Sorry fellows but I really don't understand why you are being so mean.

Perhaps I am gullible but I think that some of those shots are nothing sort of amazing.

My favourite is the night time shot of London - 34 shots stitched together.

gigapan: South Bank over looking the River Thames, Big Ben, London Eye

And the one of Boston gigapan: Boston BackBay Charles river is just so much fun. For a few hundred dollars this must be a fantastic toy/tool.

I would doubt very much that is is a scam, after all it is endorsed by Carnegie Mellon University, NASA, Google, and National Geographic. I challenge anyone here to but together a 200 shot panoramic without this kit or a similar system.

JMHO.

For me it has everything to do with honesty. This company intentionally mislead all into thinking that the shot of the inauguration was taken by a point and shoot camera on one of their mounts when, indeed, it was not. They used a Canon DSLR with a modified Nikon lens on a specially built mount.

How convenient of them to forget to tell the consumer this while using the photograph to get us to believe that a point and shoot can take that photo with their mount. I will call a spade a spade here. That is a lie! Intentional or not it is deception and by definition a scam.

[simons-photography]

I would doubt very much that is is a scam, after all it is endorsed by Carnegie Mellon University, NASA, Google, and National Geographic. I challenge anyone here to but together a 200 shot panoramic without this kit or a similar system.

JMHO.

you don't need to it has been done, can't remember the guys website address now but a chap did a gigapixel shot using a manual tripod !

like I said give me a good quality tripod with degrees marked on it and I'd be happy to tackle it ! after all its only 10 frames high and 20 wide.

what you forgot is this gadget convenient cut US the serious photographers out of the picture. 200 shots ? thats 200 X 10 secs (as recomended by manufacturer) thats 2000 seconds to take the pano thats about 35 minuits do you know how much can change in that time ? This could have been made for DSLR's which could have been ontrolled by the device directly (via infrared or shutter cable socket) and work much fasyer making it more feasable.

Simon,
I have no doubt that you could pull of a shot like that with a manual tripod. There are darned few who could but, judging from your work, you are one that possesses the skills to do it!

To all,
I hold nothing against Carnegie/Mellon University, N.A.S.A. or Nation Geographic. I applaud them in their efforts to successfully develop the mount and software. They are not the ones laying down the questionable sales pitch.

[wymjym]

Hi,
I was under the impression that it was taken with a G10, focussed at the max optical zoom, 140mm.
I read and heard an interview immediately after the inauguration where the photographer explained the entire process.
Dare I say that if it was taken with a G10, then is is really a pretty good attempt.
wj

[navcom]

I think NatGeo and NASA are involved with hyping it because the technology is, to them, in the "infant" stage. There is no doubt it's an intriguing technology, albiet useless in it's current form to the pro. Most gadgets start out in this fashion.

But at some point, this type of product will be made to accept the high-end DSLR and be able to interface directly with the camera's brain, allowing it to take 1000 shots in mere moments...or at least as fast as the shutter will operate....all the while repositioning the camera precisely where it needs to be for each shot.

When it can take a gigabyte photo with 1000 shots in 3 minutes, or something huge like that, it will be a worthwhile investment for the serious pano photographer. Until then, it is impractical for the serious DSLR user.

[alohadave]

well first the P&S owner has to buy the "robot" then will find that opps they need a good solid tripod to put that lot on, how many P&S users even have a tripod ?

Count me in. I had a tripod for years even though I was doing P&S. It's an awful arrogant thing to say that P&S shooters are completely ignorant.

[simons-photography]

Count me in. I had a tripod for years even though I was doing P&S. It's an awful arrogant thing to say that P&S shooters are completely ignorant.

I never said they were what I said (I think) is that the average P&S user does not have a tripod and so its an exspense on top of the gadget.

The wonderous software supplied with this is just another pano software there are lots of them around so on that front nothing new. also I'm pretty sure other people have used DSLR's on automated mounts and obtained panos so the idea is not new either. all this company has done is just abouts managed to put this together into a package thats widely available. technology ? its not a new technology really what does it take to rotate a mecahnical arm by "x" degrees ? and then use a timer to shoot pictures, the more inventive part of this thing is the part that would not have been neede in the first place if a DSLR was going onto it. there would be no need for the shutter pressing mechanism which is probably the most complex part as the machine could control the camera with the shutter release socket.

I thin successful / feasable panoramic photography boild down to

1) getting focusing right so the shots can be merged (luck more often that not in my case)
2) Having something in each picture that will allow the software to join the pictures together.

it is really about common sense and planning, something a machine does not have. I'm wondering how many people will take a lovelly landscape only to find when they get it home that they can't join the sky up because they will have 30+ shots that all look the same and can't be matched to any other shot for lack of "keying elements". Of course you could resolve this in photoshop given the skill but then this machine was not made for pros (not knocking P&S users at all mind you) so we are back to square one

[simons-photography]

Count me in. I had a tripod for years even though I was doing P&S. It's an awful arrogant thing to say that P&S shooters are completely ignorant.

of course a solid enough tripod to hold that gadget is like to cost 2-4 times your P&S camera, a £50 tripod will hold the P&S camera on its own and "manage" a DSLR but not that thing, thats quite bulky

[ukbluetooth]

I never said they were what I said (I think) is that the average P&S user does not have a tripod and so its an exspense on top of the gadget.

