Testimonials

4 Stars - Ultimate M1 Series with RD16-II - This head is beautifully made and very well thought out. I shoot panos and mosaics fairly often and this head makes the process as easy as it can be. The machining is truly superb and it will certainly not a limiting factor for any photo but it's quite expensive. It is possible to put together a similar rig for much less money, using an assortment of rails and rotators from companies like Desmond, SunwayFoto and others, but the convenience of this design is superior. Although it may be overkill for single row panos, if you intend to shoot mosaics often this head will simplify the process compared to less comprehensive options. The horizontal rotator (RD-16) can be easily calibrated to a zero mark to start and end rows. Stacking rows for mosaics is also easy. I sometimes shoot 7 or 8 images per row in a 4 row mosaic, resulting in 32 or more images. Once the head (takes very little time) and camera (might take a bit more time) are set up, there is very little thought involved in shooting a pano or mosaic. The click stops and precision scales make it easy to shoot 32 or more images very quickly. Resulting in huge stitched images with vast numbers of pixels, this method works well for very large prints (wall size). Prints smaller then 24x36" may not benefit much and the hassle may outweigh the benefit. If you are shooting with very long lenses you may want to look into other options from Nodal Ninja but for typical focal lengths the RD-16 is a great option. If you are new to multi-shot images get ready for considerable work pre and post processing but the resulting images can be truly stunning. This is not the kind of rig you'll want to hike with for miles! For backcountry work I usually pare things down to a simple rotator and rail, which is much lighter. - L. Stolz

Ultimate M1 Series with RD16-II - the best panoramic head that you can currently buy. I have been using this professionally for the last few years and there is nothing on the market that even comes close to ease of use. the click stops on the rotator are so great when shooting in low light or at night. You never need to frame the shot through the viewfinder, just rotate to the next click stop. you can check out my images shot with this on.  - Thomas O.

M1 Series with RD16-II - Using your head I become a real fan of it, because i think it is more light weight and it has an easy and fast set up than the competitors products. And after all this time of use and caring it always with me all around the world it was still looking and working great. It is the ideal head for me who travel much and was fitting so well on my equipment bag. - Marco C.

5 stars - M1 Series with RD16-II

4 stars - M1 Series with RD16-II - Ultimate is an accurate description! By R. L. Stolz. This head is beautifully made and very well thought out. I shoot panos and mosaics fairly often and this head makes the process as easy as it can be. The machining is truly superb and it will certainly not a limiting factor for any photo but it's quite expensive. It is possible to put together a similar rig for much less money, using an assortment of rails and rotators from companies like Desmond, SunwayFoto and others, but the convenience of this design is superior. Although it may be overkill for single row panos, if you intend to shoot mosaics often this head will simplify the process compared to less comprehensive options. The horizontal rotator (RD-16) can be easily calibrated to a zero mark to start and end rows. Stacking rows for mosaics is also easy. I sometimes shoot 7 or 8 images per row in a 4 row mosaic, resulting in 32 or more images. Once the head (takes very little time) and camera (might take a bit more time) are set up, there is very little thought involved in shooting a pano or mosaic. The click stops and precision scales make it easy to shoot 32 or more images very quickly. Resulting in huge stitched images with vast numbers of pixels, this method works well for very large prints (wall size). Prints smaller then 24x36" may not benefit much and the hassle may outweigh the benefit. If you are shooting with very long lenses you may want to look into other options from Nodal Ninja but for typical focal lengths the RD-16 is a great option. If you are new to multi-shot images get ready for considerable work pre and post processing but the resulting images can be truly stunning. This is not the kind of rig you'll want to hike with for miles! For backcountry work I usually pare things down to a simple rotator and rail, which is much lighter.

5 stars - M1 Series with RD16-II - the best panoramic head that you can currently buy By Thomas O'Brien - Verified Purchase - the best panoramic head that you can currently buy. I have been using this professionally for the last few years and there is nothing on the market that even comes close to ease of use. the click stops on the rotator are so great when shooting in low light or at night. You never need to frame the shot through the viewfinder,

5 stars - NN RD16-II Rotator - High quality material By Simon VERIFIED BUYER High quality

5 stars - NN RD16-II Rotator - Compression screw is so small but it is working well By necati ufuk. Rotator is good design and working well but I tried to show 2 pictures how it looks like on different 2 leveler. Compression screw is so small an is close to base, I think that it is not big deal because when you already use rotator, I have not experience about rotator but my opinion you will not to need to see chart of angle degree when you work it.

