Abstract: A system performing capture and display of both still and real-time motion picture panoramic images comprised of 360 degrees in azimuth and .+-.180 degrees in declination for a virtual spherical field of view wherein image capture is achieved via a horizontally scanned vertical slit image passing through a fish-eye lens, mirrors, and prisms rotated under servo motion control onto a stationary line-scan sensor to build up a continuous two dimensional image. A host computer system monitors a position encoder on the optical head, sends motion commands to the servo controller, controls sampling rate and integration time for the line-scan sensor, and does image data processing, encoding, and storage. Additional mechanisms in the optical head permit optical and solid-state image magnification, selective field of view and sub-sampling of pixel data, optical horizon shifting, and streak and slit-scan camera effects.