Kandao updated its Qoocam EGO 3D camera to add Raw DNG shooting and spatial video support! Here’s the announcement and a tutorial.
Qoocam EGO (reviewed here) is a 3D camera with a removable 3D viewer that lets you view your 3D photos and videos immediately.
Raw DNG mode
Qoocam EGO now supports shooting photos in Raw DNG mode (as opposed to JPG). DNG photos have better image quality and are much more flexible when editing in postprocessing.
To get DNG mode, you need to upgrade the firmware to version 2.8.10 or later.
3D camera for Quest and Vision Pro
As VR headsets such as Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro have become more popular, more users are looking for ways to shoot their own content for viewing on their VR headset. While many creators for VR headsets shoot in 360 or VR180 format, a 3D camera such as Qoocam EGO also works very well. When viewed in VR, a 3D video looks like a floating 3D screen. There’s no parallax but it still looks very immersive.
Compared to a 360 video or VR180 video, it’s much simpler and more intuitive to compose your shot. You can shoot the same way as a normal camera (just don’t shoot anything closer than about 2 feet to avoid eye strain). Editing is also much easier than editing a 360 video or VR180 video.
Spatial Video Support
In addition to Raw DNG photo support, Qoocam EGO can now convert its photos and videos to spatial photo or spatial video format for viewing on Apple Vision Pro or Quest. To convert your photos and videos, you’ll need to download this converter app. Here’s the tutorial for spatial photos and spatial videos.
As of the time of this post, the converter app is only available for Mac, but I’ll check with Kandao if they can make a Windows version available too.
Qoocam EGO vs iPhone for spatial videos
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can also shoot spatial videos, so why would you shoot with the Qoocam EGO instead? Qoocam EGO has a huge advantage: its cameras are positioned at the standard interaxial distance similar to human eyes. The 3D effect is much more realistic compared to the 3D effect of iPhone spatial videos. Qoocam EGO also has a built-in 3D viewer so you can see the 3D videos immediately.
Where to buy
Qoocam EGO is currently on sale on Amazon for just $299.
I wanted to like this camera but ended up hating it and never using it due to its design that makes it look and feel more like a toy than a useful camera. The horrible, rubberized plastic buttons are a cruel joke. Qoocam had a great opportunity to create a mass market 3D camera but blew it and need to try again.
I am guessing the toylike appearance and colors was intentional and their attempt to reach a broader market.
I was put off by that as well and wasn’t impressed until I used to the Qoocam Studio software – stabilization and convergence adjustment made the camera very useful. It’s easier to deal with that the CALF. You have to use the selfie stick to hold it and keep it from shaking and putting your finders in the shot.
An improvement would be a third lens so that close up shots could be done with lose together lenses to minimize parallax – 3D is better with closer lenses than your eyes.
Also, making the EGO spatial video and photo converter only for MAC OS is another mistake as many of us who own the Vision Pro are Windows users.
Thanks Michael. I’ll share your feedback with Kandao.
Are there DNG samples anywhere?
Hopefully they got the color metadata right