
36
135
108
60
180
144
120
103
90
225 270 315
10
12
14
16
18
20
180 216 252 288 324
150 180 210 240 270 300 330
77
128 154 180 206 231 257 283 308 334
67
112
135 157 180 202 225 247 270 292 315 337
60
80
100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300
320 340
288 306
54
72
90
108 126 144 162 180 198 216 234 252 270
324 342
Page - 17
Camera Adjustment Lug Addendum
Because of the various sizes and camera body profiles, we have included a camera
adjustment lug as an additional means of keeping your camera mounted in a vertical
position. Shown below are examples of various ways to use the Camera Adjustment
Lug to mount your camera.
Page - 18
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