I started stepping into panoramic photography in 2005, when I bought one training DVD by Greg Downing from Gnomon Workshop.

I've been literally amazed by this technique considering also its pivotal role for vfx production. My first equipment was a Kaidan QuickPan IV rotator with a Standard Bracket for cylindrical panoramic photography. Later on I got a Manfrotto 303SPH rotator for cubic or spherical panoramic photography, which allows both the vertical rotation and the horizontal swirling of the camera in order to map an orbital view of the shooted ambient. The Manfrotto 303SPH solution is so precise, very usefull in case of wind but very heavy expecially for travelling!

In 2007 I purchased a Nodal Ninja 3 rotator by Fanotec for multiple rows as the lightest and easiest to carrie equipment I found very useful on vacation or whenever I don't want to be overweighted by the backpack. Here's following a pic with the Nodal Ninja 3 in action on my last trip in Norway (2009).

I highly recommend the Fanotec solution, it's my favourite one! Check out the the main site here and the italian distributor here.

Here's a brief description of some galleries.

• India (2005). This section concerns a set of cylindrical panoramas I took in Middle India. The shots were taken using a robust aluminum Manfrotto tripod and a Kaidan QuickPan IV rotator with a Standard Bracket. I took every single shot using a 18 mm (Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-S DX) lens and it took me 12 shots to make a complete 180° row.
• Cornwall (UK) (2006). This section concerns a set of cylindrical panorama shots I took on summer during my holyday. I used the same Kaidan equipment of India along with the Manfrotto 383 Leveller for a better alignment/levelling of the rotator head on the steep cliffs of Cornwall.
• Sardegna (2007). This section is about a set of full sperical panoramas I took with Fanotec Nodal Ninja. On this case I started to use the Manfrotto tripod 725B DIGI, lightweight but robust with a handy cool ball head which allows you to perfectly level the rotator very quickly! I used my favourite lens: Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-S DX at 18 mm. length.
• Danmark (2008). I just re-used the perfect tools combination of the previous experience: Nodal Ninja, Manfrotto 725B and Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-S DX mounted on my Nikon D-70.
• Norway (2009). Same equipment except for my new Tamron SP AF 10-24 mm. f/3,5-4,5 Di II. Shooting at 10 mm. length I could reduced the numbers of shots per row down to 8 on 3 rows, being so more efficient! Only 24 shots for every panorama but I started also to bracket the exposure for HDR and Tone Mapping purposes.