World?s Largest Panoramic Photo Is the Size of 1,200 Billboards

GigaPan?s robotic camera mounts can help spit out pictures to create fantastically detailed panoramic photos. That’s what photographer Gerald Donovan has used to create what is being billed as the world’s largest photo.

Donovan has created a 45-gigapixel image of Dubai that, if printed, would be the size of nearly 1,200 billboards, says GigaPan.

The photo consists of 4,250 pictures that took about three-and-a-half hours to shoot.

“This was intended as a technical test,” Donovan said in a statement. “It was about exploring the limits of the hardware and software out there.”

Earlier attempts using the GigaPan Epic mount have resulted in an 18-gigapixel panoramic view photo of Prague and a 26-gigapixel image of Paris.

GigaPan launched its Epic Pro mount in March. The mount can handle a DSLR camera and lens combination of up to 10 lbs. Earlier versions of the mount were created for lightweight and compact cameras. The Pro, designed with a magnesium chassis and aluminum arm, weighs about 8 lbs including the battery pack and features such as the ability to adjust time between exposure, motor speed, aspect ratio and picture overlap.

The image of Dubai’s landscape was shot using using a Canon 7D camera coupled with the Pro mount. With the help of GigaPan engineers, Donovan stitched the thousands of photos into one very large image using the Autopano stitching software and uploaded it to the GigaPan.org site.

Check out the 45-gigapixel photo of Dubai. You can zoom in and out and get a great view of Dubai including the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khailfa. The picture isn’t crystal clear though. Donovan says the poor air quality in Dubai when he shot the photo is to blame.

See Also: