About 360° cameras

360° cameras are great for covering all directions simultaneously. You can capture 360° imagery while driving a vehicle or walking. 

Some cameras have built-in GPS; others have an accompanying mobile app that records GPS information externally.

Remember that cameras differ in the way they stitch the 360° images. Some cameras do it as you go, while some require you to use a special program to do it. This affects your workflow when uploading to Mapillary. If you need to stitch separately, the whole workflow will be much more time-consuming, even though the result might be of better quality compared to cameras that stitch the imagery on the fly.

For Mapillary purposes it’s best to capture images in time-lapse mode, not video, because you save a lot on data volume, reviewing and upload time.

Recommended devices

Based on experience from our community, partners, and customers, we've identified the 360° cameras that are currently most suitable for Mapillary purposes. If you're thinking of purchasing a 360° camera, we highly recommend that you choose from the following list.

• Best overall device
  • GoPro Max($499.99)
• Professional and Survey Grade 360° cameras
  • LabPano PilotOne (EE)($1799)
  • Insta360 Pro 2($4499) 
  • Trimble MX7
  • Trimble MX9
  • NCTech iSTAR Pulsar

You may also be able to use other cameras but the related workflows may not be as smooth. As a rule, our platform supports 360° imagery if one of the two following conditions is fulfilled:

• The image is equirectangular (2:1 aspect ratio) or
• The image contains GPano Photo Sphere Metadata.