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Twitter recently launched live 360-degree video via its periscope live-streaming platform. While everyone can watch these immersive videos, for now only a select group of
broadcasters can post live 360-
degree video content. But the service is coming to all users shortly, and
the tools to make and stream immersive video are already available to the public.
Several 360-degree video cameras that function directly with a smartphone are already on the market. A case in point is the LG 360 Cam, which was originally an add-on for the modular G5 but is in fact compatible with any other smartphone, including Apple’s iPhone. It captures video via two 206-degree ultra wide-angle lenses, and is equipped with 4GB of internal memory, which can be extended with a microSD card. The retail price is around €199.
Samsung’s Gear 360 is also equipped with two fisheye lenses, but unfortunately it’s only compatible with high-end smartphones made by the South Korean brand.
Retailing at €349, this camera features ultra-high definition (3840 x 1920 pixels) video and take 30-megapixel stills.
To enable iPhone owners to shoot 360-degree sequences with a minimum of fuss, French firm Giroptic is preparing to launch a mini-camera, which connects directly to the iPhone’s Lightning port and uploads footage directly to the smartphone’s memory. The dedicated application opens automatically when the camera is connected and allows users to see what they are shooting and access the different capture modes (photo, video and live streaming). The Giroptic iO will be available from January 10, 2017, priced at €249.
It’s worth noting that Giroptic already sells a much more advanced model. The 360cam (€499), which
is equipped with three wide-
angle lenses, can capture 4k-format stills and film 30 frames per second in 2k mode.
Other more or less sophisticated models are also on the market: Ricoh’s Theta S (€399), Kodak’s SP360 (€499), the KeyMission 360 by Nikon (€499) and IC Real Tech’s ALLie (€599).