Panoramic Cameras

Panoramic Cameras

There really is no definition of where wide angles stop and panoramic views begin, but panoramic images are almost as old as photography itself. Panoramic pictures are supposed to imitate the view of the human eye. Although there was not necessarily a camera that we know as panoramic now, photographers used to take many pictures of one view to create a wide view of an object. With the invention of flexible film in 1887 by Hannibal Goodwin, panoramic photography was revolutionized. Soon after the invention by Goodwin, Eastman Kodak Company copied and marketed the new, practical method and spawned a wave of cameras with many brand names coming out in support of this convenient method. One type of panoramic camera is the swing lens which is similar to the fish eye lens. This camera has several limitations including a small amount of shutter speed and poor focusing ability. Many of these types of cameras actually have fixed focus which makes these panoramic cameras used mostly for outdoor photos such as landscape pictures. The next type of panoramic camera is full rotation. The full rotation camera is similar to the swing lens, however it allows a full 360º view. The whole camera rotates instead of just the lens. These types of panoramic cameras take very clear, crisp pictures with the edges being even are were widely used to team photos. There is also a “fixed lens” type of panoramic camera. These are the most common forms of panoramic cameras because they have a fixed, stationary lens and a flat film plane instead of curved film plans and rotating lenses. Panoramic cameras range from very poor quality to excellent quality from expensive cameras. The last type of panoramic camera is segmented or stitched panoramas. These are ones that closely resemble to type of work with panoramic pictures that was done by photographers in the early days. Segmented is a way to stitch together several conventional by overlapping them slightly.

Disposable Panoramic Camera

With all of these types of panoramic cameras, wouldn’t it just be easier to get a disposable one? For serious photographers, disposable cameras do not produce the quality that is needed to produce the type of photos that photographers are looking for. However, travelers might consider disposable cameras so they don’t have to lug around heavy, expensive equipment and for a portion of the price. Name brands such as Fuji Film and Kodak produce disposable cameras for non-professional use.

Building a Panoramic Camera

If you would like to build your own panoramic camera, it might be difficult. There are definitely easier cameras out there to make such as the pinhole camera and the box camera. However, if you would like to try it, look for directions in camera books or on the Internet.