GigaPan Epic imager released, your party photos will never be the same
By Laura June 
posted January 30th 2009 9:55AM
posted January 30th 2009 9:55AM
[Via Photography Blog] Launch of "Epic" Signals New Era of Panoramic Images
GigaPan Delivers High-Res Panoramas for Point-and-Shoot Cameras with NASA Technology
PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The GigaPan Epic, launched today, empowers experienced and novice photographers to capture detailed panoramas with almost any point-and-shoot digital camera. Powered by out-of-this world technology from the NASA Mars Rover, GigaPan makes it easy and fun to create giga-pixel panoramas.
Professional freelance photographer, David Bergman, took his first GigaPan panorama of President Obama's inaugural address, an Epic shot seen around the world. The sweeping image of the new President addressing millions of Americans has such phenomenal detail that by zooming in it is possible to recognize individual faces. Millions have visited GigaPan.org to find themselves in the crowd.
"I knew that this was an important picture, and the story I wanted to convey was the sheer size of the crowd. No single lens could have captured the scene at that quality," said Bergman. "I couldn't have done it without GigaPan."
The GigaPan Epic is so easy to use, Bergman was able to capture this historic shot the very first time he used it. The Epic includes fully integrated software and works seamlessly with GigaPan.org. Everyone can capture the same incredibly detailed images right out of the box. The GigaPan Epic, complete with the GigaPan Stitcher software, is available now at http://www.gigapansystems.com for $379.
Here is how it works: First a digital camera is attached to the Epic, a small robotic mount that automates the picture taking process. Next, the hundreds or thousands of resulting images are downloaded to a computer and the GigaPan Stitcher software automatically combines them into a panorama. Then the GigaPan.org Web site makes it easy to post GigaPan panoramas for sharing with a global community, and the GigaPan Viewer allows people to zoom in and out to explore the panoramas in detail.
"Today we are offering the general public breakthrough high-resolution imaging technology that is the result of years of research by scientists at NASA and Carnegie Mellon University," said Henry Hillman Jr., Founder, President and CEO of GigaPan Systems. "The potential applications for the Epic are limitless. The GigaPan.org site already features more than 10,000 panoramas, and our beta users have taken fantastic panoramas not only of President Obama's Inauguration, but of Yankee Stadium, Chicago skylines, Hawaiian landscapes and thousands of extraordinary images."
GigaPan Panoramas Around the World
High-resolution images captured with the beta version of the GigaPan Epic have already been displayed in exhibits around the world and online at the GigaPan.org Web site.
The City of Chicago's new tourism Web site, http://www.explorechicago.org, features enormous GigaPan panoramas of Chicago. As part of the launch of the new website, millions of visitors to Chicago's O'Hare airport will see an exhibit of 30-by 10-foot mural-size giga-pixel GigaPan photographs of iconic Chicago locations, including the skyline, Millennium Park, and the CME Group Financial Trading Floor. Photography instructor and multimedia artist Jennifer Gooch was one of the GigaPan beta users invited to take GigaPans of Chicago, and her work will be on display in the exhibit.
"The GigaPan Epic is empowering. With just a basic point-and-shoot camera the Epic allows you to create extraordinary images," said Gooch. "As a photographer, I find the Epic to be the ultimate landscape tool. It allows me to not only take really large pictures, but also to explore the pictures in ways we've never been able to do before."
The GigaPan Epic was originally used as part of a cultural exchange program, the Global Connection Project, which aims to help connect communities and people around the globe through images. Many of these images are available for viewing online with the unique GigaPan viewer, at the GigaPan sharing community, http://www.gigapan.org. Visit to see how GigaPan images offer viewers a new, unique perspective on the world.
Pricing and Availability
The GigaPan Epic robotic camera mount with integrated GigaPan Stitcher software and GigaPan Viewer is the first complete solution for high-resolution imaging. The GigaPan Epic is available now for $379. The GigaPan Epic 100, available soon for $449, a second model designed for larger point-and-shoot digital camera models. For more information and to purchase the Epic and Epic 100, visit http://www.gigapan.org.
