Fascinating 192 billion pixel Gigapixel timelapse shows London in incredible detail

One of the nighttime 8 billion pixel images of the London cityscape

Gigapixel city shots are fairly commonplace nowadays, but few have had the fascinating 24 hour timelapse spread of this London cityscape.

Okay, perhaps timelapse is putting it a bit strong, as this is essentially a collection of 24 images that show how one 155-degree view of London alters as the day progresses. But, that said, its 8 billion pixels have a degree of zoomable detail that really lets the urban environment’s rhythms flow around you as you zoom in to pick out individual street scenes.

Put together by Lenstore, Nikon and Canary Wharf (whose buildings sit fairly central in the initial image), it was shot using a 45MP Nikon D850 with an AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 lens and, of course, a fair degree of robotics. Arguably there are other views of London to be had, but there's a lot you can pick out once you start travelling around: from a fascinating Tower Bridge to even the faint arc of the Wembley Stadium arch in the distance. The site’s nicely done too, with new images loading smoothly every five seconds or so wherever you are in the pic and whatever detail you’ve zoomed in too.

Have a look at the full 192 billion pixels’ worth below.

HT to engadget.