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Remember the Samsung Gear 360 Camera?

The Camera I predicted would be great for YouTubers looking to do 360 Degree content and panoramic video as predicted in How Samsung Gear 360 is a Creative Tool for YouTube VR Content.

US$350 Samsung Gear 360 selling online still a YouTuber's VR Camera (1)

Well, it now on sale online at various retailers, including Samsung’s own website, Amazon and Best Buy for …you guessed it….US$350. It launched alongside the new Gear VR and the Galaxy Note 7, which has many excited by the fact it has an Iris Scanner.

Albeit I’m excited too, I think that the Fingerprint Scanner on most Smartphone is secure enough and that this boils down to a gimmick as pointed out in Real Features wanted by Global Android users as Marshmallow welcomes Nougat.

To me, the real products that Samsung launched were the improved Gear VR and the Samsung Gear 360. Both are genuinely new products, especially the Gear 360, which was made for the creative crowd who have long for affordable, low-cost professional VR gear to make content.

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So is the Gear 360 living up to its hype?

Samsung Gear 360 – YouTuber’s Panoramic Camera lacks real professional videography

First, it’s good to note that cameras for filming VR are basically panoramic camera with multiple lenses. To wit, they are also capable of filming 3D content, albeit that would require at least two of the cameras focusing on the subject simultaneously.

At US$350, it’s one dollar shy of a full 360 price and more expensive than LG’s VR Camera, which comes in at around US$200. But the Samsung Gear 360, which has dimensions of 66.7mm x 56.2mm x 60mm and weighs in at 153g, beats the LG on specs at this price, with a slew of options to keep YouTuber’s happy!

US$350 Samsung Gear 360 selling online still a YouTuber's VR Camera (2)

The Gear 360 can record in 4K thanks to its two (2) 15 megapixel fisheye lenses that capture 3840 x 1920 resolution 360-degree video at 30fps that also 360-degree 30 megapixel still images. The Camera has Bright Lens F2.0 and can film high resolution images even in low-light conditions.

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The Samsung Gear 360 has four (4) video modes:

  • Video
  • Photo
  • Time Lapse Video
  • Looping Video

The Camera has two (2) distinct shooting modes:

  • Dual Lens mode
  • Single Lens mode

All these images are store in a MicroSD card slot capable of handling up to 128GB of storage and may be capable of handling the UFS Card that Samsung recently introduced. The little camera that pack a big punch is powered by a USB 2.0 port and has a 1.350 mAh Li-ion battery, which I suspect might be good enough for YouTube Videos, but not for real professional videography.

Still, with the increasing popularity of Samsung smartphones and their Samsung Gear VR as described in US$99 Samsung Gear VR in November 2015 is a fanboy’s VR Dream, the Samsung Gear 360 finally fills that new product gap that has me looking at them as they turn it up a Notch, Dragon Ball Z Style!!

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