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Kickstarter launch for Fengyun JEDEYE, an affordable 3D camera with high image quality

Jedeye is an affordable 3D camera with very good image quality
Jedeye is an affordable 3D camera with very good image quality

JedEye is an affordable and user-friendly 3D camera that can capture video at 4K at 30fps (2k per eye) or 3K at 60fps (1.5k per eye) at a higher image quality than typical 360 cameras.  Here are its specifications, features, and samples.

One common complaint about 360 videos is that the image quality is not as high as users initially expect.  This is because 360 cameras cover a wider field of view onto two sensors that are often just the same 1/2.3 inch size in point-and-shoot cameras.  Users are only looking at a cropped view at any given time, hence the lower image quality compared to a non-360 camera.

What if your priority is to shoot at a higher image quality, and you were willing to sacrifice the ability to look around the 360 video, instead relying on 3D for immersion?  That’s what we get with the Jedeye, an affordable 3D camera.  Here’s a video of the concept:

UPDATE: Here is a video of JedEye by CreatorUp!’s Hugh Hou:

Here are the JedEye’s specifications:

LensesTwo 136-degree fisheye lenses
Aperturef/2.3
Field of view136 degrees x 100 degrees
Video resolution4096 x 1520 @ 30fps
3040 x 1520 @ 60fps
Video formatmp4
ConnectivityUSB 3.0
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
AudioStereo microphone
Stereo line-in
StorageMicro SD up to 128GB
Battery2000 mah
up to 2 hours battery life
Dimensions110 x 60 x 25mm
Weight186 grams
Operating temperature0 to 45 C (32 to 113 F)

One cool feature is the high dynamic range mode (which it calls WDR).

JedEye WDR mode
JedEye WDR mode

If you look at the video specifications, the resolution of 2048 x 1520 (per eye) or 1520 x 1520 @ 60fps (per eye) doesn’t sound so impressive compared to prosumer 360 cameras. But consider that the field of view is only 136 degrees or 100 degrees in 60fps mode (versus the 190 degrees or more on a 360 camera).  Moreover, you’re always shown that extra wide field of view, not a zoomed in view. That’s why 3D videos on JedEye look like they have better image quality than typical 360 cameras. You don’t have to take my word for it — you can see for yourself:

Of course, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison but the fact remains that JedEye does look better, although in return, you give up the ability to look around the video.

JEDEYE launched a couple of days ago on Kickstarter and is available for just $199 for early birds.  By comparison a *used* Fuji W3 3D camera which has lower image quality than Jedeye is averaging around $260 on eBay.  So it seems like a good deal for a 3D camera.  You can also have a chance to win one of four Jedeye cameras from Veer’s #2018 promo.  All you have to do is share 360 photos or videos on Veer.tv with the hashtag #2018, and you’ll get an entry for the contest.

Meanwhile, I have a review copy of JedEye and will update this post with hands-on impressions and samples.  Let me know what you think of the JedEye, and if you have any questions about the camera!

About the author

Mic Ty

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  • i could have been tempted aithough there doesnt seem to be any zoom, no way to make a focus, and no screen on the back side to have a look of what is being shooted, but they only send it to usa, and i live in france !!! so i guess that i will have to wait for the next affordable 3D solution 🙂

  • > What if your priority is to shoot at a higher image quality, and you were willing to sacrifice the ability to look around the 360 video, instead relying on 3D for immersion?

    Strange way of putting it since what you get is exactly the 3D that was widely offered several years ago by Fuji, Lumix, Sony and others… And that was mostly unsuccessful !

    > By comparison a *used* Fuji W3 3D camera which has lower image quality than Jedeye…

    Not a very fair comparison given the W3 is far more versatile, has zoom lenses, allows aperture, shutter and ISO control, has flash and is a far tougher build. And not only does it have a built-in LCD display but a glasses-free 3D one at that. True that the JEDEYE’s video resolution is better, but the W3 is mainly used to shoot stills and those are higher resolution than the JEDEYE can produce. Also, the very wide angle distorted view of its lenses is not everyone’s cup of tea !

