Gadget helps GoPro users create jaw-dropping panoramas

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Panoramic pictures are a snap with the Pano5+1.
Panoramic pictures are a snap with the Pano5+1.
Photo: Rogeti

Sometimes a good idea can advance technology without an app or motherboard. Photographer Ruoguo Zhou proved that last year with a hunk of plastic called SLOPES, an indispensable accessory for GoPro users that cradles the camera and provides 20 different angles for shooting.

Zhou again applies simple geometry to plastic with his new device, the Pano5+1, a tripod (or water bottle) head that allows the GoPro shooter to create seamless spherical or cylindrical panorama photographs.

Set the GoPro camera vertically in the cradle and take a picture at each of the five marked positions. Place the camera upward to complete a cylindrical shot (the +1). Shots lined up by the marks make it easy to stich them together in post production (Panorama Studio 3 Pro is recommended), for a high-resolution panoramic image.

Create spherical or cylindrical panorama photographs with Pano 5+1.
Create spherical or cylindrical panorama photographs with Pano 5+1.
Photo: Rogeti
A six-shot cylindrical image made with a GoPro cradled in the Pano5+1.
A six-shot cylindrical image made with a GoPro cradled in the Pano5+1.
Photo: Rogeti

The Pano5+1 is available on Indiegogo for an early bird price of $59. Last year, Zhou exceeded funding goals with SLOPES, a compact polyhedron support that can fit in low or tiny places, when a tripod or common mount accessory is not available. SLOPES lets you set the camera at many different pitches.

Although GoPro’s growth has stalled, the action camera market continues to grow and with it, accessories that take advantage of the HD cameras’ small size.

The Pano5+1 will support three models of GoPro cameras, the Hero 3, Hero 3+ and Hero 4. It base can be mounted on a 1/4” or 3/8” thread tripod or fit securely to a beverage bottle when there is no tripod around.

When a tripod is not available, the Pano5+1 can fit snuggly on the opening of a water bottle.
When a tripod is not available, the Pano5+1 can fit snuggly on the opening of a water bottle.
Photo: Rogeti

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