We’re on the cusp of a new technology taking off in the consumer space. With the launch of a number of 360-degree cameras in Australia, notably the Samsung Gear 360 today, we thought we’d check out the now five 360° cameras available now in Australia.
Over the last year we’ve seen 360° photos and video taking off, YouTube was on it early, but Facebook now supports both 360-degree photo and video sharing making mainstream acceptance a little more available to everyone – though you can share photos through Google Photos and Flickr as well as Facebok.
This is a fairly basic overview, the specs are one thing, but the features are another. One example is for the recently announced Live 360-degree YouTube streaming, which of the five cameras we listed, only the Ricoh Theta S supports it – albeit via microUSB or HDMI type D cable connection while connected to a computer.
But, we’re here for specs, so let’s lay it out.
| LG 360 CAM | Ricoh Theta S | 360Fly | 360Fly 4K | Samsung Gear 360 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camera | Dual 13MP | Dual 12MP CMOS Sensor – effective output 14.5MP |
12.4 Megapixels – Custom glass lens |
N/A | Dual 15MP CMOS fisheye |
| Aperture | N/A | f/2.0 | f/2.0 | ||
| Field of View | 360°/180° | 2x 190° | 2x 195° | ||
| Video Format: | 2K Video Support | FullHD | 1500px with 720P preview | 4K (2880 x 2880/30 FPS) | 3840×1920 (30fps) |
| Internal Storage | 4GB | 8GB | 32GB | 64GB | No – Requires microSD card |
| microSD Card Slot | Yes – up to 2TB | No | No | No | Yes – Up to 128GB |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi Bluetooth |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz band) Bluetooth Smart Device (BT LE) |
802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth (BT LE) | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), MIMO Bluetooth® v 4.2 LE |
| Microphones: | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Audio Support | 5.1ch Audio Recording | Stereo | Mono | Stereo, 192kHz, AAC | Stereo |
| Sensors | 9-Axis Sensor | N/A | Accelerometer | Accelerometer, E-Compass, Non- Assisted GPS, Gyroscope | Accelerometer, Gyroscope |
| Dimensions | 30x97x25mm @ 72g | 44 x130x22.9 @ 125g | 58mm Sphere @ 120g | 61mm Sphere @ 149g | 66.7×56.2×60 mm @ 153g |
| Battery | 1,200 mAh | N/A | 1,600 mAh | 1,710 mAh | 1,350mAh Li-ion |
| Physical Connection: | USB-C | micro USB port (USB 2.0) + HDMI Type D 1.4 | Base station with USB 2.0 | Base station with USB | micro USB port (USB 2.0) |
| Tripod/Monopod mount | Standard 1/4″-20 | Standard 1/4″-20 | Requires 360fly Tripod Adaptor to connect to Standard 1/4″-20 Tripod screw |
Requires 360fly Tripod Adaptor to connect to Standard 1/4″-20 Tripod screw |
Standard 1/4″-20 |
| IPXX Rating | N/A | N/A | Water-resistant to 5 ATM Dust-resistant IP6X (Without Mic Plug) Shock-resistant Up to 1.5 M |
Water-resistant to 1 ATM Dust-resistant IP6X Shock-resistant Up to 1.5 M |
IP53 Certified Dust and Water Resistant |
| App | LG 360 CAM Manager | Richoh Theta S | Gear 360 Manager | ||
| Price RRP | $399 | $626.78 | $649 | $849 | $499 |
You can read Chris’ thoughts on the LG 360 Cam here, and we’ll have more hands on and reviews for the Gear 360 and the Ricoh Theta S coming soon.
