- Samsung recently released the 2017 Gear 360 360 camera.
So, how does it perform, and how does it stack up
against the increasing competition from other
players like Nikon, Insta360 and a heap
of other ones out there, and is it really
the best 360 camera for video?
We're gonna take a look in this video.
(techno music)
Hey, it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video.
We release a ton of content to help you get
better results with your videos faster.
If you're new here, then make sure you click
that big subscribe button, and all the links
to everything we mention in this video
you can find linked in the description below.
So, let's jump into it.
So, last year, Samsung released its first
Gear 360 360 camera, which is it here.
So, overall, it's a pretty decent camera,
it was a good camera, it's a 4k camera,
but it had some serious issues as well.
The first was that it fogged up,
the second was that it overheated
and the third was the stitching lines,
so the point where the two camera lenses
get blended together, this didn't do a great job
of blending that line so that it wasn't
too viewable for the viewers.
Now, if you're interested in that, we did
do a review on the Samsung Gear 360,
the original one, and I'll link that up
in the cards now, which is also a 360 video,
so you can see how it performed in 360,
but Samsung recently released the upgraded version,
the 2017 version, and it looks like they've
addressed a lot of the issues that I had
and probably a lot of other people had, too,
with the original.
So, Samsung sent us out a free unit to test,
we've put it through its paces, and in this video
we're gonna take a look at our findings.
Plus, we're also gonna share how it stacks up
against some of the biggest competition
in 360 cameras that's out there right now.
No matter what videos you're shooting in 360,
make sure you stick around to the end 'cause
I'm gonna share three bonus tips for getting
much better results with your 360 videos.
Okay, so let's start out by looking at the specs.
The Gear 360 2017 has an F 2.2 aperture lens.
It's got a still image resolution of 15 megapixels,
which is made up of two 8.4 megapixel sensors.
It'll do 4k video at 24 frames per second
with a resolution of 4096 by 2048,
and it's got a single lens video resolution
at 1920 by 1080 at 60 frames per second.
It has a micro SD slot that supports
up to 256 gig of storage, and it's got a USB-C
port for charging and for data transfer.
Now, comparing the specs side by side
with the older model, there's a few key differences.
The original Gear 360 had an F 2.0 aperture lens
versus the new at 2.2 aperture lens.
The still image resolution on the original
was 30 megapixel, so it was made up of two
15 megapixel sensors versus the 15 megapixel
total made up of two 8.4 megapixel sensors.
The other differences in regard to the 4k
video recording on both of them is that
the original recorded at 3840 by 2160
and the new one records at 4096 by 2048,
so the new one is slightly higher resolution.
And, the original had the micro USB port
instead of the USB-C port.
The only other main difference between
the two is the overall design and style.
So, the original was, essentially, an eyeball
with a tripod thread on the bottom,
but it did come with the small set of tripod
legs as well, which are actually really handy.
The new one is slimmer and taller
and easier to hold and easier to use,
so it's a much more thought out design
when compared to the original.
So, my first thoughts when I started playing
around with the new Gear 360 camera
is that I really like the new design.
As I just said, coming from the old one,
this new design is really well thought out.
The position of the buttons, like the record button,
the power on and off, and the menu button as well,
they're all easily accessible and you've got
no way of easily fingerprinting of smearing up
the camera lenses, which is important
on any camera, but I think it's more important
on a 360 camera because you've got the stitching
that has to come into play, so you really want to
make sure your camera lenses are clean.
Probably the biggest difference or the biggest
new feature that's been added is the internal stitching.
So, previously, the stitching of the two lenses,
the front and the back lens, would have to be done
using a Samsung mobile after the recording had happened,
which meant that you couldn't use the original
for live video, and if you wanted to quickly edit
down your footage, you either had to stitch
it using a Samsung phone or stitch it using
the software that came with it, which was
not supported on Mac.
It was only supported on PC.
So, if you're on a Mac and you don't have
a Samsung phone, then you couldn't really use
the original Samsung Gear 360.
So, the new one is supported by not just Samsung phones,
you can use pretty well any phone, including
an iPhone, to be able to control and create
videos with this camera.
And, because it's got built in internal stitching,
it means that you can now broadcast live
directly from this device when it's connected
to your phone to places like YouTube live
and Facebook live, and also now makes it really easy
to share and save your files directly
from the camera to your phone for instant
sharing on social media platforms.
So, those are the specs and my initial thoughts
and what I like about it, but how does it
actually perform?
Well, straight out, in all my testing,
I haven't had any issues with overheating
or fogging up, and the stitching lines
look pretty good.
