How to choose a camera to shoot your virtual tours:

Virtual tours are a visual experience, so naturally, you’ll want to take the best possible pictures of your property or business. But what kind of camera should you be using? Of course, you’ll need a digital camera so you can upload your images, but it can be difficult to choose between all of the various options on the market.

Here are some quick tips on choosing a digital camera that will give you great shots for your 360 virtual tours.

Resolution: Resolution, or photo quality, is one of the most prominent features for digital cameras. You’ll need the ability to take photos with a decent to high resolution for Internet display. At minimum, your camera should have a resolution of two megapixels (which is two million dots per image)—and if you want great quality, look for resolutions of six megapixels or more especially if you plan to offer your customers high quality images for print.

Zoom: A camera with good zoom quality will capture more detail and showcase noteworthy features in a virtual tour of businesses or properties. However, be aware that digital cameras have two types of zoom: digital and optical. You don’t really need digital zoom, because you can enlarge images digitally with your photo editing software. Otical zoom, which uses physical lens magnification for close-up pictures, is the better choice. Aim for 2x to 4x optical zoom when choosing your digital camera.

Screen: Nearly every digital camera comes with a preview screen that shows you the shot before you click the shutter button. When shooting your virtual tour, it’s handy to have a camera with a rotating flip-out preview screen. This makes it easier to view what you’re photographing and the final image at the same time, so you don’t have to keep looking up from the camera to reposition the shot.

Memory: While a few digital cameras rely solely on internal storage, most have a slot for an SD or mini-SD card, which allows you to store more pictures. It’s almost a necessity to have a camera with an SD card slot, because internal camera memory typically stores only around 5 to 10 images. SD cards come with different amounts of memory, usually measured in gigabytes (GB). With images shot in 6MP resolution, you can store around 950 on a 2GB SD card and about 7,600 on a 16GB card.

Battery: With LCD screens, built-in flash, and sound recording, digital cameras eat up batteries fairly quickly. Some digital cameras run on disposable batteries, while others have rechargeable battery packs. Since the cost of disposables can add up fast, it’s worth the investment to get a camera with rechargeable batteries. You should also pick up an extra battery pack, so you’ll always have a fresh battery ready while shooting your virtual tours.

Using these tips, you’ll ensure that you select a camera that has the features and functionality you need to create winning virtual tours using the RTV virtual tour software system.

Real Tour Vision
Virtual Tour Company
www.realtourvision.com
Order a 360 Virtual Tour: 1-866-947-8687