Waterproof 360-Degree HD Camera Adds a World of Depth to Oculus Rift

With tools such as the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift moving into the mainstream, panoramic video and imagery are increasingly becoming necessary perspectives rather than mere visual curios.

Helping to meet that need is a new Kickstarter-backed panoramic video camera called the 360cam.

Created by France-based Giroptic, the tiny device might remind you of the roof-mounted camera seen on Google Street View cars. But this isn't a tool for large corporations; it's designed for the average user.

Housed in a blue and black plastic egg-like shell, the device allows you to capture 360-degree HD video and photos, all while delivering the device's current status on its surface via LED display. The display can indicate the camera's current mode (Time Lapse, Burst, Photo, Video, Live) and count down during timed photos.

Oculus owners can view live panoramic video through the 360cam's Oculus Rift video player. And, because the 360cam is waterproof, it offers the potential of virtual trips under the surface, for the first time. To enhance the visual clarity of underwater shots, the device also comes with a unique set of goggles for its lenses.

A few weeks ago, we saw a similar device called the Centr Cam, developed by a team of former Apple employees. But at time of writing, with only eight days to go, that Kickstarter campaign has raised roughly $500,000 of its $900,000. By contrast, the 360cam quickly blew past its goal of $150,000 — earning nearly $180,000 with 43 days of crowdfunding left.

"We have a wider field of view, 360x150 vertical, covering almost the full sphere, [and] we have a gyroscope for image stabilization," a Giroptic spokesperson told when asked to list differences between the two products.

Early backers of the device will receive the 360cam in August, and the company expects to start selling the camera in November for about $499.

Image: GIROPTIC

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See the Whole Room With Polycom's 360-Degree Videoconferencing Camera

If you've ever hosted a videoconference, you know that they can be a pain. Even after you navigate the dangerous waters of incompatible services and unreliable equipment, you often see the same Brady Bunch-style windows — usually a mix of chattering heads along with a single main feed of a crowd surrounding a conference room table.

Polycom thinks it has a better solution with its CX8000 videoconferencing room system. The system has simple interface powered by Microsoft Lync, and it supports an optional 360-degree panoramic camera that can see an entire conference room, finally giving a meeting's "primary" feed the prominence it deserves.

"Video is really ready for the consumerization of the enterprise," says Laura Marx, senior director of alliances marketing at Polycom. "We're taking that one-click video experience into the conference room. And the 360-degree camera is really a unique experience. It's what you would see if you were in the room."

The CX8000 also supports the latest version of Lync, which debuted last year with Office 365.

With Lync's touchscreen support, the Polycom system can turn any participant's screen into a collaboration tool using a feature called Virtual White Boarding. The system also supports app sharing as well. Conference participants can adjust the layout of the video screens to their liking via Lync's gallery view.

The bad news: The system starts at $15,000, meaning it's essentially an enterprise-only tool. Although, with Lync being part of the deal, that's pretty much expected. Nevertheless, using the system, any individual will be able to dial into a conference via Lync on any device and enjoy the full suite of features, including contact lists (with Outlook integration), IMing, document collaboration and HD video support.

Polycom will bring the new features to its other Lync-powered systems via a software update (Polycom RealPresence Group Series 4.1.3) coming in February.

While Polycom's system makes sense for corporations where Lync and Microsoft's software are part of the established workflow, there are plenty of alternatives for those on a budget. Both Google Hangouts and ooVoo boast many of the same features at a fraction of the cost (although you'll have to do without that panoramic camera).

Polycom is taking orders on the CX8000 starting today, with the product scheduled to begin shipping in March.

Image: POLYCOM

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Miggo Camera Strap Protects Your Gear, Too, So You Don’t Need A Bulky Camera Bag

A new Kickstarter project takes a useful thing and makes it even more useful, by offering a strap that not only carries your DSLR but also protects it when not in use. It’s the perfect way to minimize your equipment when you’re out shooting on a trip and don’t need your full camera bag and gear, and it’s so deceptively simple, it’s a wonder it doesn’t already exist.

The Miggo strap is designed by Israel-based industrial designer Ohad Cohen, who was a founder of professional camera bag maker Kata, which remains one of the leading makers of bags for pros and hobbyists. Cohen was the first product designer at Kata, then later was in charge of R&D, so he knows a thing or two about creating camera gear.

