Field comparison in Sotres (Picos de Europa): Sony 11mm APS-C versus stitched panoramas using a Viltrox 25mm f/1.7 (with occasional mobile support).
The goal is not a conventional lens comparison, but an evaluation of framing equivalence and landscape representation. Similar perspectives are reconstructed using panoramas from the 25mm and compared against the native 11mm across five different viewpoints.
Includes Hugin workflow (alignment, projection, control points) and the adjustments required to maintain geometric consistency.
Key point: ultra-wide lenses and panoramas are not the same. The question is whether, in practical terms, the result is equivalent enough to justify not carrying an 11mm.
Conclusion: a 25mm (or any standard focal length) is fully usable for landscape work if you accept the operational cost (time, shooting, processing) and certain limitations in more complex scenes.
Sorry I couldn’t bring myself to watch a 39 minute video. However, one of the main differences between a wide angle lens compared to a panorama stitch is the amount of boring sky and foreground a wide angle lens will give you. Of course this can be cropped out but then you have a low resolution image compared to the pixel count from a panorama stitch. I do panorama stitching all the time when I travel. I couldn’t imagine my travel photography without it.
I have a windows computer and use Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) for my stitching and find it very easy with 99% of panoramas. Hugin requires more effort and the 39 minute video might be worth watching for Hugin tips alone.
BTW, I recently travelled to Europe and used a 9mm lens on a APC sensor to photograph interiors. I could have made life hard for myself and done stitching for the interiors but the ultra wide lens was the sensible choice. I never used the 9mm lens to capture a panorama though. Not the reason I bought it. Stitching is usually the best option for me.
Ditto re the 39 min video (and I don’t speak Spanish, although I try to learn a bit for an upcoming vacation). But I also like to shoot landscape panoramas when travelling, which can often be done handheld. When there are more interesting foreground elements included, though, a tripod, and rotating the camera/lens around the no-parallax point becomes necessary.
But what I wanted to mention is the panorama stitching software Autopano Giga. It’s not maintained anymore and it’s not open source, but it used to be a commercial product and has been made available for free. It is supremely capable and imho more user friendly than Hugin. There’s even a Linux version available.
Thank you for reminding me of this software. I just reinstalled it and it did a reasonable job on a very difficult panorama stitch that Microsoft Ice and Hugin both failed to stitch well enough. I find ICE is brilliant for most stitching but I will use Autopano Giga when ICE fails.