360 Cameras opinions

[rdrr]

I am wondering what some of you photographers feel about the 360 action cameras that are out in the wild? Do they serve any purpose other than "hey look at how interesting my life is", and is the technology ready enough for consumers?

Thinking of pulling the trigger on the new insta360 x3 that just came out. Only for what seems to me like intuitive editing. I am not sure that my life is that interesting and that the $500 is worth it though. I would be using if for my upcoming wedding next May and whirlwind funnymoon (Venice, Cinque Terre, Nice, Barcelona). Other than that... I spend most of my life behind a desk, and maybe a vacation or two during the year.

 

[Pumbaa]

I have an older one, a Ricoh Theta S, got it to document a special trip. Haven’t used it much since.

The problem isn’t really the technology, I simply lack the vision/understanding to make more use of a 360 camera.

That said, wedding and whirlwind funnymoon? Go for it!

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

The problem isn’t really the technology, I simply lack the vision/understanding to make more use of a 360 camera.

Same here. Took some neat pictures and videos over the course of about a week and then pretty much been collecting dust since. You also have to assume the viewer knows what to do with it or cares.

360 YouTube videos have been out for years and despite the setting or event the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Ever wonder what the people standing behind you at a concert are doing? Me neither.

 

[rdrr]

Same here. Took some neat pictures and videos over the course of about a week and then pretty much been collecting dust since. You also have to assume the viewer knows what to do with it or cares.

360 YouTube videos have been out for years and despite the setting or event the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Ever wonder what the people standing behind you at a concert are doing? Me neither.

Thats where the "active lifestyle" I think comes into play. Not watching a concert... well not one that I would go to anyway.

 

[mack]

I think the advantage of the 360 cam is that you can throw it somewhere and think about composition later. It doesn't make it less skilled to get a good shot necessarily, but it puts a lot of that work from shooting into the editing stage. Especially if you're trying to film yourself, you often can't set the composition exactly as you want in the moment. But if you can, you'll get much better image quality from a non-360 cam. At some point in an interview GoPro said they would need a 12K sensor to make a 360 cam with the same image quality as their normal action cams, and that sensor just doesn't exist yet.