History

Panoramic photography has a history almost as old as photography itself. After the commercialization of the daguerreotype, photographers would take anywhere from 2 to a dozen photographs and place them together to form a panoramic image (see: Segmented). Some of the most famous early panoramics were assembled this way by George Barnard, a photographer for the Union Army in the American Civil War in the 1860s. His work, revolutionary at the time, provided vast overviews of fortifications and terrain, much valued by engineers, generals, and artists alike. (see Photography and photographers of the American Civil War)


An 1851 panoramic showing San Francisco from Rincon Hill by photographer Martin Behrmanx. It is believed that the panorama initially had eleven plates, but the original daguerreotypes no longer exist.

One of the first recorded patents for the an actual panoramic camera was submitted by Joseph Puchberger in Austria in 1843 for a hand-cranked, 150° field of view, 8-inch focal length camera that exposed enormous daguerreotypes up to 24-inches long. A more successful and realistic panoramic cameras was assembled the next year by Friedrich von Martens in Germany in 1844. His camera, the Megaskop, added the crucial feature of set gears, which offered a relatively steady panning speed. This in-turn properly exposed the photograph, as unsteady speeds creates an unpleasant unevenness in exposure, called banding. [Martens did not invent in Germany but rather Paris,France, where he was empoyed by Lerebours, photographer/publisher. It is also possible that Martens camera was perfected before Puchberger patented his camera]


View from the top of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, February, 1864, by George N Barnard

Following the invention of flexible film in 1887 panoramic photography was revolutionized. The invention, initially created by Hannibal Goodwin and later copied and marketed by the Eastman Kodak Company, was a milestone in photography and greatly benefited panoramic photography in particular, spawning a wave of cameras utilizing this new, convenient, and practical method. Soon after dozens of cameras came on the market, many with brand names heavily indicative of their time. Cameras such as the Cylindrograph, Cyclograph, Cycloramic, Wonder Panoramic, Pantascopic, Multiscope, Cyclorama, Panomax, Veriwide, Wiscawide, Ultrawide, Cyclo-Pan, Fuji 617, Art Panorama 624 and 617, Tomiyama 617, Noblex 617, Roundshot 35mm & 70mm, Widelux, Technorama, Hulcherama, Tecnorama, Globoscope, Al-Vista, Cyclops Wide-Eye [1], the I-Pan, V-Pan, Hasselblad X-Pan, and Z-pan are just a few examples of the many panoramic cameras that flooded the market in the subsequent century.


A 1900 advertisement for a short rotation panoramic camera

One of the most interesting, and most fallible, panoramics created during this period was the Doppel-Sport Panoramic Camera. Created in 1912 by Dr. Julius Neubronner in Kronberg, Germany, the camera was carried by a pigeon. A delayed shutter on the camera was set, the pigeon released, and small photograph was taken. There is no record that Neubronner ever recovered a camera.


Center City Philadelphia panorama, from 1913.

From Wikipedia