About GigaPan Systems
GigaPan Systems was formed in 2008 as a commercial spin-off of a successful research collaboration between a team of researchers at NASA and Carnegie Mellon University. The company's mission is to bring this powerful, high-resolution imaging capability to a broad audience. For more information, visit http://www.gigapansystems.com
$380 isn't bad considering I was thinking it'd be $3,800
I agree for that price it easy to own. I just don't know how often I would use it.
agreed,thats a very attractive price...someone needs to take one of these to a space shuttle launch
It was $100 during the beta, although mine doesn't have the snazzy graphics or fancy-pants "Epic" name on it.
I meant $100 _less_ during the beta. TGIF.
That's EPIC!
The inauguration photo is awesome! Be sure to check out the ninjas on the roof. If anyone had tried anything, they would have taken them right out.
I would just save my money. I already use Autostich which does it for free. You just have to take the pictures yourself and make sure that they overlap a bit and this thing rotates and blends them together for you. www.autostitch.net/ Even though it is a "demo" it is fully functional and has no limits (as far as I know)
I can only imagine the awesome adventures of people trying to post this stuff up. hint: bandwidth wall
More like clogged tubes.
The stitcher app that comes with it automatically uploads the completed image to the gigapan website, where they can be publicly (or privately) viewed using a decent zoom/pan interface.
I thought I wanted to see a full size print out display of some of these photos at an exhibit, but then the ecological cost of printing made my inner al gore cry.
Who the hell is going to carry this thing to the places where most people want to take panoramic pictures? It's enormous! Seems like the applications are pretty limited...
Are you a midget? (No offense of course)
But it doesn't look that big to me
But I guess it's kind of a trade off
Have a picture with a higher resolution than real life OR take a "crappy" 10 MP foto with the sides of the panorama cut off
This would fit into a small over-the-shoulder bag. And, it's not for panoramas - it's for photo-stitching. You CAN make panoramas, but that is not it's only purpose.
Any large format film camera simply dwarfs this system, so look at the potential quality vs. the size. I would say that's a very acceptable trade off. Ansel Adams sure as hell didn't complain about using 8x10 view cameras and plate-glass negatives that he had to coat and develop on a mountain himself. So if it's quality you're after, I wouldn't complain about the size of this thing - lest the photography gods smite every piece of equipment you own.
Great for the low price of $379 and a point and shoot digitial you can make your own Gigapr0n.
I can literally think of a dozen places where GPan shall prove its worth.
The world of porn will never be the same again..
Wow Im glad someone said it before I did........
Since you're both in violation, I feel that it's my turn to be that guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis
@absinthe party
This is the internet, if people cared about proper punctuation, spelling, subject verb agreement or any other facet of grammar, places like Engadget would have been out years ago.
I'm surprised they've rigged up a mechanical solution for pushing the camera's button, rather than (you know) firing it in a clever way via a USB connection and software.
The mechanical solution to the shutter button was I think probably a way to make it available to nearly all P&S. Most P&S don't have a way to trip the shutter thru usb (some like the Canon G models do of course) A lot of the smaller cameras allow tripping thru an infrared sensor, mechanical would be a better way to go I think. The mechanical tripper was probably easier than asking people to hack their P&S as some people have done to allow usb tripping. Now the dslr model I would bet probably will allow shutter tripping thru a cable connection. Now if you're really motivated you get the gigapan and a camera that has wi-fi built in or aftermarket, and you can probably build the panoramic as the pictures come across.
Every camera model would need its own code for that, when it is possible, which is probably unlikely on most P&S cameras.
Yeah, I can't imagine most P&S cameras have the capability to shoot tethered. Besides, I think a mechanical solution is pretty clever in it's own right.
Most cameras likely cannot be controlled in this way through a USB connection, and even if they could, there would be different standards across different manufacturers. This is the only way they could do it and have it work with almost all cameras.
I know some people on the development team. You are correct that the mechanical button pusher is to bypass the problems you'd encounter if trying to control shutters through a cable. Many cameras don't even support shutter control via cable.
I'm wondering when they'll come out with a DSLR version.
OMG 200 shots x 30MP =WOW. Ppload that and Comcast will not only throttle your bandwidth, they'll send the boys over to tear out your cabling and shoot your dog as a warning.
