Inside the Olympics Stadium in 360 degrees
August 22, 2008 3:20 PM   Subscribe

Beijing Olympics Stadium, about 30 minutes before the the men's 100m final. A 360-degree view (including overhead) from the stands by Finnish photographer Kari Kuukka.
posted by lou (25 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's good to know that even professional photographers can't resist hamming it up for a camera.
posted by turaho at 3:24 PM on August 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


I think this guy (at Deviant Art) does it better. I can't tell where the seams are in his panoramas.

If you look straight up in the one in the OP, you can see discontinuities.
posted by Class Goat at 3:26 PM on August 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Hey! I know that guy!
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:28 PM on August 22, 2008






Pro photographers are not good subjects for candid shots.
posted by ardgedee at 3:42 PM on August 22, 2008


H'mph...
posted by monocot at 3:50 PM on August 22, 2008


I thought this was kinda cool. And unlike the other links mentioned in the comments it filled my entire screen.
posted by Dumsnill at 4:09 PM on August 22, 2008


Interesting to see the preponderance of Canon L lenses. I would have thought there would be more Nikons by now.
posted by doctor_negative at 4:16 PM on August 22, 2008


wow. That was amazing! Cool. Thanks lou.
posted by nickyskye at 4:25 PM on August 22, 2008


Why would you think that, doctor_negative?
posted by Eekacat at 4:44 PM on August 22, 2008


Awesome. Just imagine if it was live video.
posted by crapmatic at 5:52 PM on August 22, 2008


Wow. Look at all those lenses. I wonder how much money in lenses that is.
Also, I think those people on the stairs are breaking some kind of fire code.
posted by chococat at 5:56 PM on August 22, 2008


I think this guy (at Deviant Art) does it better. I can't tell where the seams are in his panoramas.

Yes, but he didn't go see the Olympics, now did he? ;)
posted by lou at 6:01 PM on August 22, 2008


That's amazing. I love how the geometry, although distorted a bit at the edges, is pretty much correct through every angle.

It's also interesting that it pretty much looks like a single frame; notice the runners on the track in mid-stride.
posted by ZakDaddy at 6:17 PM on August 22, 2008


Am I a bad person for thinking that the photographers are way more interesting than the track?
posted by mindsound at 6:18 PM on August 22, 2008


Vincent Laforet has been writing a great blog during the Olympics. He even has an entry showing all the cameras for the 100m.

(His work has been linked on here before. For a while he was doing excellent NYC aerial photography for the Times.)
posted by smackfu at 6:19 PM on August 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Flashback city!
posted by lometogo at 6:49 PM on August 22, 2008


Men with big lenses.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:52 PM on August 22, 2008


There's plenty of pro Canon glass there, but Nikon stuff is becoming a more common sight on the sidelines of pro sporting events. Which isn't all that unsurprising; it's kinda hard to find a reason to not want to be using a D3.
posted by Venadium at 10:24 PM on August 22, 2008


Oops. Surprising. It isn't all that surprising.
posted by Venadium at 10:25 PM on August 22, 2008


wow, it's like actually being there!

so i'm pretty sure anyone'll be able to this with their canon powershots in a few years :P
posted by kliuless at 6:28 AM on August 23, 2008


For all of Canon's 1DmkIII focus woes (reported here), I don't think a lot of photographers will be switching away from Canon to Nikon.

I've considered it a couple of times (going from 30D ->D300, and more recently to the D700) but it's a tremendous pain in the ass to round up all your gear, take a loss on resale, find suitable replacements (not always possible; where's your 35mm f/1.4, Nikon? your 200-400mm f/4, Canon?) and then learn your gear all over again. For professional sports photographers, it may not be worth it to spend the time and money when what they have is more than good enough.

oh, also: so i'm pretty sure anyone'll be able to this with their canon powershots in a few years :P
not unless they start coming with fisheye lenses, I think.
posted by heeeraldo at 11:10 AM on August 23, 2008


smackfu: "Vincent Laforet has been writing a great blog during the Olympics. He even has an entry showing all the cameras for the 100m."

Wow - I love the tilt-shift picture on that page (second one down)... Who needs to make models of real life when you can make real life look like a model! Amazing stuff!
posted by benzo8 at 1:42 PM on August 23, 2008


Why would you think that, doctor_negative?

Canon had a pretty clear lead up until recently, but the new Nikons have been getting really low noise levels at high ISO settings. I just thought they might they might be making a come back among sports photographers.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:09 PM on August 23, 2008


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