Travel Photography - Panorama stitching tool - what do you use?

Simple enough question. I'm willing to pay a bit for a tool if it works well though free is certainly better.

I've used Zoner Panorama maker and am reasonably satisfied but if I'm going to pay I want some other tool that might be better.

Thanks!

I use PTGui and have been very happy with it (especially the newer version), but I'm not sure that it's the best thing out there (though I've successfully stitched together many 12-14 image panoramas from my D300). It has a problem with ultra-wide-angle images (e.g. using a Nikon 12-24mm DX or Nikon 10.5mm DX FE).

I too am interested in other options...

I have used Adobe Elements 2, Photoshop CS3 Extended, and PhotoStitch (that came with CANON cameras).

Unfortunately, the best is also the most expensive - Photoshop. Much better at handling lens distortion than any of the others.

I have recently started using Autopano Pro. It's a fantastic (and smart) stitching software. I got some good results with it. They offer free trial too so that you can play around with it first.

It was developed by a guy in UBC original. Then it got big

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html

I have recently started using Autopano Pro. It's a fantastic (and smart) stitching software. I got some good results with it. They offer free trial too so that you can play around with it first.

It was developed by a guy in UBC original. Then it got big

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html

I used the free AutoStitch beta (same developer as above) on some of my recent Crater Lake photos, and they turned out phenomenal.

I use photostich but don't like it that much. I would suggest trying autostich (it's free)

I used PTGui for most of the sticthing (circular fisheye), Photoshop to fix stitching error and Pano2VR to fix the nadir image and convert it to flash. The main thing is to get a good pano head, which makes postprocessing a lot easier. I am using Really right stuff pano head, and it is great.

I use PTGui and have been very happy with it (especially the newer version), but I'm not sure that it's the best thing out there (though I've successfully stitched together many 12-14 image panoramas from my D300). It has a problem with ultra-wide-angle images (e.g. using a Nikon 12-24mm DX or Nikon 10.5mm DX FE).

I too am interested in other options...

I thought PTGui (v7.2) is great with my sigma 8mm fisheye, once I have my panohead set to the correct settings, I rarely need to do much fixing. Other tools I've used before was RealViz Stitcher. It might have a nicer interface than PTGui but I don't think they are any better.

Thanks for all the replies. I went with the latest version of Zoner for this particular project because I really wanted to get them done to post in a trip report but I'll take a look at some of the other suggestions here as well later.

Here are a ccuple of the resulting panos from the set. Considering I was traveling without a tripod on this trip I think I managed to do OK.

http://gallery.millerworks.net/photos/592365859_q66hD-M.jpg (http://gallery.millerworks.net/gallery/8913442_vbDZF/1/#592365859_q66hD-A-LB)

http://gallery.millerworks.net/photos/592365818_vYq9G-M.jpg (http://gallery.millerworks.net/gallery/8913442_vbDZF/1/#592365818_vYq9G-A-LB)

If you are thinking about serious photo editing, including pano, I would consider PS CS4. Not cheap, but it handles jobs big and small in pro-level quality. Learning curve is steep, but worth it.
When I take panos, I also do them hand-held. I crank up the ISO a bit. Tripod is recommended by the pros, but I find it a hassle to carry so much stuff around.

To be honest I don't think Photoshop's up to the task. I use it almost daily and I love it, but I had to find an alternative.

I settled on Hugin, great app.

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

Here's a couple of mine:

Tibet:
http://www.damani.co.uk/images/Himalaya_Panoramic_1_Thumb.jpg (http://www.damani.co.uk/images/Himalaya_Panoramic_1_Large.jpg)

New York City:
http://www.developerx.net/nyc/pano_skyline_1_web.jpg