How should I photograph a long wall from close range and stitch it into one detailed image?

Question

I need to photograph a very long wall (about 50 m wide and 2 m high), like in a corridor, but I can only stand about 1–2 m away. I want a final image that shows the whole wall with enough detail to see items on it, such as posters or switches.

A single photo seems impractical, so I’m thinking about shooting multiple overlapping frames and stitching them together. What’s the best approach for this? Should I use a fisheye lens to capture the full height in each frame, or would a normal/wide rectilinear lens be better? Would it make sense to shoot one row of vertical frames, or multiple rows?

I’m mainly looking for advice on technique, camera position, lens choice, and how to minimize distortion so the stitching works well.

user124 · Answer

You could use a fish-eye lens, however that may not be ideal. You would need to decide if you want the warping effect of a fish-eye lens, or whether you want the final shot to be without any distortion (note, you'll have some distortion regardless of what lens you use, most likely, but that can often be managed in post-processing these days.) If you do choose to use a fish-eye, it has a 180 degree angle of view, so if you situate yourself smack in the middle, point the lens strait at the wall, you should be able to capture the whole thing in one shot. You will have good detail in the center, but detail will quickly fall off towards the ends of the hall, as it gets compressed and warped by the lens. If you do try to capture the scene with several shots using a fish-eye lens, you might have some trouble stitching them together, given the extreme distortion. Overall, it probably isn't the best lens choice if your goal is to capture a lot of detail in the wall.

If you want a shot without distortion, it would better serve your initial request: Take a shot that preserves detail. I would recommend just using a normal- to wide-angle lens, probably in vertical orientation. Unlike a landscape panoramic, however, where you usually just swivel the lens on a flat rotating tripod head, I would actually move down the corridor in consistent increments. You can mathematically determine the distance you need to move, given the angle of view of the lens and the distance to the wall. For example, using a Canon APS-C body, with say an EF 35mm lens, you have an angle of view in vertical orientation of about 24 degrees. This is close to the AOV of normal eyesight, and very similar to a 50mm lens on a full-frame body. It should produce minimal distortion if you use a good lens. Assuming you are 1.5m away from the wall:

widthOfView = 2 * (tan(AOV/2) * distanceToSubject)
widthOfView = 2 * (tan(12) * 1.5m)
widthOfView = 2 * (0.32 * 1.5m)
widthOfView = 0.95m ~= 1m (~3.2 feet)

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To photograph a whole wall with little distortion, you would point the lens strait at the wall, snap a shot, move just a little under 1 meter down, snap another shot, etc. until the wall is photographed. I would avoid using any kind of "extra" lighting, like flash, as you can't guarantee the shots would line up properly without any seams. Just use whatever lighting is available. A very fast lens, such as f/1.4 or faster, would probably be best if your subject is indeed a hallway with lower lighting.

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How should I photograph a long wall from close range and stitch it into one detailed image?

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