First Impressions

[dustytobes]

After reading up on what little info there would be from Samsung & LG about their 360 offerings I decided to bite the bullet and get a Gear 360 (Korea import).

First impressions so far is, what a bloody headache! I know it's only just been released in Korea however there is NO documentation on how to work the bloody thing, Samsungs own site is just rubbish buzz words, that's not to say the camera itself is not bad. The build quality is second to none, especially if you stock heaviness as gear quality, it weighs a fair bit, still this is not a bad thing. The camera and tripod feel robust as anything though I'd not chance dropping the thing as that weight will certainly shatter the huge optics.

Picture and Video quality is great on the outside world but so-so inside. You'd think shooting in (almost) 4k would give you crisp clear video but it's grainy and disappointing inside even during the day.

Then comes the biggest headache of them all, how to show off some impressive (or not so impressive) 360 content with the world. Well as there are no guides you really do have to figure it out for yourself. Whilst Facebook is ready for video content it cannot handle photos (yet) in fact very little mainstream sites handle photo content as yet. Flickr is one way around this, however the photos only work in browser not on mobile apps so it's a hit or miss who who can enjoy them.

Back to the video, if you want to upload to youtube you need a PC as youtube requires tinkering with meta data and file Formats before you can upload. Facebook on the other hand does not, just don't expect to upload anything longer than a few minutes otherwise it just won't work, which brings us to the next and biggest issue. From what I have tested so far there is a file size limit attached to video, you can let the camera record as much as it can handle on a charge but it crops out around 1.8gb it does not warn you of this however, so for 4k video that's roughly 8.26 minutes, if you go over this it will simply start a new file and continue where it left off, so if you want the file to be joined you will need to do this on the PC.

This takes us to Samsungs partnership with cyberlink, the software is slow and clunky, having to transcribe the video files whilst stitching them together, this is a very LENGTHY process with roughly 2 mins of footage taking around 20-30mins to stitch it together. Until I can afford a super computer it would appear that long videos are out of the question.

So overall you'd think I really don't like the thing, well I'm still on the fence as watching the videos and photos on the gear app allow you to see the greatness, plug it Into a vr headset and it amplifies the greatness ten fold! However it just seems that the world is not ready for a 360 revolution for the masses just yet. Whilst it's commendable (or sheer greed) for LG & Samsung to whet the appetites of those interested, Samsung really have done nothing to prep the world for 360, they have supplied the means but not tools to get it out there, yet.

The big test is whether the camera stays after a trip to Shanghai next month or if some other dreamer gets to snag a bargain off ebay....

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[bboysmax]

Thanks for the first review/impressions! I really don't think that 360 is really there yet, give it a few more years and we will have nailed it!

 

[wpdev]

Thanks for the review.

Can you use the Gear 360 without a Samsung Smartphone? I have a Nexus 6 and I don't think the app is compatible.

Could I take the memory card out of the gear 360 and use it on windows with the cyberlink software?

 

[dustytobes]

Good questions, and answer is, I'm not 100% sure, yet! I've transfered videos off the camera direct into cyber link without issue, they say that it's only compatible with Samsung phones, and whilst I believe this is true for most settings, you can also connect it to the Google Street View app direct and the app can control taking photos, however you don't have access to the full settings and you will not be able to apply any camera software updates as this has to be managed through the Gear app.

On a side note, the street view app connects via direct WiFi which makes the sd card on the camera almost redundant as it downloads the images to the phones memory (not phone sd card even if it has one)

So in a roundabout way you could get away without the app if you want too, just upload everything direct to the PC it's not ideal as you cannot really see any video until it's on the PC and the stitching is VERY time consuming. I

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[forkee]

getting mine (korean import also) tomorrow. bringing it to shanghai disney next month as well

any idea how many hours of video can fit on a 128gb micro sd card? and do you happen to know how long the battery lasts and where to buy extra batteries?

 

[vansmack]

I feel your pain on sharing the photos.

I have the LG 360 Cam and it's been a nightmare to share 360 photos too, especially to mobile devices.

I've been sending direct links to my flikr photostream for iOS users, and Google Photos links to Android users. Neither is a particularly elegant solution, but that's the joy of being an early adopter...

For videos that you don't want on Facebook, I've been using unlisted youtube videos - but you have to do it from a PC or Mac (smh, Google as my Chromebook or phone won't work), and then sharing the link.

 

[dustytobes]

Hi sorry for the late replies, I have been searching and searching for spare batteries and have simply given up and gone down the route of a battery pack, not ideal but it's the only solution until samsung get their act together!

Ours was also purchased for Shanghai Disney, there for the opening event so I bloody hope it manages to work.

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[forkee]

How did your trip go? I brought mine on basically every ride, hehe. Haven't uploaded ride footage yet (insanely long upload time) but check out some of my walking videos on my thread.

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