Ricoh’s new Theta S spherical camera costs RM1779 and covers all the bases. Literally.
If you’re fond of taking scenic panoramic shots and are wont to whip out your phone to take Google Photo Sphere snaps but aren’t too pleased with having to ponderously spin around like a Dalek to get decent shots, you’ll be glad of Ricoh’s Theta S spherical camera that does it all for you with one press of a button that was launched in Malaysia today.
The Ricoh Theta S is optimised for one-handed use
The successor to Ricoh’s earlier Theta M15 camera that hit the market last year, the Theta S has generally improved specs all around – more memory (8GB over the Theta M15’s 4GB onboard storage), better battery life (260 snaps versus the M15’s 200) and longer videos (25 mins versus 5minutes for the M15) and accomplishes much of the same thing that the M15 did well: epic photo sphere photos that take a swath of the landscape around you. What it lacks though are colour options. It only ships in matte black for now whereas the M15 had an array of natty colours.
Slim, sleek and elegantly finished. We’re talking about the Theta S here folks.
The new Theta S uses a pair of f/2.0 fish eye lenses and back-to-back 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensors in a vertical casing that looks a bit like a telly remote control. One press of a button and you’re able to take 1080P video at 30FPS or 14-MP snaps. There’s no expandable memory and you’re stuck with 8GB of onboard storage which clocks in to around 65 minutes of 1080P video tops and 1,600 photos. The Theta S also lacks a flash but you’re able to tweak the ISO up to 1600 if so needed when paired a smartphone that acts as a remote viewfinder and settings manipulator. You’re also able to use it to capture live stream video in HD. Captured spherical snaps can be uploaded to Google Maps or Google+ for sharing with all and sundry.
The bottom of the Theta S comes with a standard tripod mount so you can mount it to said item or another accessory like their provided dangle that lets you hang it around your neck on a chain.
The Theta S lacks a display though you can pair it up with an Android or iOS device via their Theta S app allowing you to review captured snaps and footage and use your device as a viewfinder while the Theta S+ app lets you tweak shots after you take them and allowing you to crop out a portion of a capture Photo Sphere as a conventional picture. The Theta S retails for RM1779 and can be had on Ricoh’s E-Store here
