Photography in recent years, with the help of technology, has changed a lot. In its terminology, the words 3D and 360 degrees have been added. In this article we will describe the basics of a 360-degree photograph (and of course video) as well as some basic principles on how you can take photos with this amazing new form of imaging.
There are essentially two ways to take a photo : 1) with a very wide-angle lens or a pair of lenses and 2) by taking multiple photos together and stitching them together.
Recently, a number of cameras have appeared that have super wide-angle lenses of 180º degrees, that is, with a viewing angle wider than what you can even see with the human eye (for most people it amounts to about 160º-170º). Cameras, such as the Kodak SP360, for example, have a single super wide-angle lens at the top of the camera, which takes in 360º horizontally and about 214º vertically. This means that there is some information missing at the bottom of the image, where the camera body is located.
The way to get a true 360º x 360º image that captures the entire field of view is to have two lenses back to back, like the Samsung Gear 360.The lenses fold around the camera providing a mostly unobstructed view. Obviously the tripod or person holding 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 on a computer. Obviously on a phone you can see the whole image by moving the phone around you, since modern smartphones have built-in accelerometers and gyroscopes for their orientation.
It can become even more fun if you put the phone in a VR headset so you can use your head to look around you.
Finally, there are advanced options if you use dual cameras, such as the Brahma Duet from Brahma360.com, which specializes in 3D printed bases, special for mounting lenses as well as dedicated software to synchronize your cameras and stitch the images in real time.
The second way, which is both more economical and more professional, to create 360-degree images is by taking multiple images with a camera on a tripod and stitching them together with special software, such as Hugin. This is of course very laborious work. You would have to take the images in a circle, i.e. rotate the camera and ensure that all the images overlap. It is very annoying and time-consuming, which begs the question, why would you do it this way, when you can do it with one click and a camera that has a 360º lens?
To begin with, the resolution of the final image will be much, much higher than what a camera with a 360º lens can render, and you can also take technical photos, such as capturing high dynamic range 360-degree images with natural lighting for 3D graphics.
The most advanced version of the above technology is to take multiple cameras and place them in a single case, and stitch the photos together. The stitching is done with special software, which also synchronizes the cameras to capture the images simultaneously. You can also use these cases to film a VR video in very high resolution.
In conclusion:
360-degree photography is an amazing cutting-edge imaging technology and continues to be developed to this day, even if there are already many commercial products that cover it. Because it combines both hardware and software, there are technical solutions and materials for all budgets. For amateurs of the genre, you can try it with a single digital camera, which we imagine you already have, and let the software do the rest of the work.
After all, in photography, a large part of success has to do with the subject and the moment. That's why with just a little money someone can create masterpieces.