    The JEDEYE does look interesting although I fail to see how it is any better than the Weeview SID released last year. One serious design flaw the JEDEYE has is the location of its micro SD port – exactly where the fingers are likely to land when holding the camera, which could very easily result in the SD card flying off just when one is about to start shooting !

    • Hi Francois. Indeed, you can look at it as going backward. And it is true that those past efforts failed commercially. But if they failed then, is it possible that they might nonetheless succeed now? Why you might ask? When 3D was attempted in the past, you always needed special glasses or a special TV. Now, you simply need a smartphone and a $10 google cardboard headset. And the software for playing it is easily accessible (Youtube etc.). On top of that, the image quality for a consumer 3d camera has improved significantly. So SBS 3D is now much more convenient and accessible than ever before.

      As for the W3, yes I’m very familiar with its advantages. I’m a big fan of it too. I even bought three of them — two for me and one that I gave to my brother. And I even got the 3rd party accessory to allow external flash. But there is a pretty noticeable difference in image quality between the w3 and the jedeye. The W3’s 720p video looks more like a typical 360 camera, or maybe a little worse, whereas the jedeye’s video (2048 x 1520 per eye, i.e., higher than FHD) looks more similar to a GoPro Hero 4 or Hero 5. Just for fun, I will show samples from both so everyone can compare. I’ll try to include the Lucidcam too. I’m curious which one people will prefer.

      Edit: I forgot to add, although the Jedeye doesn’t have the W3’s super cool glasses-free 3D LCD, the Jedeye can connect to a smartphone, and that adds significantly to its usability. And as for toughness, I would say they’re about equal. I haven’t drop-tested either my W3 or the Jedeye (thank goodness) but they’re both well built (although of course the W3 is more sophisticated). 🙂

      Best regards,
      Mic

      • > Indeed, you can look at it as going backward.

        But I’m not. I have been shooting 3D for over 30 years. The point I am making is that 3D has never caught on with the general public and that’s mainly because most people don’t understand how to compose a picture to really emphasize the depth effect – not because of the technology. So I doubt a new 3D camera is going to change that.

        > you always needed special glasses or a special TV

        And I am sure most people think that giant VR goggles strapped to their heads are far less intrusive than a light pair of polarized glasses… 😉

        > Now, you simply need a smartphone and a $10 google cardboard headset.

        Back in 2011, Hasbro introduced the My3D which was a low-cost 3D viewer especially designed for the iPhone 4. It worked great but that was a failure too.

        > On top of that, the image quality for a consumer 3d camera has improved significantly.

        I’ve addressed this already. We’re only talking video quality and only if people are happy with distorting wide angle lenses !

        > So SBS 3D is now much more convenient and accessible than ever before.

        As a longtime 3D shooter I honestly see little difference. I get that there are more 3D “VR” viewers around, but the problem isn’t so much the medium as the fact that people still won’t know any more how to shoot in 3D than they did a few years ago.

        > The W3’s 720p video looks more like a typical 360 camera

        I have already agreed with you on the video quality. But as I am mainly a stills shooter, it matters much less to me and, for stills, the W3 offers higher resolution. So I would say if one is primarily a video shooter (wide angle only), then for sure the JEDEYE may be a good choice – although I personally would still choose the Weeview SID over it. But I think any stills shooter would be quite frustrated by its limitations.

        By the way, one amusing aside is that I was involved in the design of that W3 accessory you mentioned ! 🙂

        > Just for fun, I will show samples from both so everyone can compare. I’ll try to include the Lucidcam too. I’m curious which one people will prefer.

        I will be very interested to see your samples. Have you looked into the Weeview SID at all ? A friend of mine got one and is quite pleased with the video quality. I think there is an interaxial difference between the two. The Weeview lens separation is 42mm – best for close range – and I think the separation on the JEDEYE may be around 62mm – closer to average eye separation – but maybe you could double-check this ?

        As for the LucidCam, it’s a different animal altogether since it covers 180 degrees. One thing I meant to mention which is true of all twin lens 3D 180 cameras is that they see in 3D mainly the scene directly at the front of the camera. Subjects at the sides progressively loose 3D impact as the effective interaxial is reduced to zero. The visual effect of this is that subjects located at the sides tend to look larger than those at the front !

