Let’s say it one more time. Panoramic super-resolution HDR 1:1 macro wonderland.
Why would you do that?
Well, let’s start with the panoramic part. If your intention is to go 1:1, same size on earth, same size on sensor, panoramic is the logical step forward if what you are photographing is bigger than your sensor. Well, there you have it. Yes, there are “new prototype macro photography robotic systems” that make gigapixel macro photography right now as I’m writing this but since the race for the gigapixel started now it’s all about “buying the experimental robot”. Granted, it might be impossible to take x thousand+ photographs by hand from the top a building with a 1000mm lens so fast (you, not the lens) that you can actually pull it off. However, I’ll try to get about 100 Mpx of 1:1 macro.
Super-resolution. Ah, nerd heaven.The funny thing is that it actually works. Sort of. Every photograph going into the panorama stitching software will start as a set of 4 which will be merged into one double sized super-resolution image. So quadruple the amount of photographs for twice the size, no noise and no anti-alias. Processing time? Up there in the hundreds of hours. As a side note on super-resolution you should look at it as just “double the size”. If you were to have a camera with twice the sensor size, yes that would also mean “double the size” but it would also mean that your Mpx/sensor size ratio would be different and that makes a whole world of a difference. So, for practical reasons, we’ll just say that no detail is actually infused into the image as a result of our super-res antics.
HDR is just HDR. Looks great if you don’t go overboard. Good HDR is HDR that people don’t realise is HDR. Or you could just show it to someone who doesn’t know what HDR is and how it looks like. Still might look really cheesy though.
Useful thing I have learned today: Do not studio-flash-nuke at point-blank range a snail that appears to be dead. He is actually hibernating. It pisses him off. Really. After that you’ll have to let him eat your potted plants just to make up for your mistake.
Tomorrow: Proof of panoramic super-resolution HDR 1:1 macro wonderland concept.
