360 degree camera

Some software quirks aside, LG's entry into the 360-degree video and photography world is a fun little way to show off everything that's going on around you.

A picture is worth a thousand words, the old cliche goes. And it's not wrong. There's something about a good photograph that brings out the seen and the unseen. That answers as much as it leaves up to the imagination. What's going on just outside the frame? What was happening just before the shutter snapped? What happened after? What was going on behind the camera?

Photography in 360 degrees is officially becoming a thing. And not just something photo geeks get to play with after spending thousands of dollars on rigs that look like fly eyes — but personal 360-degree recording devices.

We've had this sort of photography for a while now thanks to Google's "Photosphere" effort. You'd use your smartphone to take a serious of pictures, capturing as much of the world around you as you good before the phone would stitch it all together. (Pros can and still do stitch together shots from SLRs, but that almost seems like cheating.) But Photospheres are as tedious as they are fun.

A new wave of 360 cams is hitting this year, starting with two of the mobile manufacturers. LG is first out of the gate with the 360 CAM, and Samsung is coming later this summer with the Gear 360.

We've been using LG's 360 CAM for a week or so now. And this is our full review.

About this review :

Along with some other goodies, LG sent us this 360 CAM for review. It's not yet on sale in the U.S., but it is up for preorder at retailers like B&H for $199.

We've used 360 CAM with an LG G5, Samsung Galaxy S7, Nexus 6P and with other phones — including the iPhone. And that's a big draw to this device. It doesn't just work with one phone. In fact, you don't even need a phone to get the basic experience.

this is a test of the camera :