NAB this year was dominated by virtual reality. There were plenty of shiny new VR cameras and rigs on show. One that caught our team’s eye was the Sphericam 2. With a compact all-in-one design it might be just the ticket for video professionals looking to get into the VR field.
Most affordable VR rigs we’ve seen use multiple GoPros or other action cameras bolted together. Integrated VR devices seem to be either consumer oriented like the Theta S and Samsung Gear 360, or high end like the Nokia OZO. But the race is now on to make mid-ranged products that are complete in-one solutions. The Orah 4i and Sphericam 2 are notable examples which are expected to ship in the next few months.
The Sphericam 2 is the result of a successful crowd funding campaign and is capable of creating 4K videos at up to 60fps from its six lenses. It has a robust metal casing that is very compact considering what is crammed inside.
It can live stitch the video internally at 30fps and stream it live via its USB C port to a laptop. You can also stitch the recorded video afterwards in post if you prefer.
Unlike consumer models the Spherical 2 can shoot ‘nearly lossless’ 12-bit RAW video. The Sphericam records in a proprietary format in the camera which is then converted to either Cinema DNG or motion JPEG. There are six microSD cards inside Sphericam in a single removable module. The data rate is up to 150 megabytes per second (1.2 gigabits per second) to the module, so with the current storage limit of 768GB this gives you a maximum recording time of around 85 minutes in RAW. Alternatively you can output video at 100MB/s through the USB C port.
One key feature of the Sphericam is that it uses 1/3” global shutter sensors. The white balance and exposure from all six lenses remains constant. These features should make for fewer artifacts and inconsistencies in the stitched image.
The Sphericam runs off an internal battery for around an hour, but can also be powered using an external phone battery if longer runtimes are required.
The Sphericam is available to pre-order now and costs $2499. For more details visit the Sphericam website.
