360 photography tips and tricks

[TriniCSI]

Hi Dan

Yes I have a RICOH THETA S now from the loan team and its much better.

Thanks

[WetCoastCanuck]

---

@TriniCSI wrote:

Hi Dan

Yes I have a RICOH THETA S now from the loan team and its much better.

Thanks

---

I use an LG 360 I find Streetview camera vs LG have trade offs.

LG have the nadir problem which requires post processing to get rid off.

SV the stitching algorithm seems to work the best for landscape or architecture that fits into the screen. I am not sure the edge detection can be improved but I think they ought to make a leveler feature in the Camera feature.. so the user can see whether their pictures are level.

[Joe_Foe]

I'm confused what this is.  Please post a video of one in use an what it does

---

@TriniCSI wrote:

Thanks that is an amazing device but I do not have the technical ability to build an intricate machine.

Looks great though.

---

@LucioV wrote:

Hi @TriniCSI if you want to use smartphone for 360, you should consider building something like that: http://www.fotografia360.org/tayrona-360-rotula-panoramica-celulares-planos-manual/

This will be a huge help in stitching your photos.

Then you could consider using a DSLR+Fisheye+Spherical Head

Cheers!

---

---

[MstrCdr]

The idea is this rig allows you to rotate the camera around the nodal point of the camera lens, just like with other panorama camera rigs. They are fairly straight forward to a build if you are familiar with this type of photography. This video shows a gentleman building one and demoing it's use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPzEQSL9YGw

---

@Joe_Foe wrote:

I'm confused what this is.  Please post a video of one in use an what it does

---

@TriniCSI wrote:

Thanks that is an amazing device but I do not have the technical ability to build an intricate machine.

Looks great though.

---

@LucioV wrote:

Hi @TriniCSI if you want to use smartphone for 360, you should consider building something like that: http://www.fotografia360.org/tayrona-360-rotula-panoramica-celulares-planos-manual/

This will be a huge help in stitching your photos.

Then you could consider using a DSLR+Fisheye+Spherical Head

Cheers!

---

---

---

[Gamera]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/PDF3NTU58/brahma-6-mark-two-for-xiaomi-yi-360-videos

For about the same price of a Ricoh Theta S, you could be capturing video, not just photos, at a far higher resolution and picture quality.
As I blew a fortune on my overpriced Ricoh, I couldn't afford to buy 6 Xiaomi Yi cams for this Brahma 6 setup. So instead I went with a different route. I bought 1 Xiaomi Mi cam, which I mount upright on a tripod to take 6 horizontal shots, then 1 shot of the sky and 2 shots of the ground, one of which is to erase the tripod on Photoshop. The results are pretty close to what you get with an SLR with fisheye lens. For example:

https://goo.gl/US4wtS

https://goo.gl/p4vuLQ

Now compare these 2 pictures: https://goo.gl/p084fL (Xiaomi Yi) vs. https://goo.gl/aPLCY4 (Ricoh Theta S)

I'd advise against using Street View app to take 360 photos. The problem with the app is an abject lack of much needed controls like ISO and exposure. Without these two, what you always get is a franken-photo. I won't go into the amount of time I wasted in trying to fix my poorly stitched franken-photos. They're totally disgusting. If you look up my profile and comb through my pile of photos that started from late last year, and compare them with my recent photos, you should see why you should stay away from Street View app.

[Shameless plug] For simplicity sake, you might want to check out the new Xiaomi Mi 360. It's cheap, and it's the best of the bunch.
https://youtu.be/FSzRxQ7Rduk  https://youtu.be/NpfX2SIEuLc

[WetCoastCanuck]

---

@Joe_Foe wrote:

I'm confused what this is.  Please post a video of one in use an what it does

Hi @Joe_Foe This contraption makes sure all the photos are aligned, if you freehand with Streetview app often the photos will misalign somewhat once you complete the cycle.

[tomislavweb]

Hey m8 im using the xioami mi sphere 360 camera, i was wondering how can i keep the picture qualaty when i upload them on google street view. On the xiaomi app picture looks great but when i upload it on google it isnt that sharp any more and it has noise... Can you help me out?

---

[Gamera]

tomislavweb, can you please upload a JPG here as a sample?

[TriniCSI]

Can you add a link to one of your street view images @tomislavweb we can then see 

[Greenterprise]

the camera you are utilising is great.

you don't have a problem with the camera , that is not the source of your problems when stitching.

the problem is the way you take the pictures. 

the rotating heads are supposed to rotate the dslr camera or the phone at the exact point of the camera lens. 

practically your camera lens should make a 360 rotation and not move a millimetre in regard to its focal point and the ground. if it moves there will be a problem known as the parallax effect. 

your photos WILL NOT stitch even if you use a 200 mpx camera and still don't take in consideration the parallax effect.

So just change the way you take the pics, do it in the only right way, and then stitch them with whatever you are using and you will see that you will not have any problem.