360 rumors

Kodak's highly anticipated Orbit360 camera has still not been released in the US.  However, it was released in Japan back in May , and predictably, resellers are now selling it on eBay . The retail price of the Orbit is 59,500 JPY ($532 USD), so the eBay prices have a little bit of a premium, which is not unexpected given eBay's fees. Meanwhile, a sample non-360 video from the Orbit360 has been posted.  One of the unique features of the Orbit360 is that it has asymmetric lenses that allow it to function as three types of cameras: an ultrawide 197-degree, an ultrawide 235-degree, or a fully spherical 360 degree camera.  Although other fully spherical 360 cameras can be cropped to achieve a similar effect,  their resolution will be significantly lower if cropped to the same field of view as an action camera. The Orbit360's ultrawide 197-degree lens, however, captures 4K video.  It can therefore offer the same 4K video resolution as GoPro   or other action cameras for a simila

I compared two of the best 360 cameras for consumers right now: Garmin Virb 360 and Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere for low light performance in typical indoor lighting conditions.  Here's the video: Both cameras did very well in this low light test.  As for which one is better, here are my thoughts: Without editing, the Garmin Virb 360 looks underexposed compared to the Xiaomi.  In Premiere, I added +1.0EV exposure, which made the Garmin exposure look more similar to that of the Xiaomi. Remarkably, the Virb video held up to the adjustment and did not show any noticeable increase noise. With the adjustment, the Virb and Xiaomi look very similar, but the Virb video is actually more detailed.  Here are closeup cropped portions of each video: Nonetheless, there is a huge $500+ difference between these two cameras, so you might say they are both winners in their own way.  In terms of absolute image quality, the Virb 360 edged out the Xiaomi, but the Xiaomi is so much more affordable that it is

Here's a new sample from the Yi 360 VR , the most affordable 5.7K 360 camera. Here's the sample, posted by Sami Luo : What do you think of the sample?  Let me know in the comments! Thank you very much to Martin Smith of Roto Studios for bringing this to my attention!

Dolly360 is a radio-controlled and stabilized dolly for 360 cameras. Dolly360 is a radio-controlled dolly designed for 360 cameras, with both horizontal and vertical stabilization.  It uses a gimbal for spherical stabilization and a telescopic oil shock absorber for vertical stabilization. Here is a video: Here is a sample 360 video from a GoPro rig mounted on the Dolly360: The Dolly360 can handle a camera up to 5 kg and will be carry it up to 1 km.  It costs 500,000 JPY (about USD 4491 at current exchange rates).  The price is for the dolly only and does not include a camera.

Ricoh has announced a huge discount on the Ricoh Theta SC, which is now only $199 !  I don't know yet if this is a permanent price adjustment or just a discount for the summer. The Theta SC has the same sensor as the Theta S, the most popular 360 camera and almost all of its features, including the best stitching in the industry. But at $199, it is almost half of the cost of the Theta S.  This makes the Theta SC quite possibly the best value for 360 photography. Here is a review of the Theta S - almost all of which applies to the Theta SC as well, except that the Theta SC has no HDMI port, no live streaming, and has a 5-minute limit on videos.  The Theta SC has interval shooting (an intervalometer) but I believe it doesn't have interval composite, so if you want to do star trails, for example, you'll need to blend the exposures yourself using tools such as Photoshop or Lightroom. Thank to you to MS and Tony Anastasi for bringing this to my attention!

Z Cam is the latest company to join Google's recently announced VR180 program .  Z Cam also showed their VR180 camera called 3D180. Z Cam Founder and Chairman Jason Zhang had this to say: "Z CAM is very well positioned in the VR180 camera market. Our solution's precise synchronization coupled with excellent calibration of the footage delivers amazing immersive experience to viewers. I am very excited that the VR180 era has finally come and we are very committed to entering this market." Z Cam CEO Kinson Loo added, "We are glad to be part of the program and expand our cooperation with Google. VR180 will open up a lot of interesting content opportunities and Z CAM's excellent image quality and ease of use will accelerate market growth. Seeing is believing!" No other details were available such as price or specifications.