Zhiyun has announced the launch of its CRANE 2S camera gimbal that boasts the company’s famous three-axis but with the 9th generation Instune Algorithm system to ensure reliable and excellent performance even in the most challenging environments. 

Zhiyun CRANE 2S

The Zhiyun CRANE 2S can handle larger cameras such as the BMPCC 6K, Panasonic S1H, or Canon EOS 1DX Mark II with ease thanks to its improved motors.

Additionally, the FlexMount System promises to make the setup process more efficient while still securing your valuable camera gear with a double safety mechanism. Also, the new gimble sports a quick-release mount along with a safety knob on the tilt axis which enables you to switch to vertical shooting in a snap without the need of additional accessory installation.

The axis lock system is new for the CRANE 2S and, we’re told, will remain totally still once locked without any swinging. Perhaps more importantly, we are also reassured that your camera equipment is 100% safe on the gimbal while travelling or in storage. 

Lightweight yet strong

The lightweight but sturdy carbon fibre handle of the CRANE 2S is another critical feature that makes this a reliable and robust workhorse while offering a more secure hand feel. 

The new 0.96-inch OLED screen offers a broader view, making it easier to navigate the menu system and switch between the six gimbal modes – pan following, locking, following, full-range POV, Vortex mode, and Go mode. Advanced cinematic effects such as Panorama, Timelapse, Motionlapse, and Long Exposure Timelapse are also said to be easy to achieve.

Furthermore, the new Zhiyun camera gimble is equipped with multiple mounting points: a 1/4-inch screw hole on the back of the quick release base plate for the camera to shift between different devices such as sliders and tripods; Two 1/4-inch screw holes with crown gear and a 3/8-inch screw hole on the gimbal for creative adaptation. The TransMount Image transmitter can directly slide into the bottom of quick release base plate without screws. 

Finally, the CRANE 2S uses three removable 18650 Li-ion batteries, providing a standard 12-hour runtime. Videographers can easily extend the runtime with backup batteries.

Price and availability

Zhiyun CRANE 2S comes in three versions:

1. Standard at £599/€659
2. Combo at £649/€699
3. Pro – MSRP due by the end of August

The post Zhiyun CRANE 2S Camera Gimble Announced appeared first on GadgetyNews.

KIOXIA – that’s the new name for Toshiba Memory and the new fleet of storage certainly looks impressive with cards hitting 1024GB.

KIOXIA has announced its EXCERIA microSD and SD cards will soon be available and packing up to 512GB on microSD and 1024GB of memory on SD cards. They promise to expand the potential of any device, from a smart phone up to a professional photographer’s camera, by using BiCS FLASH 3D memory.

In comparison with conventional Floating Gate NAND technology, BiCS FLASH 3D memory offers increased storage capacity with lower power consumption, increased power efficiency and reduced per gigabyte storage costs. For example, the 256GB EXCERIA HIGH ENDURANCE microSD card stores about 24 hours of Full HD video footage. These cards are designed specifically for dashcams and surveillance cameras, enabling continuous writing and rewriting, while reducing the possibility of video recording failures.

Delivering the performance demanded by professional photographers and videographers alike, the EXCERIA PRO SD card is suitable for high-speed photography as well as 8K and Full HD video recording (V90, UHS speed class U3, SD speed class C10). For example, the 256GB capacity SD card stores over 38,000 18Mpixel photos or more than 5 hours of 4K video footage.

These are the following new available storage capacities:

microSD cards
• EXCERIA HIGH ENDURANCE 32/64/128/256GB
• EXCERIA PLUS 32/64/128/256GB/512GB
• EXCERIA 16/32/64/128/256GB

SD cards
• EXCERIA PRO 64/128/256GB
• EXCERIA PLUS 32/64/128/256/512/1024GB
• EXCERIA 16/32/64/128/256GB

We have yet to have confirmed UK pricing.

The post KIOXIA EXCERIA microSD and SD memory cards pack crazy capacity appeared first on GadgetyNews.

We have been testing out the latest U1000 4K dashcam from Thinkware, and we are mightily impressed.

While at IFA earlier this year we chatted to the folks at Thinkware and they were pretty proud of their U1000 dashcam. So much so, they got us excited enough to ask to test it out.

We fitted it to our imported Honda using the 12v power adapter and hit the road.

Thinkware U1000 dashcam bundle

The Thinkware U1000 2-Channel bundle comes with both the front and rear cameras, a 12V power cable, an adhesive windshield mount, cable clips, a 32GB microSD Card and a USB microSD card reader.

You also get the Thinkware Hardwiring Kit and an Anti-Glare CPL Filter (which we didn’t fit for this review so we could see how the cam managed without).

Thinkware U1000 Design

The first thing we liked about this dashcam was its design.

