Ricoh - Theta S 360 Degree Digital Camera - Black

At this price point, it simply can't be beaten. I also had a 360fly 4K and ended up returning it in favor of the Theta S. The one truly inhibiting factor is the video resolution, which probably looks more like 620x480p in the actual rectangle portion that you're able to see on your phone/computer screen. The convenience of the design, coupled with the excellent quality and robust customization on photo shooting in Theta's mobile app, plus the ease of use, all serve to give it the edge against any 360 cam up to $500, in my humble of course... I didn't even realize Ricoh made anything but printers before finding out about this cam, so I was surprised to find that it was relatively well made. I wouldn't say "solid", but certainly built with some standard of quality.

This is my first 360 camera ....I really love it .... the photos are very good quality in good daylight ... even in low light to an extent ... but when zoomed to the max it can penetrate .... coming to video ... you cannot expect a 4K or least an full HD quality ... but videos are good .... price can be a bit lower .... but don't wait ... you would enjoy this product

I wanted to get a 360 camera for a while and Indecided tonget this... and is worth it great quality and so much fun

This is by no means a professional camera. It is however not bad for what you are able to do with the ease of which to do it (360 VR experience). While it does capture video in HD, keep in mind that resolution (1080) is being wrapped around on a sphere for use as a 360 experience. If you have the capability to upconvert or 'stretch' the video to 4k, YouTube will display the video better than what it would display at 1080p. For a still image camera, it is best to use a tripod and manage your settings with the Theta app. If you know what you're doing you can get a decent image for use with a 360 simulation. The importing process is easier than most 360 cameras on the market and are just as easy to edit with third party software such as the Adobe Suite. It also does a decent job of stitching in the Theta app. If you have the option to wait, the price should go down as 360 cameras with 4k resolution become more common or a newer model is announced. All in all, this is a neat camera that makes 360 image capture a breeze.

