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This breathtaking panorama of Tokyo is the second largest photo in the world

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Photographer Jeffrey Martin of 360Cities recently unveiled a 360-degree panorama of Tokyo measuring 180 gigapixels, making it the second largest photo in the world
Zooming into some areas, you can easily make out an individual person's face, read license plates, and even peek inside some shop windows
From the camera's viewpoint of 20 stories high, it's possible to spot specific structures and landmarks up to 30 km (18 miles) away, including the city's tallest building, the Tokyo Skytree
There are a few stray glitches here and there, but they don't detract from the stunning snapshot of the city laid out before you
Jeffrey Martin spent two days on the roof of the Tokyo Tower's lower observation deck to shoot the 10,000 individual images that would eventually form the completed panorama
There are a few stray glitches here and there, but they don't detract from the stunning snapshot of the city laid out before you
Each photo was shot with a Canon 7D digital SLR fitted with a Canon 400-mm f5.6 L lens
Jeffrey Martin spent two days on the roof of the Tokyo Tower's lower observation deck to shoot the 10,000 individual images that would eventually form the completed panorama
Each photo was shot with a Canon 7D digital SLR fitted with a Canon 400mm f5.6 L lens
It may fall well short of breaking the record for the world's largest photo, but this is still the largest photo of Tokyo ever made
Photographer Jeffrey Martin of 360Cities recently unveiled a 360-degree panorama of Tokyo measuring 180 gigapixels, making it the second largest photo in the world
The full image measures 600,000 x 300,000 pixels, which would produce a photo stretching 100 m (328 ft) wide and 50 m (164 ft) tall if it were printed at a normal photographic resolution
Photographer Jeffrey Martin of 360Cities recently unveiled a 360-degree panorama of Tokyo measuring 180 gigapixels, making it the second largest photo in the world
It may fall well short of breaking the record for the world's largest photo, but this is still the largest photo of Tokyo ever made
Fujitsu Technology Solutions sponsored the project and provided the Celsius R920 workstation that pieced together the final panorama into an image that viewers can explore by panning and zooming in on the scenery
Even with 192GB of RAM and a 12-core processor, the computer needed 12 weeks to process the image, plus some extra time to convert it into an interactive panorama for web browsers
The level of detail seen in the panorama is remarkable
Even with 192 GB of RAM and a 12-core processor, the computer needed 12 weeks to process the image, plus some extra time to convert it into an interactive panorama for web browsers
Zooming into some areas, you can easily make out an individual person's face, read license plate numbers, and even peek inside some shop windows
From the camera's viewpoint of 20 stories high, it's possible to spot specific structures and landmarks up to 30 km (18 miles) away
From the camera's viewpoint of 20 stories high, it's possible to spot specific structures and landmarks up to 30 km (178.6 miles) away
Zooming into some areas, you can easily make out an individual person's face, read license plate numbers, and even peek inside some shop windows
As you might expect, the level of detail seen in the panorama is impeccable
The full image measures 600,000 x 300,000 pixels, which would produce a photo stretching 100 m (328 ft) wide and 50 m (164 ft) tall if it were printed at a normal photographic resolution
Each photo was shot with a Canon 7D digital SLR fitted with a Canon 400mm f5.6 L lens
The full image measures 600,000 x 300,000 pixels, which would produce a photo stretching 100 m (328 ft) wide and 50 m (164 ft) tall if it were printed at a normal photographic resolution
As you might expect, the level of detail seen in the panorama is impeccable
View gallery - 26 images

Photography group 360Cities seems determined to capture every major city in the world in as much detail as possible. Shortly after putting together a 360-degree panorama of London and breaking the record for world's largest photo in the process, the group's founder Jeffrey Martin set his sights on Tokyo for his next project. This latest panorama may not trump his old record, but at 180 gigapixels, it's still the second largest photo ever taken.

Back in September of 2012, Martin spent two days on the roof of the Tokyo Tower's lower observation deck to shoot the 10,000 individual images that would eventually form the completed panorama. Each photo was shot with a Canon 7D digital SLR fitted with a Canon 400-mm f5.6 L lens. The camera was mounted to a Clauss Rodeon VR Head ST robotic panorama rig, moved to three spots around the tower, and programmed to automatically capture the entire vantage point.

As you might expect, the level of detail seen in the panorama is impeccable

Fujitsu Technology Solutions sponsored the project and provided the Celsius R920 workstation that pieced together the final panorama into an image that viewers can explore by panning and zooming in on the scenery. Even with 192 GB of RAM and a 12-core processor, the computer needed 12 weeks to process the image, plus some extra time to convert it into an interactive panorama for online viewing.

It may fall well short of breaking the record for the world's largest photo, which clocked in at a mammoth 320 gigapixels, but this is still the largest photo of Tokyo ever made. The full image measures 600,000 x 300,000 pixels, which would produce a photo stretching 100 m (328 ft) wide and 50 m (164 ft) tall if it were printed at a normal photographic resolution. From the camera's viewpoint of 20 stories high, it's possible to spot specific structures and landmarks up to 30 km (18 miles) away, including the city's tallest building, the Tokyo Skytree.

Each photo was shot with a Canon 7D digital SLR fitted with a Canon 400mm f5.6 L lens

The level of detail seen in the panorama is remarkable. Zooming into some areas, you can easily make out an individual person's face, read license plates, and even peek inside some shop windows. There are a few stray glitches here and there (lighting that shifts unnaturally, buildings merged with plants, duplicated people and cars, etc.), but they don't detract from the stunning snapshot of the city laid out before you.

If you want to explore the city of Tokyo for yourself, head over to 360Cities website to view the full 360-degree panorama in your browser.

Source: 360Cities - Tokyo Tower

View gallery - 26 images
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2 comments
Delmonte
Pretty awesome photo. Funny some parts you can see the same thing multiple times. Around the center blackness there's a part where there is an orange crane and truck. Behind the truck you can see the same silver prius three times, same license plate and all. The top of the crane appears twice, but you have to expect a little error when creating a panorama that large. Amazing how a computer could stitch all these images together.
carbon
Impressive, but it is not the second largest. For example, here is a 272 gigapixel image of Shanghai by Alfred Zhao: http://gigapan.com/gigapans/66626 This is commonly available technology and while computer processing time can be long, it is not out of reach of those of us who regularly deal with large photo images even on home workstations. Wikipedia cites several examples that are larger than 180 gigapixels.