Unlike the previous dashcams we have tested, the U1000 is built to look like part of your car’s original equipment, rather than a suction-cupped aftermarket add-on.

Here you have camera lens built-in to a unit that affixes to your windscreen using 3M tape. The dashcam is pretty discreet and, sitting behind your rear-view mirror, less likely to distract you from the road.

On the control panel, you have a trio of buttons for Power, WiFi, and Microphone. The three indicator lights show if the U1000 is connected to a WiFi hotspot, is recording, and connected to GPS.

There is also an additional Recording button to trigger ad hoc capture.

Cameras

At the front of the unit is the front-facing camera that boasts an 8.42MP Sony Exmor R Starvis image sensor. You can thank this for the crystal clear 4K UHD video quality at 30FPS.

Additionally, the 150° wide-angle lens view minimises blind spots so you can capture every little detail out on the road.

Also, the U1000 features Advanced Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), Intelligent Automatic Exposure and Super Night Vision 2.0. So, no need to worry if things are being captured as bright and dark environments are covered.

The Thinkware U1000 also covers your… rear.

The company actually developed a new rear camera specifically for the U1000.

The U1000 rear camera is equipped with a 5.14MP Sony Exmor R Starvis image sensor. That means that the back camera records in 2K QHD.

Just like the front cam, the rear also comes with a 156° wide-angle lens view and the advanced video enhancement technologies.

From what we can tell, this could well be one of the most potent rear cameras on the market.

Cloud Cam

As you can imagine, we love added tech, and the U1000 is connected to the Cloud. All you have to do is activate the hotspot on your phone and use the Thinkware Cloud app to connect the cam.

As well as storing the captured videos in the Cloud, the front unit also has a microSD card slot. Ours came with a memory card; however, we had our mobile phone working as a hotspot all the time.

Although, if we had the cam hardwired to the car, the memory card would save video triggered by someone running into our car, etc. The U1000 supports microSD cards up to 128GB.

Thinkware Cloud App

With the app, you also get neat skills such as Geo-Fence, Locate Vehicle and Driving Impact Notification.

The app’s Live View function allows you to watch what is happening in real-time, as long as it’s connected to a hotspot or WiFi. The upshot is that you can monitor your vehicle using your smartphone, no matter where you are.

With Geo-Fencing, you can set up up to 20 different geographic zones, which will send a push notification through the app if the vehicle enters or leaves a pre-configured zone.

The Locate Vehicle function will let you discover the current location of the vehicle using the app.

In the event of an impact, such as a collision, while driving, a Driving Impact push notification will be sent through Thinkware Cloud as well.

In addition to the Driving and Parking Impact Notifications, the U1000 has several driver assistance systems that can deliver audible warning alerts. The alerts rely on the U1000’s built-in GPS, which can track the vehicle’s location, speed, and direction of travel.

The alerts include Fixed Speed Camera Warning, Mobile Speed Camera Zone Warning, Average Speed Zone Warning, and the likes.

Of course, this is where you can access all your saved footage, too.

You can either see front and rear camera captures in separate areas or both captures listed together.

While in this area you can also delete or download selected captures. It’s all very intuitive.

Naturally, some of these skills require the cam to be hardwired and WiFi/hotspot connection.

Installation

As the hardwiring of the kit requires a professional, we settled for using the 12v cigarette lighter for power. This does mean that we lose so of the cam’s features, such as automatically recording parked impacts, etc.

However, the rest of the installation was simple. If you are as fussy as us, there will be time taken about hiding cables in the roof liner, under carpets, and the like.

Thinkware does supply plenty of cable length, too. Granted, our little silver box on wheels isn’t the longest of vehicles, but we had plenty of lead to go from front to the rear cam, tracking the cable under carpets as we went.

Additionally, the cable seems to be of good quality as does the 3M tape pads used to secure the cams.

It is then merely getting everything where you want it. For instance, we placed the front cam behind the rear-view mirror and the back cam just below the high-level brake light. The latter was difficult to photograph due to the heavily tinted privacy glass our ride has at the rear.

After that, download the Thinkware Cloud application and connect the front cam to your phone’s hotspot or your WiFi if it is in range. After spending time with the U1000, we are considering getting a Mi-Fi hub for the car or setting up an old phone as a hotspot to keep in the car.

Having the app also helps with positioning your cameras.

Thinkware U1000 Video Quality

I think we can all agree that this is the most crucial aspect. As you can see in the video, both front and rear cameras perform remarkably well.

We have to add here that we didn’t use the supplied filter either. That filter will reduce glare, but we wanted to see how the cam fared without.

We were really impressed by the recording quality – 4K Ultra HD y’all.

Even the rear camera outperformed some of the dashcams we’ve had through here.

