360 Camera News and Info

CES 2017: Staro is a 136-megapixel 360 camera

Staro is a 360 camera with seventeen lenses and it has a photo resolution of 136 megapixels (a little more than 16k x 8k), which is the highest resolution 360 photo from an all-in-one camera, edging out the Panono (108 mp) and the Aleta S2 (118 mp).  UPDATE: Staro did not make it to production, but there is a similar 360 camera called Xphase with 200mp.

Here are the key specifications:
– 17 lenses and sensors
– each sensor is 1/3.2″ 8mp BSI (backside illuminated) sensor
– fully spherical view
– f/2.2 aperture
– photo resolution: 136 megapixels
– video resolution: 4k @ 30fps

Besides the ultra-high resolution, I was also surprised at the Staro’s size.  The sphere is only about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter, smaller than even the Samsung Gear 360.  Besides the convenience of a small size, it also means that there is a smaller distance between the lenses for less parallax stitching error.

Another feature of the Staro is that unlike most 360 cameras, it does not use fisheye lenses.  This has the advantage of having more consistent sharpness across the field of view of each lens.  (By contrast, the Nikon Keymission 360 and Ricoh Theta for example have noticeable drop-off in sharpness toward the edge of each lens).

The rep said it stitches the images in-camera, although that part sounds too good to be true, so it could be just a miscommunication.  I will inquire further.

The Staro costs about $1,500 (slightly less than the Panono).  However, the rep said they are planning to create a consumer model with a lower resolution but otherwise similar design, with a target price of $500.  Here is their official webpage.  Here are sample photos.

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Mic Ty

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  • Hola . Sabe alguno donde comprar esta camara Staro. envie un correo y no me an respondido. En la web no indica si se puede comprar. Muchas gracias

    • Hola. También traté de contactar con ellos y no responden. Parece que no hay manera de comprar esta cámara. Es posible que como cámara Panono vez

      Hello. I also tried to contact them and they don't respond. It seems there is no way to buy this camera. Maybe you might like Panono camera instead.

      Best regards,
      Mic

  • Hi Michael,

    Do you have any updates about the Staro? Is this camera released? Going to be released? or did it fail to launch? Website links are 404.
    Thanks.

  • Hi, Thank you for the interesting article and the links. I just looked at the sample picture and it is VERY disapointing. Very noisy, and not sharp at all. For now I wouldn’t plan to buy this camera… unfortunately there is a lac of competitors regarding the camera high resolution range…