GoPro Announces its first 360 Camera, but there’s a catch…

… a 5000 dollar catch.

The long awaited announcement that GoPro, the world foremost action-cam producer, is releasing a 360 degree camera is finally here. Unfortunately this camera isn’t the consumer focused model we hoped it would be, instead it’s aimed squarely at pro’s, pro’s with deep pockets.

gopro omni 360 camera

The GoPro Omni is the official name announced earlier today along with some demonstration videos of what the camera is capable of. I say camera in the singular, but the Omni is actually 6 GoPro Hero’s connected to an external shell that controls them all at once.

GoPro Omni now available from BH PhotoVideo 

There have already been work around to turn multiple GoPro’s into 360 camera rigs, however this involved manually setting up each camera, ensuring they were in the right position and charging them individually. The Omni can control each of the 6 GoPro’s simultaneously and have it’s own battery power to ensure none of the camera’s run out of juice.

gopro 360 camera

As you can imaging 6 GoPro Hero’s and a custom built rig doesn’t come cheap, in fact the whole set up is priced at $5000. To be fair this also includes a whole host of accessories and licenses, here is the full list of what’s in the box:

  • Kolor stitching software license
  • GoPro Omni sync rig
  • Six GoPro Hero4 Black cameras
  • Six GoPro Hero4 batteries
  • Six GoPro Mini USB cables
  • Six GoPro lens covers
  • Six 32GB microSD cards
  • Six microSD USB card readers
  • GoPro Smart Remote
  • 7-Port USB hub
  • Switronix Hypercore-98S battery
  • Switronix GP-S V-mount battery
  • Plate/clamp
  • Switronix GP-LS battery charger
  • PowerTap-to-DC 2.5 x 5.5mm cable
  • Waterproof shipping case
  • Plastic tweezers
  • Microfiber bag
  • 2.5mm hex key

While this price point is way out of reach of the average consumer, anyone wishing to create professional content for VR headsets should take note. This rig can produce crystal clear 360 video, which is a rarity at the moment. Take a look at one of the demonstration videos to see just how amazing the quality is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wC3x_bnnps

The GoPro Omni will be released in August 2016, but for those of us without a spare $5000 knocking about the wait for a reasonably prices GoPro 360 camera continues. Way back in January GoPro said it was looking to release a consumer grade 360 camera ‘soon’, but since then there has been no news. In the meantime, larger technology companies like Samsung and LG are offering excellent 360 cameras at affordable prices, maybe by the time GoPro finally releases one it will be too late to catch up?

Update

GoPro Omni has been released and you can buy the full rig with 6 GoPro cameras. If you already have some GoPro’s available, you can just buy the rig for a much cheaper $1199

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The 360 Guy

The 360 Guy

Owner of threesixtycameras.com. Writer, photographer and videographer. You can see my YouTube channel for guides of how to shoot 360 video. I've written for The Times, Digital Photography School and Sunday Express. 

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