Re: 17 Gigapixel Yosemite

A lot of people have probably already seen this, but I didn't see any old posts on it. Pretty amazing if you haven't seen it already. I like to zoom in from Washburn Point to find the people at Sierra Point.


17 Gigapixel Yosemite

Very cool. I have seen it, but enjoyed looking again. Only spotted two people on top of North Dome. How many on top of HD? Anybody see people anywhere else?

This is great. Are there any other photo locations like this in the park. I see several climbers along Half Dome's Snake Dike route, if you zoom in and go top to bottom.

http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/route_photo.php?r=yohasnak&dpid=Pj06Pzc4JScg

17 gigapixels is pretty small these days

This was pretty impressive when it first came out, but can be improved on now. ( not to diminish the WOW factor of the site, I appreciate the difficulty and skill in acquiring these images! it's just that this is a rapidly developing field, large gigapixel images are well beyond 17 now )

There might be other sites, but gigapan.org is the main Gigapixel image site that I'm aware of.

Yosemite National Park Geology A gallery of all of the Yosemite Gigapans of interest
xRez Studio has done some wonderful Gigapans
xRez's home page for Yosemite
Joel M. Baldwin's Yosemite National Park Gigapans These are Gigapans I've done ( many of these are in the first link )

If things go as I hope, I'll get some Gigapans done this coming summer that'll be over 30gigapixel. ( new camera and setup, this is what adds 20lbs to my already 30lb backpack! )

Any suggestions for a good gigapan photo spot?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2012 08:28PM by qumqats.

Clouds Rest would be cool. The Quarter Domes one is a bit similar, but Clouds Rest would probably be even better. Mount Watkins would also be good.

Each of the last two years I've done a multi-day backpacking trip with the intention of getting a Gigapan from Clouds Rest.
The first year I got up there too late, and then screwed up and massively overexposed the Gigapan.
The second year, this last summer, I got a double wammy of the shutter breaking on the camera in the middle of the Gigapan, and then the name sake socking in the top. It was pretty amazing being surrounded by clouds, but ruined the photo op.

Quarter Domes is a possibility. I got up there this summer and there's some interesting views.

I haven't been to the top of Mt Watkins. It's worth checking out.

One definite spot on my list for this summer is Illilouette Ridge.

So what kind of equipment do you use?! Gigapan Epic Pro or something like that?!

I've tried various things

1.)
Gigapan beta with a Canon SX10is worked pretty well. It has a telephoto lens that'll go to 560mm ( 35mm equiv ) that's pretty sharp. Image quality wasn't as good as I would have liked due to JPEG compression artifacts. I had to rig an external battery pack for the Gigapan and use freshly charged high capacity batteries for the camera. The limiting factor was the external battery pack. I was using RC car batteries, but they didn't last long enough for what I wanted.

2.)
The next rig was the Epic 100 with a Canon XSi DSLR and a Tamron 55B 500mm f8 mirror lens.
I went all out for battery power with a 11v 11Ah poly lithium battery and custom cabling with voltage regulation to drive both the camera and Epic.
Power wise this has worked out perfectly. A full charge on the battery will drive the Epic and camera for an entire trip. I've never run the battery down!
Camera/lens wise it sucks. The lens isn't very sharp and is near impossible to focus. DOF is next to nothing. I may have been getting more pixels, but I'm not sure I was getting more detail.

3.)
For my next setup I'm going to try substituting the XSi/Tamron 55B with a Canon SX40HS. This is 3 models past the SX10 so it has many improvements. It has a lens that goes to 840mm ( 35mm equiv ). The main problem is it doesn't have an external shutter release so I'll either have to use the clunky mechanical pusher on the Epic 100, or hack the camera. Another problem is the memory card slot is under the camera mount. I can't change the card in the middle of a Gigapan. I won't be able to change the cards in the middle of a shoot. It seems like the memory cards are NEVER large enough! Time to get some 32Gb cards

The Gigapan Epic Pro is too large and heavy for a multi-day backpacking trip. Size and weight is top of the list in my selection criteria.
That means that whatever camera/lens I use has to fit on the Epic 100.
Welcome to the GigaPan Store!
There are multiple sources of off-the-shelf hardware and software to do gigapixel images. It's pretty easy to do now compared to 5 years ago.

Men don't grow up, the just get more expensive toys.

sorry for hijacking the thread, i'll slink off into the peanutgallery now. . .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2012 10:19PM by qumqats.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

I'm travelling from Europe so my options are limited anyway as I only bring 2 x 24lbs. luggage for free.
That doesn't leave much of a choice for a motor controlled panoramic head. So far I'm bringing my camera gear in my hand luggage but airlines get more restrictive about that too.

I'm using a Canon Rebel T2i with different lenses (Canon 70-200L/f4, Canon 17-55/2.8 and a Tokina 11-16/2.8) plus a Acratech GP-S head on a Feiso 3442 tripod. It is heavy but I'm trying to haul this stuff with me whenever possible (I shredded a couple of backpacks in narrow slot canyons and when rapelling the camera gear sometimes really gets heavy).

The Acratech is a real great piece of hardware that I use for manual single row panoramas.

But of course those panos suck big time compared to the amazing gigapixel panos to be found on the web.

Hijack away!

Do you really want a list?

In no particular order:
Mt. Clark
Mt. Lyell
Mt. Watkins
Mt. Hoffman
Mt. Maclure
Horse Ridge
Red Peak
Navaho Peak
Tower Peak
Hetch Hetchy Dome
Kolana
Smith Peak
Richardson Peak
Mercur Peak
Bartlett Peak
Wildcat Pt.
Virginia Peak
Buena Vista Peak and Crest

and on and on (note I didn't mention a single one in Yosemite Valley)

and of course:

Loch Tablae



I may look into getting some of this gear.... just awesome faux toes joe

(but why the change from HH to Pika?)

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Quote
chick-on
. . . snip . . .(but why the change from HH to Pika?)

Just trying something different. . . What do I feel like, a pika, a chipmunk, a golden mantle?

Thanks to all who shared info and links to other gigapan shots. Great stuff.