How to Create a Gigapixel Panorama Using Syrp Genie Mini II

Most panoramas can easily be shot by hand but what happens if you want to shoot a multi-row pano? What if you want to create a truly "gigapixel" image that could require over 100 images? You're going to need some hardware to help

Syrps Genie Mini II is a modular rotating cylinder. By mounting your camera to a single Genie Mini II you could automatically pan a camera from side to side quickly, for a panning shot in video, or slowly, to create a panning time-lapse. But if you connect two Genie Mini IIs together with a pan and tilt bracket you can both pan and tilt your camera.

1. Set your camera to full manual exposure and turn autofocus off

2. Plug the camera into one of the Genie Mini IIs

3. Using Syrp's smartphone app you simply connect to both Genie Mini IIs via Bluetooth

4. Click "Create Content" and then "Panorama"

5. Choose your camera's sensor size

6. Choose your lenses focal length  

7. Set the start and endpoint by moving the camera to the upper left and then bottom right portion of your frame

8. Set the "wait time" to allow the camera enough time in-between each shot (more time for longer exposures)

9. Press the record button

At this point the Genie II system will do all of the work taking the images and moving the camera in between shots. To create a higher-resolution image that requires more images, all you have to do is use a longer focal length by either zooming in or using a longer lens. 

Currently, the easiest way I have found to stitch a panorama together is with Adobe Lightroom. Simply highlight all of the images, right-click, and go to "Photomerge - Panorama." If you do this with raw files, Lightroom will create a fully editable DNG file with all of the latitude of your original raw files. 

To take things one step further, you can add a linear unit and a slider to this setup to add even more movement. You can check out my last video on that setup below. 

Lee Morris's picture

Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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17 Comments

Quite sleek how they've got this all set up and working via the app.
I'm still using a Gigapan Epic Pro V. No app connection there but it still does the job just fine. Obviously not as compact as the Syrp setup though.

But your (and mine) Gigapan Epic Pro V can hold over 10 pounds of gear so you can use your biggest and heaviest telephoto lens (if the camera/lens combo is under 10 pounds, though I found those numbers to be conservative).

This is true. I've used the 70-200 on there but ideally I'm happy with an 85mm on there.
The gigapan shots I;ve needed are mostly city scapes rather than looking in windows 4 miles away to see what people are watching on TV. ;)

I use a 400mm lens on mine the majority of the time, otherwise it's a Hasselblad 180mm lens. You can see most of my stuff on the Gigapan website under nathantw. The last one was of Union Square in San Francisco. It was pretty cool being able to zoom in to see some guy tying his girlfriend's shoe. LOL http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/215753

Good review...interesting product

Great video Lee. Time to put some sunscreen on that nose. I see that Puerto Rican sun has taken a stab at you!
Not entirely sure how that gigapixel image is going to turn out with moving water/splashing waves though. I got started in landscapes before moving onto portraits, and this just seems like way too much work solely for the purpose of resolution. I'll take my D850, single-image, and a stack of Lee filters any day, but that's just me :-)

I like Syrp app integration, they do a really good job with that. My issues with smaller units are their limited capacity. Putting a FF camera with a heavier lens will not work that well, for smaller cameras though it's really nice!

Very nice. Thanks!
But how to make sure your camera is moving around the nodal point with this setup?

You want it to be centered over the entrance pupil of the lens, unless you add your own rails this can't be adjusted with the Syrp or similar devices.

My thought also. Thank you for the quick reply!

smoooth! i will get 2 :D

that lizard though! :)

Does anyone know which pan & tilt bracket was used here?

Lee, did you have any firmware update issues with the system? I am waiting on a response from Syrp because I’m getting continually stuck on module 20 while updating on iOS devices. Unfortunately the units seem to be unusable until the new update is fully installed. Just curious if you’ve dealt with the same

I don't recall ever doing a firmware update and if I did, I certainly didn't have this issue. Sorry to hear that.