WANTED: Advice & Recommendations for 360 Virtual Tour Cameras

WANTED: Advice & Recommendations for 360 Virtual Tour Cameras

Brian LucierPro Member
Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes


Marketing has always been important to us. 

It used to be we would check Craigslist on Saturday mornings shocked at the poor quality of some of the dark drab photos we have seen on there "showcasing" the rentals. We have always been keen on shooting with wide angle, then using editing software to crop, brighten, adjust and enhance the photos to make the rental look GREAT in our advertising efforts. 

If a picture is worth 1,000 words; then are 70 pictures of a great rental worth 70,000 words? Ok, I like to play on words and I like to play with pictures too. If we are shooting with a 360 camera for a Virtual Tour, is that worth 360,000 words. I couldn't help myself on that one. But I think you see the point here. 

I am looking for guidance from like-minded marketing and tech enthusiasts for the best recommendations on cameras and posible software subscriptions for 360 cameras used to create Virtual Tours for Real Estate. We already have a few great recommendations from some of our colleagues, but I wanted to open up the floor to see who might be using what to create great Virtual Tour content.

We have been looking around and see price points for cameras and subscriptions from $300 to $3,000. But are the difference in features really worth it? What are the "must haves" you look for in 360 camera bundles? Okay BP community, looking forward to seeing what you might recommend for 360 cameras and software.

Looking for opinions on:

  • Wow Factor for the renting end-user experience
  • Reasonably Priced Equipment
  • Reasonably Priced Subscriptions
  • IOS/Android Phone Compatible
  • Whatever am I not thinking about 360 Cameras that I SHOULD be asking?

Thank you all in advance for your opinions and cooperation!!!

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      Rental Property Investor · Quakertown, PA · Member since 2020 · 37 posts · 37 votes
      6y

      @Brian Lucier -

      A little backstory about myself. I’m a real estate agent and investor. I also shoot

      Professional photography/videography and use drones as well for Real Estate. I’ve been in business for 2 years and I can say from day 1 to today I’ve learned sooo much. With that being said I’ve researched and used some different models.

      1. Matterport- by far takes the highest quality images. The cons to it are the high price tag for the equipment, the monthly cost to host the images, the amount of time it takes to shoot a home. The equipment is big and bulky. Does not connect with Zillow (at this time).

      2. Richo Theta V

      I am currently using this model with my listings and with the agents who pay me. The pros about this model: price! Super affordable, no monthly hosting cost, can upload directly to Zillow. Small and light weight! You will need to purchase a monopod with this.

      The con is the overall quality. It’s good but not great.

      3. Richo Theta Z1

      I’m not to familiar with this camera. I’ve never used it but it is the step up in model from the Theta V. It’s more than double the price.

      4. GoPro Fusion 360

      Great cost point

      Quality images

      Easy to use

      Has more of a fisheye look.

      In my opinion if you are using it for tours of your rentals, go with the Richo Theta V. You won’t be disappointed.

      It connects with the Zillow 3D home app so once you are done shooting it will publish directly to Zillow!

      Hope this helps.

      See this reply in the discussion

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      • Rental Property Investor · Quakertown, PA · Member since 2020 · 37 posts · 37 votes
        6y

        @Brian Lucier -

        A little backstory about myself. I’m a real estate agent and investor. I also shoot

        Professional photography/videography and use drones as well for Real Estate. I’ve been in business for 2 years and I can say from day 1 to today I’ve learned sooo much. With that being said I’ve researched and used some different models.

        1. Matterport- by far takes the highest quality images. The cons to it are the high price tag for the equipment, the monthly cost to host the images, the amount of time it takes to shoot a home. The equipment is big and bulky. Does not connect with Zillow (at this time).

        2. Richo Theta V

        I am currently using this model with my listings and with the agents who pay me. The pros about this model: price! Super affordable, no monthly hosting cost, can upload directly to Zillow. Small and light weight! You will need to purchase a monopod with this.

        The con is the overall quality. It’s good but not great.

        3. Richo Theta Z1

        I’m not to familiar with this camera. I’ve never used it but it is the step up in model from the Theta V. It’s more than double the price.

        4. GoPro Fusion 360

        Great cost point

        Quality images

        Easy to use

        Has more of a fisheye look.

        In my opinion if you are using it for tours of your rentals, go with the Richo Theta V. You won’t be disappointed.

        It connects with the Zillow 3D home app so once you are done shooting it will publish directly to Zillow!

        Hope this helps.

      • Brian LucierPro Member
        OP
        Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes
        6y

        @Nate Boykin - Thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of feedback I have been looking for!
        Richo has a special offer right now that I may be interested in. All the data points to the Z1.
        https://www.ricohtours.com/gen/sc2/?from=marketing
        The hosting software looks easy enough. But the for the camera, I may do the upgrade.
        Thanks again!!!

      • Member since 2020 · 5 posts · 2 votes
        6y

        Go with the Z1, works for both Matterport software (better quality) and Zillow 3D Home (free and easy). I played with the Ricoh Tours a little bit but Matterport looks much better in the end and Zillow is easy to integrate into Zillow and Trulia. I use both Matterport and Zillow 3D Home. 

      • Brian LucierPro Member
        OP
        Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes
        6y

        @Adam Ebbers

        Ricoh vs Matterport? Is there a monthly subscription fee to access the online software? Any idea what that might cost? Thank you again so much for the input.

      • Member since 2020 · 5 posts · 2 votes
        6y

        Not sure on Cost of the Ricoh software ( I didn't like using it) but you can use the Ricoh camera with Matterport software or Zillow 3D Home (free), both need either an Ipad or Iphone to run the app while shooting the tour. You can try Matterport out with a free account but other people won't be able to see your tour until you have a paid account. Since you would use the Ricoh 360 camera you could get a $10/month account that will let you share 5 tours at a time. You can archive a tour and reactivate it when you need it again if you are using for rentals. Nice for documenting condition before and after a tenant as well.  Here is the end result of the same property with Matterport and Zillow both using the Z1 camera. 
        https://mnopenhouse.com/zillow-3d-home-vs-matterport/

      • Brian LucierPro Member
        OP
        Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes
        6y

        @Joakim Svindland Reistad

        Thank you so much for the insights and examples. Greatly appreciated!

      • Brian LucierPro Member
        OP
        Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes
        6y

        @Joakim Svindland Reistad

        WOW!! Really impressive! Besides the purchase of the camera, is there a monthly fee to use the matterport software?

      • Brian LucierPro Member
        OP
        Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes
        6y
      • Norway · Member since 2019 · 12 posts · 4 votes
        6y
        Originally posted by @Brian Lucier:

        @Joakim Svindland Reistad

        WOW!! Really impressive! Besides the purchase of the camera, is there a monthly fee to use the matterport software?

        Thank you Biran. The options I would suggest for you are: 10$ month for up to 5 active models and 69$ month for up to 25 active models. 

        However you can try the solution for free using one of my available coworking accounts. 

      • Norway · Member since 2019 · 12 posts · 4 votes
        6y
      • Brian LucierPro Member
        OP
        Property Manager · Fitchburg, MA · Member since 2012 · 148 posts · 201 votes
        6y

        @Joakim Svindland Reistad

        THANK YOU!
        THANK YOU!
        THANK YOU!

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