New 360 camera solution

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 If you scroll through my YouTube page, its clear that I've been a fan of recording our sailing using action cameras. This started with the original GoPro in it's clear plastic case, evolving through generations of later GoPros. Up next came pendulum-based horizon leveling mounts, ands then to optical correction.

Later 360 cameras showed up, starting with a sketchy asian model I bought at Schiphol Airport on the way to Mobile World Congress, a Kodak VR360 off of eBay, and then finally to the GoPro MAX, which fixed the show-stopping problems associated with their first effort.

I used the MAX quite happily for several years, but the the workflow associated with making videos with watching was almost unbearable for someone that did it for fun, and not profit. Getting the video off the camera took an hour, and then the editing was painful.

So I was intrigued with both the Insta and DJI released 8Mpix 360 cameras, with glowing reports on ease of use. After some research, I found a smoking deal on an open-box DJI Osmo 360 and pulled the trigger.



To my relief, the Osmo turns out to be a total joy to use. The UI on the device is simple, and hard to get wrong. Battery life is close to 100 minutes, and internal and external SD storage allows you to take advantage of all that recording time. Once filming, the SW removes the 'selfie stick' mount, so the camera appears to float behind the boat. Either in real-time or in post-processing, you can follow highlighted objects, or add key frames later in post processing. And the two KEY facts 1) The 8M video is amazing, and 2) the editing workflow is SO smooth.


Here is a sample clip from a recent race. The speed overlay is provided by the DJI OSMO GPS/BT remote, which kills two birds with one stone for about US$60.

The editing workflow is so good that it actually takes longer to WATCH this video that it did to produce!



We use video for fun and also for training review sessions.


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