Ricoh exhibited a concept camera at CP+ that captures spherical panoramic images and sends them wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet. 'The idea is, the pictures you take arrive automatically,' [in the phone] said a Ricoh representative (via DigInfo.tv translation).
Ricoh concept camera that makes spherical panoramic images in one exposure. [Image credit DigInfo.tv]
Apparently produced mainly to gauge market reaction, Ricoh released no technical info on the camera apart from the fact that it uses two opposed 180-degree lenses whose images it combines into one spherical panorama. Users can zoom in on the image elements and swipe to look around the sphere; they can also zoom out to a circular image. The company imagines printing images on spheres as a potential product concept, and is considering video capture as well as stills.
I can't believe this! It just happens in a one shot, thats so cool! I want to use this at least one time. In the market you can also find different types of watermark software. To know more please visit www.masswatermark.com
Nothing new here. Pentax proposed an even nicer concept some years ago,but many other did. http://www.sandydan.com/photo/wide/sphere/nikonlrg.jpg Stitching two emispheres brings some problems to the final result. You need a quite perfect fisheye lens, with a very corrected CA and fringging down to the very border. Let's say more. You need more than 180 degrees, 200 at least, an incredible flare resistance and a very precise exposition and synchro of WB, or you will ALWAYS see the stitching seam, fisheyes must be closer or you will have a large blind area! Then is better to use a squared, or a 4/3 sensor, in order not to throw away a lot of black pixels. Let's say they use a 24MP apsc sensor. The circle dia would be 4000 pixel. Cut edges, overlap area etc. and you end up with a 3500x7000 panoramic image. I stitch panoramas since 1998, and project software and panoheads since 2003. I've seen it all, nobody is doing a really GOOD non-stitching camera
Great for sports. Stuck on top of our race car we could see everything that happened around us after the race. Software would allow distortion free prints in any direction
You might be able to wear it as a hat - like one of those "propellor hats". Certainly any advantage of being able to take street shots without pointing the camera directly at the subject might be lost by the attention generated by the hat. Certainly you would be able to see what was going on behind your back and watch out for knives being planted there. Sounds like a great tool for big business and politicians.
Or make it into a regular lens and then go about holding your camera on your head? Image to smartphone seems better.
Not a new concept - my old 360 One VR from Kaidan parabolic mirror lets me do that with a number of my cameras, but the resolution is low. Having a small device like this might gain some traction in the real estate market for low-cost walk-through photos but I can't see it replacing serious pano work with panoramic heads and high resolution photos.
Ah, but can it capture a recognizable face if placed in a 7-Eleven? This would be a real time saver for high end real estate. Looks a bit like a Toucan with batteries, though.
Finally I would be able to take a wedding photograph with myself included in it cuz guests always say you have been taking photos all day long, let me take a picture of you.
It may make me rething on what to wear on the day of the photoshoot. The possibilities are limitless ;)
now we need a 360 degree fill flash cuz I like to be lit properly
Interesting that mobile viewer he's running shows a "Share to Facebook" icon - AFAIK Facebook has dropped support for the few panorama viewing apps that were prototyped on their service. Panoramic photography won't be coming to the masses until the popular social media platforms support some standardized panorama rendering engines, be they QTVR, Flash, HTML5 or whatever.
The biggest issue with these types of cameras is the resolution of the captured image. To get any decent resolution, you are going to have to have a LOT of megapixels (gigapixel for anything realistic). Lotsa mpxls/mb and wifi to phone/tablet usually don't jive too well if you have a lot of photos or are in a hurry or have limited storage space, and definitely not for a data plan.
The built-in panoramic functions of most compact cameras suffer similar fates, giving you a panorama of maybe 5mb up to 20mb in size if you are lucky. To get detailed panoramas, you really need to get up above 50mb, and that is just for a 360* pano with one plane. For a 360 sphere, you would need at least 3x that for detail. So far as I know, that is only done manually, outside the camera, on a potent computer (maybe Defense industry has in-camera tech, but we will never know).
All that being said, I love the idea/concept. Please give us options for different resolutions!
This would work well for shots taken in fairly large spaces (church interiors, landscape), but there are problems with tight places like car interiors or when there are objects close by at the stitching seam area. This is because there is a slight parallax error as the lenses can not be at the same spot, this does not happen with nodal point panorama heads, which, on the other hand, are clumsy and slow.
Perhaps it can be redesigned to kill the distance between the lenses and diminish the parallax problem? Maybe it would be possible with some back-to-back sensors arrangement. Using three lenses seems more sensible, as their FOV would overlap so much that seamless stitching would be flawless. However, this has a lot of potential, worthy of further exploration. I like it.
Printing images on spheres! The images would have to be inside-out, so that looking at the spherical print would be like looking through a crystal ball into the room.
Could be cool to use for security with wifi sending images in say 3 second intervals of stills. Mount it in a dome and attach to interior exterior of home with motion detector car or entry or helmet ect.
I understood your idea, but the issue still remains... you'd be taking only one shot when you need two! Your idea needs two lenses, two cameras aligned and in synch, which isn't far from some extreme 360º setups. This effort by Ricoh does it all.
I dont think you get it. The idea is to use the camera body for battery and processor ect so you slap this on with its own sensors and lenses. the camera body has all the expensive stuff to make this better and cheaper.
Samsung's flagship Galaxy S9+ comes with comprehensive photography features like dual optically stabilized rear cameras, smooth 4K video and of course, beauty filters for your selfies. But is it the best smartphone camera for you? Find out how it compares against the likes of Apple's iPhone X and Google's Pixel 2 in our full review.
