In theory, the Spark lens cover approx 70 degree horizontally. Base on general rule of thumb,  30% overlap, 7 horizontal frames cover approx 350 degree. More conservetive, say 50% overlap to compensate wind and other factors, 7 frames can at least cover 240 degree.

In real world, the 21 frames (7 x 3) took by the Spark produce a final pic of approx 210 x 80 degree. At the same time, it give my stiching software a hard time and never produce a good stich not to mention perfect.

However, I did try some 3 x 3 at the same location, same candition and the same subject, it always produce a approx 150 x 100 degree pano with perfect stich. I use Hugin and ICE.

Therefore, I suspect the 21 180 pano overlap and overlap again too much (over 50%) and make the stiching software confuse and cannot do a good job. What a waste.

I cannot post the pics to demonstrate here right now as it may fringe the privacy of some of my neigbour. I will try to do it again in some general public area and post it here.

One more thing, the 21 180 pano will not allow you to choose the view angle and always start with the horizon. DJI should reconsider it seriousely.

As far as I know, you can tilt the gimbal down and start a pano sequence (at least so I read here on the forum). But I'm not sure about that since I don't own one yet.

Yes, it seems like a waste of material. But. Maybe it uses the best part of the lens only (usually the center), to get better sharpness and less distortion.

I use Affinity Photo on my iPad pro to stitch my 180° pano's together and it has come out perfectly nearly every time. The results and detail I get are pretty good for such a small sensor on the camera.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-10-31 00:04
As far as I know, you can tilt the gimbal down and start a pano sequence (at least so I read here on the forum). But I'm not sure about that since I don't own one yet.

Yes, it seems like a waste of material. But. Maybe it uses the best part of the lens only (usually the center), to get better sharpness and less distortion.

the 21 pic 180° Pano is the one, you cant set the gimbal angle .
It always goes back to horizontal.

Since I learned about -85 ° 9x9 and -85 ° verticals, I am thinking myself to leave the 21 Pano behind.
Instead taking 2 times 9x9 Pano and stitching with external software on PC.
On top, with 5 or 6 9x9 (include 1 or 2 -85's), you get nice 360 Spheres.
And it is quick(er)!

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-31 08:34
the 21 pic 180° Pano is the one, you cant set the gimbal angle .
It always goes back to horizontal.

That is strange indeed.
Maybe on purpose, but one I don't get yet.

S-e-ven Posted at 2017-10-31 08:34
the 21 pic 180° Pano is the one, you cant set the gimbal angle .
It always goes back to horizontal.

Thst's what I am trying to do this weekend.

Edd_88 Posted at 2017-10-31 16:49
Thst's what I am trying to do this weekend.

U need better computer or app ;) I do 3 x  21 panos + 2 x 9 panos to merge in 360. Sometime to better effect 4 x 180 - more options to choose better frames for stitching effect. Ofc there ale some issues, like always on wind when spark move a little while rotating or i have light  issues but all can be  a bit tuned. Effext of 3 x 180 + 1 x 90 - https://kuula.co/post/7lJyL

Ofc i dont care about amount of photos in project - approximately its 70-90 photos in 360pano used - sometime i disable  duplicated views) and my pc is fine. Depend of pano type i use adobe lightroom or PTGui, ->> pano is made in 1 min? Pc is no budget but also not so new. Or maybe u have bad stitching software.

ps. if u set gimbal a bit down, in 180 pano it will be moved in defaul position - moving gibal to take pano is not for 180 pano mode.

medyq69 Posted at 2017-11-1 01:48
U need better computer or app ;) I do 3 x  21 panos + 2 x 9 panos to merge in 360. Sometime to better effect 4 x 180 - more options to choose better frames for stitching effect. Ofc there ale some issues, like always on wind when spark move a little while rotating or i have light  issues but all can be  a bit tuned. Effext of 3 x 180 + 1 x 90 - https://kuula.co/post/7lJyL

Ofc i dont care about amount of photos in project - approximately its 70-90 photos in 360pano used - sometime i disable  duplicated views) and my pc is fine. Depend of pano type i use adobe lightroom or PTGui, ->> pano is made in 1 min? Pc is no budget but also not so new. Or maybe u have bad stitching software.

Your work is great. I will not blame my not too strong computer (Old Core I-5 Quad 3.6 GHZ with 16G DDR-4 Ram) and the stitching software (Hugin, can compete with PTGUI head to head but free) at this moment. May be wind or my technique. Will try more and see.

Edd_88 Posted at 2017-11-1 06:49
Your work is great. I will not blame my not too strong computer (Old Core I-5 Quad 3.6 GHZ with 16G DDR-4 Ram) and the stitching software (Hugin, can compete with PTGUI head to head but free) at this moment. May be wind or my technique. Will try more and see.

Wierd, i dont understand why your soft have a problem then. My pc is also 16gb ram, i7 6th gen quad set to 4.3 ghz in all cores. I also use PTGui  but  pro. Quad cpu should be fine to you. On my work in kuula u dont see this but on my pc in high res 18k pixels pic, can be seen that bridge is moved in few places and ofc bottom photos are brighten and sharpen than horizontal. IMO this is best way to do 360 pic. New app ability wont be so precise and pano will be distorted - like i seen here yesterday.

It probably overlaps more than most because the stitching in the app is not great.  i ran a vertical pano through the app and through ICE, and the app came out with bad spots while ICE did a perfect merge.  

Will try again in a calm day and see what happen.

I use Panorama Studio 3.  So far it stitches the 180's perfectly.  I download the 21 stills from the SD card into my laptop.

This morning is calm and tried again. This time, the 21 frame 180 stitch better than the 9 frame. Only a couple stitching defect was found in the subtle area and that can be fixed easily in PS. Will post result after work this evening.