360 rumors

VRDL360 is a crowdfunded camera with 7K photo and 3K video resolution that looks like it's about to be fully funded.  It's still being offered at the shockingly low price of $99 .   Meanwhile here are full resolution sample photos. The photos were shared by the campaign organizers then I uploaded them to Roundme so we can see them in 360.  According to the organizers, the photos are completely unedited. The resolution of the files are 5656 x 2828, lower than the 7K resolution they claimed.  I am guessing that the final photos will have higher resolution if they will stick to their claim of 7K.  In any case, the exposure and sharpness look excellent, and I couldn't find any chromatic aberration.  The colors look good in some of the photos, while in others the white balance seems to have a little too much magenta.  The stitching looks flawless in several of the photos.  The dynamic range looks very good although few of the photos pushed the camera b...

VRDL360 is now live on Indiegogo .  The early bird price is $99, with delivery promised for September 2017. Here's my preview .    I did back it, but as you know, crowdfunding is not like preordering.  There are often delays, or in the worst case scenario, the project might fail completely. Thank you very much to Tony Anastasi for bringing this to my attention!

360dVR is a crowdfunded 5K 360 camera with 7 lenses arranged in a "dimensional" as opposed to planar configuration.  It is being crowdfunded for as low as $799. 360dVR is a 360 camera designed for professional use with 7 lenses arranged in a three-dimensional arrangement with five lenses arranged radially, one lens on top and another below.  According to its creators, this dimensional arrangement provides superior image quality to a planar arrangement. Here are the key specifications: - 7 lenses - video resolution: up to 5K (5168 x 2584) @ 30fps - up to 90 minutes continuous recording time - built-in memory of 112GB or 224GB - diameter: 140mm (5.5 inches). The videos from the 360dVR are not stitched.  Instead, users can stitch the video using third party software such as Autopano Video. The 360dVR will have an MSRP of $1399 but is available for preorder on their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for $799 . Here are sample videos .   Here is their official webpage ...

Crowdfunded 360 camera Nico360 just posted an update.  Here are my thoughts. Back in June 2016,  Nico360 launched a crowdfunded 360 camera that offered amazing specs, including Adobe DNG raw support and 360 wireless livestreaming.  Delivery was promised October 2016.  It's now May 2017 and there is still no sign of the camera. Nico360 did post an update today , saying that they encountered overheating issues.  They said solving the overheating problems "will cost another three or four weeks."   But they did release the [final?] resolution of the camera: - photo resolution: 6912 x 3456 - video resolution: up to 3840 x 1920 @ 24fps - live streaming: up to 2560 x 1280 @ 30fps. Those are indeed juicy looking specs.  The problem is they seem too good to be true.  The photo resolution is identical to the Xiaomi Mijia Sphere 360, but the Sphere 360, backed by the financial resources of Xiaomi, has video that tops out at 3.5K, and is selling fo...

After two months of silence, the Nico360 team issued an update regarding its crowdfunded camera. Nico360 is a crowdfunded camera that is supposed to have many cutting-edge features such as raw support, in an affordable and compact 360 camera. Nico360 was successfully funded in August, raising almost six times its crowdfunding goal.  It was originally promised for delivery in October, which was an unrealistic deadline.  Since then, it has been delayed a few times.  Many Nico360 backers were dismayed by the lack of updates.  Nico360's CEO Jerry Zhao apologized and promised more frequent updates going forward. Here is a summary of the most recent update: - Memory will now use a removable Micro SD card.  It will include a 32GB card. - Shipping of the first batch is scheduled for March 2017.  (In my opinion, this is still too optimistic.) - To make the camera more waterproof, they are increasing the thickness of the case. - The battery capacity increased from...