The Domke F-6, also known as the 'Little Bit Smaller' bag shares a lot of characteristics with the venerable (and a Little Bit Bigger) F-2. Senior Editor Barnaby Britton has been using one for several years.
Panasonic's premium compact DC-ZS200 (TZ200 outside of North America) boasts a 24-360mm equiv. F3.3-6.4 zoom lens, making it the longest reaching 1"-type pocket camera on the market. There are tradeoffs that come with that big lens, however. Find out all the details in our in-depth review.
Whether you're hitting the beach in the Northern Hemisphere or the ski slopes in the Southern, a rugged compact camera makes a great companion. In this buying guide we've taken a look at seven current models and chosen our favorites.
What's the best camera for a parent? The best cameras for shooting kids and family must have fast autofocus, good low-light image quality and great video. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for parents, and recommended the best.
What's the best camera for shooting landscapes? High resolution, weather-sealed bodies and wide dynamic range are all important. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for shooting landscapes, and recommended the best.
What’s the best camera costing over $2000? The best high-end camera costing more than $2000 should have plenty of resolution, exceptional build quality, good 4K video capture and top-notch autofocus for advanced and professional users. In this buying guide we’ve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing over $2000 and recommended the best.
Video features have become an important factor to many photographers when choosing a new camera. Read on to find out which cameras we think are best for the videophile.
A popular Instagram user based in Singapore has been caught passing stock images off as his own work. Daryl Aiden Yow, who has worked with many recognizable brands, has apologized for his actions, and has deleted some images from his Instagram account while adding credits to others.
Chinese smartphone brand Oppo has employed a clever solution to the dreaded display 'notch' – a sliding mechanism that houses the device's front and rear-facing cameras.
The Kamlan 28mm F1.4 is an all-manual prime lens for APS-C (and Micro Four Thirds) mirrorless cameras. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it'll go on sale to the public for just $200 – see what it can do on Sony and Fujifilm bodies.
Instagram TV — IGTV for short — is a new app and service from Instagram that puts the focus on video content. You can now follow content creators and watch up to hour-long vertical videos inside the new dedicated IGTV app, as well as directly within Instagram.
Researchers at NVIDIA have used artificial intelligence to train a system that's capable of turning standard 30fps video into 240fps slow-mo video with minimal loss in quality.
Loupedeck has updated its popular Lightroom editing console with a new '+' version featuring improved build quality, more customization and support for some non-Adobe software.
Samsung's flagship Galaxy S9+ comes with comprehensive photography features like dual optically stabilized rear cameras, smooth 4K video and of course, beauty filters for your selfies. But is it the best smartphone camera for you? Find out how it compares against the likes of Apple's iPhone X and Google's Pixel 2 in our full review.
Apple released a new batch of mobile photography tutorial videos this week, each briefly demonstrating how to perform various camera actions using the flagship iPhone X.
Adobe has announced development of Project Rush, a cross-device video editing application that consolidates the entire video creation workflow, from shooting to social media sharing, in a single application.
Adobe's quarterly financial report was just published, and the news is good. Q2 2018 saw a new quarterly revenue record of $2.20 billion, and 22% growth to $1.55 billion in its Digital Media segment.
Just months after launching its QuartzLine filters for DSLR and mirrorless lenses, PolarPro has launched a buyback program that will give you credit towards a PolarPro filter for trading in an old one - even if it isn't theirs.
The FUJINON GF 45mm F2.8 R WR is a 36mm equivalent fast prime for Fujifilm's GFX 50S. We've been shooting with one for a few days, and we're impressed. Check out our sample gallery to judge for yourself.
Video editing software package Video Pro X has received what is described as its biggest update yet to mark ten years since Magix Video Pro was launched.
Back in 2010, Canon announced that it was developing the world's largest CMOS sensor, measuring about 40 times larger than full frame. The company has just updated its website with more details.
Samyang has launched its latest lens, the Samyang AF 85mm F1.4 EF. This telephoto prime is a direct competitor to Canon's $1,600 alternative—and considering it's expected to retail for half the price, it looks like quite the bargain.
Google has published an 18-page study fully detailing its synthetic depth-of-field technology that makes its single-camera Portrait Mode possible. The in-depth paper shows a degree of openness and academic mindset unusual for the industry.
Rugged, waterproof compact cameras are tough enough to survive even the most action-packed vacation, but they're not the only choice for capturing those great memories. Photographer Josh Root takes us through the options.
Kodak has restarted production of one of its most famous film emulsions - Ektachrome. Popular Science editor Stan Horaczek recently go to take a look inside.
The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD is an affordable F2.8 standard zoom for full frame Sony E-mount cameras. What's it like, what are the trade-offs, and what are the alternatives? Chris and Jordan take a closer look...
We've updated our Best Drones buying guide and there's a new winner. Find out which drone was our favorite and learn more about all current models in our updated guide.
A teardown of a Nikon D850 has provided proof that the camera's sensor is made by Sony Semiconductor. The chip's design and performance already strongly supported this, but the confirmation also gives a hint about how the industry works.
Leica Camera has announced a new compact camera that features a 24-360mm F3.3-6.4 zoom lens and a 20MP 1” MOS sensor. Essentially a re-badged Panasonic Lumix ZS/TZ200, the Leica C-Lux will save Raw and JPEG files, will offer 4K video and has a viewfinder with a 2.33 million-dot resolution.
Leica has launched a limited edition M10 with a contoured handgrip designed by luxury car manufacturer Zagato. And, to celebrate the opening of a new part of the company's Wetzlar factory, a pair of Leica-made watches are due this autumn.
YouTuber George Tomlin explains the concept of sub-framing and details how you can use it to take not only make the composition more interesting, but also provide context for the scene you're shooting.
Comments