I would LOVE a DSLR version! Plus, I live in Canada, so I don't have to worry about Comcast's pesky bandwidth limitations.
yeahhhh, MOST new point and shoots, at least the one engadget covers, have more megapixels than DSLRs. Considering most DSLRs are 10-12mp while only a small fraction are 21mp and then the hassablads and other production devices (or brains) capable of producing larger images.
OK, so let me get this straight: this thing has servos that make your camera tilt up and down, has a thing that actuates your shutter (and controls zoom?) and has another servo underneath the machine that makes the whole thing turn around, am I right?
This would actually make it suck for parties, because you either have everybody freeze for the five minutes it may take to take every possible shot or your mates will suddenly become omnipresent.
Why the heck would you need to zoom. I think all it does is pan and tilt and shoot. Nothing else. All the picture are going to be taped together, you wouldn't want it different zoom or speed to make it look uniform.
What kind of a party would you be using this at? Some college apartment party?
I think this is meant for some things on a grander scale. Like the outdoors or maybe a large sporting event/stadium.
If you're trying to use this inside your apartment or house, you're probably a moron.
Raves! :)
Wait... raves still happen!?
Well atleast it doesn't pretend to be some hightech device costing 10 times more. I think that's reasonable. Not like I'm going to need it though. Bad thing is...people move around and they might appear two times in 1 photo, some are probably missing an arm or leg here and there.
If you look at the inauguration photo, Aretha Franklin's head looks like its on some dudes body.
Yes! I noticed this, too! There are some other blips as well -- a missing appendage here and there -- I like it. The hat and body missing a head in front of Aretha is creepy, though.
What is the advantage over just snapping a shitload of pictures and stitching together? Not snark, just curious.
Stable, computer controlled rotation between shots, combined with their software that knows how to scale/stitch based on said preprogrammed movements. If you had perfectly steady hands and the patience to do it all yourself in photoshop, yeah, you could do the same thing, in theory. This is easier and more repeatable.
There are already panorama "heads" available for tripods. Take this one :http://www.adorama.com/BG303SPH.html?searchinfo=panoramic&item_no=4 This is a manfrotto and here, it is over $500. A fully ROBOTIC one is not only cooler, but cheaper as well. :-) From what I have read, it works out where you need the next shot, and does them all, at once. I can't imagine that Manfrotto is going to be happy.
But, that being said, you CAN pull off hand-held, as well. I love doing panoramas. Here are a couple I have done hand-held or on a normal tripod mount:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryfter/3208966536/ - hand held
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryfter/2978452881/ - in this one, if you look close, the buildings near the right are kind of leaning. And, it gets worse. From my understanding, the dedicated heads prevent that from occurring, because they pivot the lens, not the camera body. This was with a normal tripod.
Speed, accuracy, and consistency. I've been thinking about making something like this for a couple of years. I'm glade I'm able to just buy one for far cheaper than it would cost me to make it myself.
Tell me when they release an SLR version.
After seeing this:
http://gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374&window_height=570&window_width=999
And having it come in under five hundie:
SOOOOLD AMERICAN $$$$$!
I'm pissed! Originally "Expected to cost "around $200 or less" how did it double in price. I agree though, it is still pretty awesome for its price... at $250 I would buy one for the fun of it, but at $380 it is a bit expensive just to play with... Now, how fast and how smart would you have to be to manage to appear in every frame!!!
What is REALLY funny, is when the picture FIRST came out, and got the hype, the devices cost $100 less. Now, with all the hype, they removed their "introductory" pricing.
they've got a bunch of pretty sweet videos showing how this "wondermachine" works
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=HNIvJlx0E4U&feature=related
... great for panoramas of your gf taking a bath. 3 rows, 6 columns is a decent poster size
You could use it anywhere that you needed a fisheye lens. Most people don't like the fisheye because all of the image bending ruins the picture. I am imagining this will keep the lines straight.
Getting a 160 to 180 degree view of a room would be great for real estate photos.
I think you mean wide-angle...fisheyes warp the image this make your non-wide angle so wide(with out warp) it becomes awesome
Well this is great for essentially static scenes, but how about if you wanted to take an action picture? It'd be nice if a manufacturer would come out with a multi-lens, multi-sensor camera that could take panoramic images in one shutter instance so that you could capture a motion event.