Shift/Tilt lens versus Panorama head

I've been thinking of buying a Shift (and or TS-E) lens for making panoramas. Ever since my Shen-Hao got broken I've not made any 612/617 images. What you guys suggest, a TS-E lens like 24mm from Canon or 35mm Shift Olympus with an adapter or simply a prime lens/zoom lens and good panorama head is the way to go?
Thanks for your input.

Your choice of lenses is dependent upon the images you want to create. If the opening image on your web page is what you are looking for, a TS lens would be just the ticket. I do a lot of panorama, but mine don't require precise alignment like that image does. As you know a non-ts lens used to get a pano in a forest like that could be used but there are a whole host of issues in terms of perspective. A pano head has nothing to do with the perspective correction in terms of the vertical problems inherent in tilting a lens upward. If you shoot a series of images encompassing 180 degree field of view and there are objects in the foreground, a pano head is a must whether you use a TS lens or not. If you can keep your non-ts lens level, a TS is not needed, but for landscapes with trees, a TS is very useful as you must know. Perspective correction in Photoshop is possible but never as good. You have done some wonderful work and I hope you get both a TS lens, a pano head and a wide prime because fine photographers like yourself really deserve the tools they need. ;)

Prashant,

It will depend on the types of panoramas you wish to do if you really need a panorama head. The only times I would have wanted a full panorama head is when doing multi row panoramas or a fairly long vertical panorama. Most of the time my setup is levelling base on tripod, kirk long rail, Nikkor 28mm PC-E (only has shift), D200.

This works very nice and with the shift of the lens, I can comfortably do two row panoramas while still remaining level.

I have also used a 50mm prime but without a shift movement, that can sometimes makes it a bit more difficult in terms of composition.

Hope this makes sense,

Cheers,

André

Prashant, if all you want is panoramas (rather than focus/perspective control) I wouldn't go with either of the options you mentioned. A leveling base and bubble level are really all you need (assuming you already have a mid-telephoto lens/zoom). And, of course, good stitching software.

Guy