Why Can’t Modern Cameras Make Panoramic Portraits?

Back in 2014 and even a bit before then, photographer Ryan Brenizer was making waves across the photo industry with a special method. You see, APS-C cameras were way more common. And full-frame was still pretty expensive for most folks. So he would do something called the Brenizer Method — which essentially is a panoramic portrait. In 2022, I wrote an article wondering why it hasn’t come to cameras yet. If you haven’t read it, you really should because it’s incredibly in-depth and even references other photographers we’ve interviewed that do it well. And in 2026, I’m still struggling to understand this.

Modern cameras have AI and machine learning built into them. And considering how powerful the processors are and how cameras haven’t really jumped ahead in megapixel count for many years, I truly wonder why panoramic portraits can’t be done in-camera.

If anything, the 24MP full-frame sensor variant that’s currently in so many cameras may be the best thing to do this with. I could make 12 or so images wait to be written and then the camera could lock up and composite them all together. Many of the cameras on the market can already do panoramic photography by stitching the photos together from one direction to the other. This is just a step beyond that. The cameras would then too try to figure out what image should go where based on scene analysis — which cameras already have in them.

Most importantly, it would make photography something so much different. Because these composites would be done in-camera, they’d feel a whole lot more authentic than whatever Lightroom does with Photoshop algorithms and making everything look like AI touched it.

In earlier days of digital photography, doing this method could give you images like this. And though this has a cool, mosiac-style look to it, it’s not what many photographers want. Instead, they want something like this below.

A modern camera could surely do this. I see how it might be tougher with higher megapixel full-frame cameras for sure. However, Micro four thirds, lower megapixel full-frame cameras, and medium format cameras could probably do this really well. In fact, if medium format cameras did this, I think that the images would look like large format. Just imagine combining it with pro mist filters or even tilt shift lenses.

The bigger point here is that camera manufacturers are using the processing power to give more to video makers. But photographers have been left to the side for around 6 years now. Not much has come our way in terms of innovations. Sometimes, they’re even sticking dual processors into the cameras too.

While I’m at it, why not give us photographers the ability to do various cross processing options? Fujifilm I believe does that with the X-half in some ways. But I’d like even more so that the images are randomized in some way or another. Some of the coolest work that I’ve seen recently is this. But I’d love to do this digitally.