Lazy Susan

The object turns and the camera does not, so every side comes into view against a background that never changes. The result is a clean, repeatable look at a thing from all angles.

That fixed background is the reason it is the standard for products. Nothing about the room competes, so the viewer spends the whole shot looking at the object.

The subject sits on a turntable and rotates at a steady rate. The camera is locked off, so the framing, the light and the background are identical in every frame.

Lighting is set once and holds for the whole turn, which is the practical advantage. The highlights travel across the object as it rotates, and that is what shows the material.

A slow, even rate reads as considered. Any wobble in the speed reads as cheap, because the eye is very good at spotting an uneven rotation.

Use it for products, for models and props, and for anything the audience should be able to inspect from every side.

Do not use it for people in a narrative scene. A person on a turntable reads as an exhibit, which is almost never the intention.

A 360 degree orbit moves the camera around a still subject, so the background sweeps past. A lazy susan turns the subject in front of a still camera, so the background never moves at all.

The background settles it in one glance. Moving background is an orbit. Frozen background is a turntable.

The model orbits the camera instead of turning the subject, and the background gives it away immediately. Say the camera is completely static and the subject rotates.

The second failure is an uneven turn, which looks wrong even when the viewer cannot say why. Ask for a slow, constant rate of rotation.