Miggo is designed around the philosophy that while there’s plenty of interest in photography since the advent of smartphones, people avoid high-quality cameras and gear because of the convenience factor of using their mobile devices. To alleviate that, the Miggo combines a sling strap to secure your camera with a wrap that protects it when not in use. It also comes in a grip variety for those who prefer tying their camera to their wrist to prevent drops. Both versions quickly tie around both camera lens and body to provide a secure protective layer, which then allows you to chuck the camera into a shoulder bag or backpack along with all your other stuff, instead of having to use a segmented, padded camera bag designed specifically for protecting gear.

It has a tripod mount adapter built-in so you don’t have to remove it to take time-lapse or other stabilized shots, and there are versions for both standard DSLRs and smaller-bodies compact mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, like Sony’s NEX series. Early backers can pre-order for $30 while supplies last, at which time it goes up to $35 for the Grip + Wrap or $40 for the Strap + Wrap.

Image: Kickstarter

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Sony Wants to Turn Your Tablet Into a Giant Camera

Sony's SPA-TA1 tablet attachment turns your tablet into a serious digital camera.

Remember Sony's lens-type camera attachments for smartphones? Well, the company aims to do the same to its line of tablets with the launch of SPA-TA1, a clip-on attachment that gives the tablet serious photo-taking power.

The SPA-TA1 is not a camera or a lens in itself; it's just a clip-on attachment with several "arm" sizes that enables you to mount Sony's lens-type cams onto a tablet.

The actual cameras (though Sony's lens-type cams look like lenses, they're really full-blown cameras) are the same as before: the DSC-QX100 is a high zoom model that retails for $249, while the high-end DSC-QX10 costs $499.

The SPA-TA1 will come in six arm sizes, accomodating for devices from 85-190mm in width. That pretty much covers all Sony phablets and tablets, from the Xperia Z Ultra to the Sony Vaio Tap 11.

According to Xperia Blog, the Sony SPA-TA1 will launch on Apr. 4 2014 in Japan at a suggested retail price of 3,675 Yen ($36).

Image: SONY

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For a Guy With Startup Roots, Kickstarter Offers a Second Shot

Launching a Kickstarter project is always a leap of faith. That especially holds true for Marc Barros, who launched a campaign for his new product on Tuesday — a smartphone lens attachment called Moment.

This is Barros' second commercial venture after he was let go from Contour, a company he founded while still in college. If you haven’t heard of Contour, that’s probably because its efforts have been largely drowned out by the marketing fusillade from its competition, GoPro.

Contour, which began its life as VHoldr, was part of the original wearable camera wave in 2008, much like the much more well-known GoPro. The product recorded in HD, saved to SD cards, offered waterproof case accessories and had an app and social network. Contour struggled to compete with GoPro and its popular Hero cameras, eventually deciding to continue the fight without Barros.

Now Barros, who wrote about his dismissal and the aftermath on his website, is again ready to try his hand at entrepreneurship with Moment. He's not straying too far from his roots, either.

"I believe in the Kickstarter concept: Getting to customers earlier. It's a little terrifying because you're showing prototypes," he said. To build his new product and company, Barros recruited some former Contour coworkers, and some with a few years' worth of experience making cinematic lenses.

The result is Moment Wide and the Moment Tele, capable of 2x zoom. The lenses, which work without special cases, are machine barreled and relatively large for a mobile phone lens attachment.

Moment lenses attach bayonet-style to a special mount that you must actually glue to your iPhone. Barros explained that it’s not permanent rubber glue, though; you can remove it if you want. But Barros does not envision taking the mount on and off.

The mount is actually a plate that runs the full width of your iPhone, but only goes as deep as the first edge on the back of the phone. Barros said the mount is thin enough to fit under your case. (There's also an Android option.)

The lenses also appear larger than competing 3-in-1 lenses from Olloclip. That company’s multi-purpose lenses include wide-angle, fisheye and macro in one attachment. Barros claims his lenses maintain image quality to the edge of the lens and the resulting photo, while Olloclip’s drops off significantly. Of course, there is no way to verify this claim without testing the product.

Image: Moment

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Sony's New Action Camera Is 5 Cams in One

The Sony HDR-AS100V is actually five action cams in one, or at least it can be. While the camera works just fine mounted to a helmet or shoulder, it really levels-up the experience when you have a bunch of them all networked via an optional wrist controller.

Up to five cameras can be "meshed" in this way, letting the user adjust the footage captured by each cam. The cameras themselves are splash-proof, and can capture video at up to 1080p at 24 frames per second. At 720p, they can record in slow motion at 120 fps or even super-slow at 240 fps.

With multiple cameras and the RM-LVR1 wrist controller, extreme videographers could mount cameras all over the body, or several bodies, to build some seriously creative footage. The supplied PlayMemories software has tools for merging material from multiple cams, making split-screens easy. The footage even has timecodes, although you'll need a pro suite (such as Sony Vegas) to use them. The cameras' onboard GPS can integrate map views, too.