        • > although the Jedeye doesn’t have the W3’s super cool glasses-free 3D LCD, the Jedeye can connect to a smartphone

          I really am not trying to say that one is better than the other but rather that they were designed for very different uses. The W3 is entirely designed as a stills camera (with lots of hardware controls) while the Jedeye is really a camcorder that just happens to have the form factor we generally associate with a camera.

          Yes, I agree that connecting to a phone is a great advantage but it’s actually not an option if you wish to actually see what you are shooting or to adjust any settings ! So it adds to the bulk if you want to see what you are doing.

          But let’s compare oranges with oranges. What I’d like to see is a side-by-side comparison between the JEDEYE and the Weeview SID. Both are recent small and light 3D cameras with almost no hardware controls and no displays, with wide angle fixed focus, fixed aperture lenses. Both can connect to a phone and shoot high resolution videos with reasonably good sync. (The UCVR and HOOT cameras are out of the race because of their very poor video sync). So I’d be curious to see if one is really better than the other !

  • I sense a lawsuit from Disney coming up, although that might be the attention they’re looking for. Is the first edition called the “Obi One”?

    • Disney would not bother suing people unless the product using a similar sounding name were clearly related to Star Wars, which this product isn’t. In fact it’s a wonder they would choose such a name since it tells nothing about what this camera does. In fact, if you do a search for “Jedeye” you’ll find it’s a very commonly used name. There is even a company called “Jedeye Tech” that offers another 3D related product !

      And as far as borrowing from the Star Wars universe, the company “Leia” does a pretty good job of it. Here, “Leia” refers to the glasses-free 3D displays such as used in RED’s Hydrogen One. They have had that name for years and Disney could not care less. It’s just more free publicity for them.

  • This is Feng Xiao, founder and CEO of FengYun vision, the creator of JEDEYE camera. Thanks everyone for the very insightful feedback and it will help us make better stereo cameras in the near future. A little history about JEDEYE, it is actually the followup version of our 1st gen stereo camera which was mainly designed for the live 3D broadcasting business. So both Mic and Francois is right on that JEDEYE is more of a 3D camcorder than a 3D still camera. Our team have worked in the imaging field for more than 15 years and we designed the whole imaging algorithms/tuning ourselves. One big advantage you would immediately find with JEDEYE is its superior low light performance and it should perform very well against all other stereo cameras in the market.

    • Hi Feng ! Nice of you to chime in. Needless to say, it is great to see new 3D cameras being introduced given that most of the emphasis has been focused on 360 and 180 cameras in recent years. Even though the total immersion effect of very wide angle lensed cameras (180 or 360) is impressive, resolution goes down markedly as images are stretched to fill this enormous FOV in a VR viewer. Cameras with narrower FOV focus all the resolution on a smaller area and therefore produce sharper results. Another advantage is that clips or images produced with such a camera may not only be viewed in a VR viewer, but also on a glasses-free 3D phone. In this regard, Elephone has just introduced a new state-of-the-art 3D phone – the P8 3D – which could be a great companion to the JEDEYE camera.

      I have to say on the other hand that very wide fisheye lenses in such cameras are not my favourite. I would have liked to see such a camera with a slightly smaller FOV and less barrel distortion. In respect to stills, I have been shooting 3D stills for many years and have worked on designs of several 3D cameras and rigs even back in film days. I would be pleased to discuss ways in which the stills functionality could be improved. I can contact you privately in this regard.

      Incidentally, I was puzzled that the Kickstarter campaign appears to be strictly aimed at US residents. I am located in Canada and I know many 3D shooters around the world that would be interested in this camera. I gather there will come a time when it will be available worldwide – perhaps on such sites as GearBest ?

      • Hi Francois,

        Take a look at the FAQ on the Kickstarter page:

        1. If I am outside of US, can I still order?

        We received quite a few inquires about shipping outside of US. The simple answer is that we do and we already did this for a couple backers. However, we do ask potential backers to be aware of potential custom duties and pledge a little more to cover the extra shipping fee (for example, $25 more for shipping to European countries). Please do check with us if you want JEDEYE to ship outside of US. Thanks.

