What if you can preserve every detail of your memory on top of that incredible mountain in crystal sharp quality and have people second guess if the camera is floating in midair?
Meet the Mi Sphere 360:
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I like to joke this camera is for lazy photographers because you don’t have to worry about framing when you can capture everything in one go 😛 In seriousness though, this camera dramatically changed the way I capture and present some stunning photos and helped me to bring great memories back to life. Even though it has it’s own difficulties and frustrations, it’s a piece of equipment I would never leave behind when going out to exploring the beautiful outdoors.
This camera is the perfect camera for any adventurer, whether you enjoy exploring exotic locations, engaging in lively festivals or wandering through intriguing architecture and culture.
How does it work
360 cameras are incredible, this one uses two fisheye lens back to back on a square base the thickness of a beefy smartphone. Each of those lenses has a 190 degrees field of vision to capture a complete 360 photo, automatically stitching the overlap on its mobile app.
My first exposure to 360 photos was through my nexus phone. To take a 360 photo, you had to sit there and take like 12 photos before the phone stitches them all together. This sometimes can create… undesirable effects. So this is a huge upgrade.
Ghosts on top of a mountain from my Nexus 😛
What I like about this camera
It has the best photo quality for its price range
The two fisheyes lens are used to create an image with 23.88 effective megapixels (MP), which is absolutely incredible. In comparison, the Garmin Virb 360 costs around 800 dollars and have only about 15 MP. Keep in mind that 24 MP is for the whole photo, which is a 360 degrees. So it’s not going to look as good as my Sony a6000 for example, which has 24 mp as well but in a smaller frame. That being said, it is equivalent to an entry level DSLR and surpasses almost all other 360 cameras, even at higher price points.
Small and easy to carry
The camera itself weighs about 110 grams, with the case and the tripod/selfie stick, the whole set up weighs about 400 grams. Might not be important to many of you but as an ultralight backpacker, this is a huge plus. The more important thing though is that it’s so small that it fits into your pants pocket with ease, making it super easy to carry and deploy while backpacking or traveling.
Wifi capable and full manual control with the phone app
Connecting it to the phone app using wifi will give you a world of control options including shutter speed up to 32 seconds, exposure adjustments, manual ISO adjustments and white balance. I, unfortunately, don’t have many creative shots from this camera but I am really looking forward to using this to capture some 360-night skies or moving water. The camera also has HDR bracketing option which the most processing is more complicated, self-timer, and time-lapse videos. I can’t wait to play around with these settings while I am hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.
It is not very expensive
I have been fascinated by 360 cameras for a while and I always thought they were way too expensive to buy until I discovered the Mi Sphere. At around 300 dollars for the incredible photo quality, I was convinced. With all the pros I already listed and all the cool creations I have gotten out of this camera, I feel that it is definitely worth its price.
What I didn’t like about the camera
Okay video quality and limited editing option
Unfortunately, this is where the Mi Sphere falls behind. You notice a lacking in the video quality compared to some of the more high-end cameras and there’s definitely way fewer options to edit your 360 videos. Still great to shoot short clips but don’t expect to shoot a lot of footage and make corrections and editing easily. There’s third-party software for all of that but I just think there are better cameras out there if you like shooting videos more. I am mostly a photographer so this doesn’t bother me too much in exchange for the amazing photo quality
Glitchy App
Unfortunately, this is what I notice with a lot of big electronics manufacturers, great product but did not spend enough effort on the app. Sometimes the app takes a few tries to open, take a blank screen when taking a screenshot of a 360 photo or download half of the image when connecting to wifi with the camera. Those things are never permanent and fix itself with a restart but it sure is a pain sometimes. The connection with the camera is good and never drops for no reason so that is an upside.
General complaints you should hear about (But I don’t think is a big deal)
Poor battery life
Yea it’s pretty true but for something that small, I really don’t see how the battery life is unexpected. It would definitely last a day or more in mild to warm temperatures but I did see it degenerate once it gets much colder. The only time I ran out of battery within a day was when it was -30C out or I forgot to charge the battery the night before XD. With power banks being so handy, it’s pretty easy to recharge on the go. I will have to see on the PCT when my power supply becomes fairly limited.
Prone to impact damage
Overall, this camera is very durable. It is rated IP67 which means it is fully dustproof and waterproof to 1 meter. I have dunked this in snow and left the snow in the case with the camera for the whole day and it was perfectly fine. The only issue in terms of durability is its lack of protection against impact as it’s lens protrudes out of the body, making it easy to break and scratch. It is a bit downside but I will explain what I do to protect my Mi Sphere.
