Photography News Issue 36

Photography News | Issue 36 | absolutephoto.com

47 First tests

Kodak Pixpro SP360 4K Extreme Pack £379

Specs

In the box Rechargeable Li-ion battery, USB cable, AC adapter, quick start guide, glass lens cover, protective cover, battery charger, carrying case, cleaning cloth Extreme pack Standard housing, tether, vented helmet mount A and B, waterproof housing, bar mount, head strap mount, surfboard mount, suction cup mount, quick clip, lens ring, lens cover, battery charger, USB cable, tool, double-sided adhesive Resolution 12.4 megapixels Number of recording pixels Still image: 8-megapixel: 2880x2880, 4-megapixel: 2304x1728, 2MP: 1920x1080 Video: Round: 2880x2880 (30fps), 2048x2048 (30fps); Flat: 3840x2160 (30fps), 1920x1080 (60/30fps) High-speed: 720x720 (120fps) Lens 360° spherical lens with 235° field of view, 0.85mm f/2.8 (8.20mm, 35mm equivalent) Construction 9 elements in 7 groups Focusing range Fixed focus: 50cm to infinity File formats Stills: JPEG Movie: MP4 (Image: H.264; Audio: AAC) ISO sensitivity Auto, 100-800 Exposure meter Artificial Intelligence AE (AiAE) Exposure mode Program AE Recordingmedia Micro SD/Micro SDHC card (Up to 32GB support), internal: 8MB Power Rechargeable li-ion battery, 160 still shots, 55mins for video Dimensions (WxHxD) 48x50x52.5mm Weight 128g with battery & card Contact kodakpixpro.com/Europe

Action cameras that you can fix to a drone, on a bike’s handlebars or just wear on your head are popular and fun devices that have serious and professional applications, too. The Kodak Pixpro SP360 4K has a 12.4-megapixel CMOS sensor, features a lens with a 235° field of view and is splash-, dust- and freeze-proof. And it shoots 4K video. The SP360 is very easy to use. Its overall size means that control layout options andscreensize are limited, but that doesn’t detract from this camera’s handling. The small info screen shows plenty of data; for example in movie mode, you have resolution setting, time elapsed, battery status and time remaining on the card. There is a dedicated Wi-Fi on/off button and the record button is a good size. Setting up the camera means scrolling through menus and using the record button to confirm selection. It just takes a few minutes with the downloadable instruction manual to get familiar with the camera. Other key points on the splash- proof camera are the USB and HDMI interfaces, the microSD card slot and a tripod bush. A free smartphone app (iOS and Android) is available to wirelessly remote control the camera via Wi-Fi. The Extreme Pack, reviewed here, has a great many options when it comes to how you want to attach the SP360, and apart from using it handheld, I did try it on its headstrap and fixed to my road bike. One small problem in bright sun is seeing when the camera is on and recording. You get a green LED when it is on and a blinking orange

Below You can have fun filming yourself doing stuff, and it’s easy to share on social websites. Add another SP360 to shoot back to back and you can get creative with stitching with the free software. The free Pixpro SP360 4K software is available for Mac and Windows and helps you easily output video to Facebook or YouTube, and you can grab stills from video footage in JPEG format, too. I tried the Mac version 2.2.1.0 and I didn’t find it particularly intuitive; it seemed slow and it LED during recording, but seeing those LEDs is almost impossible, so you have to listen out for its audible signals – one long beep to confirm on, three beeps to confirm recording and three regular beeps to end recording. Handling is better with the smartphone app and of course you see the live image which you don’t get with the camera on its own. Connecting up is straightforward and the connection itself was pretty stable, although I had a few dropouts when replaying footage. Personally I found the user-interface and the small icons not great to use, especially outdoors in bright sun. Also as, is typical, with Wi-Fi connected devices there was a slight time lag.

crashed several times, too. That said, it is free and the global footage can be outputted in different formats, such as 4:3 and 16:9. In testing, I shot in round video (2880x2800) and flat video (3840x2160) modes. I also shot stills and took stills from video footage. Both modes gave video image quality that is generally sound with colour, contrast and sharpness all rating as good. Stills taken from the 4K footage were acceptable with decent colours and a reasonable level of sharpness. To be fair, though, I wouldn’t want to enlarge them much. Sound quality is okay, but susceptible to wind noise. The biggest potential headache is the lens. Its wide, curved expanse of glass, inevitably, gets dirty very easily so you need to make sure it is clean before you start shooting. Cleandoesn’t just mean just free of physical detritus, but clear of any finger grease because it is inevitable in everyday use that you end up touching the lens. Any trace of

Verdict

Action cams are well-named and great if you have a purpose for them. I had fun with the Kodak Pixpro 360 4K even though I’m not the target audience. But there are plenty of active people around who do feel the need to film and share their experiences with the world, so if you are one of those the Pixpro 360 4K is worth a look. It works well and the Extreme Pack comes with a wide selection of fitting options including an underwater housing so the package is very good value, too.

finger grease gives a smeary ‘bloom’ that is evident in the results, so the lens needs a good buff with a microfibre cloth before shooting. The instructions do mention that including a light source can impact on image quality, but the lens’s extreme field of viewmeans that this is difficult to avoid in practise. Exposure was generally good, but again with the lens’s extremeviewitwasn’t a surprise to see it less capable in contrasty conditions. Generally, though the exposure and white-balance systems copied well with different lighting as you moved around. WC

Handling is better with the smartphone app and of course you see the live image

Pros Versatility of the Extreme Pack, great value Cons Software is not intuitive, the same applies to the phone app