    • @Feng Xiao – I am a 360 enthusiast/content creator – very interested in this camera. I became aware of it via VeeR’s #2018 contest and hope for a chance to win one! As someone who likes shooting bands and performances I am very curious about the low light capabilities. I was also curious about the sound and if there is any input for external sound?

      • No, there’s no input for external mikes. Keep in mind this is a very basic p&s camera/camcorder. If you want better sound, a very simple solution is to record the sound separately with a Zoom recorder, for example. Then just match up the sound in editing.

        In regards low light capabilities, I have seen results from the Weeview SID that are pretty good and I am told that the Jedeye is at least as good. I nonetheless would like to see a few sample clips. But here again we are talking about an under three hundred dollar camera with a small sensor, so one can’t expect exceptional results. However they are considered pretty good for a camera in that price range.

      • Let me update you on that. I have a friend who is beta testing the Jedeye and who also owns the SID. He already felt that the SID produced good low-light results. He just tested one against the other and showed me the result. I have to say that the Jedeye showed a brighter image. But don’t expect a top quality image from either of these cameras as you would get from some of the better higher priced cameras. These are not for pro use but for fun !

        • My friend who is testing a Jedeye just confirmed that the Jedeye does have a socket for an external microphone. That definitely is very rare for a camera in that price range !

          But Jason, if you really want try out that camera, it would be much safer to subscribe on Kickstarter than expect to win the VeeR contest. The chances of winning are slim and you will most likely end up with no camera at all. If you subscribe on Kickstarter, you are assured of getting the camera at a good price and then, if ever you also win, you will end up with a back-up or else you can resell it.

          • Francois – I’m curious, but not ready to buy – I think I’d add a 360 camera with better stabilization if I were buying a new camera today under $500 or so. The 3D format would be fun to play with 🙂 I have some content that is doing well in the VeeR contest and was featured in their first round of favorites, so I’m crossing my fingers I’ll be in the running for one of the cameras. The Madv would be great to pick up, too, as I’ve been on the verge of buying Xiaomi Mi Sphere more than once. We’ll see. I’ll definitely keep my eyes the Jedeye!

      • Hi Jason,
        Thank you for your interest and good luck with the VeeR contest. Our kickstarter page did show the low light performance of our camera against another brand (can’t reveal the name there). JEDEYE uses Sony IMX123 sensor (pixel size 2.5um) which is usually used in “starlight” type video surveillance camera instead of mobile phone sensors (pixel size at 1.4um or less). JEDEYE does have an input for external sound (at the bottom of the camera).

        • Feng Xiao – I was a Jedeye winner in the VeeR contest and I’m excited to get my hands on my camera! As an artist I have tried to use my Theta in interesting ways (my winning contest video was a stop-motion animation shot in 360) and I hope to do the same with the Jedeye.

  • I was thinking that VR180 will be more interesting to general public due to higher resolution and 3D effect. But in real case people kinda don’t get it they like lowres 360 more because it’s something new. Like Francois said we’ve seen 3D before so no biggie.

    By the way I’ve noticed that if use S7\S6 and you shrink FOV (sphere size) you get pretty nice looking image in Gear VR with 4K footage. It feels between 480p-720p. In Note5\S6+ it looks not that good because of lower ppi i guess or wider filed of view. I wonder what ppi Oculus Go will have

    So I’m planing to invest only in 360 cameras like YI VR or Insta 360 pro.

    • I have seen no sign that the general public is any more interested in VR than they were in 3D. The interest in VR mostly comes from gamers or industrial markets such as real estate. The thing that’s strange about the Jedeye is that it is marketed as a 3D camcorder and produces images that have the aspect ratio one expects from video cameras but its field of view is closer to that of VR 180 cameras. I would have preferred longer lenses on the Jedeye.

  • Super Early Bird deal extended !!!

    For those that were considering the Jedeye but were frustrated to have missed out on the early bird deal at US$199.00, you now have another chance. Jedeye just added forty more cameras in black as well as forty more in white to the Super early bird offer !