360 Camera Reviews

360 Camera Buying Guide updated as of March 2020

360 camera buying guide (March 2020)
360 camera buying guide (March 2020)

Which 360 camera should you buy?  I’ve updated the 360 Camera Buying Guide as of March 6, 2020.  To understand the rationale for each of my recommendations, please see the guide.

To use the guide, first decide on your priority – whether photo or video.  Next, decide on which factor is most important to you: is it price, performance, or practicality (convenience).  Next, decide on the second most important factor.  Based on your priorities, you’ll see which 360 camera I recommend.

If you have more than one priority, then find out which camera I recommend for each of your priorities (let’s say for photo then for video), then see if there is a camera that I recommend for both priorities.

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Mic Ty

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  • I’m surprised you have the qoocam 8k as practical, what with the different coloured lens, everything out of focus after a 1metre or so and the convoluted workflow.
    Perhaps different people have slightly different samples of hardware
    I’m hoping these slowly get fixed as it shows such promise. I really want it to be what it promises. A small 8k 10bit 360 camera could be the perfect reframer

    • Thanks Joe. By practicality, I mean ease of use. In this table, image quality is categorized as performance. For users who want performance as their top priority for video, and whose second priority is practicality, then I would recommend Qoocam 8K. It has the best detail for 360 video among the cameras I tested, up to around $1000. I’ve done that twice now, and both tests showed Qoocam being the most detailed. Flare is an issue, although I think it does not outweigh the Qoocam’s detail. As for being out of focus, I haven’t found that to be an issue. Can you send me a link to a screenshot that illustrates what you mean by “everything is out of focus” beyond 1m? Re workflow, I don’t find it an issue either. I load the videos in the Qoocam Studio app and render them. That’s all. That’s a very typical workflow for 360 cameras. What do you mean by convoluted workflow?

  • What is the best camera for real estate virtual tours, no video just stills, is it still the Z1? I am looking to buy right now?

    • Overall for virtual tours, my preference is theta Z1. It is nowhere as detailed as xphase, but xphase stitching and glare make it hard to rely on it for virtual tours. FYI, my next video will be about the best virtual tour camera.
      Best regards,
      Mic