A panoramic imaging apparatus is provided which has functionally includes an image processing apparatus. In this apparatus, two planar images (fa, gb) are produced (steps S1 - S3), which are subjected to registration by applying a registration process to overall areas of two planar images (A, B) based on curves decided from positions designated on the two planar images (A, B) respectively. The positions which are set on each of the planar images (A, B) are aligned along a straight line, both straight lines corresponding to each other in a horizontal direction, and a scale factor for the registration is changed position by position on the straight lines. One, gb, of the two planar images, is searched for a match of each of plural local regions composing the other planar image fa, to any of regions of the one planar image gb, and images of the matched regions are re-produced to produce a planar image hb. The difference information is calculated between the planar image hb and the other planar image fa.
