5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

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Jamesrye
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by Jamesrye »

That is interesting, I'll have to dig out the old camera kit and give it a go again sometime. There are instances (heritage applications) where we use the internal camera on a P40 for the higher resolution. I had heard that stitching of panoramics to the point cloud can be done from ninja derived panos, do you use ptgui to create the panos?
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by Formula1982 »

Jamesrye wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:22 pm That is interesting, I'll have to dig out the old camera kit and give it a go again sometime. There are instances (heritage applications) where we use the internal camera on a P40 for the higher resolution. I had heard that stitching of panoramics to the point cloud can be done from ninja derived panos, do you use ptgui to create the panos?
Yes, that's our normal workflow. We use ptgui and import straight into cyclone to auto stitch to the point cloud.
So long as the settings are right on the ninja bracket, they stitch perfectly. And depending on the capabilities of the camera you're using it with, you can get very high quality, very high resolution images (much higher resolution than you'd probably ever need).
One other thing I like is a practical one for the surveyor. It's using a DSLR, so they get to see exactly what they're taking a photo of, then get a couple of seconds review of each shot while they rotate for the next. So the surveyor will know for sure if someone stepped out from behind a wall and got in the shot, or if the shot is a bit under/overexposed and can correct it and re-take the shot a second later. It makes it easy to know you've got a good overall dataset. In total, a set of ninja photos takes about 2 minutes. We use things like the Spheron or Lizard Q if we want really, really good 360 photos, but the jump up in price to those types of kit is prohibitive for most, and also for most unnecessary.
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by D2RSURVEY »

Thanks all for detailed replies. Been a while as the particular project I needed colour for didn't materialise. I do have another in the pipe line so I have purchased a Nodal Ninja 3 MkII and am looking at cameras. I was thinking a cannon EOS 5DS R with a Canon 8-15mm F4 L US Fisheye EF.

The reasoning behind this is that whilst the Istar would be simpler, it is lot of cash for something which at the moment wouldn't be used often, plus the cameras can't not be upgraded.

I have limited knowledge of cameras but I have chose the EOS 5DS R as it is a 50mp camera. The latest Z+F scanner has an 80mp camera so I am guessing this helps. The lens has a 180deg field of view so withstanding distortion at the edges I am again guessing I would only need 3 shots per set up.

The camera would get a lot more usage otherwise. The upcoming projects requires stone by stone detail of a crumbly Norman keep.

Regards,
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by Jason Warren »

Have you thought about hiring the iStar instead?
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by jedfrechette »

I would stay away from zoom lenses. It's way to easy to bump them mid-shoot and turn a simple stitching job in to a nightmare. An extremely popular combination for 3 shot panos is a 5d mk3 plus Sigma 8 mm.

The resolution of an 8 mm pano is not great so if you want more detail you may need to shoot with a longer lense. A 24mm is usually the next step up and is a reasonable tradeoff between time and quality.
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by tbwester »

I've done 1000s of panos with the nodal, and stitched them with PTGUI and cyclone. I've got a 8mm SIGMA, do 6 shots each setup.

Its labor intensive, but you can get very fast at it - and the nodal + DSLR give you a TON of control with the images (and better quality too).

Honestly, the DSLR doesn't matter all that much. Get a full frame Cannon 6D (1,000 USD), or even a rebel crop frame ($600) would be fine too, which is what i used for many many years.
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by Rikore »

We use the Nodal Ninja with all our scanners. Canon 70D and 80D. We also have an iStar, but use it rarely. We moved to taking 8 photos per setup for better overlap. We can take the images and edit them to get great panos. One thing I like about the external camera is if one photo is bad, like a truck passes by or a busy intersection, we can take extra photos.
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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by Andrej »

Hi

we use the Nodal Ninja since the 5010 came out and we have tested all sorts of other camera systems like the IStar. When it comes to the field work we take 16 photos (even with fisheye lens) per set up and this takes less than a minute (off course after using the system for a long time). This of course can be reduced depending on what camera and lens system you use. When it comes to field work, quality and price it is hard to beat the Nodal Ninja. Office is still time consuming even with the automated stitching. our experience is that between 15 to 30% of the photos have to be mapped manually that also applies to the IStar we had.

For the photo mapping of panorama photos to scan Z+F laser Control has this since ages and when it works it is good, same for Trimble Realworks. Cyclone added the automated mapping quite late but still has the good old method if it shouldn't work and that is need often.

Our work is meanly outside and the clouds and sun are our biggest problems in getting an fast automated work flow.

All that said the 5010C,X and 5016 system is the best combined system in my personal view when it comes to photos, you can reduce the photo time to 3.5min (minimal HDR exposures) and all the rest is automated processing time with no need to do anything manual.

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Re: 5010 Nodal Ninja Rig

Post by D2RSURVEY »

Hello

This is more difficult than choosing a new total station! Probably as I never owned anything more advanced than a Sony Cybershot.

One of my new clients recently showed me some stunning photogrammetry work from one of my competitors. So I am interested in having a go at this plus we have looked at a drone rig which can mount a DSLR camera. I like to buy well and wisely.

The Canon EF 8-15mm f4.0 L USM Fisheye Lens spec says it takes full frame shots also, I am taking that as normal square photography which would be useful.

Jed, note your concern RE accidental zoom adjustment between shots. I think I can live with that, I should realise I have done so and re-shoot. I am guessing one doesn't use the zoom in these shots?

A Fisheye lens is not absolutely necessary, a long lens would suffice but will increase the number of shots required. 6 - 8 No being sensible with a fisheye.

My workflow for this job will be a two man team, one to keep the scanner going and myself will be taking the photos, carefully.

Look forward to informative replies, I need to get this ordered, and learn how to use it by Sunday!

Regards,
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