The wonderous software supplied with this is just another pano software there are lots of them around so on that front nothing new. also I'm pretty sure other people have used DSLR's on automated mounts and obtained panos so the idea is not new either. all this company has done is just abouts managed to put this together into a package thats widely available. technology ? its not a new technology really what does it take to rotate a mecahnical arm by "x" degrees ? and then use a timer to shoot pictures, the more inventive part of this thing is the part that would not have been neede in the first place if a DSLR was going onto it. there would be no need for the shutter pressing mechanism which is probably the most complex part as the machine could control the camera with the shutter release socket.

I thin successful / feasable panoramic photography boild down to

1) getting focusing right so the shots can be merged (luck more often that not in my case)
2) Having something in each picture that will allow the software to join the pictures together.

it is really about common sense and planning, something a machine does not have. I'm wondering how many people will take a lovelly landscape only to find when they get it home that they can't join the sky up because they will have 30+ shots that all look the same and can't be matched to any other shot for lack of "keying elements". Of course you could resolve this in photoshop given the skill but then this machine was not made for pros (not knocking P&S users at all mind you) so we are back to square one

I would just like to point out that they are curently developing a DSLR version which will be released in due course. I will certainly be interested in obtaining one (depending on price)

There - attach a nice long lens, point it at that beautiful landscape, press that button, relax and crack open that bottle of wine before the ice melts. OK - not Adams but then all photographic endeavour does not need to be high art.

[simons-photography]

OK - not Adams but then all photographic endeavour does not need to be high art.

I consider myself to be a record photographer I don't know what art there is in taking a picture my aim is just to create an accurate as possible representation of what is front of the camera and of course it has to be a pleasing picture thats about as far as my artistic talents go. To me its techincal exercise I was as pleased with my super closeup shots requiring macro lens and closeup filters of the cross section of a faulty radiator tank seam as I am with any of my pano's.

Regarding the "gadject" as far as I know - correct me if I'm wrong, the software they provide will not know where each shot goes except by matching up key points in the images. so you can site there and enjoy your wine but don't be dissapointed when you try to stitch the pano and find that 20+ images of blank sky cannot be put into the image, or that the clould moved so fast they are unsusable as keypoints. I prefer to aim each shot myself whilst keeping in mind the needs of the stitching software. like I said photography and particularly pano photigraphy to me is little more that a technical execution which if done correctly (assuming its possible to start with) can yeild the desired results: big images that represent the subject

[LeoTaylor]

Sorry fellows but I really don't understand why you are being so mean.
...
And the one of Boston gigapan: Boston BackBay Charles river is just so much fun. For a few hundred dollars this must be a fantastic toy/tool.
JMHO.

I like the 210 shot Boston pano as well. Cityscapes work well with that process, the people rarely move enough to cross two frames causing disembodied limbs. I like the fellow with the backpack on the balcony though he must have been notified he would be photographed.? The marathon across the bridge and observers at MIT can be seen when you zoom in.

One problem with this kind of thing, the reason I won't buy one, is I could only use it on a web page and then only with some zoom software my ISP does not support. My own photos are cropped and scaled to the size of my computer monitor. Several times more pixels does me little good. I like having a 6 MP K100D since I can't always fill the FOV on site but can crop/scale in post processing.

[ukbluetooth]

I like the 210 shot Boston pano as well. I like the fellow with the backpack on the balcony though he must have been notified he would be photographed.?

Yes, I am pretty sure he was, along with the pretty girl on the balcony who is looking in just the right direction.

[simons-photography]

ok theres just one good thing here: you can tell the software (not the gadjet) where each image goes resolving the issue of sky parts not stitching. of course this assumes you can arrange 100+ images correctly !! I'm just hoping thats real well written software though and I'd more interested in the software than the machine. all the machine does is make sure the pictures are accurately spaced, well for that money I'd buy the accurate head

[southy]

I saw an article about this on gizmodo again, which brought me back to this thread. I don't see why there is so much antagonism towards this mount. I think it is interesting, and $400 is actually fairly cheap for something low volume and microprocessor controlled. I would expect the natural evolution to be to move towards DSLR mounts. So what if they used a modified mount, perhaps it is something called a prototype to show off their future technology, which I think is common in any rapidly paced industry. it doesn't promise to stitch people and it doesn't promise to finish rapidly, but with the right conditions it could produce interesting pictures. I personally look forward to seeing what they could do.

My solution to this would be to mount a few dslrs at adjustable angles to one of these bad boys. Quickset International - Pan-Tilt Integrated Systems for Surveillance and Communication
Hook it up to a laptop, and actuate the shutters through the usb device. and stitch while downloading the images through the interface.

I think the two non-trivial problems this solves gracefully is that it can accommodate pan AND tilt through the axis of the imaging plane ( I would enjoy a link to a tripod that does that), and it can stitch thousands of images, which is extremely non-trivial to do.

[LeoTaylor]

Yes, I am pretty sure he was, along with the pretty girl on the balcony who is looking in just the right direction.

Ah, I found her.

The more I look the more I discover. A blimp (Goodyear?) and Coast Guard helicopter, perhaps in to Boston for the Marathon. A crew of workers on a rooftop. Many chimneys that for a lack of a better word I'll call, "Mary Poppins" style. A large purple and white vehicle which may the the famous Boston, "Amphibious Duck Tour." A butterfly, possibly a monarch, looking out of place but I don't think it was placed there by the photographer. A four man rowing crew looking at what appears to be another crew who capsized. Fastening.