[pinhole-discussion] Panorama characteristics?

[CJ Rumpolo]

Hi, sorry to have to ask but I was wondering what exactly qualifies a camera
as being panoramic? Is it the angle of view, the length of the negative, or
a combination of the two? I have been toying with making a curved backed
panoramic camera but was wondering if I could just use a portion of a
smaller negative or even mask off half of a 4x5 piece of film and make 2 2x5
negatives from a single sheet. Any advice would be most appreciated. CJ