360 Panoramas in Seconds – That's Possible with the Lomography Spinner 360
The Spinner 360 is not in constant use for me, but I still want to introduce it to you and tell you what I appreciate about it.
The Spinner 360 is a panoramic camera from Lomography that can capture 360-degree panoramas on 35mm film.
Now you might ask why you need a special camera; nowadays you can do that with any smartphone and a suitable app. From my perspective, the biggest advantage of the Spinner 360 is its speed and simplicity.
Now we come to the camera's functionality. To take a panorama, hold the Spinner 360 by the grip at the bottom, pull the cord, and let it go. The camera head then rotates and captures a 360-degree (usually even a bit more) panorama onto the 35mm film. Operating the Lomography Spinner 360 is really child's play.
For me, the Spinner 360 is a camera for good weather and outdoor use. The reason is that the camera is not particularly fast. You can manually rotate the panoramic camera head to extend the exposure time, but my results with this method were not satisfactory.
There is now also a motor for the Spinner 360 (Amazon) that rotates the knob automatically and evenly, but I haven't tested it yet.
The Spinner 360 uses regular 35mm film. On a standard 36-exposure roll, you get about 8 panoramas. By the way, the panoramic camera exposes the entire film including the perforations.
I usually use a color film with ISO 400 sensitivity (Amazon). I've had good experiences with it both in sunshine and cloudy skies. In really strong sunlight, e.g., at the beach, I would use an ISO 100 film.
You can also get very nice results with a redscale film. Additionally, I would recommend everyone to try a black and white film in the Spinner. For example, Kodak BW 400 CN (Amazon), a roll of AgfaPhoto APX 100 (Amazon), or Kodak TRI-X 400 (Amazon). But cross-processed slide film (x-pro) also yields fantastic images.
The Spinner 360 works without batteries. A slider on the side allows you to set the aperture from sunny to cloudy. There is also a tripod mount, which I have never used.
The number of settings is quite limited, but the creative possibilities are all the greater. If you just think about it, countless places, subjects, and positions come to mind where you could take a 360 panorama.
For me, the Spinner 360 is a second camera. By that I mean that I always carry a normal camera alongside the panoramic camera, with which I mainly take photos, and then occasionally take a panorama.
I really like using the Spinner 360 when traveling. The view from a mountain or over the sea is simply predestined for a panorama. Another application would be weddings, for example, to take a different group photo for the album. For children's birthdays or parties in general, I think it's a good camera. Because it's easy to use, you can hand it to guests with a brief explanation, and they can get creative themselves.
Conclusion
The Spinner 360 is fun and not just for spinners. It invites experimentation and creates unique images. Although it's not a camera you use every day or on every occasion, that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
