Earlier this week, Ricoh announced a new 360 camera, the Ricoh Theta Z1. The camera sparked interest among immersive shooters for its 1-inch sensors–a first for consumer 360 cameras.
However, with an expected price of around $1000 and limited video resolutionThe number of pixels in an image, typically presented as a ratio of the total pixels on x axis to the total pixels on th... More, early opinions about the camera have been mixed.
Here, we outline the Ricoh Theta Z1’s pros and cons:
Pro: 1-inch sensors
The camera will be equipped with two 1-inch back-illuminated CMOS sensors. That’s about 4.3 times larger than the 1/2.3-inch sensors most consumer 360 cameras are using. The 1-inch sensors are estimated to offer a 2-stop advantage in low light and more than 1-stop advantage for dynamic rangeThe varying degrees of brightness that can be captured by a camera or displayed by a playback device. You can think of i... More.
All other stats equal, yes, a photo or video captured from a large-sensor camera will look nicer than one from a camera with a smaller sensor, but that brings me to my next point…All other stats are not equal to existing 360 cameras on the market.
Con: Low video resolution
Many immersive shooters couldn’t believe Ricoh would be launching a 360 camera with a video resolutionThe number of pixels in an image, typically presented as a ratio of the total pixels on x axis to the total pixels on th... More of only 3840×1920 when most consumer 360 cameras are offer nearly 6K. Its photo resolutionThe number of pixels in an image, typically presented as a ratio of the total pixels on x axis to the total pixels on th... More will be 7296×3248 for DNG Raw and 6720×3360 for JPG files, so it could be among the best 360 cameras for shooting photos, but the video specs (so far) are lacking.
At only 4K, the video will be soft regardless of the new sensor, though the image quality will be better with less noiseUndesirable variations of brightness and/or color in an image that typically occur when recording at high ISOs in digita... More and improved dynamic rangeThe varying degrees of brightness that can be captured by a camera or displayed by a playback device. You can think of i... More. However, the camera’s large sensors paired with limited resolutionThe number of pixels in an image, typically presented as a ratio of the total pixels on x axis to the total pixels on th... More will still be useful for 4K live streaming from the Z1.
Pro: Variable aperture
Another first for consumer 360 cameras, this means smaller aperture could enable longer exposureThe measurement of the brightness and range (latitude) of light being captured by the camera. Exposure is governed by ca... More by up to 3 stopsƒ-stops are the measurement of, and mechanism for controlling how much light is let through the lens to reach a camera ... More for improved dynamic rangeThe varying degrees of brightness that can be captured by a camera or displayed by a playback device. You can think of i... More. There’s also now an aperture priority exposureThe measurement of the brightness and range (latitude) of light being captured by the camera. Exposure is governed by ca... More mode.
Also new, the camera’s lens design is said to reduce ghosting, flaring and purple fringing.
Pro: Shoots DNG Raw
Users will be able to capture 360 photos either as JPGs or DNG Raw files.
Another pro in this arena is that Ricoh has created a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom Classic, Ricoh Theta Stitcher, so users can edit 360 photos in Lightroom and stitch them on the export.
Con: Limited storage
Another bit of bad news is that the camera only offers 19GB of internal storage, with no SD card slot.
This is further proof that Ricoh really isn’t seeing this camera as a 360 video solution. For photos only, you can probably get by with only 19GB of internal storage, but making that work with videos would be necessarily frustrating.
Pro: Incredibly thin
The camera is only slightly thicker than the Ricoh Theta V at 24 mm, not counting the lenses. This thin form factor reduces parallaxThe optical effect where an object’s position appears to differ when viewed from different positions, i.e. the left ey... More stitching errors, so, yay for that! Supposedly, the Z1 also has a tougher body and a metal tripod hole for added durability.
In addition, the Z1 has an OLED display. Never before seen on a 360 camera from Ricoh, this display and a new Fn button will allow users to switch between normal shooting and self-timed shooting without connecting to the camera’s app.
Pro: Time-shift shooting
This plug-in allows Theta Z1 users to takeIndividual instance of a shot; a take = each time the camera is started and stopped. a 360 photo with one lens (while they ‘hide’ on the other side of the camera) and then takeIndividual instance of a shot; a take = each time the camera is started and stopped. a photo with the other lens (while they ‘hide’ on the side of the camera shot in the previous photo) and combine those two photos together into one 360 image. This is an awesome feature for static shots, such as real estate or landscape photography because it allows the user to stay near their camera without being seen in the shot.
To see photo samples from the camera, check out 360 Rumors’ post about the Z1.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is–if we’re looking only at the specs and what we know at this time–the Ricoh Theta Z1 will be a great camera for 360 photographers who can spring $1000 on a new camera that can only really be used for 360 photos and 4K live streaming.
The Theta Z1 will be available in late March 2019 and is available for pre-order for $999.95 on Amazon or B&H Photo.
Check out the full specs below this article.
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