Gigapantastic!

Fine art reprographics could be defined as the art of digitally reproducing fine art paintings by means of high quality giclee prints and digital prints created with large printers, usually but not always inkjet. Many companies offering this service to artists and photographers also possess Betterlight digital scan backs (for view cameras) or Cruse copy cameras. It is possible to use digital SLR cameras for such purposes (especially now that such cameras come in resolutions as high as 25 megapixels or more), but not everyone can afford such a camera, and there are also times when even 25 megapixels are insufficient (although it helps if one uses what was once called Genuine Fractals, or another comparable program such as Alien Skin Blow Up).

A cool solution can be found in a product called the Gigapan. For a video which will give you an idea of how the product works, see: http://youtu.be/dtuN62U0QHU. Now, the Gigapan is great for creating panoramic photos (even with people in the photos, if you don't object to the odd fact that you will sometimes see individuals in multiple areas of the same photos), but where it really shines, it seems to me, is in the reproduction of really large paintings. By definition, such artworks are not going to be moving around while the device is working, so simply by stitching multiple images together, you can get a super big file even without the use of interpolation software. Doing this type of thing manually is usually a pain in the behind, but with the Gigapan, you don't have to worry about whether or not each of the images you'll be stitching together is properly composed.

It also bears mentioning that a lot of new DSLR videos are capable of shooting great videos. With the Gigapan, you don't need to do your panning and zooming with the software, you can just do it in-camera when creating your video documentation of the painting.