3D

Qoocam Ego release date announced; why I’m excited

Qoocam EGO - a 3D shooter's perspective
Qoocam EGO – a 3D shooter’s perspective

Kandao stated that they are scheduling the release date of the Qoocam EGO 3D camera before the end of May.  Here’s why I’m excited for it.

Qoocam EGO (previewed here) is a 3D camera.  Although 3D cameras have been available for many years, the EGO is the first digital 3D camera that has been released for consumers in the past few years.  It was originally scheduled to be released by the end of March, but the sudden surge of COVID cases disrupted their production.  Fortunately, production has resumed and EGO is now scheduled for release before the end of May.

Qoocam EGO resumes production
Qoocam EGO resumes production

But what difference could it make?  There have been many attempts at pushing 3D to go mainstream and so far, they have failed.  But what’s different now is that more people have VR headsets such as the Quest, which can also be used to see 3D photos and videos.  In a VR headset, 3D photos and videos appear as screens with depth.  Moreover, many apps allow you to control the size of the virtual screen.  You could have a wall-sized 3D TV if you wanted.

It will be interesting to see if VR users will want to use 3D cameras to capture their memories.  Compared to 360, 3D is much easier to understand — both for shooting and viewing.

Kandao has sent a test unit to me for review and I’m eager to try it.  If there are particular questions you want to know, then pls let me know in the comments so I can address them in my eventual review.

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Mic Ty

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  • I personally would not be too excited with Kandao. We can all say everybody is allowed for one mishap but their Qoocam 8K has been a total sh*t for me. Bought it as barely used and it came in brand new condition.Their 8K photos coming from it were kind of OK even though some of spots looked like out of focus and they were loosing a lot in quality and clarity my Pilot Era can do .

    However 8K video coming from it looks like 480-720P at maximum(can post a link if you want to see it). I really wanted to keep due to its small size and weight but sold it because of really bad 8k video quality.

    I would look at the brand differently if they recalled all of them and fix them. However I believe it has never happened.

    • Hi Wingman. I’m sorry to hear about your qoocam 8k. Re video quality, did you try to compare it to your Pilot Era? They should have similar detail (pilot era is a little more detailed in brightly lit areas, while qc8k should have better shadow detail).

      • Yes I have done it Mic and I am using Pilot Era on a car driving and on trails walking and never seen it doing bad capture.

        That’s why I am saying 8K video from kandao qoocam 8k is not even UHD quality. 8K from Pilot Era is clear and has superior details. It is a bit washed out in details when you use it driving on a car roof but that’s understandable as everything around moves quickly. But Qoocam 8K cannot even do a clear video standing, not to mention when it moves. This has been recorded from a tank rover on a very low speed.
        Look at grass around, there are no details in it it is all smeared in 8K. In lower resolutions it looks like it has been done by a first digital camera centuries ago.

  • Please ask them to make their product available at AliExpress i so wanted their qoocam fun version but i cant and in my new world when russian people in russisism because i cant buy it on all other platforms visa and MasterCard not worked anywhre bit in Russia so ask them about sell it on AliExpress. Also sya thanks i think they are the same way like insta but have not so popular and i dont know why they have so nice app i see reviews have ability to rong on whats up in 360… Also make edits in app…life stream…who can make it year insta …so thakns them and i want to see their cam and ability to buy it i still want their fun cam,,)

  • Is it now the ‘end of May’ they said first week of May previously’ so is it another 3 week delay?

    Is it waterproof? They said they were testing to 10m depth and then said nothing more.

    What is it like in lowlight? They show it being used in lowlight in marketing images but despite promising a sample have failed to deliver.

    Does it shoot DNG8, timelapse etc?

    What is the 6 axis stabilisation like? I understand this is done in post with a crop but what is the stereo like after this process and how bad is the crop?

    • Good questions. They weren’t specific about when in May so I wrote “before end of May.” It is not necessarily end of May.

  • has Kandao said anything about the app that’s supposed to be used with it? new app or update of the existing one?

    • I’ll find out. I suspect it will be the same one, with additional support for Ego, but i’m just speculating.

  • really excited to see a review soon, as it seems Kandao marketing did not really understand their audience.

    first of all I would like to know of the easiest way to transfer the results too the quest, both right from the camera and after post processing from the computer.

