A 360° product view lets shoppers turn a product and see every side. The traditional way to make one is to photograph the product from every angle on a turntable, then stitch the photos into a spin. It works, but it isn't cheap, and the cost multiplies with every product you sell.
Here's what goes into it, what studios charge, what it costs to do yourself, and when a cheaper approach makes more sense.
How a traditional 360° spin is made
The product sits in the middle of a turntable, under steady lighting, in front of a seamless background. A camera on a tripod takes a photo, the turntable turns a few degrees, and the camera takes another, all the way round. The photos are then cleaned up and played back in a viewer as a spin.
The number of photos sets how smooth the spin feels:
- 24 photos (one every 15°): the practical minimum. It can look a little steppy on big screens.
- 36 photos (one every 10°): the usual default.
- 72 photos (one every 5°): for watches, jewellery, shoes and anything where shoppers study the outline.
Some studios add a second row from a higher angle, which doubles the photo count. Every one of those photos needs consistent lighting and, often, retouching.
What studios charge
Most product photography studios quote 360° work per product. Published prices vary widely with the number of photos, the product's size and how much retouching it needs:
- One 2025 pricing guide puts 360° product photography at $150 to $1,200 per product.
- Specialist 360° studios advertise starting prices from around $240 per product, with catalogue pricing for larger orders.
For comparison, the same guide puts standard white-background product photos at about $25 to $50 per image. That makes a 360° spin several times the cost of a normal shoot for the same product.
On top of the studio fee, you'll usually pay to ship the product to the studio and back. For bulky items like furniture or appliances, shipping can be the biggest cost of the whole job. And if you change a product, add a colour or need a reshoot, the process starts again.
What it costs to do it yourself
Doing it in-house means buying the equipment and learning the process.
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Manual or basic motorised turntable | From a few hundred dollars |
| Automated turntable that triggers the camera (e.g. Ortery PhotoCapture 360) | About $1,300 |
| All-in-one automated 360° studio (e.g. Orbitvu Alphashot 360) | From €12,450, up to €150,000 for industrial systems |
| Camera, tripod, two matched lights, diffusion, backdrop | Varies; a phone can work for simple products |
| Spin software and hosting | Often included with turntable software, or a separate subscription |
Then there's time. Each product needs setting up, lighting, shooting, checking and retouching, before you move to the next one. Consistency is the hard part: the product must sit dead centre, the light can't change between shots, and anything that moves (a strap, a zip pull) shows up as a jump in the spin.
The hidden cost is scale. A 360° spin for one hero product is affordable. For a catalogue of 200 products at even $150 each, that's $30,000 before shipping, and it goes up every time you add a product.
Alternatives to a 360° photo shoot
3D models
A 3D model can be rotated, zoomed and placed in a room with augmented reality. Shopify supports them as product media. They're made by 3D artists from reference photos and measurements; Shopify's own guide puts simple models at $40 to $200 and complex ones above $1,000. They're powerful but take days per product, and every colour variant needs its own textures.
Product videos
A short video of the product turning is cheap to make with a phone. But shoppers can't stop at the angle they want, and in Baymard Institute's testing 59% of users consistently skipped product videos.
A spin made from two photos
The newest approach skips the turntable altogether. You take one photo from the front and one from the back, and AI works out the angles in between to make a smooth, draggable spin. That's how Twurn works:
Two photos, one minute, no turntable. Drag the spin to turn it.
- Cost: $1.50 a spin on Shopify, or from $0.75 a spin in packs for other stores. Your first 2 spins are free.
- Time: about a minute per product.
- Equipment: none beyond what took your product photos. The photos already on your store usually work.
The honest trade-off: because only the front and back are photographed, the in-between angles are worked out by AI rather than photographed. For most products the result is convincing. For products where shoppers judge exact side details, keep real side photos in your gallery, and check every spin's preview before you publish it.
Which should you choose?
| Approach | Best for | Cost per product |
|---|---|---|
| Studio 360° photography | A few high-value hero products where every angle must be exact | $150–$1,200+ |
| In-house turntable | Large catalogues of similar small products, with staff to run it | Equipment from ~$1,300, plus time |
| 3D model | Products where AR or configurable options matter | $40–$1,000+ |
| Two-photo spin | Adding 360° views across a whole catalogue, quickly | $0.75–$1.50 |
Many stores mix them: a full turntable shoot or a 3D model for a flagship product, and two-photo spins for everything else.
Questions
How many photos does a 360° spin need?
A traditional spin uses 24 to 72 photos, with 36 the common default. A two-photo spin like Twurn's needs just a front and a back photo.
Can I make a 360° spin with my phone?
Yes. For a traditional spin you'd need a turntable and a steady phone mount. For a two-photo spin, you only need two good phone photos. See our guide to product photos with your phone.
Is 360° product photography worth it?
For products where seeing every side helps the decision, it usually is. The question is cost per product. Our article on whether 360° views increase sales looks at the research.
Sources
- Zno, Product photography pricing 2025 guide (360°: $150–$1,200 per product; white-background photos $25–$50 per image).
- Photospherix, 360 product photography (from $240).
- UFO3D, 360 product photography: how a spin gets made and what it costs (frame counts; shipping costs; equipment ranges).
- Packshot Creator, Orbitvu vs Ortery vs StyleShoots (2026) (Ortery PhotoCapture 360 ~US$1,300; Orbitvu from €12,450 to €150,000; written by an Orbitvu distributor).
- Shopify Blog, 3D Models in E-Commerce (model costs).
- Baymard Institute, Video and 360 views (59% skipped product videos).