Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsLG 360 Camera is the LoGical entry into 360 Video
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2016
Great 360 Camera, specially for the price.
360 & VR video is tricky. While it is not new technology, it is now becoming mainstream. Until recently you had to wrangle an array of cameras pointed in at least 4 directions, depending on the lenses you have attached. I have played with the Ricoh Theta, the Kodak PixPro, the Nikon Keymission, and some overseas knockoffs, all aimed at the consumer market. If you want anything pro or prosumer, you need to spend money building an array of GoPros or whatever other cameras you prefer, buy a license for overpriced software to just stitch your footage together or add a simple title. It's a hassle, but you get amazing footage.
The LG G5 360 Camera is a great, simple solution to get basic 360 video functionality with free, albeit very basic stitching software. Like the Theta & Theta S, Nikon Keymission and the Topvision knockoffs, this is a camera that includes 2 lenses on the same body. It outputs a 2K video image that covers the entire 360x360 sphere. The Nikon Keymission can do 4K, but the footage looks about the same and the Nikon App is terrible with abundant connection issues. Talking about connections, most of these consumer cameras can be used as stand alone cameras, but you will benefit by using the manufacturers software to preview and stitch your footage. Like I mentioned the Nikon has terrible connection reliability, but so do the Kodak 2-camera setup and the Topvision knockoffs. The LG 360 Camera connects like a breeze to your phone. Once connected, you will be able to select ISO and Shutter Speed and an assortment of tuned profiles. The LG 360 Camera works with any smartphone that can support the LG app. One downside is that to update firmware, you MUST a computer with another LG software called LG Bridge which installs some extra crap meant to allow you browsing of your LG branded cellphone files... I didn't need that and I was never given an option to not install it. Mind you this software is only used to update firmware and browse content. You need a separate LG 360 viewer app to view and convert videos. They could have learned a thing or two from Canon and Sony on this one. Bad LG, bad!
Photos look amazing at 13MP, but why would you not just download Google Cardboard Camera and create better photospheres? The only thing this camera gives the photo enthusiast is ease of use as you just hold it up and click the button. But you will always see your frankenstein looking stitched hand or your tripod. You don't get that with your phone, but you do get it with EVERY 360 camera. I recommend getting a telescoping monopod with a tripod floor spread.
What I love: Easy workflow, a lot of control (you need to use the LG made camera app on either your phone or laptop, the stitched files are a breeze to work with), small, comes with a hard case, footage looks great for a 2K 360 camera, 1 camera with 2 lenses attached(no fiddling with rigs or trying to sync the footage in post).
What I hate: The low light capabilities are lacking (but this is expected with such small sensors, after all this is not a Sony A7S), the footage is at times muddy and blocky (once again, light plays a big part but the codec LG uses is a bit lackluster), 2K is fine but LG could have easily made this a 4K camera, LGs obnoxious computer app is required to update firmware.
