Choosing the right 360° camera to get started

A live tour is only as good as the panorama behind it. Before thinking about staging or the client journey, the first decision is purely about hardware: which 360° camera to use to capture your properties.

To get started, three criteria matter more than anything else. Resolution first: aim for at least 5.7K per photo, ideally 8K if the property has large rooms or lots of detail (fitted kitchen, bookshelves, glass walls) — a client who zooms in on a blurry texture instantly loses confidence. Stabilization next, if you're filming while walking rather than shooting fixed tripod poses: it avoids the "seasick" wobble that tires the eye on a video call. Battery life last, often overlooked: a large property or a villa with outdoor spaces can require 45 minutes of continuous shooting.

One technical point to check before buying: the export must support the standard equirectangular format (2:1), the format the VistaVisit Studio expects for each scene. Most consumer cameras on the market export it natively — but it's worth confirming on the product page before ordering.

A serious entry-level budget starts around €300-400; the models used by real estate professionals tend to run between €500 and €900, with a real gain in sharpness and light handling (high-contrast rooms, bay windows). For an agency shooting several properties a week, that gap pays for itself quickly: a sharp panorama means fewer trips back and fewer reshoots.