A camera normally has a field of view that ranges from a few degrees to, at most, 180°. This means that it captures, at most, light falling onto the camera focal point through a hemisphere. In contrast, an ideal omnidirectional camera captures light from all directions falling onto the focal point, covering a full sphere. In practice, however, most omnidirectional cameras cover only almost the full sphere and many cameras which are referred to as omnidirectional cover only approximately a hemisphere, or the full 360° along the equator of the sphere but excluding the top and bottom of the sphere. In the case that they cover the full sphere, the captured light rays do not intersect exactly in a single focal point.

Various techniques can be used to generate 360-degree images.

Cameras with one lens

These models are used with a fisheye lens. The lens bends the angle of the shot to take a larger radius of the selected subject. It is not possible to take a complete 360-degree picture with this technique because there is always a dead angle directly behind the lens.

Cameras with two lenses

360-degree cameras with two lenses are probably the most common type, as they can accommodate a full 360-degree angle with two lenses facing each other. A camera takes pictures and videos with an angle of just over 180 degrees, e.g. 220 degrees. These are then converted into a 360-degree object using software. Problems are often caused by stitching errors. This means that an incorrect combination of the images can result in an unclean cut edge that is difficult or impossible to remove.