12 February 2024

A GUIDE TO CHOOSING THE BEST 360° CAMERA FOR SHOOTING REAL ESTATE

360° virtual tours are the key to immersive property marketing. In a market flooded with options, choosing the right 360° camera is crucial for showcasing every angle and detail in a virtual tour. 

We compared three 360° cameras, the Trisio Lite2, Insta360 One RS 1-Inch 360 Edition, and Ricoh Theta X, and used each one to shoot a virtual tour of the same property, breaking down the image quality, features and considerations in this guide.  

Keep reading for the full picture, so you can select the optimal one for your real estate photography needs. 

Quick Specs Overview 

The Full Picture 

Trisio Lite2: Our Top Pick 

This camera does one thing and does it very well: capture stunning 360° images. It doesn’t shoot video, but if your one goal is to find a camera that captures true-to-life 360° images for virtual property tours, this is your best bet. The stitching is seamless, meaning that there are no visible lines indicating where the image starts and ends. Plus, it’s the most affordable option in this comparison. 

The camera does take the longest time to shoot a single photo compared to the other cameras – around 20 seconds – but good things come to those who wait. During the lengthy capture time, the Trisio measures the amount of light in the shot and adjusts its capture settings accordingly. This ensures well-balanced photos in both bright outdoor light and dark indoor light, which is optimal for property photography.  

Pros:  

• Simple and easy to use 
• The best photo quality compared to the other cameras in this blog 
• Most affordable 
• Invisible stitching lines 

Cons:  

• Doesn’t shoot 360° videos 
• Takes the longest time to shoot a photo 
• Doesn’t shoot RAW images

Insta360 One RS 1-Inch 360 Edition: The All-Rounder 

This camera is designed to be an action camera, for capturing sports and adventuring 360° videos; however, it does shoot real estate well. The photos are crisp, but it’s second to the Trisio Lite2, as they don’t depict the same high level of window detail and the unedited photos are somewhat grainy.  

Unlike the other three cameras in this comparison, to insert and remove an external storage card, you must pull the lens, core, and battery apart and put them together again, making for a pretty fiddly set up.  

Pros:  

• Shoots 360° videos 
• Wide range of camera settings and modes 
• Shoots RAW images 
• Invisible stitching lines 

Cons:  

• Fiddly and time-consuming to set up 
• Windows are overexposed, showing less detail 

Ricoh Theta X: The Mixed Performer 

Shooting at a very similar quality to the Insta360 One RS 1-inch 360 Edition, the photos captured by the Ricoh Theta X are quite sharp and accurate in color. However, in the unenhanced virtual tour in this blog, we found chromatic aberration in the exterior images, which is the undesirable color distortion you can see along the edges of some objects. However, the Theta X shines when it comes to accurately capture exterior views through windows and avoids any overexposed areas that obscure details.  

Pros:  

• Invisible stitching lines 
• Captures clear exterior details through windows 

Cons:  

• Shoots JPEG not RAW 
• Chromatic aberration in exterior photos 

Take Your Photography Further with BoxBrownie.com 

Now that you’ve learned about the best 360° cameras on the market, why not try shooting a virtual tour?  

We offer a range of 360° image editing services, including 360° Image Enhancement, 360° Virtual Staging and 360° Item Removal. Plus, with our Virtual Tour creation service, we’ll incorporate your photos into an immersive tour, and we'll host it for free for one year! 

New to BoxBrownie.com? Sign up now and receive 4 edits free. No credit card is needed.

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