Built into the camera is Sony's SteadyShot image stabilization, which can adjust to the different kinds of vibration that goes hand in hand with action videography, whether it's gentle bumps on a ski run or the constant rumble of a motorcycle.

Got a little hands-on time with Sony's tiny but powerful action cam, as well as the wrist mount, and they're pretty fun. The camera itself is remarkably lightweight and the white finish is pretty. Since the footage is relayed wirelessly, there's a slight but perceptible delay in the camera view on the wrist monitor, but it worked well with no dropouts.

The AS100V will be available in March. Each action cam costs $299.99, and a bundle with the wrist controller is $399.99, so a full five-camera system will set you back about $1,600. Steep, but if you get some friends in on the action, you can split the cost.

Image: Sony

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Sony Debuts 4K Camcorder That Costs Just $2,000

If you're looking to produce real 4K video on the cheap, look no further than Sony's FDR-AX100 Handycam — a consumer 4K camcorder that costs a mere $1,999. That's less than half of Sony's "prosumer" 4K offering, which starts at $4,499.

The new 4K Handycam is also significantly more compact than the previous model — Sony says it's 46% smaller and 67% lighter. I got a little hands-on time with it, and it's definitely nice and light, although it's still a bit heavier than your typical full HD camera.

The AX100 captures 4K video (3,840 x 2,160) at 30 frames per second (fps) in the XAVC-S format, but it also can produce a second file, one that's lower-res and more shareable, in MP4 format. It's no slouch in full HD format either, able to capture 1,920 x 1,080 video at up to 120 frames per second for serious slow-motion footage.

Sony's Balanced Optical SteadyShot (BOSS) system reduces hand shake, ensuring the footage you record is as steady as possible, even when you've got the 12x zoom maxed out.

All this and wireless, too: You can pair the camcorder with a phone or tablet, which can act as a remote control via Wi-Fi. You can also transfer files, and the pairing process is painless if your phone has NFC — just tap and you're connected.

The large fold-out LCD screen also includes a projector (not 4K, of course) so you can show off your footage wherever you are. The projector even has automatic keystone correction so you'll still see a nice rectangle even if it's projecting at an angle.

Sony threw in a couple of new voice tricks, too: Premium Closer Voice will make a distant voice sound like it's closer than it is, while My Voice Canceling gets rid of the shooter's voice, in case you don't want your personal comments to show up on your daughter's ballet recital video.

The FDR-AX100 will be available in March.

Image: Sony

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Panono Throwable Camera Ball Gets Major Optics Upgrade

The Panono panoramic camera ball will be able to take even better photographs. The team working on the throwable panoramic ball camera announced Monday that it has been able to procure better optics that will boost the camera from 72 to 108 megapixels. According to Panono, this makes its camera ball the first consumer camera to exceed 100 megapixels.

The Panono is a ball-shaped camera — about the size of a grapefruit — with 36 cameras inside. All 36 cameras fire off simultaneously when thrown in the air, capturing stunning 360-degree spherical panoramic images.

Check out this 108-megapixel image of a Panono flying with a drone in Germany:

The project is currently seeking funding on Indiegogo and is about two-thirds of the way towards its $900,000 goal with just under two weeks to go. Users can pre-order a Panono for $499. The company is also offering a holiday special package for $535, complete with protective case, tripod adapter and handheld stick.

The Panono is expected to ship the third quarter of 2014. We had a ton of fun with the prototype Panono in our office back in October. With the success of drones and other high-tech toys, it would seem Panono has a ready-made audience. With better optics, the photos Panono takes will be better too, which could be great news for photographers or hobbyists who are on the lookout for unique images.

Image: Panona

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Samsung Galaxy NX: Android Goes Mirrorless for Way Too Much Money

The Samsung Galaxy NX is an interchangeable lens camera that serves as the "pro" model to last year's Galaxy Camera. It has a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, a 4.8-inch touchscreen and 16GB of internal storage, runs Android 4.2.2 and has a micro SIM card slot for 3G/4G LTE connectivity. It costs $1,600 for just the body and $1,700 with an 18-55mm lens.

Unlike DSLRs or other mirrorless cameras, you won't find many buttons on the Galaxy NX. From left to right you have the flash button, power button, control wheel, HD video recording button and shutter button. Depending on your shooting style, that's either a pro or a con.

On the back of the Galaxy NX is a large 4.8-inch 1280 x 720 resolution touchscreen. It looks and feels like a smartphone screen was yanked off and glued to the back of a DSLR. There is also an electronic viewfinder, but it's nowhere near as sharp as the screen since it only has an 800 x 600 resolution.