Accessories to make the best out of the Mi Sphere
I would like to note that I learned a lot about the best accessory for this camera through this article from 360 Rumors: http://360rumors.com/2017/06/lens-cap-camera-case-xiaomi-mijia-mi-sphere-3-5k-360-panoramic-camera.html Check it out, they have a lot of good stuff on their website.
For protecting the camera, I use the Lowepro Geneva 10 Case introduced in 360 Rumor and I completely agree with his perspective. It fits the camera perfectly with not too much room for the camera to bounce around. It is heavily padded but still low profile.
Since 360 camera captures everything around, it’s important to get a selfie stick so your hand is not blown up in the photo. There is this one selfie stick/tripod combo that’s perfect for this camera because of one characteristic. It has a removable ball head which once removed, makes the stick completely invisible in the final photo. Another great thing about this selfie stick is that you can use the tripod to take photos where you are completely out of the shot or further away to achieve a different effect. Benro MK10 Selfie Stick/Tripod Combo
(360 rumor does a great article on how to remove the ballhead http://360rumors.com/2017/09/invisible-selfie-stick-tripod-360-cameras-benro-mk10-review-tutorial-remove-ballhead.html)
How to create exciting photos
Despite having a buggy app, the app makes it fairly easy to view your photos, export the full 360 photo and screenshot different perspectives in full resolution. There are five perspectives:
Sphere: 360 first-person perspectives, distort horizons to curves but keep objects close to the camera in correct proportions
Flat: 360 first-person perspectives, keep horizons straighter and more realistic but distort and stretches objects around the edge of the current view, good for view landscapes but doesn’t do too well for screenshots
Tiny Planet: captures everything in the 360 view and compress it to fit your screen like a tiny planet or my favorite, inverse tiny planet
Crystal Ball: It’s like spying on your enemies when you are a witch with magical clairvoyance powers, you get the point. Cool to look at but I haven’t created much with this
Pano: displays everything in one panorama shot, the top and bottom are stretched. Useful if there are no texture or object close to the camera or at the top or bottom.
How screenshot works are that you can select your perspective and orient it however you want and then take a full resolution screenshot. Here are some cool ways to take advantage of the screenshot feature.
Tiny Planet
My absolute favorite. This is amazing for showing off absolutely everything around you in one photo. Works really well for mountain tops, open field with backdrops, and canyons, coves and any architecture where there’s a beautiful ceiling as well. Occasionally you can create powerful images using the reverse tiny planet by re-orientating until the image is upside down.
Icicles! 😀
Classic wide angle shot
Don’t forget that this camera is a classic wide-angle camera too. It can be used to take amazing group photos or stunning landscapes. Gone are the boring group photos where you can’t see any interesting backdrops. With such a wide-angle lens, you can take shots where you can see so much behind and around you. You can do this by selecting sphere mode and position the scene how you want it before hitting the screenshot button.
Try to get a shot like this with your phone camera
Perfect for more interesting group shots
And of course… the interactive 360 photo
What better way to share a photo with your friends than let them live through your eyes. Facebook automatically converts your 360 photos to interactive photos so people can take living vicariously through you to a whole new level.
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Conclusion
With the many many places where the Mi Sphere can be used to great effect and the creative ways to display your photos beyond the classic interactive 360 photo, I think this piece of gear deserves a spot in every hiker’s bag and every traveler’s suitcase. The awe-inspiring photo quality, the tiny form factor and the unique perspective will take your travel and adventure photography game to a whole new level and help preserve precious memories like never before.
A few frustrations but acceptable workarounds, I think the $300 price tag is more than the value I have gotten and will get as I take the Mi Sphere on my PCT journey. If you are interested in purchasing one, please go to Xiaomi Mi Sphere 360 Camera from Gearbest. As far as I am aware, this is the best place for Canadians with free shipping to Canada.
Pick through the options for the cheapest, it doesn’t matter if you get the international version or the domestic (The differences between the international edition and domestic edition: the international edition is equipped with English external packing, English user manual and uses English version APP). I have the domestic version and I just downloaded the app from google play and it was in English so don’t worry about that. :D.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, where I will receive a percentage of any product you purchase at no additional cost to you. I purchased the products with my own money and those are my own opinions and work. Your purchase will support my blog and my trip on the Pacific Crest Trail. Thank you!