    I would like to see samples from real daily use, I’m sure I would love to take it for a travel and the idea of urban photography is really interesting to me, it will be nice to see a street performance or even pub as it is another interesting use.

    It will be nice to know if the social aspect of it will be only to share to friends (which probably don’t have anyway to see it) or also to the all community, I think it is going to be great if there will be a way to see other cam owner’s photos

  • Thanks, Mic.
    Basically I’m hoping this can be used to make good quality stereo pairs instead of having to take 2 shots with a micro 4/3 mirrorless camera (heavier, more cumbersome, more hassle, unable to use with moving subjects).

    How is the quality in low light?
    What is the extent of manual settings (for stills)? Can we select ISO, WB, shutter speed etc? The Kickstarter page says “EGO offers auto mode and sport mode, both of which support manual setting of exposure gears.” but what does that actually mean?
    If no manual mode, is there an HDR mode (for stills)? And does that reduce the image quality?
    Still image quality – comparable to an iPhone? Or to the Insta360 EVO?

    Looking forward to the review. Will it be out before the Indiegogo special prices end?

  • Glad to hear you’re getting a sample. I have an old Fuji W3 in my collection and have viewed some of those pictures in a Quest 2 headset and they look really good in 3D. I’ve also used the Vuze XR. I actually pre-ordered the Ego during the kickstarter phase so am looking forward to receiving it when they’re shipped.

    I think that VR180 is fine for capturing the 180 view however with the Ego being focused on a smaller area it should in theory offer a higher image quality and it also lets you as a creator focus the viewers attention more at what you’re wishing to display. I see a use for both and am really looking forward to experimenting.

    I’ll be very interested to see your review

    • Thanks Andrew! W3 was great! I even got two of them lol And you are absolutely right about detail. Let’s find out!

  • Buy an old gopro dual hero. That has better specs than most of these 3d camera attempts. You can also hack it and get your own 3d spacing. For stills and video, those cameras do well. I think nobody really understood that gopro did all this way back years ago. Gopro made two 3d attempts and the first was total crap and the second was perfect. The only downside is, you are shooting with 2 fisheye lenses, but you can simply unscrew those lenses and screw in replacement lenses that are totally fine quality and get you back to a normal 28mm fov equivalent to 35mm. You can get 5.44mm lenses that are cheap and good quality.

    If anyone asks, what 3d camera should I buy right now, the answer is still, buy what was released many years ago with the gopro dual hero or a fuji 3d w3. There still are no 3d options that are any better. VR180 has options, but they are super expensive and if you dont want vr180, which you wont if you are doing normal 3d, its still not an option. I have the Insta360 evo and even the fuji destroys it in video quality given the evo 180 fov doesnt give you pixel density at all where a 3d camera has all of the density.

    There is a massive gap in the market for 3d cameras right now, so any activity there is nice and I think nobody seems to get it yet. VR180 should be the niche, and its the only 3d option right now. You simply do not really want vr180 most of the time. Super wide 3d is ideal for headsets and general 3d photography. vr180 is neat, but I virtually never need to see what shoes I was wearing or care about 30% of the imagine showing nothing but the sky. All those pixels usually are better focused on your subject. 120 degree fov is great, just like the gopro cameras have shot for many years. Its super wide and that is more than enough for consumer video.

  • Is there an option to save pictures in the MPO format? If not, does Kandao plan to add this in a firmware update? Also, does it support videos with MVC (multi-view coding), which is a space-saving compression used e.g. in 3D Blu-rays? Can you adjust the depth when viewing (by shifting the images horizontally in opposite directions) so that the stereo window is not violated? Does it have a HDMI (or mini-/micro-HDMI) port or can you use an USB-C-to-HDMI-adapter to view media on a 3D TV? Can you shoot pictures and video with the screen turned off, e.g. so as not to disturb anyone else? Is there an option for one-click export of the photos or videos as a cross-eyed version for free viewing on other devices? Can you take photos with the viewer on so as to have a live 3D preview?

  • I would like more detail on the viewer. Is it indeed Over/Under format? Also, does it implement mirrors or prisms to transpose the O/U image?