Gigapixel Photography

[Joe]

This is some cool stuff. Check out this web site of gigapixel photography. Zoom in on some part of the image of things very far away and let the zoom load. Very fine detail of objects very far away.

Gigapixel Photography

for example, this part of this image:

[smg id=657]

And when zoomed in becomes:

[smg id=656]

You have to see it to see the full awesomeness of it.

[delooch]

You have to see it to see the full awesomeness of it.

Nice, but i bet you a $20 bill that they sent their printer a 72dpi GIF to have it printed...

[frailer]

This guy's playing with a remote... at least I think he's playing with a remote.   :undecided:

I betcha they waited a while for a day like that in Vancouver.   :laugh:

... apropos of nothing, anyone curious about Vancouver, the man, should read "Passage to Juneau", by Jonathon Raban. A sad man, but a very smart mathematician and navigator. Raban also takes most of the gloss off the BC/Alaska coastline. Great read.

Good link. Thanks, Joe.   :cool:

[hotmetal]

That was pretty good, thanks!  I've got a 12MP point-n-shoot for now, waiting for another generation or two of imaging chips to come along and get cheap before I invest in a DSLR.

Zooming in on these pictures reminded me of Powers of Ten (made in 1968) which, if you never saw it, here's a youtube of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0#

[Joe]

Interesting stuff.

[frailer]

Sure was, hm. Thanks. Mr Ivy League picnicking.   :laugh:  Musta been the humour content.   :smiley:

And HTF did they do that in 1968?       A tiny fraction of the CGI power people have on desktops these days.   

[Tracy]

that was cool!

[DigiCorn]

And HTF did they do that in 1968?    

Awww, come on guys, it's so simple. Maybe you need a refresher course. Hey! It's all ball bearings nowadays.

[Farabomb]

Fletch quote, nice.

[gnubler]

And HTF did they do that in 1968?    

Prolly the same way they flew a rocket to the moon.  :laugh: I mean, they didn't even have smartphones or Photoshop back then.

[hotmetal]

And HTF did they do that in 1968?    

Prolly the same way they flew a rocket to the moon.  :laugh: I mean, they didn't even have smartphones or Photoshop back then.

Highly technical camera work. Remember those big cameras we used to have in our shops? Ever seen one of those huge vertical animation stands with a 35mm Forox camera head? It was a corporate project and the Eames were at the peak of high end design technology at that time, with a studio full of flunkies to do the frame-by-frame scuttwork. Look up Charles and Ray Eames sometime. You probably bought one of the knock-offs of one of their chairs at a yard sale in the '80s.

[frailer]

Yeah, aware of the Eames bros. I don't like knock-offs. Heard a whole thing about knock-offs on a long cross-city trip a few weeks ago. Compelling arguments as to why they should be avoided, apart from the obvious... "it'll fall apart" one.

Design is really important. In our market, Mazda sells well. Back in the late 90s we had a car holding yard next door to out plant. Mazda was in trouble at the time. It looked like bean-counters had taken over the design dept. Fridges on wheels...ugly. Then there was some link up with Ford or something... a few years later they started putting out slick-looking cars. Sales took off again. They're now over-baked, IMO; look like bad imitations of Batmobiles, but people buy them. I doubt the platform/suspension/donk are much different.
But I digress...

[Farabomb]

Ford and Mazda got into bed in the 90's. Think they are still as of now. Mazda can make a good car, the Miata (mx-5) is a perfect example. They took the idea of a British roadster and made it work without all the crappy electronics and maintenance intensive running gear. They keep selling tons of them and they have their own bespoke racing series over here. Mazda really supports their grassroots racing and I respect that. They also made a few amazing cars that when working are fantastic. The RX-7 is a great car, I just never would want to own one. The rotary engine works... when it's race maintained. They won the 24hrs of Le Mans with a 4 rotor version, the only Japanese manufacturer win to date. Every person I know that owned one loved it when it ran but the reliability left something to be desired.

Ford USA must be a separate entity from Ford global becasue they can make a good car, and do everywhere but America. The UK escort cozzies, the Focus RS, the Falcon you guys have, all great cars but we don't get them. Yes there are some great mustangs and the GT40 but until recently we got the shaft.