Insta360 has extended the preorder period for the  Insta360 Air , its 360 camera for your Android phone, while production remains on schedule. Insta360 Air is a 360 camera that attaches to your Android phone.  Because of its attractive price and features, it already far exceeded its crowdfunding campaign goal (currently more than 500%).   In response, Insta360 announced that due to the popularity of the Insta360 Air, they would extend the crowdfunding campaign for another 30 days, giving more people the chance to preorder the Insta360 Air at a substantial 17% discount compared to the MSRP ($99 preorder price vs. $119 MSRP). Insta360 assured current backers that production remains on schedule for delivery in March 2017.  Unlike pie-in-the-sky crowdfunding projects, the Air is being made by Insta360, an established company that has already produced and sold the Insta360 4k and Insta360 Nano cameras. Insta360 posted photos of the first batch of Air cameras, and confir...

Hubblo is a 3D 360 camera with realtime stitching. UPDATE 2 : here is a sample video! UPDATE : here are my hands-on impressions from CES ! I don't have a lot of info about it yet, but here are the key specs: - three pairs of lenses (6 lenses total) in a triangular configuration - realtime stitching - video resolution: 4k @ 30 fps - video can be livestreamed via Wi-Fi or recorded to Micro SD. - the video can be viewed on VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift (reviewed here) and Samsung Gear VR (reviewed here) . - the camera is "portable" It appears that the Hubblo will be offered on Indiegogo in Q1 2017 for $999. Here is the official website .  Hubblo will be at CES and I will be checking out their booth.  They will have a demo available and I will post about how well it works.    UPDATE :  here are my hands-on impressions from CES ! Thank you very much to Pepe Vazquez for bringing this to my attention! RELATED POSTS Hubblo's first 4k 3D 360 video sample has...

Nico360 is touted as the world's smallest fully spherical 360-degree camera.  When it was announced, the video resolution had been 1440p.  However, the Nico360 creators established a stretch goal at $200,000 to add 4k video.  They reached that milestone a while back.  But there were many questions about the 4k video, such as the framerate.  The creators have now added a little more information about the 4k video . According to Nico360, the 4k video will be 3840 x 1920 @ 24fps.  This is a slightly lower framerate than the Samsung Gear 360  (3840 x 1920 @ 30 fps) but higher than the Insta360 4k beta (3840 x 1920 @ 15fps).  Nico360 also said they might be able to increase it to 25 to 30 fps by optimization. Nico360 said that adding 4k capability will add one to two months to the production schedule.  Rather than delay the Nico360 production, they decided that they would release the Nico360 without the 4k capability.  The 4k capabilit...

Nico360 is a fully spherical 360 camera that aims to be the world's smallest. It is currently being crowdfunded through Indiegogo, with delivery due in October.  The campaign finally issued a long-awaited update, including new sample photos and a few more details. Nico360's crowdfunding campaign had been going strong, raising about 5 times its crowdfunding goal.  About 3 weeks ago, Nico360 posted sample images from its prototype , which caused some controversy because it appeared that it was not gamma-corrected, and its white balance was wrong.  In response, Nico360 promised an update with new sample images by August 7.   When there were no sample images, many backers were upset. Nico360 finally posted new samples: 360-degree versions are available here: http://get.nico360.com/20160814/1.html http://get.nico360.com/20160814/2.html http://get.nico360.com/20160814/3.html The new samples show some improved contrast and stitching compared to the previous sample. There i...

Would you be interested in an extremely compact, fully spherical, waterproof 360-degree camera with live streaming?  Did I mention it's only $199?  Check out the Nico 360 ! ​ The Nico360 is claimed to be the smallest fully spherical 360-degree camera.  It competes for that title with 360 cameras such as the Luna and Nikon Keymission, but it's definitely one of the smallest, if not the smallest I've seen. It has very interesting key features: two 16mp sensors photo resolution: up to 25 megapixels video resolution: 2560 x 1440 @ 30fps electronic image stabilization live streaming without a PC Adobe RAW/DNG format available Bluetooth and 5G wi-fi waterproof compatible with iOS and Android 32GB internal storage MSRP: $199 This is frankly, quite incredible.  Other than the ho-hum 2k video resolution and internal non-expandable storage, this seems very close to ideal 360 camera for consumers.  The raw capability is quite impressive - it's one of the very few 360 camer...