A camera that sees all around
Since the dawn of photography, taking a picture has meant pointing a camera at something interesting and capturing a rectangular view in that direction. Panorama shooting, which once meant complicated mechanical contraptions but can now be done by waving your mobile phone and letting the software sort out the details, just gives you a wider rectangle.
360-degree photography is something different altogether, and Ricoh’s Theta camera (this is the improved third version) makes it surprisingly easy, both for still pictures and video. About the size of a TV remote control, it has a camera on each side, each with a bulbous ‘fisheye’ lens to capture 180 degrees in all directions. When the two images are stitched together, a little bit of magic jiggling erases the camera’s presence from the view, leaving you with a full view of everything that was visible from where the shot was taken.
Ordinarily, the image would include you holding the camera, so it’s designed so that you don’t have to. There’s no built-in screen; instead, you operate everything wirelessly from your Apple or Android phone or tablet. You can also just press a button on the front, but then you’ll be in the picture, with a giant hand. Stand the camera anywhere: remember, it sees everything, so there’s no need to point it the right way – just make sure anything you want to emphasise is at least 10cm from the lens but not
too far away.
Check the live preview on your touchscreen, then tap to take an image or begin your video recording (anything up to 25 minutes). There’s also a timer in the app, so you can set the Theta S to take one or more pictures, then leave it somewhere without Wi-Fi to get on with it – even underwater (if you buy the £25 TH-1 transparent case). Alternatively, you can leave the camera connected to a computer and stream 360-degree video from it, but it’s hard to see why you’d want to do that, especially given that you and your computer will be in shot.
Naturally, the Theta S’s end product isn’t a flat image. Well, technically it is, but it doesn’t make much sense if you view it that way. You’ll need to use Ricoh’s software on your mobile device, PC or Mac to display it as an interactive 360-degree panorama. You can also edit your panoramas in this software, although no Android version is available for video editing. To share them with other people, videos can be uploaded to YouTube, which shows them as intended, and stills can be made public on Google Street View.
The camera’s 12-megapixel photo and Full HD video specifications sound pretty decent, but the spherical images aren’t quite as detailed as you might hope. Even so, the Theta S is good enough for professional projects, as long as there’s plenty of light. Something like a concert hall might photograph well, with dark areas and bright lights, but most indoor scenes will look dingy. You can see some of our colleagues at work at www.snipca.com/19275. Drag with your mouse to look around – and don’t forget up and down.
Videos only appear correctly on YouTube (see www.snipca.com/19276 for examples) in the YouTube app or up-to-date versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera or Firefox, not in Apple’s Safari browser. Even then, YouTube doesn’t do them full justice: your panoramas will look sharper in Ricoh’s software. But there’s something pretty amazing about being able to look at a scene with a 360-degree view. As virtual-reality goggles become widely available this year, 360-degree videos could start to get popular.
VERDICT
If you want to be in at the beginning of a trend, the Theta S is the device to buy, but the price is fairly hefty for limited image quality.
SPECIFICATIONS
1080p Full HD video • 14-megapixel equivalent photos • 8GB storage • Wi-Fi • MicroUSB port • Micro HDMI port • 130x44x23mm (HxWxD) • 125g • Two year warranty