The QooCam 360 appears to be like like a stable, pro-quality digital camera — however appears to be like will be deceiving. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The QooCam 360 motion digital camera is obtainable on Amazon for $305.
- The video high quality and stabilization are excellent.
- There is no method to movie with out the fisheye look and the micro SD card is a problem to take away.
I really like a good action camera. For years, I used a GoPro for mountain bike footage and even (after some severe tweaking of the configurations) used it to movie my early vlog entries and even tutorials.
The issue with most motion cameras is the dreaded fisheye look. With GoPro, you possibly can eliminate fisheye (with some work) and the footage is usable for absolutely anything. Different motion cams do not trouble with choices to shrug off the fisheye look and (from my perspective) that is a disgrace.
Such is the case with the QooCam 360 action camera. I’ve dug into the very restricted documentation and there is not any approach (that I may discover) to not movie in fisheye mode. Nevertheless, the QooCam 360 motion digital camera does have a trick up its sleeve that many different motion cameras may not. With this digital camera, you possibly can shoot from each the front-facing and rear-facing cameras concurrently. And it is a variety of enjoyable.
This motion digital camera is a unusual however enjoyable digital camera that creates distinctive views to your motion photographs.
Think about cruising by your favourite mountain bike path or down your favourite slope with a digital camera hooked up to your helmet or handlebars that not solely exhibits what you are seeing however — on the identical time — the enjoyment (or worry) registering in your face.
As I stated, it is a variety of enjoyable.
Nevertheless it’s not excellent. You possibly can’t dispose of the fisheye look and also you even must take care of seeing the perimeters of the lens cowl within the footage. That is high-quality, as you possibly can all the time flip to your favourite video modifying software program (I take advantage of Final Cut Pro) to crop and modify. However due to that, you may have to have expertise with such software program to tug it off.
In line with QooCam, there’s the QooCam Studio or QooCam app, which makes use of optical circulate to sew fisheye movies and pictures from the QooCam and QooCam8K to output the stitched panoramic video and pictures. Sadly, I couldn’t discover a obtain hyperlink for QooCam Studio and the QooCam app does not help the 360 Motion Cam. That is too unhealthy as a result of it could have been good to see what the apps can do to robotically sew the side-by-side video collectively.
Oh, effectively. It appears you possibly can’t have all of it with anybody motion digital camera.
The specs
- Makes use of two ultra-wide-angle fisheye lenses to seize 360-degree footage.
- Can document in 5.7K/62MP.
- Can take photographs or movies.
- Extensive F1.6 aperture and two 1/1.55″ sensors with 2um pixel dimension.
- Six-axis gyroscope for stabilization.
- Can perform in 32°F to 104°F.
- The touchscreen makes navigating the menu and seeing what you are filming very simple.
My expertise
As you may anticipate, a lesser-known model of motion digital camera will not have almost the help for third-party add-ons. And since the QooCam 360 does not embrace any mounting choices (past a standard-sized threaded attachment becoming on the backside of the digital camera), you are going to must get artistic to discover a method to mount it.
I did a number of fast assessments of the QooCam 360 and located it to take decent-quality video, even in lower-light conditions. It isn’t going to blow you away however with good lighting, the footage may simply be utilized in pro-quality movies (as long as you possibly can crop and sew together with your default video modifying software program).
Me and my cat, Bigen, aren’t fairly prepared for our closeups. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Past the shortcoming to eliminate the fisheye look, the most important downside I had with the QooCam 360 is that it is heavy. Due to that, you might need bother holding it regular on no matter mounting system you cobble collectively. One other problem I had was eradicating the micro SD card. You may have two selections: Use a pair of tweezers, or let the spring rocket the cardboard out of the system, hoping you can catch it. I misplaced an SD card utilizing the “rocket” methodology.
Accessing the battery and microSD card slot compartment is far simpler than eradicating the cardboard itself. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
ZDNET shopping for recommendation
At this value, I actually have bother recommending the QooCam 360 motion digital camera. Sure, it is enjoyable to see each back and front views concurrently, however for roughly the identical value, you may get a GoPro Hero 12 Black with extra equipment, higher help, and significantly better high quality footage. No, the GoPro may not have the enjoyable 360 facet however I imagine that gimmick will rapidly put on off and provides method to frustration with this digital camera.
Additionally: Is GoPro still the best action camera? Well, it depends
I’ve used sufficient GoPros over time and I would choose any certainly one of them over the QooCam 360 any day.