Spinner 360

The Spinner 360 or Spinner 360° is a panoramic camera from Lomography for 35mm film. It was presented in June 2010. The introductory price of the Spinner was 125 euros. Normal panoramic cameras create a 120 degree angle of view, the Spinner 360 creates, as the name suggests, 360 degrees. This camera was inspired by a futuristic camera concept from the 1980s.

The Spinner, like the Sprocket Rocket, exposes the sprockets of 35mm film.

The Spinner works completely mechanically without batteries and is powered by a rubber band It does not have a shutter like most cameras. This means that light always falls on a small part of the film and not only when the shutter button is pressed. This is what makes it possible to create panoramas quickly. Due to the fast movement of the spinner, light only falls on the film for a short time during photography and does not overexpose it.

When shooting, the spinner 360 is held in the hand, pulls a cord and when released, the camera rotates once around its own axis, exposing the film and capturing everything in the environment. The exposure time is about 1/125s ~ 1/250s. Whether the spinner rotates 360 degrees or more or less can be influenced by how far the cord is pulled out.

Long time exposures are possible by turning the camera manually, thereby the length of the panorama can also be determined. A small spirit level (with a dolphin) on the top of the camera indicates if the camera is held straight.

The 25 mm lens creates a vertical imaging angle of 66 degrees. There is a slider on the side of the camera for changing the aperture. One for sunny days (f16) and one for cloudy days (f(8). When the film is full, the aperture slider must be moved up. This closes the shutter, does not let any more light on the finished exposed film and prevents the film from being ruined. Also, the rubber must be removed from the spool to rewind the film.

On a 35mm film with normally 36 frames you can fit about 8 frames with the Spinner 360. In principle you can use any kind of 35mm film. Film with a sensitivity of ISO 400 is very suitable for most situations.

A scanner for the photos is highly recommended, as most labs do not make prints from this format and that too with sprockets.
The Digitaliza 35mm can’t hurt either. Also, care should be taken when developing, the sprocket produces an unusual format, this results in some labs cutting the negatives in the wrong place. Therefore, the lab should be told not to cut the negatives.

A thread for a tripod is built into the bottom of the handle. The Spinner 360 has a heavy lens hood that balances it.

The panoramic camera package includes the camera, lens cap, lens hood, spare strap, instruction manual, overview of different shooting techniques and a poster.

Accessories for the Spinner 360

Spinner 360 Motorizer

The Spinner 360 Motorizer was introduced in February 2012.

The head of the camera is screwed onto the motorizer, which later spins it. There are two spinning modes for single shots and limitless spins.

Shots can be taken from a distance of 5 to 8 meters using the included remote control. It is powered by regular AA batteries (eBay / Amazon*).

Sample photos