Ricoh THETA: World First 360° Camera Review and Specs

As one of the major players in the world of digital imaging, Ricoh wanted to bring a more creative shooting experience for photography enthusiasts. The trick is to release a unique camera such as below.

Ricoh THETA is the first camera in the world specifically designed to produce a 360 ° panoramic images directly. This camera comes with a very light weight, only 95 grams, and dimensions are tiny. At first glance, Ricoh Theta does look similar to a tv's remote because you will not find the LCD screen like on most compact cameras.

Ricoh THETA carries a small sized dual lens system with folding design which can result a 360 ° photo in a snap. To take a picture with it, you have to connect Ricoh Theta into a smartphone device via Wi-Fi.

With the help of its mobile app, users can also edit the images to resize and arrange compositions. Captured images can be stored in internal storage space with a capacity of 4GB or directly uploaded to the page theta360.com and then distributed to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Microsoft Photosynth.

Ricoh THETA currently only compatible with iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 running iOS 6.0 minimum. In the future, Ricoh will also prepare applications for Android users. Ricoh THETA will come sometime in September 2013 for the American market and is priced around USD399.

Specs:
Exposure Control: Automatic
Exposure compensation: Manual (-2.0 to +2.0 EV 1/3EV Step)
ISO: 100 to 1600
White balance: Automatic
Shutter speed: Automatic of 1/8000 - 1/7.5 sec
Capacity: 4GB or about 1200 photos
Battery: Internal lithium ion, rechargeable via USB cable
File format: JPEG (Exif Ver2.3) DCF2.0
Connectivity: Micro-USB, USB 2.0, WiFi
Dimensions: 42 mm x 129 mm x 22.8 mm x 7.4 mm (early stage)
Weight: 95 grams