Samsung Gear 360 review: only the first step

Here’s an obvious statement: The shift from film to digital changed the way we take photos and record videos. What’s lessobvious about that, or at least easier to forget, is that this shift wasn’t just a one-time thing. Digital photography has given photographers, videographers, and the companies that make the tech the freedom to try out all sorts of new ideas.

Some of these experiments have stuck, like how we have miniaturized cameras to the point that we can shoot 4K video with our smartphones. Others, like 3D video, have flailed.

One of the newest experiments, virtual reality, is a grand one. And as we wait to see if thattakes hold, we’re seeing some of the tech that powers VR spawn a more accessible version of the idea: consumer-level cameras that shoot 360-degree video and photos. Samsung’s new Gear 360 is already one of the most recognizable of these cameras, and it’s one of the first from a big company with major imaging resources. Like any tech that tackles a new idea, the camera has its drawbacks. If you’re looking for a tool that will let you experiment in 360 degrees right this moment, the Gear 360 is a good place to start — but only if you’ve already bought into the Samsung ecosystem. Samsung’s counting on this, too; the Gear 360 is inherently more compelling if you already own a Samsung phone and a Gear VR. If you don’t, you can still find ways to enjoy the Gear 360. It’s just going to take a lot more work.

First let’s run through the basics. The $349 Gear 360 uses two fisheye lenses on either side of the camera. You can use just one of these lenses if you want — the super-wide view could substitute for the look of an action camera in a pinch, though it doesn’t approach the quality or versatility of a GoPro or one of Sony’s cameras. But the point of the Gear 360 is to shoot with both lenses, and then either use one of Samsung’s newest smartphones or a PC app to stitch the images or videos together.

Each lens works with a 15-megapixel sensor, meaning the camera can shoot 30-megapixel 360-degree stills or 3840 x 1920 video. That’s just under true 4K, which puts the Gear 360 near the top of the market in terms of resolution — for example, other 360 cameras, such as the 360fly and Kodak, offer full 4K shooting, while LG’s 360 Cam and Ricoh’s Theta S shoot lower-resolution footage.

It’s important to note, though, that 4K here doesn't mean the same as it does when we're talking about regular 4K video. When Samsung and its 360-degree competitors use 4K, the pixels they’re talking about are spread around the entire sphere. At any given time when you’re watching a 360-degree video you’re only looking at a fraction of that full 4K capture, and so the quality of the image that these cameras can record is not on par with traditional digital cameras — not even the ones in your smartphone.

PHOTOS LOOK GREAT, VIDEOS ARE JUST FINE

With that said, the Gear 360 captures a higher-quality image than most of its competitors. 360fly and Kodak might be able to sneak a few more pixels in, but overall Samsung’s done a good job at balancing all the basics like good color correction and dynamic range. You can certainly see the line where the two images get stitched together, but if you keep your subject more than five feet away it’s easy enough to mitigate. Photos are even better, especially in broad daylight. The only problem there is that your options for sharing 360 photos (like this one) are even more limited than with spherical video. Facebook is your best bet, but they have to live there completely — you can't embed them around the internet like you can with 360 videos.

What I liked best about the Gear 360 is how simple it is to operate. There are some settings to play with if you want to fuss around, but you don’t need years of experience to shoot with the Gear 360. A lot of this has to do with the three-button setup: there’s a menu button that cycles through shooting modes and settings, a power button, and a black-and-red record button on top.

The shame is that Samsung has put roadblocks in the way that limit the value of the Gear 360's ease of use. The first is that, if you want to use it with a phone, it has to be one of the newer Samsung phones, such as the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge. You can get by without that but only if you have a PC — Samsung’s desktop software, which lets you stitch and edit the footage, is Windows-only.

That pseudo ecosystem lock-in has a few benefits. For one, it’s really easy to view footage that you’ve shot with the Gear 360 on a Gear VR. Second, the camera plays nice with Samsung’s phones (with limits, which I’ll get to in a moment). You can control the camera from the Gear 360 app, tweak settings, and even get a live preview of what the footage will look like.

This doesn’t mean you won’t run into headaches. The Gear 360 is a simple camera, but it's also often a frustrating one. The biggest source of that frustration comes from what should be a simple process: transferring footage from the camera to your phone.

If you shoot a video more than five minutes long on the Gear 360, it takes at least 10 minutes to transfer to your phone. An example: I brought the camera to a friend’s wedding. It was a short ceremony that lasted only eight and a half minutes, but it took me three days and multiple failed attempts to get that file from the camera to the S7 Edge to Facebook. It ultimately took more than 20 minutes to transfer over, which is a long time when you consider that the transfer can be disrupted by either a hiccup in the Bluetooth connection or the camera dying (you can’t transfer footage while the camera is charging).