Now, they're not perfect, you can definitely
see them in some scenarios or in some scenes,
but it usually comes down to light.
So, when you've got one of your camera lenses
pointed at a bright light or at the sun
and your other one isn't, then you're
gonna get an exposure difference between
the two, which is where your stitch line
will stand out because one of your shots
will be bright and the other one will be dark.
So, there's not a lot you can do to overcome that,
but it's definitely much better on the new
2017 camera than the old one.
In regards to the video quality, I think
there definitely has been an improvement
on the previous model.
Now, the previous model has always been
my go-to if I want the best image quality
for a sub $200 360 camera.
So, the original beat out the Insta360 Nano,
360 Air and a heap of other cameras sub $200
for picture quality and for image quality.
Now, the new one is a step up from that again.
Now, for video, it is slightly higher resolution,
but in regards to the image sensor,
it's actually much lower.
So, it went from 30 megapixels down to 15 megapixel,
but in our test for both photos and for images,
I much prefer the look and the quality
on the newer camera.
So, Samsung, you've done some amazing work there.
Now, as with most cameras, not specific to 360,
most cameras will perform well when there's
a lot of light.
So, creating videos during the day is normally
going to be a lot better than creating videos
at night in regards to the quality.
And, with these cameras, it's no different.
The Samsung Gear 360 2017 is awesome during the day.
It is now, in my opinion, the best quality
sub $200 360 camera for daytime.
In low light, though, it definitely suffered,
but then I haven't seen a 360 camera
that hasn't really suffered in low light
conditions either.
This is okay, but there's definitely a really
pixelated, really grainy image, but so was
the previous one, and so is most of the
other offerings on the market these days.
So, that's just something you'll want to
keep in mind if you are gonna be shooting
in 360, the more light you have the better.
But, it's also something that you'd apply
across any videos you're creating.
In regards to the app and usability
of this camera, I think this is another
area where it's definitely come a long way.
The app is now so much more polished.
It's so easy to use and to set up and to get
access to your settings, to view this thing live,
and to actually broadcast live with it as well.
So, they've definitely had huge improvements
on the app, but one thing to note is that,
if you are using an iPhone, at least at the time
of this recording, you can't broadcast live,
you do need to be using an Android device,
and it may even be that you need to be using
a Samsung device to be able to broadcast live.
I'm not 100% on that, but you at least
can't broadcast live, at the time of filming
this video, using an iPhone.
So, hopefully that's something that they will
sort out and will release in a further update.
In all our testing, the battery life
lasted around two to two and a half hours,
and it seemed to take around an hour
to an hour and a half to charge back up,
so that's not too bad.
So, while I think the new design is a big step up
from the previous design and a lot of other
designs out there for 360 cameras,
I think this one though is probably
on the bulkier side if you're gonna be putting it
on something like a helmet.
So, if you're gonna go snowboarding or skiing
and you want to record in 360, you can definitely
do it with this, but being the size that it is,
it's definitely gonna stick out quite a way
on top of your helmet, which probably isn't
a great thing, but I don't think there's
any other camera that I would recommend
to use over this in those scenarios right now.
It would be cool to see something smaller
or a bit more slim-lined that's gonna work
well with a helmet.
So, that's really something minor, but, really,
I haven't found a great deal that I don't like
about this camera.
And, regards to pricing, you can pick up
the new Samsung Gear 360 camera for around
the $180 US price point.
So, coming in at sub $200, it's definitely
the best bang for buck camera when you look
at the competition as well.
And, the main reason I say that is because
most of the cameras that are under that
sub $200 price point, even if they shoot 4k,
which most of them don't, most of them
are 3k cameras like the Insta360 Nano
and Insta360 Air, the ones that are 4k,
they're actually a lower picture quality,
so there's less detail in the image.
It almost looks like they have 2k or 3k cameras
that they're scaling up to 4k just for the sake
of having 4k on the brand or on the package,
whereas the picture quality on the original
Samsung and, of course, the newer one as well,
which is better, again, is much better than
any other 360 camera I've used sub $200.
But, when you're comparing the new Samsung
Gear 360 to something like the Insta360 Air
or Insta360 Nano, they are actually a slightly
different product offering.
While they are 3k, they also connect
directly to your phone, in which case
you're using your phone's battery
and your phone's storage, at least in the case
of the Insta360 Air, to record.
So, there's some benefits in that, but there's
also some big downsides in that you're gonna
chew through your battery, but you're also
gonna have your video footage directly
accessible on your phone, so you won't need
to transfer it off the camera, you've got it
there ready to share to social media,
and you still get the ability to broadcast
live as well.
