Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
I’m not normally a big fan of teaser videos, but something struck me about this one because there really isn’t much indication at all as to what’s coming except that it’s possibly aimed at consumers, rather than commercial users, and it’s designed for use with a phone.
The Insta360 ONE X was only launched a few months, so they’re not replacing that. The Insta360 Nano S only came out a year ago. Surely they couldn’t be making that obsolete so soon? So what could this new Insta360 product be?
This has felt like a very long wait for Insta360 ONE X camera owners who’ve thus far had to deal with the mobile apps if they want to get the most out of their camera’s footage. But now, Insta360 Studio for ONE X is finally here, with all of the FreeCapture keyframe goodness that older Insta360 Studio version users have long enjoyed.
So, with Fuji, Sony and now GoPro picking up the “we’ll just add new features in future firmware” trend, it looks like this is just the way of things now. GoPro’s announcement today adds a few features to the GoPro Fusion, increasing functionality for filmmakers and 360° content creators. There’s also a new Fusion Studio as well as Premiere Pro & After Effects plugins.
The popular Rylo 360 camera gets an upgrade! While a rather impressive camera already with extremely impressive software, the Rylo 360 camera had one slightly flaw for many users. It only shot 4K resolution. Plenty enough resolution for a flat camera, but not for converting 360° footage to a flat view.
Well, in response to that Rylo has now released a new firmware update for the camera. Yes, that’s right, you just download, install and boom, you’ve got 5.8K resolution. No hassle, no gimmicks, no new camera to spend money on, just upgrade the one you already have.
Insta360 has a reputation for producing some pretty fantastic 360 cameras. The Nano S for iPhones has proven to be particularly popular. But it left Android users asking “What about us?”. So along came the Insta360 ONE, which works with both iOS and Android. Today, though, Insta360 has announced the new Insta360 ONE X.
The new Insta360 ONE X bumps up the 4K resolution of its predecessor to 5.7K and adds new FlowState Stabilisation for smooth, rock-steady footage. It also offers 4K 360 video at up to 50 frames per second, and 3K at 100 frames per second.
You know we’re at peak levels of crazy when somebody shoves 16 8K RED Helium sensors into a single camera. But that’s exactly what Facebook and RED have done with the new Manifold 360 camera.
Designed for “immersive cinematography”, the Manifold allows RAW video capture from all 16 cameras at 8K resolution and 60 frames per second each simultaneously. Oh yeah, it’s way out there.
Today, Insta360 has announced the new Insta360 Pro 2, an update to its professional 8K 360° camera, the Insta360 Pro. While the original Insta360 Pro is a somewhat formidable camera, the Insta360 Pro 2 takes a few things up a notch or two. The new Insta360 Pro 2 comes with higher bitrates, better streaming and monitoring options, wider colour range and proxy file creation.
If there’s one thing that’s definitely not going away, it’s 360 VR cameras. And they’ve come a very long way in the last few years. It was only 2016, two short years ago, when the Ricoh Theta S was being lauded as one of the best on the consumer market – with 1080p video. But as the technology has become a little more established, demands have evolved.
Detu is answering these demands with the new Detu MAX. A 3D 360° VR camera that can shoot stereo video at a whopping 8K resolution. It’s also capable of shooting HDR 3D images and offers stills resolutions up to 12K. They’re launching the MAX on Kickstarter, with prices up to 40% off the expected retail price.
You guys remember that super blue moon eclipse a couple of months ago, right? Well, while many of us were sitting at home watching it on our computer screens, photographer William Briscoe was out in the Alaskan snow shooting 360° timelapse. And this 8K 360° video captures the beautiful the Aurora Borealis in the middle of it.
Shot on January 31st just near Fairbanks Alaska, William’s film has a fantastic view of the light show as the moon crosses the sky and temporarily disappears into blackness. If you have a VR goggles, or a headset to hold your phone, then just hit play, sit back and relax. It’s only just over a minute long, but it’s a gorgeous sight to see.
Insta360 has updated its line of affordable phone-friendly 360 cameras with the new Insta360 Nano S. It sees some rather significant upgrades over the original Nano that all look pretty exciting for iPhone owners. The Nano S is the same form factor as the original but beefs up that 3K video & 4.6MP stills to 4K 360° video and a massive 20 megapixel photos.
Announced at CES 2018, the new Nano S offers some very cool new features including 360 facetime style video chat, as well as picture-in-picture & multiview modes to shoot flat 2D video clips comprised of multiple angles. There’s also a new matte black colour option, and they even throw in a free tripod for when you want to be a little less selfie and a little more serious.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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