An amazing image of London taken from the top of the BT (British Telecommunications) Tower has set a new record for the world’s largest panoramic photo. The image shows a full 360 degree view of London in incredible detail.

The 320 gigapixel image, taken by expert photography firm 360Cities, comprises more than 48,000 individual frames which have been collated into a single panorama by a powerful workstation.

It is the first time that an image of this magnitude has ever been attempted, and it took several months to create due to the scale of the endeavour. If printed at normal photographic resolution, the BT Tower panorama would be 98 meters across and 24 meters tall, almost as big as Buckingham Palace. In comparison, the last record attempt for a London panorama was 80 gigapixels, taken from Centrepoint in 2010.

“The BT Tower is such an iconic London landmark, and became a focus for the capital’s celebrations in 2012, what better way to capture that remarkable year than with a full panoramic photograph taken from its roof,” said Suzi Williams, director, BT Group Marketing & Brand.

“This isn’t just a world record for the BT Tower, it’s for London and the people who live, work in or visit the capital. Take a look, and share your favourite London places and landmarks.”

Steve Hercher, director, 360Cities, said: “We were honoured to be chosen by BT to attempt this world record panorama and make our own contribution to commemorating the wonderful London 2012 Games.”

“So many unknowns and variables had to be addressed in the planning of this unprecedented shoot, really the first of its kind. Software and hardware were pushed to the limits, and rain, wind and other potential stumbling blocks had to be dealt with. Our photography team of Jeffrey Martin, Tom Mills and Holger Schulze did an amazing job and not a single individual frame from the more than 48,000 planned was missed.”

Rainer Fuehres, head of Consumer Imaging Group, Canon Europe, said: “The goal of empowering people to take the next step on their personal photographic journeys drives every product we create, and this breath-taking image truly takes this philosophy to the extreme.

“Since its launch, the EOS 7D has caught the imagination of enthusiasts around the world so we were pleased to support such an exciting and challenging project with a camera that so many people are using to capture their own moments of inspiration.” – TradeArabia News Service