Ricoh Theta S Digital Camera (Black)

Ricoh Theta S Digital Camera (Black)

• Make sure this fits by entering your model number.
• 360 Degree Spherical Panorama images and Spherical Videos up to 25 minutes
• Live view function on mobile device; Wi Fi communications protocol: HTTP (open spherical camera API 7 compatible)
• Transfer videos directly to your mobile device without the need of a computer
• Full HD Video at 30fps , 360 Degree Spherical Video Supported by YouTube
• Charge the battery by connecting it to a PC using the supplied USB cable

Buy Now : Ricoh Theta S Digital Camera (Black)

Brand : Ricoh
Category : Electronics,Camera & Photo,Digital Cameras,Point & Shoot Digital Cameras
Rating : 4.2
Price : US $379.99
Review Count : 1391

Ricoh Theta S Digital Camera (Black)

• First 360º Camera I\'ve owned, after having thought of the idea independently many years ago. I\'m glad to have seen it developed so well. It\'s really a refined design, excellent quality photos and videos, and a very simple shooting experience. Holding it feels natural, and it\'s a surprisingly light feeling to know you don\'t have to aim before shooting. It comes with a classy pouch to keep it in when not taking photos, which is both light and easy to get the camera into and out of. Much appreciated touch.Sharing photos is very simple, sharing videos I\'ve not yet figured out (Updated, figured it out!). Connecting to WiFi is simple, though it never connects to your home WiFi – instead it hosts its own network that you connect to when you want to download photos and videos (which works well when you\'re out and about). Photos download pretty fast, videos can take some time. You can also download both via USB, though surprisingly not via their (OS X, at least) app. You need to first download using any other photo app (Photos recognized it and popped open automatically on my Mac), then copy them to a folder, then copy the contents of that folder into the app to see them. Seems very convoluted for something that should be simple. Also, you cannot import videos to this app. Very strange, so I have yet to find a way to view videos except for on the app, having downloaded via WiFi from the camera.Maybe my only complaint is that I cannot turn off the sounds on the camera, so you can\'t be too stealthy with it. The sound is fun, but a bit cartoony (like a laser gun shooting off), so it\'d be nice to be able to silence it if desired. Also, the live streaming isn\'t so useful because it just shows two hemispheres on a screen, which is hard to wrap your head around.Be sure to download the \"Theta S\" app and NOT the \"Theta\" app, as the latter will not work.Overall, very happy to own this thing. It\'s a head turner, people love it, and I really enjoy knowing I\'ve grabbed the whole scene and left nothing out. A few rough edges to iron out software-wise, though nothing so bad as to depreciate its awesomeness. If you have the cash, and are interested, get this great toy!UPDATE 1: Figured out video, and some thoughts...YouTube : Figured it out!! Okay two things, firstly let it be noted that the raw video format is .MP4, though if you import into OS X Photos, then export, it\'s M4V, which will mess you up. To get the raw .MP4 from the camera, use the \"Image Capture\" app on OS X. Then, this video can be dropped into the Theta app on your Mac, which will convert the video to standard 360º format which can be shared via their app, or automatically detected by YouTube. Sweet. Using their app, though, you can only upload 5 Mb worth of video, which is ~11s long (YouTube has no limit, though give it a few minutes after it\'s live before it\'s detected as 360). A trade-off, it appears the quality of the video on theta360 ends up being much more crisp, see for yourself :Example using theta360 : https://theta360.com/m/j9kGfEUCFatdUePld3w7qhRrsExample using YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6fAPTSkGqILive Streaming Mode : This is NOT live streaming to the internet via their app or local wifi, but instead it\'s live streaming via HDMI or USB. HDMI streams to a TV, USB streams to an app like VLC which knows how to receive a Live Stream from an attached device. From an app like this, you could then stream to the internet via your computer. I\'ve also realized what the HDMI is for now – it\'s not for playback of recorded video, but only for live streaming video. The video that comes out is the same as what\'s exported, two hemispheres.Live Preview : Live preview to the iOS controller is also cool, though limited. It\'s a lower resolution image at 10 fps. When in photo mode, you get a live video preview, and can tap the screen to take a snapshot. When in video mode, you get no live preview, and can only start/stop recording.WiFi : I really wish this thing would connect to my home Wifi while I\'m home so that I don\'t need to take my iPhone off of my home wifi while interacting with the camera. Seems like it\'d be easy for Ricoh to implement by allowing me to enter my WiFi credentials in their app.Update 2 : Mastered video formatting and more tips...Video metadata is unfortunately discarded during the conversion process using the Theta app on your computer. To restore the original metadata, I\'ve created a script that uses Exiftool. Follow these steps to have perfectly converted videos (written for OS X) :1. Download & install exiftool from http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/2. Import a video from your Theta S using Image Capture (NOT Photos.app)3. Drag/Drop the video into the Theta app, converting w/ default naming scheme.4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for as many videos as you have, the next steps do bulk processing.5a. Download this bash script : http://pastebin.com/51VYga4c5b. Put it somewhere on your computer (ex. ~/Desktop/moveMetadata.sh)5c. Make the bash script executable w/ : cd ~/Desktop && chmod u+x ./moveMetadata.sh6a. Change to the directory of your videos, for example : cd ~/Desktop/Videos6b. Start the script! Execute : ./moveMetadata.shThe bash script will move over the metadata and modify the new video to have the same creation date as the original video. You can now discard the original video, confidently knowing that all metadata is still in place.Also discovered that when capturing images via the app, GPS data and vertical image correction is automatically applied to images!APPS!I\'ve figured out what I believe to be the best apps for interacting with content from the camera. Here you go:KIRORU 360 - View images from the camera roll easily, designed to be used with Google