Has anyone tried the new Gigapan setup????

[Terry]

This systems seems to be very reasonably priced if you think about what we pay for a pano setup from RRS or similar..... Anyone seen it? Tried it?

http://gigapansystems.com/system-page.html

 

[bradhusick]

Yes! I got one 3 days ago and put my LX3 on it. You really need a telephoto lens, so I got a Canon with 10x optical zoom, and it works great. I can't believe how easy it is to set up and what a great job the stitcher software does. Just make sure you shoot on manual exposure and set focus. You can't mount an M8 on it (too big) but they say they're coming out with a larger version.

 

[Terry]

Do you have final control over the file or do you have to go on line to view it?

 

[bradhusick]

once it is stitched the next step is to upload it. you don't have control to change it.

 

[Terry]

once it is stitched the next step is to upload it. you don't have control to change it.

Can you print it? Can you protect it or is everything public?

 

[Oxide Blu]

TEB - you are asking ALL of the questions I have about the GigaPan. I have read everything online I can get my hands on, the user manual, the marketing stuff, watched the YouTube vids, can't find a friggin' phone number to call them. That means any support is via online only.

On their website I read you must upload all of your files to do the stitching at GigaPan, then I read elsewhere on their website the stitching s/w is now sent with the robot. Which is it?!?

As Brad mentioned, the next generation GP is due out anytime now, will support a dSLR (or smaller), but will NOT support the weight of a long lens on the camera.

I suggest you read the entire manual online, and watch all of the various YouTube videos, i.e. how to change batteries, etc. I got a sense the robot is much more cheaply made than I previously thought. When I looked at it closer in the videos it impressed as being at the level of a high school science project, not something ready for primetime.

Brad - do you stitch the images on YOUR computer? Is the finished image JPEG or some proprietary format? At any point in creating a GigaPan image do you have to rely on GigaPan's website or is it something you do entirely with your computer?

 

[bradhusick]

You stitch the images on your computer. I had to download the software from a university site because GP is in the process of releasing a new version so their download link was broken.

You can upload the pano to a public site or just to your private account for viewing. I never thought about printing.

The robot is very well made, from steel. The battery holder is a bit flimsy, but adequate. I am using it with a Canon P&S with a 10x optical zoom and it works very well.

Keep asking questions and I will try to answer them.
-Brad

 

[Oxide Blu]

What is the format of the finished image, after stitching on your computer? Can you view it with whatever (Picasa?) common image viewing application on your computer?

Do you have a phone number for contacting GigaPan?

Thanks.

 

[bradhusick]

On your computer before you upload, you view it in the stitching application (just view, no zoom or pan - you see the whole image, that's it). No other app is available to view the file before upload.

Sounds bad, but you really want to upload and view in the way it was intended.

I don't have a phone number for them. Sorry.

 

[Oxide Blu]

What I picked up from one of the YouTube vids they link to on their website is that GigaPan is intended to be a "shared" project, not a tool for individual photographer's to use for themselves.

Thanks for sharing your input on the Gigapan robot. I am curious about it but think I want something that allows me to control the images I create. Maybe sounds easier than it is; the Gigapan stitching software is supposed to be pretty advanced stuff.

 

[bradhusick]

The software is completely automated. There are no settings to choose.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

You can of course just use your own stitching software and make the images for yourself, no reason why not, the images are on your SD card or whatever..

 

[LizaWitz]

If you need more flexibility, or possibly higher weight, you might look into using the robotic star tracking mounts for telescopes. Someone turned me on to this, and it would be great for doing time lapse slow pans, etc.