Best Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

Presented for the first time at photokina 2016, where it was exhibited in the form of a model, the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360, which is called Pixpro Orbit360 4K VR for the American market, only finally arrived on the stalls Fall 2017. Kodak’s third 360 ° product, second to film in 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160 px), it is the first in the family to adopt the now familiar format of the two hemispherical lenses glued back to back.

Presentation

Kodak, under the leadership of JK Imaging, was one of the first to venture into the adventure of spherical video. Finally, rather hemispherical, since its first two creations, the Pixpro SP360 in 2014 and the Pixpro SP360 4K in 2016, were only able to film at 180 ° whereas, as of 2013, the Ricoh Theta captured photos at 360 °. … but was not filming yet. In 2017, the market evolved well and many proposals are now available. The Ricoh Theta V , Nikon KeyMission 360 , Samsung Gear 360 (2016) , Samsung Gear 360 (2017) and Giroptic iO 360 have already passed through our laboratory, and we are about to test the MIJia 360 ° Panoramic , Garmin VIRB 360 , Yi 360 VR and soon GoPro Fusion . But, for today, let’s focus on this Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360.

Like the Nikon KeyMission 360 and the Samsung Gear 360 (2016), the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 therefore uses two adjoining hemispherical lenses that share the same electronics. The stitching is now done in-house; there is no longer any need to associate two Pixpro SP360 4K and to go through a computer to carry out the operation.

Best Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. Kodak ORBIT360_4K-WH3 PIXPRO ORBIT360 4K 360° VR Camera Satellite Pack, White

2. Kodak PIXPRO SP360 Action Cam with Explorer Accessory Pack

3. Kodak PIXPRO SP1 Action Cam with Explorer Pack 14 MP Water/Shock/Freeze/Dust Proof. Full HD 1080p Video, Digital Camera and 1.5″ LCD Screen (Yellow)

4. Kodak PIXPRO SP360 4K Dual Pro Pack VR Camera

Getting started

From the famous yellow “Kodak”, the brand went black (more professional), then from black, it went white. More … uh … messy? Come on, let’s say more in tune with the times. It is a choice of colors that we for our part have always found quite risky, because it accentuates all manufacturing defects. Fortunately for her, the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 crosses this trap almost without problem; some adjustments could have been better mastered, but a pleasant feeling of solidity emerges from the whole. 

The design remains faithful to that of the family: it is very cubic and raw of formwork, without going to the extremes of the Nikon KeyMission 360. Like the latter, the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 will accompany you on your crazy adventures, since ” it is IP65 (total protection against dust and resistance to splashing water), resistant to falls up to 2 m and should be able to operate from -10 to +40 ° C, at 90% humidity maximum. However, she cannot dive and Kodak has not provided a waterproof case.

Behind the hatch, lockable and protected by a thick gasket, hide a classic USB socket, a micro-HDMI socket, a micro-SDXC slot and, more surprisingly, a 2.5 mm jack connector for connecting a microphone . The battery is the same LB80 of 1250 mAh as on the previous Pixpro SP360. A good point, which is also accompanied by a USB charging adapter and a real mains charger, both supplied. Small dishes in large … even if you hardly reach the 360 ​​° recording time with a single charge. Note that it is possible to operate the Pixpro continuously by plugging it into USB and setting this USB connection in webcam mode.

More

The handling of the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 is very intuitive. We are well helped in this by the upper screen which, for the first time at Kodak, is backlit. Well seen, literally! At the top of the camera, two keys: one to turn it on (and turn it off), one to trigger and confirm your choices in the menus. The Menu key, precisely, is located on the right edge, next to the Wi-Fi button on which a short press activates said Wi-Fi and a long press on Bluetooth. The Pixpro also has NFC. Small regret, the menus are exclusively in English on the device, but available in French in the ” Pixpro 360 VR Remote Viewer ” application (compatible with iOS and Android).

On the top of the camera, two LEDs indicate in a very classic way the state of the device and the module in activity. It is possible to use both modules simultaneously, for a 360 ° image, or individually. This is what the small “Front” and “Dome” annotations are for: each module is indeed endowed with a lens slightly distinct from the other by its angle of field and in the two hemispherical modes, it is the either module that is used. We will detail this point in the next section devoted to image quality.

The mobile application is among the most complete we have encountered to date. It simply offers the possibility of settling everything, with one exception: sensitivity. The connection via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is rather easy and, in case you are looking for the password, it appears under the camera (12345678, easy to remember).

Image quality

Before going further, since everything has gone a little too well so far, let’s start this part with a yellow card: no, this camera does not film 360 ° in 4K. Besides, it doesn’t even film 360 ° in UHD. This is a nasty marketing arrangement with reality, and that, ladies and gentlemen of Kodak, is not to your credit. Indeed, in spherical, the maximum definition available is 3,840 x 1,920 px, and only 24p. A Nikon KeyMission 360 , it captures spherical videos in 3 840 x 2 160 px (therefore in UHD), and a Samsung Gear 360 (2017)climbs to 4,096 x 2,048 px. 

It doesn’t sound like much, but this difference of a little more than a million pixels between the Kodak and the Samsung is necessarily paid for in terms of image quality. And the software suite may be there to soften the disappointment, the fact remains that the Pixpro does not prove up to par when it comes to spherical videos. Nevertheless, she does have a secret boot.

The engineers of Kodak (finally, of JK Imaging, finally, of Asia Optical) opted for an original configuration on this Pixpro 4KVR360. It is well equipped with two antagonistic modules, each with a 1 / 2.3 “BSI CMOS 20.7 Mpx sensor and objectives opening to f / 2.4. However the front lens (called” Front ” ) at an angle of field of 197 °, when the dorsal (“Dome”) sees much wider, at 235 °.

And that’s where you have to start doing some gymnastics with the technical sheet. hemispherical, with the Front module, it is indeed possible to film in 3,840 x 2,160 px 30p (so in UHD), as well as in Full HD 60p, with three available angles of field (Ultra, Mid, Narrow) – a bit like a classic action cam.

STRONG POINTS

  • Ease of use.
  • Resists shock and splashes.
  • Very complete settings.
  • Very complete mobile applications and fixed software.
  • Accessories supplied complete.
  • Uses the same batteries as the other Pixpro SP360.
  • Quality audio capture.
  • Possibility to stream live.
  • Many stitching modes available.

WEAK POINTS

  • Does not actually film in 360 ° 4K.
  • Image quality perfectible.
  • Perfectible stitching.
  • Menus only in English (firmware 1.20).

CONCLUSION

Kodak was one of the very first to embark on 360 ° action cams, but only in the hemispherical, and it shows. Paradoxically, the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 is its first truly spherical camera. If the promise of 4K video is far-fetched (which places the camera behind its competitors in terms of image quality), the Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 catches up with its simplicity of use, as well as the richness of its settings and its software suite, both mobile and fixed. A camera with high potential, therefore, which will allow you to go a little further than simple 360 ​​° selfies.

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