Take 360 degree photos with --- well, 36 cameras!

Three years ago I learned about the throwable ball camera which was about to close in on their $900,000 funding campaign on Indiegogo. You don't aim this camera - actually 36 cameras - in all – you throw it in the air! At its highest point, all 36 3MP cameras fire simultaneously to capture a richly detailed panorama of everything, in every direction, including the photographer. Three years it was available to pre-order at a discounted price of $499 on Indiegogo. Well the Panono has had a long and winding life. Three years later I see that it's on display at PhotoExpo Plus. And it's finally ready for sale. But I almost fall over when I see on the press release that the price is now $1,000 more! Yes, $1499.00. Now, I'm not putting down the folks at Panono who are young, enthusiastic and super friendly. I'm just pointing out that producing and getting a product into the marketplace is not easy task. When I was talking to them, I said is it the true the new selling price is $1499.00? The answer wasn't what I expected. No, not $1499, the new selling price is $1999.00. It turns out that the units are very difficult to produce and it sounded like they were almost hand making them”. And when you throw it in the air, be sure you catch it, because they break if they hit the ground hard! I think that's why they now sell there own special selfie stick, so you can just hold it over your head. I think that added about another $50 the cost. I also read that they working on the second version of the Panono, due out in 2021. This time they gave themselves plenty of time to get it ready. I really do wish them luck. 

Ray Wong at Mashable has a great video where he actually uses (and luckily doesn't drop) the Panono.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UItj0KYXxV0

Company website: https://www.panono.com/home