5 stars - NN RD16-II Rotator - Worth the price By Gerald VERIFIED BUYER. Plan on using for all of my panos. The preset stops are a godsend. Especially in low or no light.

5 stars - NN M2 NO Rotator - Just Right For My Needs By rlstoz VERIFIED BUYER. The Ultimate M2 is a beautifully crafted piece of equipment and it's a joy to use. After shooting more than 100 panos and mosaics with this rig, under a variety of conditions, I am confident this is the right tool for my needs. Those needs mostly include shooting mosaics, using my best mid focal length lenses, to produce hi-res images suitable for large prints. The M2 makes that about as easy as possible. I bought the head without the RD8-II rotator because I wanted to use the RD16-II rotator instead. The RD16-II is better suited to the focal lengths I use. Shooting very long focal lengths to produce ultra hi-res images is not something I do often. I mostly use this rig for shooting mosaics using lenses in the 24mm to 100mm (EFL) range. These mosaics range from 4 shots up to 72 shots resulting in wide to ultra-wide images after stitching. Most of them stitch without problems in the most recent version of Lightroom - no need for dedicated pano software. This rig requires a solid tripod and it's quite heavy so it is not very portable (I use a much smaller pano head and tripod for the backcountry) but, once set up, it makes panos and mosaics easy to shoot. I chose the M2 specifically because it is very precise and, coupled with the rotator, allows me to shoot multi-shot images with a minimum of effort. Every adjustment on the M2 is precise and very solid. It is manufactured to extremely high standards. It is more than adequate in every way. If you are new to multi-shot panos and mosaics consider that to really take advantage of this rig you will need to make quite detailed setup notes specific to your equipment and situation. This takes more than a little time. You will need to note at least three positions on the scales of the M2 for each camera/lens combination. For zooms lenses you may want more details. If you are not willing to take the time to make and use accurate setup notes you will not gain much/any benefit from this head!

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Quality. Well made Panoramic gear By Anthonyt VERIFIED BUYER. Quality made panoramic gear. Easily assembled and easy to use. Comes in a custom carrying case. I have been very impressed with this setup and would recommend it to anyone interested in taking serious panoramas.

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Best Panoramic Kit Available!! By Mike. I use this with the Nikon D800E and the Nikon 14-24mm F2.8 G lens. I also have the MB-D12 Battery Grip. This is one of Nodal Ninja's top of the line Pano kits and is a must if you are shooting with large lens. The kit does come with a lot of spare parts, but I consider this a good thing. If you follow the guides on Nodal Ninja's website it is pretty straight forward to setup. You can also call or email them. They are very helpful if you get stuck. For this setup I needed the following to shoot landscape with my rig and get a full 360.

5 stars - I love the M1 - L with RD16 II By Cecil VERIFIED BUYER I got this product about a week ago and wow! Very well made, easy to use, easy to set up in the field, simple operation and excellent results. My panorama stitching is seamless. Really excellent designed product for the serious panoram pro!

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - awesome By bodywise VERIFIED BUYER. This is an awesome addition. Finally, you can shoot panos in rows with any lens. The click stops are poorly explained in the "documentation" but once figured out, is a snap. Click, click, click. I easily produced a vertical set pano 10 across in 3 rows. Using AutoPan (not PS), I produced a flawless pano with a 70 mm lens thus reducing barrel and lens distortion. Highly recommended. Highly crafted. Just beware that the "documentation" is non - existant. A sad commentary on a developing trend. "Just look it up." If you dig deep enough there are some good references.

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Top Notch By Museum Photographer VERIFIED BUYER This thing is solid. if you're using a DSLR to create panos then you need a tripod head that won't budge unless you want it to. With the Nodal Ninja you're paying for that quality engineering. The Swiss Arca system is simple and effective and you will find an assortment of accessories for your needs.I am using the Nodal Ninja for creating 360 panoramas to be used in virtual tours. Put it on a sturdy heavy tripod and you will get the precision required to minimize stitching errors and correction time. Don't forget to order an adapter that fits your specific camera.It comes in a nice quality case, doesn't fit perfectly inside but it looks & feels good!

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Nice and stable By twofun VERIFIED BUYER. Nice and stable product. you can take panorama without any problem.

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Very fine piece of equipment By photoed VERIFIED BUYER. I was trying to get a wide view of home interiors with very little distortion. I have a Nikon 14-24mm lens that gives me more than an enough coverage but my clients complain about the distortion. So I bought this panoramic head hoping by stitching several images together so I could get a photo with very little distortion. I tried it every which way I could think of. It just didn't work out. I gave it 5 stars because its an incredible piece of equptment, very precise. If you get this you must get the Nodal Ninja Ez-Leveler - Ii it will save you tons of time.

