[Noisebridge-discuss] Looking for Gigapan

[Michael Shiloh]

Very good observation. I'm glad to know the history and what part 
Gigapan really played.

Thanks!
M

Don French wrote:
> Gigapan didn't really do much that was innovative, as far as hardware or 
> software is concerned.   There were many motorized, programmable, 
> pan-tilt heads long before the Gigapan (Harbortronics, Peace River, 
> Klauss, Pinnacle-VR to name a few).  In fact, my product was on the 
> market before Gigapan -- but not by much.  Also, there were several high 
> quality stitching programs long before Gigapan, including most notably 
> AutoPano and PTGui, which is a GUI front end on Panorama Tools, the 
> granddaddy of them all.  What Gigapan brought to the party was the 
> integration of THEIR hardware with THEIR stitching software and THEIR 
> website for uploading and viewing panos.  Their one hardware innovation 
> was providing the means to fire the shutter on a P&S camera, and while 
> it is kind of kludgey, it works -- and bringing the P&S crowd into the 
> game is what is really responsible for the widespread popularity of 
> their gadget.  Also, the price point was within reach of the average 
> person, thanks largely to a substantial per-unit subsidy by Google.   
> So, while the Gigapan people did not really invent much, they did add 
> greatly to the popularization of panoramic photography by the masses, 
> for which I am eternally grateful. 
> 
> -- Don
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 9:09 AM, Michael Shiloh 
> <michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com <mailto:michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>     i consider gigapan less about the technology and more about the
>     concept and the stitching software. and i think that is brilliant.
> 
>     really, any mechanism can be used, but i would still consider that
>     gigapan came up with the idea (but maybe i'm wrong).
> 
>     at any rate, i'd love to see a slew of DIY gigapan projects, at
>     different price/performance points.
> 
>     i think this is very rich territory which extends way beyond
>     panoramic views. did you see the work rich gibson's daughter molly
>     is doing with electron microscopes? totally changes the way electron
>     microscopes have to be scheduled, and, as you know, they are not
>     cheap. could be applied to mri and cat scans as well, i assume.
> 
>     what else could gigapan be applied to? i'd like to take a gigapan of
>     my workshop and somehow identify everything in it so i can find it
>     later.
> 
>     m
> 
>     Mark Cohen wrote:
> 
> 
>         Hey Don,
>         Is that the device that requires the user to have a PocketPC?
>         As for gigapan, I've not personally used one, but a friend of
>         mine does quite regularly. He had problems with the gigapan in
>         sub freezing temperatures and had to make an insulator for it.
>         (The gearing got gummy and he could hear the cogs grind) From
>         that knowledge, I would probably recommend Don's mount over the
>         Gigapan for any temperature critical areas. (Joshua Tree gets
>         COLD at night I hear) :)
> 
>         On a side note, the guy who does the Gigapan was absolutely NO
>         help to my friend. So I tend to avoid them. JMHO.
> 
>         /Mark/
> 
>         On Oct 7, 2009, at 5:39 PM, Don French wrote:
> 
>             No, but I have a competing device that I designed and now
>             manufacture and sell and that I would be happy to loan you.
>              But you need a DSLR, not a P&S camera.  You can read about
>             it here:  http://www.thegadgetworks.com/index.html. You
>             probably also want to read these two pages:
>             http://www.thegadgetworks.com/products.html and
>             http://www.thegadgetworks.com/faqs.html.  For shooting
>             gigapixel panos, this is a far superior machine than the
>             Gigapan (IMH and very biased O).  The About page has a
>             little about me: http://www.thegadgetworks.com/about_us.html.
>             -- Don
> 
> 
>             On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 4:56 PM, Laura Khalil
>             <zazenergy at gmail.com <mailto:zazenergy at gmail.com>
>             <mailto:zazenergy at gmail.com <mailto:zazenergy at gmail.com>>>
>             wrote:
> 
>                Hi all,
> 
>                Does anyone have a gigapan they'd be willing to loan out
>             for a
>                short trip I'll be taking to Joshua Tree?  Alternately,
>             if you can
>                recommend a camera shop which rents such equipment I'd be
>             really
>                grateful!
> 
>                Laura
> 
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