Zlogspot - PocariSweet 77

Here is a quick informal photo and video comparison between two of the best 360 cameras at the moment: the Garmin Virb 360 ($799 ; first impressions here ) and the Xiaomi Mi Sphere ($250 to $300; reviewed here ). When I reviewed the Xiaomi Mi Sphere, I found it to have the best photo and video quality among consumer 360 cameras around $350 or less.  Meanwhile, the Garmin has launched the Virb 360 with 5.7K video* (4K in-camera stitched), which is the most feature-rich 360 camera I am aware of, bar none. Both cameras feature image stabilization, which puts them heads-and-shoulders above the competition, IMHO.  No doubt the Xiaomi is a great choice, but is it worth spending the extra to get the Virb 360?  To help you answer that, I took a quick sample of photos and videos from these two cameras for comparison.  (Note: the Virb is using firmware 2.70, while the Xiaomi is using firmware 12494). Here are the videos.  The first is a montage that alternates between th...

After a few delays, I finally got the Garmin Virb 360!  I've been really excited about this camera because of its many features.  In fact, I would say that it has the most features of any 360 camera I've encountered, bar none , not the least of which is its unique image stabilization that follows the user's direction of movement instead of being locked in one direction . Here is a recap of the key specifications and features of the Garmin Virb 360: - video resolution: 5760 x 2880 (unstitched) or 3940 x 1920 (in-camera stitched) - photo resolution: 5640 x 2816 (no, that is not a typo) - gyro-based image stabilization - waterproof to 10 meters without a housing - G-Metrix overlay - live streaming - 360 audio The Garmin's box is smaller than I expected.  Maybe I expected a bigger box just because of the cost of the camera.  Here's what's inside: - the Virb 360 - a mini-tripod / handle - one battery (it appears to be specifically only for the Virb 360) - a proprieta...

The Xiaomi Mi Sphere has emerged as a dark horse 360 camera that has surprising photo AND video quality (it appears to have the best of both compared to consumer 360 cameras ).  However, one issue is that it has limited compatibility with smartphones, requiring a Snapdragon 625 or better processor in order to export the full video resolution.  Xiaomi's app has limited iPhone exports to 2304 x 1152 -- less than half of the full resolution. One solution to get the full resolution out of the Xiaomi is to use a third party software to stitch the videos, and Muvee Stitcher is probably the most affordable such software.    Ulf Brusquini shared this tutorial for stitching Xiaomi Mi Sphere videos in full resolution using Muvee Stitcher for Mac. Here is Ulf's tutorial: Be sure to check out Ulf's YouTube channel ! Besides using a third party stitcher, another solution is to buy a fully compatible smartphone just for rendering purposes.  Previously it seemed that you wou...

Underwater housings for 360 cameras can be expensive and/or hard to find.  However, reader Kimmo Kiiveri shared this ultra low cost DIY underwater housing for 360 cameras, and his housing is immune from refraction. Kimmo was looking for an underwater housing and it occurred to him to use a plastic water bottle. "I thought that the bottle keeps the water inside so why not the other way round."  And that's exactly what he did -- check it out! Kimmo added an O-Ring to improve watertightness.  Here are a couple of videos shot with his DIY underwater housing and his LG 360 Cam: Thank you very much again to Kimmo Kiiveri for sharing this technique and these videos!  You can check out his YouTube channel here !

Here are hands-on impressions of the Moza WK , the world's first wearable 360 gimbal, and the most compact gimbal available for 360 cameras. The Moza WK is an accessory for the Moza Mini series of gimbals, which includes the Guru 360 gimbal for 360 cameras, the Mini-C gimbal for smartphones, and the Mini-G gimbal for GoPro cameras.  The Moza WK allows you to mount the head of any of the Moza Mini gimbals in a very compact and wearable base. The WK base has its own battery but can also be powered by USB.  It has a 1/4-20 tripod mount at the bottom, but the kit includes a 1/4-20 to GoPro adapter to use it with the many action mounts available. USING THE WK To use the WK, you simply unscrew the handle from your Moza gimbal and attach the head to the WK base.  No tools needed!  Using the WK is just as easy.  To turn on the WK, you simply hold down its power button.  That's all. By default, it will startup in all-lock mode which maintains the camera's direction ...

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...

The Guru 360 is the most affordable gimbal for 360 cameras.  It also has one of the smallest nadirs and in some cameras, it can even become almost invisible .  Here's a demo and tutorial. Stabilizing your video with a gimbal is one of the most effective ways to improve its quality and to enhance your viewers' experience.  Among gimbals designed for 360 cameras, the Guru 360 is the most affordable and it also has one of the smallest nadirs to date. The nadir is small enough that it is possible to make it almost invisible.  Here's a 360 video demo and a tutorial: As I mentioned in the video, the most visible parts of the Guru 360 in the nadir are the motor and the counterweights.  To make them disappear, you need to do two things: 1. Move the camera off the center of the gimbal and toward the pitch/roll motor.  The goal is to put the motor between the lenses. 2. To hide the counterweight that is on the opposite side of the pitch/roll motor, you need to split...