Easily create Gigapixel images with a cheap megapixel camera and Free Hugin Panorama Generator

I am selling this Car Park in Leith Edinburgh for my mum, so I didn't have a big budget for the sort of wide angle photography necessary when shooting real estate.

I shot handheld with my 2 Megapixel Automatic Nikon, lots of differently exposed overlapping shots, turning round while standing still. I should have locked the exposure for each shot but well tempus fugit.

On my Ubuntu Hardy Acer 6502 laptop I threw the photos at Hugin, it chugged away for 20 mins, probably I could get it faster if I ran a 64 Ubuntu but 32 bit Ubuntu just works.

20 minutes of processing later I had 40 Megapixel images, stunning wide angle and 360 panorama shots - wow.

Hugin corrected the lens distortion, adjusted the different exposures uniformly, found matching points in different photos, rejiggered the perspective in clever AI Escher perspective math ways, and produced automatically these stunning images.

And Hugin is free!

Real Estate 40 Megapixel Panorama from 2 Megapixel handheld shots (Leith Edinburgh Johns Place Car Park).

Two layers make this dramatic photo of Johns Place Leith Listed Whisky Bond Building.

Hugin stitched Panorama of Leith Links, Wellington Place, Johns Place, Edinburgh.

OK so they aren't Gigapixel sized but the above practice should scale well and I'm getting a loan of a Canon A90 with manual exposure for consistency and 5 Megapixels, so Gigapixel here I come.

Oh yeh and if you want to help out and buy my mum's parking yard and vennel then just drop me a line or call, my number's on the Web page.