Girocam: New 360 camera system spotted at Photokina
September 28, 2010
What looks like James Bond's coffee mug, or a Matryoshka doll from the future, is in fact a new compact panorama camera called Girocam.
3 fisheye lenses apparently share one imaging sensor, everything hard-mounted into one device, so you'd have zero alignment issues.
It can shoot panoramic video and take 7000x3000 (= 21 MP) panoramas with HDR bracketing. There's also a standard tripod thread mount on the bottom and a remote control. Although the maker doesn't seem so clear about the specs yet, calling it 30 MP panorama capture. The Girocam website doesn't look finished either, repeating the same (rather unconvincing) renderings of the device over and over again. Not a single photo or sample panorama. And for some reason it appears to come bundled with a ... rubber duck?
The Girocam is made by Giroptic, a french company that formerly specialized in mirror-on-a-stick capture devices. So this fisheye setup is definitely a step up in quality for them, no matter how awful and small these fisheye lenses really are. Certainly the quality won't compete with a real DSLR+Fisheye setup, but if you're a VFX on-set or real-estate photographer shooting 50+ HDR panos a day, this puppy might become your best friend. I want one anyway, and if it's just for the rubber ducky.
Tipped by Dieter Bethke.
3 fisheye lenses apparently share one imaging sensor, everything hard-mounted into one device, so you'd have zero alignment issues.
It can shoot panoramic video and take 7000x3000 (= 21 MP) panoramas with HDR bracketing. There's also a standard tripod thread mount on the bottom and a remote control. Although the maker doesn't seem so clear about the specs yet, calling it 30 MP panorama capture. The Girocam website doesn't look finished either, repeating the same (rather unconvincing) renderings of the device over and over again. Not a single photo or sample panorama. And for some reason it appears to come bundled with a ... rubber duck?
The Girocam is made by Giroptic, a french company that formerly specialized in mirror-on-a-stick capture devices. So this fisheye setup is definitely a step up in quality for them, no matter how awful and small these fisheye lenses really are. Certainly the quality won't compete with a real DSLR+Fisheye setup, but if you're a VFX on-set or real-estate photographer shooting 50+ HDR panos a day, this puppy might become your best friend. I want one anyway, and if it's just for the rubber ducky.
Tipped by Dieter Bethke.
