DEDICATED 360° CAMERAS

For the cost of a new lens for a SLR, you can pick up a stand-alone camera for all-round recording.

There are more 360° cameras available than you can shake a selfie stick at, but there’s no denying the convenience that comes from shooting stills and video at the touch of a button. The advantage a 360° camera has over a smartphone is that you don’t have to move the camera to record the full view, and there’s potentially better picture quality to be had. Some cameras, such as the Samsung Gear 360 and Nikon KeyMission 360, require a compatible smartphone and app to get the most from them. There are others, including the Insta360 Nano, that work directly with a phone, plugging directly into it and turning it into a 360° camera.

One of the disadvantages of recording such an extreme field of view in a single image or video is that the dynamic range of the scene can be just as extreme. Bright areas may become overexposed and dark areas may be too dark, as the camera struggles to find a satisfactory ‘average’ exposure. Exposure compensation and other creative overrides are typically limited on these types of cameras, although smartphone apps bring more control.