Actually, I think it is the gigapan smart tripod head and their software that gets you to these huge images. Not the camera per se? Carmeron Knowlton @cameronknowlton here on 365 has much more experience with Gigapan than I do.
Oh WOW! It just kept zooming and zooming with no loss of I age quality. I could take a pic of a tiny bug at the park from home, and then just zoom in! Haha
@frankhymus - The gigapan head is automated so it moves the camera and takes each shot without any intervention. I have a Bogen Qtvr Spherical head which allows me to do multiple image panoramas without any stitching errors, if I line up the nodal point correctly. (although I have to manually move the camera on the head) I've used to for 360 degree by 180 degree panos using a fisheye lens, but you can easily stick a telephoto lens on it, and make a gigapixel image.
@frankhymus , I only use the Gigapan hosting service; I don't actually have one of those panning heads. I'd definitely drop the $850 for one, though, if I were flush.
this was definitely done with a Gigapan; you simply can't eyeball 216 photos this well. given how far we can zoom in before detail starts to degrade, I'd guess he was shooting with a 400mm prime.
the real giveaway for the Gigapan is the time... 216 photos in 15 minutes, means about 4 seconds per frame. given 1-2 seconds to reposition between each step, there's simply no way any other product out there could have achieved this.
his stitching is mind blowing, considering the ebb and flow of people over a 15 minute span.
@cameronknowlton 4 seconds per frame, I think, not 4 frames per second. The Gigapan has a relatively large amount of slop when it's flinging around a heavy lens, that's probably about the limit before you start to get motion blur from it settling.
I see in his later shots he's using a Clauss Rodeon VR Station, which is a much better-built motorised panoramic controller -- I wonder if he was using this for the Canucks shot.
Here's a couple of mine so far, taken with no special equipment, just a normal tripod and telephoto lens. Nowhere near as detailed, of course (yet!)
Wow that can really capture every detail. That's a little scary!
@abirkill Awesome shots Alexis- but looking into all those windows made me feel like I was spying on those unsuspecting folks! Good thing they all seem to have had the maid come that day! lol
@abirkill - In your Vancouver shot, it says exposure is 8 seconds. Is this correct? Because some of the people in their windows are remarkably sharp for an 8 second exposure... Did you ask them to hold still for a moment? I'm confused.
@bobfoto Yup, in the top photo each of the thirty exposures was taken at ISO 100, f/8, and with an 8 second exposure. You can see this by the light trails left by cars along the roads visible in the shot.
Of course, where people were moving they don't show up at all (as evidenced by the streets appearing almost completely devoid of pedestrians when it's really a pretty busy area), but I was also somewhat surprised that there are a few people visible in the apartments who are standing up and yet are surprisingly sharp. I don't have an answer for that other than to say that's how the camera captured it.
@markjohnstone You can probably find a very cheap 70s or 80s era xx-300mm manual-focus zoom for around that price (certainly a lot easier than finding a D70 for £10!). My photos were stitched together using Hugin, which is free.
@abirkill You are amazing. I have no idea what you folks are talking about, but it's all something to bookmark and return to once I figure it all out! :)
@grammyn Also just to be a pain about correctness - a "macro" usually refers to a photo where the image is at 1x1 magnification or larger, such that you can see the tiny details, e.g. the hairs on a bee's body, or the tiny blobs of pollen inside a flower - macro means "larger than life", essentially.
The gigapixel photo, while extremely cool and utterly awesome (like it is seriously boggling my mind lol!), does not fall into this category.
@pocketmouse I knew that but wasn't sure how to refer to the amazing magnification this creates. Thank you so much for the comment. I really appreciate it. I have a limited scope of knowledge and always appreciate the help! ;~}
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this was definitely done with a Gigapan; you simply can't eyeball 216 photos this well. given how far we can zoom in before detail starts to degrade, I'd guess he was shooting with a 400mm prime.
the real giveaway for the Gigapan is the time... 216 photos in 15 minutes, means about 4 seconds per frame. given 1-2 seconds to reposition between each step, there's simply no way any other product out there could have achieved this.
his stitching is mind blowing, considering the ebb and flow of people over a 15 minute span.
I see in his later shots he's using a Clauss Rodeon VR Station, which is a much better-built motorised panoramic controller -- I wonder if he was using this for the Canucks shot.
Here's a couple of mine so far, taken with no special equipment, just a normal tripod and telephoto lens. Nowhere near as detailed, of course (yet!)
http://gigapan.com/gigapans/121600 (450 megapixels)
http://gigapan.com/gigapans/120886 (520 megapixels)
@abirkill Awesome shots Alexis- but looking into all those windows made me feel like I was spying on those unsuspecting folks! Good thing they all seem to have had the maid come that day! lol
Of course, where people were moving they don't show up at all (as evidenced by the streets appearing almost completely devoid of pedestrians when it's really a pretty busy area), but I was also somewhat surprised that there are a few people visible in the apartments who are standing up and yet are surprisingly sharp. I don't have an answer for that other than to say that's how the camera captured it.
The gigapixel photo, while extremely cool and utterly awesome (like it is seriously boggling my mind lol!), does not fall into this category.
Sorry to be pedantic!