How to shoot a good panorama with nothing but your phone
You do not need a million-shilling camera. Eight steps, a free app and natural light.
Hamisi Ally · March 2026 · 8 minute read
A 360° camera is a fine thing, but you do not have to start with one. A modern phone with a stitching app can produce a panorama perfectly good enough for a house tour — especially in small and medium rooms.
1. Pick the right hour
Natural light is everything. Shoot between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, when the sun is high and is not throwing long shadows through the windows. Avoid the evening — the gap between a bright window and a dark corner is more than a phone can handle.
2. Stand in the middle of the room
Stand in the centre, not in the doorway. A panorama shot from the door makes a room look longer and narrower than it is. The middle of the room gives an honest sense of the space.
Watch out
A common mistake: shooting while standing close to a wall. That wall comes out enormous and the whole room looks distorted.
3. Turn slowly
Most apps need twenty to thirty seconds for a full turn. Turn at one steady speed, holding the phone at chest height without moving it forwards or back. Uneven movement is the main cause of broken lines in the finished image.
4. Switch off flickering lights
Inexpensive LED lamps flicker at a speed the eye misses and the camera does not. If you see horizontal banding, switch the lights off and work by the window.