The first subject of the first panorama, appropriately enough, was Robert Barker's view of London from the roof of the
Albion Mills, which debuted in 1791.

Panoramic photography has a history almost as old as photography itself. One of the first recorded patents for a 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 a relatively large Daguerreotype, up to 24-inches long. A more successful and technically superior panoramic camera 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 photographic plate, as unsteady speeds can create an unevenness in exposure, called banding. [Martens did not invent in Germany but rather Paris,France, where he was employed by Lerebours, photographer/publisher. It is also possible that Martens camera was perfected before Puchberger patented his camera]. Because of the high cost of materials and the technical difficulty of properly exposing the plates, Daguerreotype panoramas, especially those pieced together from several plates (see below) are rare.

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.

After the advent of wet-plate colloidian process photographers would take anywhere from 2 to a dozen of the ensuing albumen prints and piece them together to form a panoramic image (see: Segmented). As one might assume, this photographic process was technically easier and far less expensive than Daguerreotypes. Some of the most famous early panoramas were assembled this way by George Barnard, a photographer for the Union Army in the American Civil War in the 1860s. His work provided vast overviews of fortifications and terrain, much valued by engineers, generals, and artists alike.

Following the invention of flexible film in 1888 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.

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.