I never knew how it feels to shoot VR videos. I did not want to experience VR shooting until one summer night at a party, one of my friends was taking images through a 360-degree camera. Right at that moment, I got chills to experience this. Ever since my childhood, I was fond of gadgets. I always wanted to get hands-on any new product introduced by famous companies. Due to the shortage of funds, I had to control my excitement. Unfortunately, my father never shared the same passion for gadgets. So as soon as I got hold of my first salary, my first action was to buy the best smartphone in the market.
Buying was not enough; the market was changing almost on a daily basis. New and elegant smartphones kept on increasing my thirst. The introduction of 360-degree cameras diverted my attention. The product is really amazing. Suddenly not only I wanted to know everything about them I also wanted to get hold of the best product in the market. Before experiencing one I made sure to familiarize myself with all its functions. My first experience with the 360-degree camera just blew my mind. I never felt anything like that before. I was so excited even my mother advised me to get hold of myself. That is how I am around technology.
I would like to share my knowledge of 360-degree cameras. Together with overall information, I have about the history, functions, and application of these cameras.
History Of 360-Degree Camera
Nowadays we all want to capture panoramic images to show them on our social media accounts. Historically this process crossed many decades and reached this state. 18th-century English painter Robert Barker first introduced the 360-degree format in his paintings. He described this innovation as Panorama. He showed his painting on a cylindrical area and viewed the painting from the inside. As a result, the entire sphere of his painting’s boundary could be observed in a 360-degree format. After the advent of photography, the panoramic imagery was always on the cards. The first patent for a panoramic camera was registered by Joseph Puchberger, an Austrian back in 1843. The evolution of panoramic cameras continued. New cameras made panoramic images of high quality with silver-coated copper plates. After the invention of smartphones, everyone has the ability to capture panoramic images.
Working of A 360 Degree Camera
So how a 360-degree camera works? The short answer is two lenses. Most 360-degree cameras operate with two wide-angle lenses at opposite sites. With two wide-angle lenses, it captures full 360-degree footage. Each of its two lenses takes a 180-degree view. Later it automatically stitches those two images or videos together. It also offers software to allow you to stitch files together. The processing of 360-degree cameras produces three types of images. It is Standard, Fisheye, or Tiny planet.
A few years back, only experienced professionals and tech lovers were using 360-degree cameras. But now with the help of new technology, capturing 360-degree imagery is as easy as eating a cake. Launch of new cameras like GoPro Fusion, Ricoh Theta V, YI 360 VR, Garmin VIRB 360, 360Fly 4K, and Insta360 helped people like us to take mesmerizing images. Earlier taking 360-degree images were expensive. Now we all can show off a little on social media through images taken with these cameras.
The resolution of 360-degree cameras is different from the normal shot of videos. You might think that 2K resolution is enough for your 360-degree cameras. But this is not the case. In order to avoid the quality drop as you zoom in it is better to use 4K resolution. Well, who would like the low quality of images & videos on your social media profiles? That is why I always use cameras with 4K resolution so that my panoramic photography looks better than others. One of the reasons I am more famous among my friends.
Uses of 360-Degree Cameras
After understanding the working of 360 cameras let us check their application in daily life.
Virtual Reality
360-degree cameras and VR both are connected. With VR headset you can experience amazing 360-degree footage. I mostly use VR to play VR games or to experience another place knows as teleporting. But VR is used in more ways than before now. Property management companies are now using VR as marketing tools. They can get a better view of their properties now than normal images. Both buyers and sellers can save a lot of time with the help of VR.
Panoramic Art
Smartphones are good enough to take panoramic pictures. But most people will point out deficiencies in pictures taken by a smartphone. I would choose a 360-degree camera to take pictures of picnic points or mountains. A panoramic shot through a 360 camera is better in quality. It also does not require stitching after taking the picture.
Time-lapse
Fast forwarding a long video is known as time-lapse. Time-lapse is amazing even with smartphones or some low-priced action camera but with a 360 camera, you can create a motion time-lapse. A 360 camera creates pans at the end of the time-lapse. It will end with a panoramic which is moving. I impressed many people with my motion time-lapse videos.
Animated Effects
You can add cool effects in your videos and images with the help of a 360-degree camera. This application is not available on your smartphones. The addition of these effects adds value to your shots. I enjoyed this tool more than anything in my 360-degree camera.
Conclusion
When it comes to 360-degree cameras and VR the future possibilities are endless. With the help of social media 360 videos, images and VR is part of our daily lives. It is an integral part of the media industry now. Due to this reason cheaper and more advanced are released in the market. For people like me, there is nothing better than this. I am just looking forward to experiencing my next 360-degree camera.
