It would seem 26-gigapixel panoramic websites are all the rage. You may remember my earlier post from December 2009 on a similar site offering some mind-blowing views of Dresden, but it looks like this latest site takes the whole experience to a whole new level.

Not least because of the beauty of the next city which got the 26-gigapixel treatment: Paris.

Like their German counterparts, the French photographers – led by Arnaud Frich, “the most famous panoramic photographer in France” – also used Canon 5D Mark II. But to speed the process up they used 2 cameras to capture 2346 single images, which they then stitched together to create what they claim is the biggest ever panoramic image. For comparison, the Dresden project used ‘only’ 1600 images.

They shot the image from the top of Saint Sulpice tower using 300mm f4.0 lenses with tele converters and used manual focus. During the shoot one of the lenses started producing blurred images, so they finished the project with just one camera.

When you compare the two processes, the French one is much less complicated, and possibly less perfectly executed (there are some image quality issues here and there), but the result is stunning. You can zoom in on some of the French capital’s most popular buildings, track down pedestrians on the narrow Parisian streets or count the tourists on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Like with the Dresden project, you can also click on some thumbnails and let the screen zoom in on a particular detail. Clicking on any of the info points on the screen will bring up a short description of what you are looking at. And luckily you can mute the slightly annoying Amelie music.

As always, it’s best viewed on a relatively fast machine and definitely go full screen.

The accompanying blog gives more details about the project, there’s also a short  behind-the-scenes video.

We’ll no doubt see more gigantic panoramic pictures soon. The question is – which city is up next?

New York? Tokyo? Or, hopefully, London.

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Woah! Have I already told you that I’m in love with Canon 5D Mark II? Have I?

Just like Canon 350D made DSLRs more accessible to millions of users worldwide a few years ago, last year Canon 5D Mark II ushered in a new era of high-spec, mid-range DSLR hybrids, capable of taking stunning images up to 21MP in size – even in low-lighting conditions – and producing some superb HD videos at the same time.

Now we have another proof – as if one was needed – of how stunning this camera is.

A German agency AFB Media in association with Dresden-based newspaper Sächsische Zeitung produced what they claim is a record-breaking, 26-gigapixel panoramic image of the city. Done using Canon 5D Mark II, obviously.

How did they do it? It took them almost three hours to produce the picture. Well, not just one picture. The camera – linked directly to a laptop, as there are no memory cards big enough to store such an amount of data – captured over 1600 individual full-format images. Altogether, they’ve recorded over 100Gb of data.

They’ve used a 400mm lens and a special engine to ensure precise movement and timed the whole process to produce a consistent image which reflects the movement of the sun.

If printed, this photo would measure 105×35 metres. That’s almost the size of a football pitch. A great achievement indeed.

You can read all about the process here (the amount of geeky detail is a bit scary). You can obviously see and play with the enormous picture there too.

To really experience the awesomeness of the whole project, make sure you’re fully zoomed out and then click on one of the 11 thumbnails on the page.

Of course, to break this record they could’ve used any other high-end camera, but I think the fact they’ve opted for Canon 5D Mark II says a lot about its status as the most versatile and powerful DSLR on the market now.

If only the price made it more accessible.

Here’s a video from the shoot:

UPDATE (13/03/2010): It looks like this is no longer the biggest picture – see my post on a 26-gigapixel picture of Paris.