The Galaxy NX is a relatively slim and light camera. As you can see here, the 18-55mm lens actually drags the Galaxy NX's body down.

Inside of the camera is a 20.3-megapixel APS-C "DSLR-class" sensor that lets you take pictures that have a higher resolution with sharper details than a smartphone or point-and-shoot camera.

Instead of a clunky and slow custom camera interface, Samsung chose to use Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean as the Galaxy NX's operating system. This means you'll get access to the full library of apps on the Google Play store and 3G/4G LTE connectivity.

The 4,360mAh is an absolute beast and lasted over 10 hours in my daily tests. One annoying thing is the micro SD card slot and micro SIM card slots are recessed, which makes swapping them out tricky if you don't have fingernails.

Surprise Voice Commands: One cool little feature I found on the Galaxy NX was the inclusion of voice commands. It doesn't understand natural language, like Siri or Google Now, but the list of voice commands are easy to remember and useful (when they work). And, knowing the limitations of voice recognition, I didn't expect much from the Galaxy NX. At close range, most of the voice commands work, but step back to around five feet and the camera has a hard time picking up your voice.

Samsung Galaxy NX Specifications:

Display: 4.8” HD scLCD, 0.46” SVGA EVF

Chipset: Pega-Q + DRIMe4 + MDM9215(XMM6360)

Bearer: LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/2600

                 HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100

Memory: 2GB(RAM)+ 16GB(eMMC)

                    MicroSD (up to 64GB)

Camera / Flash: 20.3MP APS-C CMOS w/ Flash

Connectors: microUSB, USB 2.0

Wireless Connectivity: BT 4.0, WiFi a/b/g/n HT40 2.4G/5GHz

GPS:  A-GPS + GLONASS

Dimension: Weight136.5 x 101.46 x 56mm (TBD)

Battery capacity: 4360mAh, 3.8V

OS / Upgrade: Android JB MR1

Messaging & SNS: ChatON(D/L)

Augmented Reality: D/L from Play Store

LBS: Google Maps (Turn-by-turn Navi.)

Other Services & Applications: Trouwrist, Trip Advisor, Panoramio (TBD)

PC Applications: Kies (Windows & Mac), Lightroom

UI / Web Browser: TouchWiz for Android / Chrome

Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA

Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, RV, VD-1

               Recording/Playback: 1080@30fps

Image: Samsung

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Tooga Gear Gives Photo And Video Pros Options With A Modular Kit For Hard-To-Get Shots

A new Kickstarter project called Tooga Gear based out of LA wants to provide a versatile, durable camera mounting solution for capturing tricky shots in a modular package that can support DSLRs, GoPros and other action cams, and even smartphones, all in a package that can fit in a small sling bag.

Tooga Gear includes a dolly, suction mounts, a ballhead tripod mount, a protective guerrilla cage and a shell component that ties everything together. The pieces can be switched out depending on your needs, to make for smooth rolling pan shots, footage taken from a camera mounted to any smooth surface, including, to quote the project description, “the side of a plane.”

This is nicer than many similar rigs (of which I’ve used and own a few) because of the accessory mounts built into each leg on the dolly wheels, which can support additional accessories like external fill lights, off-camera flashes and mics. The Tooga Cage, too is designed with two cold-shoe mounts, along with threaded mounts for additional gear. That suction mount kit seems a little more specialized in usage, but you could quite easily mount it to a car window for doing your own follow shots on (hopefully not illegal) chase scene filming.

The entire Tooga kit can be had starting at pledges of $449, which sounds like a lot but is actually a pretty great deal when you compare against the price of any of the components individually (from a decent manufacturer). The team consists of mechanical engineers Shan Kim and Chris Anderson, who has built a number of camera gadgets before, and design students Kay Kim and Benson Lam. The founders have an existing supply chain in place, they say, so that should help them hit their March 2014 anticipated ship date.

The Tooga team is seeking $45,000 to turn its prototype into a shipping device, and it’s just starting out with a little over $3,000 pledged so far. As a sometime videographer, it’s something I’d definitely like to see become a reality.

Image: Tooga Camera Gear

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Quebee Camera Lets You Put Yourself in the Shot

With the advent of smartphone cameras and other handheld video recorders, putting yourself in the shot has become an increasingly complicated process. But Quebee, a wireless camera that shoots wide-angle HD video or time-lapse video, wants to change that.

Featuring a water-resistant covering and wireless capabilities, Quebee can shoot up to five hours of standard footage and 48 hours of time-lapse video, according to its website.

