# How to make a virtual tour with a RICOH THETA camera URL: https://www.panoramr.com/guides/how-to-make-a-virtual-tour-with-a-ricoh-theta Published: 2026-10-19 Updated: 2026-11-02 To make a virtual tour with a RICOH THETA, put it on a tripod in each place a visitor would stand and take a 360° photo, using HDR rendering where windows are bright and Time Shift, the self-timer or the RICOH360 app to keep yourself out of the shot. A THETA saves each photo already stitched as a 2:1 equirectangular JPEG, so there is nothing to export: copy the JPEGs to a computer or phone and upload them to a tour maker such as Panoramr to link the rooms and publish the tour. ## Which THETA cameras work Every RICOH THETA saves 360° photos that work in a virtual tour. Ricoh's own site sells the THETA X, THETA A1 and THETA Z1 today; the SC2 still works with Ricoh's app. | Camera | 360° photo | HDR and RAW | | --- | --- | --- | | RICOH THETA X | 11,008 × 5,504 pixels (about 60 MP) | HDR rendering, handheld HDR and bracketing; DNG through a plug-in | | RICOH THETA Z1 | 6,720 × 3,360 pixels (about 23 MP) | HDR rendering, handheld HDR and bracketing; RAW (DNG) beside the JPEG | | RICOH THETA A1 | 11,008 × 5,504 pixels (about 60 MP) | HDR rendering and handheld HDR | | RICOH THETA SC2 | 5,376 × 2,688 pixels (about 14 MP) | HDR rendering | The sizes are from Ricoh's [THETA specifications](https://www.ricoh360.com/theta) and the [A1 manual](https://support.ricoh360.com/manual/a1-add-info-01). Every one of them is twice as wide as it is tall, and all of them fit in a Panoramr tour, which takes 360° photos up to 16,384 pixels wide, and up to 23,000 from a computer with 8 GB of memory or more. ## Set up the camera - **Put it on a tripod or a stand.** Ricoh advises against standing a THETA on a table by itself: it is tall and narrow, tips over easily and can scratch its lenses ([Ricoh's advice on stands and tripods](https://blog.ricoh360.com/en-howto/using-a-stand-and-tripod)). - **Keep the stand straight**, not tilted or bent, so the horizon is level in every room. - **Put it in the middle of the room**, at the same height in every room. Ricoh's own tour advice is about halfway between the floor and the ceiling: 120 to 130 cm under a 250 cm ceiling. Some photographers prefer eye height; either works if you keep to it. ## Take the photos 1. **Use HDR rendering** where a bright window and a dark room meet in one shot. The camera takes several exposures and joins them, so it must stay still on its stand. 2. **Turn on the lights and open the blinds**, then look round and under the stand for anything you do not want in the picture. 3. **Keep yourself out of the shot.** A THETA sees all the way round, so step out of sight before it fires: - **Time Shift**, on the X and A1, fires one lens and then the other, so you can stand behind the camera for the first half and move round for the second. - **The self-timer** gives you up to 10 seconds to hide. - **The RICOH360 app** on your phone, or a Bluetooth remote, fires the camera from another room. 4. **Take one photo for each place a visitor would stand**: the entrance, each room, and the halls and stairs between them. [How to take 360° photos for a virtual tour](https://www.panoramr.com/guides/how-to-take-360-photos-for-a-virtual-tour) has more on where to stand. ## Copy the photos off the camera A THETA joins the pictures from its two lenses in the camera, so each JPEG it saves is already a finished 360° photo, twice as wide as it is tall. Unlike some 360° cameras, it needs no export step: - **To a computer:** connect the camera by USB. On Windows, choose Open Device to View Files; on a Mac, use Photos or Image Capture. Copy the JPEGs. - **To a phone:** in the RICOH360 app, open Photo/Video, choose THETA, connect to the camera over Wi-Fi, select the photos and choose Save Photo and Video ([Ricoh's manual](https://support.ricoh360.com/manual/ricoh360-app-preview-06)). Ricoh's older THETA app stopped being developed in December 2024; RICOH360 is the app to use. RAW files are different. A Z1's DNG, or an X's DNG from its HDR-DNG plug-in, is not joined in the camera: develop it, then join it in Ricoh's THETA Stitcher before it can go into a tour. If you do not need RAW, use the JPEG. To check a file before you build the tour, drop it into Panoramr's free [360° photo checker](https://www.panoramr.com/tools/360-photo-checker). ## Build the tour 1. Create a free Panoramr account and click Create Tour. 2. Choose your THETA JPEGs. A free account holds 250 panoramas. 3. Link the rooms with hotspots, so a visitor can walk from one to the next, and add notes, a floor plan and a design. 4. Publish the tour, and share its link or embed it on your website. [How to create a 360° virtual tour, step by step](https://www.panoramr.com/guides/how-to-make-a-360-virtual-tour) goes through each of these in more detail. ## Questions ### Which RICOH THETA is best for a virtual tour? Ricoh sells the THETA X, THETA A1 and THETA Z1 today. The X and the A1 take the larger photo, about 60 MP; the X has a touch screen, the A1 a small status panel. The Z1 takes about 23 MP and saves RAW beside the JPEG. Any of them works in a Panoramr tour, and [nine 360° cameras compared](https://www.panoramr.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-360-camera-for-a-virtual-tour) sets them beside the others. ### Do I need to stitch RICOH THETA photos? Not the JPEGs: a THETA saves each one already joined, as a 2:1 equirectangular photo. Only RAW (DNG) files need joining, in Ricoh's THETA Stitcher. ### Should I use HDR on a THETA indoors? Yes, when a room has bright windows. HDR rendering joins several exposures into one photo, so keep the camera still on a stand while it shoots. ### Do I need RICOH360 Tours to make a tour with a THETA? No. RICOH360 Tours is Ricoh's own tour service, a 14-day trial and then from $39 a month, billed yearly ([Ricoh's pricing](https://www.ricoh360.com/tours/pricing/)). A THETA's JPEGs go into any tour maker, Panoramr included: [Panoramr vs RICOH360 Tours](https://www.panoramr.com/compare/panoramr-vs-ricoh360-tours) compares the two.