The photo in recent years with the help of technology has changed a lot. In this terminology, the words 3D and 360 have been added. In this article we will describe the basics of a 360 photo level (and of course video) as well as some basic principles on how to take pictures with this amazing new imagery.
Essentially there are two ways to get one photo 360: 1) with a very wide-angle lens or a pair of lenses and 2) by taking multiple photos together and stapling them.
Lately they have appeared a number of cameras that are super wide angle lenses 180º degrees, ie angle greater than you can even see with the human eye (to most people is around 160º-170º) . Cameras such as Kodak SP360, for example, have a single super wide-angle lens at the top of the camera, which takes 360º horizontally and approximately 214º vertically. This means there is some missing information at the bottom of the image where the body of the camera is.
The way to get a true 360º x 360º image that records the entire field of view is to have two back-to-back lenses, such as Samsung Gear 360. The lenses are folded around the camera providing a mostly unobstructed view. Obviously the tripod or the person who has the camera is also in the shot.
As soon as you take photos or videos with these cameras, you can view them on a phone or computer. Obviously on a phone you can see the whole picture by moving the phone around you, since modern smartphones have built-in accelerometers and gyros to orient them.
It can be even more fun if you put the phone in a VR headset so you can use your head to look around.
Finally, there are advanced options if you use dual cameras, such as the Brahma Duet from Brahma360.com, which specializes in 3D printed mounts, special mounts to fit lenses as well as a special software to sync your cameras and stitch images together in real time.
The second way, which is more economical and more professional to create images 360 degree is by taking multiple images with one camera on a tripod and stapling them together with special software, such as Hugin. This is of course very hard work. You should take the images by making a circle, i.e. rotating the camera and ensure that all the images overlap. It's very annoying and time consuming, which begs the question, why do it this way when you can do it with a click and a camera that has a 360º degree lens?
For a start, the analysis the final image will be much, much higher than what a camera with a 360º lens can deliver, and you can also do technical photography, such as taking high dynamic range 360 images with naturalistic lighting for 3D graphics.
The most advanced version of the above technology is to take multiple cameras and place them in a case, and staple the photos together. Stapling is done with special software, which also synchronizes cameras to take pictures at the same time. You can also use these cases to capture a VR video with very high resolution.
In conclusion:
The 360-degree photo is a fantastic top-of-the-line imaging technology and is still growing even today, even though there are already many commercial products that cover it. Because it combines both hardware and software, there are technical solutions and hardware for all balances. For amateurs of the genre you can try with just one digital camera, which we imagine you already have, and the rest of the work done by the software.
Besides, in the photo, much of the success has the theme and timing. That's why, with just a little money, one can create masterpieces.
