By definition, panorama is an unobstructed or complete view of an area in every direction. Up until recently panoramic photographs were taken with wide angle lenses. Along comes the advent of cell phones with cameras and as they have evolved, we now have what’s called stitched images providing a panoramic effect. To be taken literally a stitched image is a series of images combined to create a panoramic image.
Is there a difference? The above photos tell the story. We love the Colosseum shot but it is a cell phone shot and a stitched pano. It’s hard not to like the shot but the stitched pano tends to distort the view. To lines things up and fit together things elongate. When shooting you hold the cell phone camera and rotate to capture the view. The more of the image you cram into the shot, the more the distortion increases.
Wide angle camera lenses on the other hand are fixed and calculated by design. Using a non-fisheye wide-angle lens will keep the angles and proportions realistic without distortion. Go with a fisheye and you introduce distortion. The first sunrise shot is at 24mm which is a comfortable scale, with some cropping. The second shot is at 50mm which is considered the normal lens. I should mention the Canon camera used is a "full frame" camera. More on that at another time but the short story is you get more image with a full frame lens.
Both the Digital Camera and Cell phone are delivering better images with more control than 35mm cameras using film. You also have technology such as Photoshop to further enhance the images. Photoshop works with cell phone shots too. Having learned photography using film my preference is with a true digital Camera over a cell phone. That said, cell phones offer more technology and convenience than what they replace, which looking back is a disposable camera, an Instamatic, or Polaroid.
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