The Kodak PIXPRO Orbit360 4K is now more affordable, with the $499 Adventure Pack now available direct from Kodak PIXPRO.
The Kodak PIXPRO Orbit360 (Review Part 1 here) is Kodak’s first all-in-one fully spherical 360 camera. Many people were eagerly anticipating it because of the Kodak SP360 4K Dual Pro’s excellent image quality. The SP360 4K had the best overall video quality I found among consumer 360 cameras in 2016, but the workflow was much more difficult than other 360 cameras. The Orbit360 addresses the workflow issue by making it easier to stitch and share photos and videos, while still offering two 20mp BSI CMOS sensors with 4K video resolution each.
The other feature of the Orbit360 is its unique asymmetric design: its front lens is smaller than the rear lens. Why is that important? YouTube heatmaps have shown that people view mostly only the front part of a 360 video. If people spend most of their time on the front part, it seems reasonable to prioritize the image quality of that portion of the video. Having a smaller front lens does exactly that.
Because the front lens has a smaller field of view but the same size sensor as the rear lens, the front lens has more pixels per degree, i.e., a higher pixel density, compared to the rear lens, or pretty much any other dual lens consumer 360 camera for that matter.  In fact, the front lens is capable of 4K videos with a somewhat similar field of view as a GoPro Hero 5, enabling it to function as a 4K 16:9 action camera.
On the other hand, this design makes stitching more noticeable. Ultimately, it really depends on your personal preference. Here is a sample video:
Adventure Pack vs. Satellite Pack
When the Orbit360 was first released, only the $549 Satellite Pack was available. Now the $499 Adventure Pack (Amazon; Kodak PIXPRO direct) is also available. The Adventure Pack is similar but it doesn’t include the selfie stick, or the more advanced remote control that allows switching between photo or video. Its smaller remote is simply for triggering the shutter (in either photo or video mode). If the Adventure Pack is in stock at Amazon, I recommend buying from them because of their more generous return policy. It also supports 360 Rumors at no additional cost to you so I can do more tests and reviews! Thank you very much.
If you have any questions about the Orbit360, please let me know in the comments.
Add Comment