360 Camera Accessories

The best underwater 360 camera for consumers

The best underwater 360 camera for consumers
The best underwater 360 camera for consumers

I’ve shot underwater with nine different consumer 360 cameras, and I finally found one that stitches smoothly underwater.


I’ve shot with many consumer 360 cameras underwater:
– Garmin Virb 360
– Nikon Keymission 360
– Elecam 360 / MGCool 360 (dedicated housing)
– Ricoh Theta S (hardcase)
– Samsung Gear 360 2016 (smartphone case)
– Samsung Gear 360 2017 (smartphone case and Theta hardcase)
– Xiaomi Mi Sphere (smartphone case)
– Insta360 Nano (smartphone case)
– Giroptic iO (smartphone case)

If you are buying any of those cameras with the intent to use them underwater, please note that  none of those cameras can stitch well underwater due to refraction, which narrows their field of view.  With a narrower field of view, there will be a large blind spot along the stitch line.

But finally, I found a consumer 360 camera that can stitch reasonably smoothly underwater, using its dedicated housing: the Kodak PIXPRO SP360 4K Dual Pro.

The dedicated housing for the Sp360 4K Dual Pro enables the Dual Pro to be used up to a depth of 30 meters (around 100 feet).  It has buttons to let you control the Dual Pro even when fully encased in the housing.

SP360 4K Dual Pro waterproof housing
SP360 4K Dual Pro waterproof housing

Here’s a video about the SP360 4K Dual Pro underwater housing.

Here are the stitching settings I used (I used the same distance of 1.21 for both cameras):

SP360 4k underwater stitching settings
SP360 4k underwater stitching settings

Here is a sample underwater video with the housing:

Please note how people are generally able to cross the stitch line and the stitching remains reasonably coherent except when very close to the camera.

Because the Kodak SP360 4K Dual Pro has the best underwater stitching I’ve seen for a consumer 360 camera, I believe it is the best underwater 360 camera for consumers.  How about you?  What do you think of these samples?  Is there another 360 camera that you believe would be better underwater?  Let me know in the comments!

If you’d like to get the SP360 4K Dual Pro, you can buy it from Amazon, B&H or eBay (lots of people are selling them in anticipation of the Orbit360).

If you’d like to get the waterproof housing, you can buy from Amazon or eBay.

About the author

Mic Ty

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  • The 360bubble housing achieves a seamless stitch with most of the cameras you listed above – https://theta360bubble.com/pages/videos. I’ve used it with Ricoh Theta S, Samsung Gear 360 (2016) and Nikon Keymission 360 myself with great results. It’s less expensive than most of the other options and avoids the refraction and distortion issues with the really cheap options.

    • Hi Jon. Yes the 360bubble is a good option and is a very good way to solve the refraction issue as i mentioned in the video. Some disadvantages: size, need for weights due to buoyancy, cost, time needed for ordering, and you won’t be able to control the camera unless your camera has a waterproof remote option. Otherwise, it has to shoot video continuously. This can be a problem for some cameras due to overheating. Best regards, Mic

  • Hi, just wondering what waterproof case you used for the samsung gear 360 2017? I’ve been looking for a while and struggling to come up with any solid leads!!

    Thanks
    Jason

  • Is there an update to this review for 2020? For my application I’d prefer to find a 360 solution that requires a very minimal case or lens, but prefer no case- just a native waterproof housing. Also, I would prefer that the solution not be buoyant- in this example: Does the pixpro+case sink or float in water?

    • Hi Kevin. There are a few 360s camera that can shoot underwater but none of them can stitch smoothly without a case.

      I haven’t used pixpro in about 3 years. I don’t recall if it will sink or float. I think you could post that question to the Pixpro Facebook group.