Cardboard.https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kiroru-360/id954157416Round.me - Best place for uploading sets of spherical images. Supports Google Cardboard and has a solid web interface. Creating \"spaces\" is easier on the desktop than within the app. Has iOS and Android apps.https://round.me (Example : https://round.me/tour/20157/view/49383/)Google Street View - Automatically connects to Theta S and allows you to take geotagged pictures and quickly publish them onto Street View. Strips images of metadata, though, and too specific of a use case for casual image capture. In addition to realtime capture, you can also import previously-captured images into this app.https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/photo-sphere-camera/id904418768Theta S - Obligatory. Somewhat basic, but essential.https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1023254741Developer Toys :The Ricoh Theta S is compatible with the Open Spherical Camera API created by Google :https://developers.google.com/streetview/open-spherical-camera/This python implementation is an example of how to easily interact with the camera in your own application :https://github.com/florianl/pyOSCapi
• I\'ve had this camera for about two weeks now. It\'s technically a \"work camera\" but I borrowed it for \"field testing\" during an international trip. So far, it has far exceeded all expectations. It is not without its share of problems, but it\'s clearly better than anything else on the market at this price point.PROS:+ The \"wow factor\" is off the chart (at least for now). Even fairly technical people are blown away by the scrollable pictures and videos.+ Dual lenses. Most of the competition uses a single lens, meaning you necessarily end up with a blind spot. The dual fish-eye lenses have fields of view that overlap just beyond the camera body, meaning very little falls outside its gaze. I tell my subjects, \"If you can see the camera, it can see you.\"+ The auto-stitching algorithm is fairly good at editing out the camera itself without cutting out anything else. The stitching in still photos is obvious only within a few inches of the camera, but sometimes it\'s really apparent in videos.+ Smartphone app control. If I can\'t have a display on the device, at least there is a sweet and feature-rich control app. Much of the app\'s is not immediately obvious/somewhat esoteric (so -1 star), but it\'s still about as good as the manual controls on my point-and-shoot camera.+ The compact form factor is amazing. It fits well even in jeans pockets (mens, front -- don\'t sit on it in a back pocket, which I hope should be obvious). My big discovery for field use is to attach this lightweight camera to a small flexible magnetic tripod that can then be \"attached\" to a variety of surfaces. Think an overhead metal window frame, a steel guard rail, or a metal sign.+ Battery life seems very decent. I haven\'t completely run out of power yet, but a full charge apparently takes 4 hours or so. (My initial charge took about 3 hours.)+ There are a lot of potentially game-changing commercial applications. Real estate previews, architectural/survey documentation, guided tours, etc. The tie-in to Cardboard for still images and YouTube\'s 360 Channel for videos is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.SO-SOS:÷ The \"wireless\" connection is via WiFi. My guess is that this has to do with bandwidth. Some other reviews complain about using WiFi rather than Bluetooth, but I for one appreciate not having to use another battery-draining radio signal (I already have WiFi on most of the time, but adding Bluetooth drains my phone in less than an hour). The only downside to this for me is that it\'s annoying to have to switch between WiFi networks, which also means you can\'t stream at all and you have to switch back to a \"real\" network to share/upload. On the plus side, I can get about 20-25 feet away -- beyond the camera\'s view, like in another room -- and still control the shutter.÷ Shutter delay when not using the smartphone app (i.e., when manually pressing the button on the camera) is nearly zero, but there\'s still a second or two needed between consecutive pictures.÷ Built-in connections. There\'s a standard micro USB connection and a not-so-standard mini-HDMI connection. I haven’t used the latter but the former seems to work as expected. (You can also transfer files over the WiFi connection to a smartphone via the app.) Most important is the standard tripod mount, which allows the use of a variety of camera accessories. A handle of some kind (or short tripod) is highly recommended, best with a wrist strap.CONS:- Works best with a tripod. There is no good way to hold the camera in your hand that doesn’t result in an odd/awkward view of your hand and (usually) arm.- It\'s hard to judge the focal distance and resulting clarity of the image, at least at first. I\'m sure that will lessen as I use the camera more, but for now I recommend having the primary subject(s) within 3 feet (1 meter) of the camera.- The included camera \"case\" is just a thin neoprene sleeve. Supposedly that\'s enough to protect the glass lenses, but I don\'t like how tightly the sleeve slides over the lenses, which bulge out from the camera body by about 1/8\" or so. My solution is to use a small lint-free cloth (originally designed for eyeglass cleaning) draped over the top of the camera, covering the lenses with a scratch-free material as the neoprene slides over that. Bonus: The same cloth can be used to clean the lenses should they get smudged. (-1 star for not including the $0.25 cloth to begin with.)- No native display, just a couple of potentially ambiguous LEDs. This design decision was probably made for a combination of price, size, weight and battery life reasons. While the smartphone app is useful, I\'d like an option to use the camera with more control than just \"still/video\" and \"start/stop\" options.- WiFi signal loss can be very frustrating. It doesn\'t happen often, but from time to time the WiFi connection between smartphone app and camera gets \"lost\" and both must be rebooted.- When using the smartphone app, there is a delay between shots because each picture must be processed and downloaded. It takes 20-30 seconds or so to round-trip between pictures.Bottom Line: This is a great gadget for the value. I am really looking forward to future developments in this direction of technology. If you\'re the type that doesn\'t like to wait, it\'s worth getting right now. The few specific annoyances are greatly outweighed by the general awesomeness of this innovative product.

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