TechMiso

We are sure that just about everyone has seen the gigapixel image from Obama’s innauguration. Tech blogs are jumping all over this as the next big thing without realizing that gigapixel imaging has been around for years.

The technology is getting more advanced and cheaper, but it is hardly a new concept.

You can create gigapixel images with film, compact digital cameras, DSLR’s, or a fully custom digital rig. It really depends on your budget and the time you want to spend creating these pretty amazing images. The two basic methods are single gigapixel image capture or stitching hundreds of 6-10 mega-pixel images together.

If you are into using good old-fashion film, check out the Gigapxl Project. This group of photographers started thinking about this project in 2000 when digital photography was in its infancy. They concluded that they could reach the magical gigapixel barrier using 9″x18″ inch film. This size film is not something you just stick in your normal SLR camera, so they had to get creative and build the camera around it. They would take theses huge film negatives and scan them to digital using very high end scanners to create the final gigapixel image. You can read some very technical and detailed information about the whole process on their site.

In Nov 2003, Max Lyons published an amazing picture of Bryce Point on tawbaware.com. He went the complete digital route by combining 196 images captured from a 6 mega-pixel camera totaling 40,784 x 26,800 pixels in size. The amazing thing was their really wasn’t any software at the time to stitch all of these images together, so he modified his work-flow and actually wrote new code to accomplish this. His software and stitching process provided the basic method for creating gigapixel images from small sensor cameras.

The latest and probably the most user friendly system is from Gigapan. They bring a complete package that consists of the robotic camera mount, stitching software, and even a dedicated hosting site on the web. The gigapan epic can handle most compact digital cameras and they will be bringing a DSLR capable camera mount to the market in a few months.  When you are ready to create your image, you basically set the upper left and bottom right parameters of your image and the gigapan will calculate the amount of images needed to complete the image. It organizes the image sequence for easy importation into the gigapan stitcher software. Once it works out the sequence you press “go” and the robotic arm takes over adjusting the camera angle and pressing the shutter. After completion you import all of the images into the gigapan software and let the stitching process begin. This process can be very time consuming. The Obama inauguration photo took over 6 hours on a MacBook Pro to stitch. Overall the Gigapan system seems to be the best way to break into gigapixel imaging.

The technology for gigapixel imaging is now readily available to the masses, but you have to ask yourself if this is something you can dedicate a lot of time and resources to or something you would do only once or twice? The concept can produce some pretty amazing images, but it will take the right subject matter and a bit of trial and error to get it right.

Anyone want to split the cost and share a gigipan?