My Qoocam 3 — yes, the same one that recorded 7 hours without overheating — has apparently overheated. But not before setting a mind-blogging endurance record of 17 hours 41 minutes and 10 seconds. This is the longest video recording I have ever seen in a 360 camera! How could such a feature be used?
Qoocam 3 is the newest 360 camera on the market. It features larger 1/1.55 sensors (about 166% as large as the X3’s 1/2.0 sensors), a wider aperture, best-in-class low light performance and dynamic range (excluding HDR video). One of its other capabilities is its endurance. Initially, I was able to record 7 hours with a 400GB micro SD card. The recording stopped for lack of space, not because it overheated.
So I wondered how long the Qoocam 3 could record if I used a 1TB micro SD card. I first tried a cheaper Lexar 1TB micro SD card. It stopped recording after just 1 hour. I then tried an Amazon 1TB micro SD card, which has performed on par with Sandisk Extreme. I started recording late in the afternoon in 5.7k 30fps. In the evening, it was still recording, and I wondered if it would overheat because it would be forced to shoot at high ISOs when our house was dark. The next morning, I found it was still recording. Finally, when I got home from work, I saw it had stopped recording.
The card still had about 2.2 GB left which I think means that the Qoocam 3 overheated, unlike the 400GB and 128GB card where there was 0GB left on each card.
Anyway, I checked the files and there were 639 files totaling 993 million bytes. Qoocam Studio merged them all and the merged video was 17 hours 41 minutes and 10 seconds long. As before there were no gaps, no drifting, no lens blurring.
How long videos can be used
Are long videos useful? I think the Qoocam 3’s ability to record long videos can be useful in some scenarios:
- Dash cam – If you’ve thought about using a 360 camera as a dash cam, now you can do it without worrying about the camera overheating. Even if you are a long haul truck driver or a long distance cyclist, the Qoocam 3 has the endurance to keep recording throughout your trip.
- Surveillance – You can use the Qoocam 3 as a security camera for your home or workplace.
- Pets – want to see what your pet did the whole day while you were at the office? Here’s your solution.
- Nanny cam – You can review what your babysitter did with your kids.
- Construction monitoring – If you need to see the progress of your construction site, the Qoocam 3 can record video the whole day and much of the night.
- Equipment testing – Sometimes you need to test the limit of equipment, such as how long a battery can last. Qoocam 3 may be able to record your testing.
Where to buy?
Qoocam 3 is available for $349 on Amazon or direct from Kandao. You can check out my review here.
Thanks Mic, always nice to read your article. Did qoo am 3 offer as much as insta360 for uploading google street view or insta studio for editing video??
Best regards
Thanks Steve. Qoocam app has no built-in feature for uploading to street view, and it doesn’t have GPS either. It’s possible to have GPS via Bluetooth but Kandao hasn’t said anything about that.
For desktop editing, the Qoocam Studio app works fairly well. It can reframe as non-360 without having to render to 360 first, and you can change the projection between each keyframe (e.g. from tiny planet to rectilinear). The things it doesn’t have in the desktop app: tracking, changing the timing of transitions (e.g. instead, it seems all transitions use ease in and ease out), and doesn’t have projects. But you can export as prores and import the prores into insta360 studio for tracking. One advantage it has for desktop editing is that the keyframing for forward-facing stabilization works much better than either Insta360 or GoPro.
Wow, thanks for that very well explained difference. I’m still new in the 360 camera world. I have a insta x1 and I’m afraid of changing brand…I really like my x1 but I wanted something more up to date. And I’m looking for something that goes underwater. The new invisible dive case look insane. Thanks again Mic, can’t wait to read your next post
Steve, from Canada.
I read, and also you comment so unbelievable camera…. Camera without overheating it is just miracle)) I have such thing just ones for project man ask me to ride with his route on bicycle to record his path and able to watch it again and make after at home and to watch in calm slower in 360…but I know that I will have overheating and not all one piece record so I took secon camera and this was not so nice to use… How brilliant camera it is game changer…
Spasibo Andreev! Yes recording a long journey is a great way to use this feature 😀
Cioa Mic Ty, ho acquistato la qoocam 3 ma non ho capito bene come utilizzare il software qoocam studio per montare il video, ci sono tanti file dopo aver fatto un video intero senza interruzioni da 5 minuti e ce ne sono tre, uno obbiettivo anteriore, altro posteriore e un altro di entrambi però hai detto che quest’ultimo è di minore qualità. Ma se voglio usare gli altri come faccio? Potresti fare un video su come si effettua il montaggio video? Grazie
I totally understand. The biggest difference for me is the mobile workflow. For that, insta360 is far ahead of other companies. For desktop, it’s quite similar, except the tracking.
Hi Mic,
When you first did this test did you power the camera with the battery as well as with an external power bank at the same time?
I did a similar test with the power bank first and it stopped after 70 mins.
I then repeated the test this time with both the battery and the power bank at the same time. It hasn’t stopped yet as of now – It is at 1hr 44mins so far…
I use Sandisk Extreme 256GB SD card.
Thanks,
Bryan
Hi Bryan. I used USB power with no battery.