The camera is housed within a tiny cube with a single-touch button on top to start the recording process. It also comes with a handy tripod mount allowing for even more innovative shots.

Quebee also comes with an app for iOS and Android that helps you to manage your media. Users can launch the app to check image framing, upload footage to cloud services such as Dropbox and Google Drive and enable photo tagging, organizing and editing.

With a Kickstarter goal of $100,000, Quebee has raised more than half of its intended funding with about a week to go.

Image: Quebee

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Best Cameras 2013

Panasonic Lumix GX7

Taking on the likes of the Fujifilm X-E1 and the Sony NEX-7, the Panasonic Lumix GX7 is a solidly designed compact system camera with some real stand out features. The 16-megapixel snapper has a built-in electronic viewfinder with a 2.7m-dot resolution and 0.7x magnification. There’s a tilt-angle LCD screen and an in-body sensor-shift stabilization system which is a first for G-series camera. Most importantly, it snaps great photos and colours are pleasing. The new features help make this one of the best CSC cameras to buy.

Panasonic Lumix LF1 

The high end compact for photographers not satisfied with their camera-toting smartphones, the Panasonic Lumix LF1 offers Raw shooting, full HD video and full manual control in a pocket-friendly body. The 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor is accompanied by a 7.1x optical zoom with a range of 28-200mm. Panasonic’s Power O.I.S image stabilization system is also on board to keep shots looking sharp and high quality. An ISO range of 80-6400 covers those tricky low-light snaps and a 3-inch LCD screen let's you instantly review pics. 

Samsung NX300

Replacing the NX20, the Samsung NX300 is amongst the top Compact System Cameras to buy. Driving the excellent image-grabbing performance is a 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor paired with Samsung’s DRIMe IV imaging sensor to reduce noise and improve colour. You can shoot full HD video at up to 50fps and Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity means you can share photos easily. The 3-inch AMOLED touchscreen is hinged letting you shoot from high and low angles for those awkward crowd shots. 

Canon EOS 100D

Currently the world’s smallest and lightest DSLRs in the world, the Canon EOS 100D delivers the type of image quality to justify the price tag. Weighing in at 407g, the 100D features an 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor. The ISO range is 100-6400 but can be expanded to 25,600 for increased levels of detail. There’s support for full HD video capture with frame rates ranging from 30 to 24fps. There’s a 3-inch, 1040-dot touchscreen display and plenty of creative filters to make your amateur snaps look a lot more impressive. 

Ricoh GR

A £600 compact camera, the Ricoh GR has the high end specs to justify the price tag. The 16-megapixel APS-C sized CMOS image sensor coupled with a f.2.8 fixed focal length lens helps deliver the high quality snaps. Ricoh’s GR ENGINE V imaging processor reduces noise in photos and a 3-inch LCD screen gives you a clear view of the shooting scenery. It also manages full 1080p HD video recording and has Eye-Fi card compatibility to transfer videos and photos in no time.

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Best Innovation CAMERA 2012

Lytro Light Field Camera

With so many new and interesting models hitting the market in 2012, Lytro's light field camera stands apart as truly innovative. While we aren't as impressed with the Lytro's traditional image quality, the ability to capture an entire scene and change the focal point after the fact is unlike anything else on the market. The Lytro stands as one of the most innovative cameras to come along in years, and we're very interested to see how this technology develops in years to come.

Runner-up

Samsung Galaxy Camera

The Samsung Galaxy Camera also deserves a nod here. While the Nikon S800c was the first camera to come to market with Android on-board, the Galaxy Camera's use of Android version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) makes it feel far more advanced. We expect to see Android integration in cameras to take off over the next few years, but the Galaxy Camera already feels like a third-generation product rather than a one-off concept.

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Camera of the Year 2012

Canon 1D X

While there were only a couple high-end cameras brought to market in 2011, this year saw the eventual release of some incredible full-frame models from each of the major players. With some fantastic mid-range bodies also seeing the light of day, the Canon 1D X had stiff competition for our top spot once it finally was released to the public. Despite the delay, the 1D X bested all comers in our lab tests, producing the highest overall score of the year. While it's certainly too big, too expensive, and simply too much for most people, the Canon 1D X is, hands-down, the best camera from 2012.

Runner-up

Nikon D4

The Nikon D4 also graced our labs this year, and we found that it offered performance that exceeded the 1D X in some areas, falling behind in others. We should reserve special mention for the D4's backlit control labels and uncompressed HDMI video output. The D4 is an impressive machine that any pro shooting Nikon should be proud to own, but it falls just behind the 1D X in our overall scoring.

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