So, different offerings for different things.
For me and the workflow and having the ability
to step away with your phone and have
the camera separate from your phone
is a huge thing, but I'm still a big fan
of the Insta360 Nano and the 360 Air as well,
but, for me, my go-to and the camera that
I'm gonna carry around with me now
is the Samsung Gear 360 because it is
the complete package.
So, who would I recommend this camera for?
Obviously, someone who is a 360 enthusiast,
someone that's looking to create really good
quality 360 photos and videos, someone that's
looking to have something that's separate
from their phone so that you can have
a separate battery and you're not gonna
chew up your battery life on your phone
as well as the camera all at once.
And, I'd probably also recommend it to someone
that's using Android or, probably more specifically,
a Samsung device.
You will get the best experience with this camera
using a Samsung device or at least an Android device,
whereas, if you are using an iPhone,
then you will be missing some of the key features
like the ability to go live direct to Facebook
or YouTube or other platforms as well.
But, if you're not interested in going live,
so that's not a dealbreaker for you,
then it's definitely worth considering.
And, again, I'm hoping that something that
needs short term, I'm hoping that they release
the full feature set of this device for iPhone
users as well, that would be pretty cool to see.
So, who would I not then recommend it to?
Well, let's keep going with the same train of thought.
If you're looking to use this for live
and you've got an iPhone, then right now it's
not gonna work for you.
If you don't want to carry around an additional device
and have to worry about charging up this camera
as well as your phone, and you're just happy
to rely on your phone and chew through your
phone battery, then maybe something like
the Insta360 Air or Nano might be a better
option for you.
But, if you're looking for the best quality
360 camera, as I said, sub $200, that's easy
to use, and you can broadcast live,
and the stitching and everything is amazing,
then the obvious choice is the Samsung Gear 360
2017 model, not the 2016 one, in my opinion.
Right, so now for those bonus tips.
Now, it's really easy to mess up 360 video
because there's some key differences that
a lot of people don't consider when they
first start creating 360 videos.
So, the first one is to try and keep your
camera as stable as possible.
Now, a lot of people will pick these cameras
up and just start walking around,
and the shake is amplified for anyone that
is watching these 360 videos back using a VR headset.
So, you want to be aware of that and try to
create the nicest experience for your viewers,
so just be mindful that any shake is amplified
through a headset, so try to keep it stable.
If you can, get your camera out of your hand
and put it onto even a selfie stick
or a tripod, anything to keep the camera
as stable as you can.
So, if you're gonna be walking around,
then a selfie stick could be a good option.
I never really thought I'd say that,
but for 360 videos it could be a good option.
The second tip is to let your viewers
do the panning around.
So, if you've got something that you want
to show them and you're walking around,
then tell them where to look.
Don't turn the camera around and point to
the different places.
If you're moving the camera around to show
different things as you would with a normal camera,
that makes it really hard for the viewer
watching with a headset on or even holding
their phone, they'll go to look and then
you'll move the camera positioning,
and then it'll over-correct what they've
just done, so it becomes a bit of a fight
or a bit of a struggle between you moving
the camera and them looking around in 360.
So, it's really important with your 360 videos
just to point your camera in one direction
for as long as you can so that your viewers
have time to look around and see everything
themselves without you moving it round
and up and down and left and right all the time.
Let them do the moving, and you guide them
where to look.
So, if there's something interesting,
tell them, turn around, if you look behind
you now, you'll see something amazing.
So, guide them with your voice or with
music or with something in the scene
to guide them, but don't guide them
by pointing the camera around and showing them
things because they could be looking
the other direction or trying to look
at something totally different.
The experience with 360 is that it's
up to the viewer, not you,
so let them have that flexibility
and make it pleasant for them by holding
your camera steady, and keep it facing
in the one direction.
So, you need to make sure when you're filming
and editing that you are giving them
at least 20 to 30 seconds to look around
and to take in each shot or each scene
so that they're getting the best experience from it.
If you're cutting too quickly and they don't
have enough time to look around and to take
it all in, they'll get annoyed, and they'll
close your video and go and find another one.
So, that's another really important tip,
and I think those three combined, you should
be able to create some really amazing 360 videos
for your viewers.
Now, once you've shot your 360 videos,
then it's time to edit them,
and, when you're editing your 360 videos,
there's some key differences between
editing in 360 and editing normal video.
And, if you want to find out more, check out
the video linked on screen now and I'll see you soon.