Ricoh Theta X Review: Top Choice for VR Tours?

I’ve been using the Ricoh Theta X for the past month to check out its capabilities, primarily whether it makes a good camera for VR tours. The Theta X is the newest 360 camera from Ricoh and it comes with several upgrades compared to its previous cameras. In this review I’ll take you though all of the features and show some real life examples.

Ricoh Theta X Review

8 Total Score
Ricoh Theta X

The most user friendly Ricoh 360 camera with super high resolution

PROS
  • 60MP Resolution
  • Large Screen
  • Removable Battery
  • 5.7K Video
  • Built in Memory
CONS
  • No RAW Mode
  • Smaller Sensors than Previous Camera
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Ricoh Theta X
Ricoh Theta X
Ricoh's highest resolution 360 camera with large touch screen and auto HDR mode.

Ricoh Theta X Specs

SpecsRicoh Theta X
Image
Lenses x2 1/2 Inch Sensors
VIDEO
Video Resolution
  • 5.7K: 5760 x 2880 /30fps
  • 4K: 3840 x 1920 /60fps
Max Bit Rate 120MBPS
Video Modes
  • Self Timer
Stabilization 6 Axis Stabilization
Livestream Yes - 4K
Audio x2 Microphones / External Audio Output
PHOTO
Photo Resolution 60MP (11008 x 5504, 11K)
Photo Formats
  • JPEG
Photo Modes
  • Noise reduction
  • Auto HDR
  • Interval shooting
  • Timeshift
  • Shooting with self-timer
  • Shooting with multi bracket
HARDWARE
Screen 2.25" Full Touchscreen
Memory 46GB Internal, 256Gb MicroSD
Battery Li-Ion Researchable, 1350mAh, 55 Minutes of Video
Other Features
  • Expandable Functionality via Plugins
  • Fast Transfer
  • Ai Image Recognition
WHERE TO BUY
Check Amazon

Design

The Ricoh Theta X represents a brand new design with several much needed upgrades compared to their previous 360 cameras. The Ricoh Theta X retains a candy bar shape similar to their previous cameras. You’ll find two protruding lenses at the top of the camera and a large touch screen on the front.

This is the first Ricoh Theta camera with a full touch screen and makes the camera far more user friendly. The touch screen is large, responsive and enables users to fully control the camera without requiring you to connect to an app.

The software powering the camera is android based and the menu system is extremely easy to navigate and understand. The screen also enables you to preview your images and videos after you shoot them whereas with most 360 cameras you need to be connected to an app.

The Theta X comes with 42GB of internal memory and a MicroSD card slot, providing ample memory for multiple shoots. You probably wouldn’t need to offload a 256GB microSD card for several months.

 

Another useful design feature is the removable battery. Although the battery life itself is not stellar, the fact you can buy some spares and swap them out makes this less of an issue.

Overall the Theta X has clearly been designed with maximum user friendliness in mind and overall it succeeds. This is one of the best designed 360 cameras and is well suited for shooting VR tours.

Photography

Like all other Ricoh Theta cameras the Theta X is primarily a photography camera. Most 360 cameras are built with video in mind, such as the action camera orientated Insta360 range, however Ricoh focusses on creating cameras that can shoot good quality 360 images.

The Theta X features two 1/2 inch sensors in its dual lenses. It can shoot 360 photos at a maximum resolution of 60 megapixels, which is a huge size compared to other all in one 360 cameras. While the sensor size is a downgrade from the Theta Z1 which features 1 Inch sensors, the resolution of the images is far higher.

There are a few different modes to choose from when shooting 360 photos with the Theta X. In my opinion the best option by far is the Auto-HDR mode, which automatically combines several exposures into a single image. The resulting image is considerably higher quality than a single exposure.

When looking at images shot with the Theta X they ae generally dynamic & sharp. When shooting indoors the camera is able to reduce overexposure and capture plenty of details. The high resolution images allows you to zoom in and not lose too much quality.

The images can sometimes appear slightly dull in terms of colours and they certainly don’t match up to images shot with the Theta Z1 using RAW mode. The Theta X can’t shoot RAW mode, however there’s no reason why this feature could not be added in the future.