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Great piece great price. By Ben VERIFIED BUYER. I bought a cheaper panoramic head from competitor. I returned it because of build. I spent the extra coinage to purchase this from b&h. I'm glad I did. The build quality is amazing! I especially like the configuration option on the rotator piece. T this world perfect for my Nikon D810. I would highly recommend you buy this.

5 stars - NN M1L w/RD16-II - Finely crafted and versatile - a truly excellent head By R.L. This head's workmanship is about as good as it gets but, more importantly, it was designed to facilitate an efficient workflow for what is often a complicated process. There are less expensive options for similar heads, some which are quite well made, but this head's attention to operational detail sets it apart. It was clearly designed to actually shoot multi-shot images, rather than just sitting impressively atop a tripod. There are more expensive heads that are very well made but lack the practical functionality of this one. Short of a view camera, this head will hold about any camera you choose, but you'll need a solid tripod. Although it is possible to level the rotator with a ball head, its very awkward, especially with a camera mounted, so you'll want to add a leveling base (designs with three screws, like the Nodal Ninja one, make the process easier). The adjustable scales, with start and stop markers, allow precise setup and once everything is adjusted the actually process of shooting the photos is a no-brainer. I have used other heads where it's easy to lose track of where, in a multi-row sequence, you are. When you are shooting 3 or more rows, of 6 or more images each, it gets confusing, especially if each image is bracketed for HDR. This head all but eliminates that confusion. The RD-16 II rotator works very well for me, as I do not shoot many panos with very long lenses, and by adding an inexpensive dual ARCA clamp to the top rail you can go as wide as you like, including fisheye. After shooting hundreds of panos and mosaics I have found only two negatives with this head. First, it's expensive. Second, it's quite heavy. I don't see any way to avoid either. The weight of this head, plus the heavy tripod required to support it, precludes my carrying it on long hikes but I am willing to lug it a mile or two because it works so well. You will need to spend some time documenting setup positions for your specific body/lens combinations (I suggest carrying setup charts whenever you use this head) but once that's done setup is fast, easy and precise. If you are new to multi-shot images you'll need to invest considerable time in learning the various techniques and sadly, there is no single source that I know about for this. Reviewers often complain that pano heads don't include simple instructions (or any for that matter) for use. That's because use is NOT simple! If you are not mechanically inclined this stuff may be quite frustrating. It's not brain surgery but it requires specialized knowledge. In return, you can make high resolution images, independent of sensor and lens constraints, that can be printed huge.

5 stars - Nodal Ninja M1-L-RD16-II - awesome. About Me Semi-pro Photographer. Verified Buyer. This is an awesome addition. Finally, you can shoot panos in rows with any lens. The click stops are poorly explained in the "documentation" but once figured out, is a snap. Click, click, click. I easily produced a vertical set pano 10 across in 3 rows. Using AutoPan (not PS), I produced a flawless pano with a 70 mm lens thus reducing barrel and lens distortion. Highly recommended. Highly crafted.Just beware that the "documentation" is non-existant. A sad commementary on a developing trend. "Just look it up." If you dig deep enough there are some good references. Yes, I would recommend this to a friend. - By bodywise from san jose, CA

5 stars - I love the M1-L with RD16 II - About Me Photo Enthusiast. Verified Buyer. I got this product about a week ago and wow! Very well made, easy to use, easy to set up in the field, simple operation and excellent results. My panorama stitching is seamless. Really excellent designed product for the serious panoram pro! Yes, I would recommend this to a friend. - By Cecil from Austin

5 stars - Nodal Ninja M1-L-RD16-II - Best Panoramic Kit Available!! About Me Semi-pro Photographer. Verified Reviewer. I use this with the Nikon D800E and the Nikon 14-24mm F2.8 G lens. I also have the MB-D12 Battery Grip. This is one of Nodal Ninja's top of the line Pano kits and is a must if you are shooting with large lens. The kit does come with a lot of spare parts, but I consider this a good thing. If you follow the guides on Nodal Ninja's website it is pretty straight forward to setup. You can also call or email them. They are very helpful if you get stuck. For this setup I needed the following to shoot landscape with my rig and get a full 360.

10 out 10 - Ultimate M1-L w/RD16 - II (F8102) Qty: 1

5 stars - Nodal Ninja RD-16-2 - High quality material. About Me Pro Photographer. Verified Buyer. Great quality. Yes, I would recommend this to a friend. - By Simon from Barcelona, SPAIN