Panoramic Concept

• The idea behind panoramic cameras is to provide a wider picture with more detail than a normal single-frame shot can provide. Panoramic cameras have been around for over 150 years. Typical panoramic cameras are adapted for 35mm film and for larger format film cameras to expose a single image with two to four or more times the width on film. Brackets can be used to make panoramic pictures with "stitching" together of separate single-frame shots and are particularly useful with digital cameras. Fisheye lenses can provide up to 180 degree coverage in a single shot, but introduce distortion.
  
  

Single Frame Panoramic Cameras

• Lenses made for everyday cameras have a field of view that restricts the angle of vision they encompass. To preserve the same perspective as the human eye, 35mm film cameras use a 50mm focal length lens, but this only has a view angle of about 39.6 degrees--you would have to take three to five sequential shots to cover a typical panorama. Wide angle lenses (shorter than 50mm) exaggerate perspective and make close objects look bigger, and distant objects look farther away.
  
  To preserve perspective yet still obtain a wider field of view, rotating lens panoramic cameras use a rotating lens. To expose the film correctly, a vertical slit aperture slides across the film as it is being exposed. The vertical aperture protects the entire film frame from being exposed to all angles of the view and provides flexibility with aperture control and exposure time. Digital rotating lens cameras currently expose a single line of pixels at a time--the ultimate in high resolution.
  
  Many disposable cameras have been marketed that use different strategies to produce a panoramic image. The cheapest use a very wide angle lens and expose a typical single 35mm frame--but cut off the top and bottom to provide a panoramic but relatively low-resolution image. Other models focus multiple lenses on a wider frame of film to simultaneously produce a wider single image.
  
  

Stitching Together a Panorama.

• The first panoramic pictures were taken with normal single frame pictures--then stitched together to form a seamless image. Brackets can be used to swivel the camera around the "nodal point" for accuracy. Computer software or a careful eye can match the edges of the pictures to form a seamless view up to 360 degrees.