I bought the Ricoh Theta after having extensively used the Kodak SP360 models. The Kodak was the first virtual reality, 360-photography and videography experience I’d ever had, and I jumped on the Theta when it was released to see if Ricoh had improved on the technology. Short answer: they sure did. I am a hardcore adventurer and I put any camera through its paces. I drive a team of Huskies on streets and trails from Baltimore to California, riding on a cart and recording all our journeys. Mushing without a sled is called urban mushing, since the dogs can pull my cart down any street in any weather, and some of the environments we’ve explored have been really exciting. A good camera will capture my dogs’ enthusiasm, my passion for dog driving, and the beautiful earth we race over. I’m called the WooFDriver, and if you search “WooFDriver Reviews” you’ll find my detailed opinions on lots of other cameras (specifically, the Kodak SP360 and the Nikon KeyMission, if you’re shopping for 360-degree cameras). Even better, you’ll see TONS of examples of video and photo footage that I’ve taken from the field, and you can compare the quality of each camera to help you decide what to buy for yourself. The Theta was the first all-in-one VR camera that I knew of – it stitched the images together for me, rather than the Kodak which required me to do it myself. At first I was worried that I had no control over the stitching when using the Theta but I quickly stopped worrying. The Theta doesn’t need my control. Its stitching ability is amazing. Right out of the box, the Theta was felt comfortable in my hands and was user-friendly to figure out. I struggled with its connectivity for a little while – the directions were not super clear regarding a Wi-Fi password, but I figured it out. The Theta connects to a tablet or a smart phone for several reasons: 1) to control the scene capture, and 2) to upload footage to your connected device, which you can either simply save or post online. I started right away. The Theta, my Huskies, and I all took to the trail and I recorded everything we did. I was bummed that the Theta only has 8 GB of storage, which equals an hour and a half of video footage (I actually found it to be a little bit less) with no ability to pop in a new memory card. My only option to keep filming past 90 minutes was to upload my footage to my smart phone, clear the Theta’s memory, then keep on rolling. Not the end of the world, but, I do wish the camera had removable storage. My dogs will go go go, and running out of storage at a breathtaking moment is a bummer. I am also glad I thought to bring along some battery packs. The Theta’s battery is limited to its 90-minute life (and as with the 90-minute video storage, I found it to actually come in at a little less than that). The battery isn’t removable, but it does take a USB to a portable battery pack the way a smart phone will. Those battery packs come in all sizes – I have a pretty big one (and big means, still only the size of a smart phone) which will power the Theta all day if I need it to. So, with that workaround, the Theta’s built-in and limited battery became a non-issue. And I encourage you to use the same workaround, because the quality you’ll get with the Theta’s photos and vidoes is just gorgeous. The Nikon, more recently, came out with the KeyMission 360 which boasts a higher resolution photo than the Theta, but I have never seen any difference in quality. The Theta images and videos look beautiful and no worse than what I could capture on the KeyMission. (You can read my review on the KeyMission 360 on Amazon or on my WooFDriver website.) A huge plus is the Theta’s ability to perform quick edits from the field, including adding your own background music! I am all about the music – you’ll see on my website that I have a whole section dedicated to WooFDriver music called WooFTunes, and I was wowed by how easy it was to post videos to Facebook, with music, right from the field. The Theta uploaded to a smart phone, the Theta’s software allowed me to trim the clips and add the music, and boom, all my Facebook fans were watching my adventure online minutes after it had happened. You can’t beat that with a stick. I have a ton of examples of these videos – search “WooFDriver Reviews,” find this same review on my blog and there will be links right there. 360-degree videos can find their home on YouTube and they also have some functionality on Facebook, but it’s the 360-degree photos that sorely need online support. There are not a lot of websites that will host an album with spherical photos that a user can rotate to see all aspects of. Flickr has some functionality, but it’s not as good as I would like. The best solution I’ve found is a plugin on WordPress, and you can see examples of that on my WooFDriver website too. Ricoh recently came out with a new Theta model that has a price-point of $50 less than I spent on my original. It doesn’t seem to contain any more features, and I’m curious to hear the thoughts of anyone who buys it. My model is the Theta S, and the new one is called the SC. Thanks for reading! Good luck with your decision, and have a wonderful journey! If you’re still comparing the Nikon to the Ricoh to the Kodak, please check my WooFDriver website to see all the different images and videos taken in the past two years on all three cameras, ever since I entered the world of virtual reality. If you want to know more about me, just use Google and Facebook! I am the only WooFDriver!

We just returned from our first trip with the Theta S. It's extremely easy to use, no viewfinder necessary and one button to press. If you want to get more advanced with framing and operation there's an iOS/Android app for controlling the camera and uploading photos to the Theta360 website for viewing. Friends can view your 360 photos in a browser and manipulate the view. Picture quality is good (think good cell phone quality) and when the camera stitches the two sides together it removes itself from the photo. Neat! I would recommend the Geek Squad damage warranty for this one. There are two bulbous glass lenses that will break if dropped.

I really love this design, and durability. I used this device to live stream but was confined to my PC as that is where my WiFi and setup was. That's fine, given the delicateness of the camera. This wouldn't be an ideal camera for rugged use. The company's support forum and website were friendly and I managed to learn some other things camera related. I definitely recommend this product for a flawless 360 degree rendered visual that can be used for business or personal use. I used an iPhone and windows PC for this use. The price is expensive but you get what you pay for and that is quality! The camera has the capability of a professional mode and has various settings that an entry level camera user will need to take the time to read about the best settings for optimization.

As a fully time photographer I have pretty high standards. The Theta S works as expected personally after viewing multiple videos on YouTube prior to purchase. The photos are sharp in most lighting situations and I recommend don't use auto to get the proper exposure. Low light situations like a dim home restaurant or event show a little bit of noise. Video wise the GoPro 4 Black is much sharper significantly but at a lower price point you can't rank it the same. Overall it's easy to use and can quickly load photos to your phone then social media. Note: the battery only lasts a couple hours and it only has 8gb of storage so be prepared to either buy two or have a laptop to transfer media to if traveling or covering an event.