To start off, I would like to say that this is NOT a review of the Gear 360. It's hard to review something when it's the only product of its kind that I have used. So if you're looking for comparisons with other 360 cameras, there are plenty on YouTube.
This post is just sharing some of the images I have taken throughout the day, and some of my observations while using the Gear 360.
This is a pretty good looking device. With the included mini tripod, it looks almost like a mini jellyfish.
(Gear 360 uses a standard tripod mount)
I have a few complaints in regards to the design though. Being an orb, this is not a device you can just put in your pocket. Also because of its design, you NEED to have a tripod/monopod in order to capture 360 content. Another small complain would be the included pouch doesn't really do much to protect the device during transportation.
The great thing about the Gear 360 is that it is plug and play. Put in a microSD card, and insert the battery and you're good to go. The 1,350mAh isn't exactly huge, but seems decent enough in my time with it. The fact that it is removable means that one can get extra batteries to swap on the go without the need to worry about charging time.
It supports Google Street View connection too which is a huge bonus for people who are into taking photospheres to add into Local Guides on Google Maps. The mode can be accessed by long pressing the Menu button.
When you press the Menu button, you cycle through these options.
Inside settings. The UI is simple and snappy enough, but it does mean that to change the timer from 0s to 2s, it requires 11 button presses (Yes, I counted).
This is my weapon of choice though instead of the included mini tripod. Yes, that's a selfie stick. Being able to extend the Gear 360 helps to create better looking 360 content.
The 0.5" PMOLED display is still nicely visible outdoors which is nice.
For times when I just want to capture wide-angled still images, I hold it like a Pokeball.
It's really really wide-angled.
Image quality is decent too most of the time. Colours are details are well represented too. I wished it had some sort of Auto-HDR mode though.
Comparing it to a shot I took on my iPhone SE at the same spot.
Decent quality too when it comes to video. Note the gradual changing of exposure with the change of environment. Something to take note off as well is that you need to inject metadata into the video before you upload it to YouTube, and the instructions are just here.
The 360 images turned out pretty nice too. I am not sure how to embed them, so just go the the album here to see all the still images I have taken.
At night there are a LOT of artifacts with the image processing which results in a less than ideal output in my opinion, issues with stitching are also exacerbated.
The Gear 360 is something that I probably wouldn't use too much in darker conditions.
Which brings us to the not so fun part about the Gear 360. All the while I have just been using the Gear 360 as a standalone device, and for the most part, it's a pretty painless experience. However in order to get a live view of what I am shooting, it needs to be connected to the Gear 360 Manager app. The downside is, it only works with a handful of Samsung smartphones (S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, Note5, S7, S7 Edge). Or you could give this ported/modded app a try for other Android devices found on XDA. I definitely do not recommend this though as it's not official.
The Gear 360 manager is not just used for a viewfinder though. It is also the app that will transfer as well as stitch together the input from both lenses into a single monoscopic output. Which means that it is actually pretty important.
The un-stitched content would look pretty much like this, and if you upload them to YouTube, Google Photos, FaceBook, they wouldn't be able to "transform" them into viewable 360 content. Basically, without the Gear 360 Manager, you wouldn't be able to just grab the files off your microSD and upload them to wherever you want it to go.
This really restricts the official support for the Gear 360. The other alternative for stitching the content together would be Samsung's own Gear 360 ActionDirector software, BUT that's only for Windows PC. I only have Macs at home.
After some reading and Googling, and trying around for a while, I found a third party solution that works for stitching the footage together. The solution comes from Alex Pearce, and it requires Kolor's Autopano Video software, and a specific template that he created to help stitch the footage together.
There are just a few caveats though...
This is stitched together using the Gear 360 app.
This is stitched together using the trial version of Autopano. The stitching is noticeably worse than what the Gear 360 app could do.
See that "Total time" section at the bottom? It took my relatively ancient iMac close to 30 mins to render a 30 secs video. The same video took close to 2 mins or so on the Gear 360 app on an S7 Edge. Not fun, and I certainly won't recommend anyone to go this route. Not to mention that the software costs 299 Euro for the normal version and 599 Euro for the Pro version. At that price, it's probably easier to just get a used S6.
-----
Would I buy one?
Probably not.
The Gear 360 makes it super easy to create 360 content on the go, and it is definitely fun to view 360 content no matter on my phone, computer, or a VR headset. However it's not something I see myself using or needing unless it's for a special occasion (travelling, parties, wedding, etc).
No comments:
Post a Comment