Canon VR180 Conversion in StereoPhoto Maker (Dual Fisheye ⇄ VR180)
Canon’s RF 5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye lens records VR180 as two circular fisheye images side by side in one frame. To view or edit that material as immersive VR180, it must be converted to the equirectangular projection headsets expect — and sometimes converted back. StereoPhoto Maker performs this bidirectional conversion, and in v6.25 the author made it roughly three times faster.
Fisheye to VR180 (equirectangular)
- Open the dual-fisheye frame in SPM.
- Use the Canon VR conversion to project the two fisheye circles into a VR180 equirectangular image.
- Check the horizon and nadir: equirectangular conversion stretches the top and bottom of the frame, which is normal for the projection.
- Save the equirectangular result for your headset or platform (see YouTube VR exports and Quest viewing).
VR180 back to fisheye
The conversion runs both ways: an equirectangular VR180 image can be converted back to the dual-fisheye layout. Round-tripping is useful when an edit was made in equirectangular space but the delivery format is the camera layout. Expect the usual projection caveat — each conversion resamples the image, so keep the original file as your master.
Where SPM fits in the Canon workflow
Canon’s own EOS VR Utility is the subscription route for this lens. SPM covers the stills and frame-conversion side of the workflow as freeware: alignment, conversion between fisheye and VR180, and batch handling through Multi Conversion. It is not a video editor — for footage, treat SPM as the stills/frames tool and use a video editor for the timeline.
SPM reads the dual-fisheye frames; it does not replace Canon’s RAW development. Develop CR2/CR3 files first (for example in DxO or Lightroom), then convert.
The lens this workflow is built around is the Canon RF 5.2mm f/2.8L Dual Fisheye; SPM converts its frames as freeware.
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