It should be highlighted that RAW images require a lot of editing and a much longer workflow, whereas the Theta X images a straight out of the camera with no editing required.

Good for VR Tours?

The previous top end Ricoh Theta camera, the Theta Z1, became an extremely popular choice for shooting Virtual Tours. The Z1 has been consistently in high demand for the past few years as shooting VR tours became more and more popular in several industries. The Theta X is a response to that increasing demand and is primarily designed as a virtual tour camera.

VR Tour Shot with Theta X

To answer the question, the Ricoh Theta X is a great camera for shooting virtual tours, however it is not necessarily a choice for those starting a virtual tour business.

The Theta X is designed to be used by people in industries that can make use of virtual tours but who don’t want to hire external photographers. The Theta X makes shooting good quality VR tours quickly and easily, even for people who have never done so before.

Ricoh Theta X
Ricoh Theta X
Ricoh's highest resolution 360 camera with large touch screen and auto HDR mode.

Video

Ricoh have never designed their Theta cameras with video in mind. Unlike GoPro and Insta360, who focus on creating 360 action cameras, Ricoh is more focused on photography. The last few versions of their cameras were limited to 4K video resolution which is outdated compared to modern 360 cameras.

Ricoh Theta X review

The Theta X still cannot be said to be an awesome video camera, particularly if you are wanting an action camera, however there have been some upgrades.

You can now shoot 360 video at 5.7K resolution with the Theta X, matching up to other cameras on the market. The video certainly looking sharper and higher quality than previous Theta cameras. If you wanted to incorporate video VR tours into your work then this could certainly handle that.

Beyond the boost in resolution Ricoh haven’t added any other video features or improved the stabilization. This is not a camera you are going to be attaching to your bike or snowboard to shoot high intensity action videos.

Plugins

Ricoh has a series of plugins available for their Theta cameras which adds new features and functionality to their cameras. Many of these plugins are made by Ricoh themselves but others are made by the community.

All of these are free to download and can add some really useful features to your camera. The Theta X is able to download these plugins directly from the camera thanks to the touchscreen and android based operating system.

As time goes on more plugins will be added to the store, with some made for the Theta X exclusively. Some of the plugins have been added to the Theta X such as timeshift.

Theta X or Theta Z1?

I made a full post comparing these two cameras in detail, but to summarise for those in a rush, the Theta X is more of a workhorse camera whereas the Z1 is closer to a DSLR, with more creative abilities. The Theta Z1 shooting higher quality images in terms of appearance, thanks to the 1 Inch sensors and RAW mode. The Theta X shoots at a higher resolution so images are generally sharper and capture more detail.

The workflow to get the best quality images for the Z1 is much longer than the Theta X; you can get around 70% of the quality with the Theta X in under half the time. For this reason the Theta X is better for those who aren’t photographers themselves but want to use this technology in a professional setting.

Ricoh Theta X Review: Summary

The Ricoh Theta X is in many ways the best Ricoh Theta camera ever made. The addition of a large screen, removable battery, MicroSD Slot and faster wifi transfer are well overdue but represent a huge boost in user friendliness.

Overall the Theta X can shoot high quality 360 images thanks to the very high max resolution, particularly using the auto HDR mode. Some people may be disappointed that the Theta X does not have a RAW mode or larger sensors like the Theta Z1, which does impact the image quality.

The plus side to this is a much shorter and easier workflow, enabling more people to shoot decent quality 360 virtual tours quickly and easily. Those working in the construction industry, real estate, health, education & culture who want to utilise VR tours without hiring external photographers would benefit most from the Theta X.

Where to Buy

You can get the Ricoh Theta X from Amazon in most countries. Check the link below for the latest price.

Ricoh Theta X
Ricoh Theta X
Ricoh's highest resolution 360 camera with large touch screen and auto HDR mode.

 

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. 

2 Comments
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  1. Can you compare this Theta X with the Insta 360 X3?
    Please make a comparison photo to photo and video to video for both camera’s

  2. Hi, it seems like this camera was updated in 2023, but I can’t find any details. Any ideas on what has changed?

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