Those who have read Apple World Today for any length of time know that I have a real fondness for 360° spherical VR cameras. Combined with viewing the photos or video on a smartphone or tablet and just moving it around in space, or using a VR headset to view the content, they immerse the viewer in a complete spherical image — it’s just like being there! A new Kickstarter is underway to manufacture the world’s first interchangeable 4K 360° & 3D camera — the Kandao QooCam.
Kandao has several other very impressive professional 360° cameras to its name, with the award-winning $2,400 Obsidian Go and $6,999 Obsidian R and S cameras. With the QooCam, the company wants to bring both 360° video/photo and stereo 3D video/photo to the general public. The camera is expected to ship this August at an MSRP of $399, and at this time there are a limited number of Early Bird packages available to get a QooCam for as low as $289.
QooCam has a totally unique design and three lenses; in the “vertical” orientation, it works as a standard 360° camera, while the top part flips horizontally for 3D photography/videography. The camera’s made out of aluminum, and the three cameras each have a 216° field of view and a fast f/2.2 aperture.
The camera does more than just 360° or 3D stereo filming and photography. It has an IMU stabilizer built in as well as depth-map technology, so photos can actually be re-focused after they’re taken. The QooCam shoots at up to 120FPS for slow motion, and can do time-lapse photography as well. Want to live stream in 3D? Yep, it’s capable.
The included Master Editor app seems very similar to the app that’s included with the Rylo 360° Camera, providing powerful editing capabilities on iOS with ease.
It’s obvious that Kandao’s Kickstarter is going to succeed. It launched today with a $30,000 goal, and currently has $109,811 pledged (as of 1:13 PM ET on May 2, 2018).
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