We’ve gotten the first sample photos from the new 16K Xphase Scan and the stitching is surprisingly good!
Here are the photos:
The XPhase Scan photos are very detailed — far more detailed than almost any other 360 camera out there even outside its $500 price range. But I was very curious about how good the stitching would be. The XPhase Scan uses three cameras and not all of them can be shot from the nodal point, so I was worried that there would be noticeable stitching issues in tight spaces. However, the bathroom photo seems to show no noticeable stitching errors. All the tiles appear to have continuous lines, which is much better than I expected with the XPhase Scan’s lens configuration.  I’m curious if it can take seamlessly stitched photos even in car interiors.
Stitching is good, so next queston is dynamic range / HDR modes. Obviously those shots are taken with low winter sun hitting windows so a real challenge but nevertheless I am hoping the interior shot with window views can be improved when sun is a bit higher?
Hi Peter. I’m guessing that these were shot in HDR 3-shot mode (-2, 0, +2). It has two other HDR modes that can take 6 bracketed shots from -5ev to +2ev.
Impressive stitching and photo quality. Even without HDR, the photos are excellent in my opinion. Are those samples made by you or someone else?
Hi Jakub. I haven’t received a test unit yet. These were sent by the company. As for HDR, I’m guessing that these were shot in HDR 3-shot mode (-2, 0, +2). It has two other HDR modes that can take 6 bracketed shots from -5ev to +2ev.
Since you have not yet received a test unit it can be inferred that the cameras will be available in the first quarter of FY24 assuming very optimistic forecasts.
According to Stabilizer-Pro, the Sales and Support channel for customers outside China, the Scan will go on sale by the end of December.
Hi Mic. I have posted some samples in the Xphase Facebook group. Please see link below. Thank you.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TY5w09S9_HYAhC1RGw78-7m53Nwfstjz
Thanks Dean!
NOTE: I contacted Xphase and was told that the focusing distance of the prototype camera used to shoot these samples is about 1.2meter, so the farther objects are not that clear. The focusing distance of mass production cameras will be set to 1.8meter to solve this problem. I think this makes sense because the calculated hyperfocal distance is 1.77meter.
Will that affect the focus of objects closer than 1.8m? If this is to be a real estate tool, that would not be desirable considering how small some rooms can be, especially on the residential side. Personally I am not seeing any issues with blur. Maybe just some blooming around bright spots.
I think we’ll have to wait.
Sorry. My reply got cutoff. I think we’ll have to wait and see results from an actual camera with focus distance set to 1.8.
it seems there are 2 disadvantages:
1. big black circle in nodal point.
2. sharpeness: blurred from 8-10m to infinity
The black circle at the nadir is similar to the size of a tripod when shot with a DSLR so I think it’s no big deal. There’s also an invisible feature but I haven’t seen the results.
As for being blurry at 10m to infinity, I don’t see that. The sample outdoors has glare from the sun which reduced the contrast. But it isn’t blurry.
Yeah I’m not seeing an issue with blurriness either. It appears to be as sharp or sharper than my X2.
Big black circle isn’t really a disadvantage. It’s not even that big, and there’d be a tripod there if it was shot with a DSLR rig anyways, so just about the same amount of work to fix: a quick infill with photoshop or slapping a logo in the nadir and you’re done.
Looks pretty good for such a cheap low cost camera, and does also all right in terms of shooting.
I like this approach, would love to see a more Pro Version of this Concept for double of price.
Better sensor, faster shooting. Just me to wish for.
But in the mean time, this is to me the best camera for all these Panshooters which have no time to understand Panorama Head and DSLR style rig.
And there a lot, even for me would be a nice instrument to travel with.
Yes it’s like DSLR-level resolution at a consumer-friendly price (and ease of use).