The video shows the cam in glorious sunshine, good weather, rain and at night.

Downloading Clips

A quick note here, after our attempts at compiling the above video.

The Thinkware app appears to compress the video and then, should you download the videos and store them on Google Photos, they get compressed even further.

In short, if you want the full resolution, you are going to have to take the clips straight off the microSD card. But, make sure your video editor plays nice with HVEC – ours required a paid-for upgrade to accept the video taken off of the card.

Furthermore, it wasn’t until after all of that, we discovered that our editing software would only export at 1920×1080 at the most. So, sorry. No 4K video to be had in this clip, but at least you get full HD. You will have to take our word for it that the unadulterated quality you get from this cam is very good indeed.

Conclusion

The Thinkware U1000 is a fantastic bit of kit. We used the supplied cigarette lighter adapter for power so couldn’t test the added parked features.

Now we know just how could this dashcam is we are happy to see if we can buy it and get it professionally installed. We are really that impressed.

Granted, it isn’t cheap, but with the U1000 onboard, you can sit back and relax knowing that your ride is well-protected. Additionally, video from your drive is almost movie quality, so that’s pretty cool too.

The post Thinkware U1000 4K Dashcam Review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Zhiyun, the maker of some rather natty gimbals, has just announced the launch of the ultra-lightweight, pocket-sized SMOOTH-Q2 mobile gimbal. 

It appears that the Kickstarter campaign exceeded the company’s expectations, and so welcome the SMOOTH-Q2.

The new gimbal is small yet robust and boasts a 17-hour battery life and a micro USB port that acts as a power bank for your phone. 

The SMOOTH-Q2 works by accessing the native camera apps on iOS and Android phones. Furthermore, the SMOOTH-Q2 enables you to perform timelapse, Vertigo shots, object tracking and panoramas. Also, the full-range POV mode and Vortex mode features allow you to express your personal movie style.

The five-way quick mode switching joystick and photo/video record buttons keep everything simple. Additionally, the ¼ inch screw hole allows you to add accessories. 

Measuring only 204mm long the gimbal is extremely portable – practically pocketable. The aluminium-built body is crafted for maximum solidity. Coated with soft silicone, the handle is comfortable in your hand.

Pricing and availability

The SMOOTH-Q2 is available now for an MSRP of £139.

The post Zhiyun SMOOTH-Q2 Phone Gimbal Available appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Epson has launched its all-in-one Expression Photo printers. The new offerings are designed to produce superior photos with 6-colour inks at up to A4 (XP-8600 series) and A3 (XP-970).

The XP-8600 series and XP-970 provide an excellent solution for photo enthusiasts looking for an all-in-one printer that can print superior photos.

Both models offer mobile printing and feature a space-saving and stylish design. Additionally, the improved user interface makes it easy for you to navigate the printer’s features directly.

Lasting Photos

The 6-colour, Claria Photo HD inks, are capable of printing long-lasting and professional-looking, glossy photos. Moreover, those snaps can apparently last for up to 300 years in a photo album.

Printing photos directly from a memory card is simple using the large 10.9cm touchscreen. You can also print onto suitable CDs and DVDs and a range of media including thicker photography papers (XP-970 offers up to A3) using the rear media feed.

The XP-8600 series and XP-970 offer lots of user-friendly features including A4 auto double-sided printing, motorised output tray and auto power on for convenience.

Making it easy to switch between tasks, the printers have two front-loading paper trays (A4 and photo sized).

Mohamed Musa, product manager, Epson Europe, told GadgetyNews:

Photography enthusiasts want the flexibility to print photos at home that match the quality of their DSLR camera. The XP-970 and XP-8600 series provide a fantastic solution as the 6-colour inks deliver superior, long-lasting images. As all-in-ones with a modern user interface, they’re also great for the whole family with our free mobile printing apps making it simple to print directly from smart devices.

Price and availability

The XP-970 and XP-8600 series are available from September 2019, priced at £229.99 and £129.99.

The post Epson Expression Photo Printers Launched – IFA 2019 appeared first on GadgetyNews.

Delivering live, immersive video from its unique 180-degree tilting camera to the included Cockpit glasses, the ANAFI FPV puts you in the cockpit of Parrot’s fast, nimble, and ultraportable ANAFI drone.

The Parrot ANAFI FPV offers pilots beautiful and thrilling immersive experiences, in-depth manual controls for both piloting and imaging.

The quadcopter also boasts 4K HDR video and 21-megapixel images, easy-to-use modes and presets, effortless portability, long battery life, on the go USB-C charging and best-in-class features.

Innovation + Immersion

To unleash the ultimate immersive experience, pair your smartphone to ANAFI FPV with the FreeFlight 6.6 app, and place your phone in the included Cockpit glasses. Once you’re wearing the glasses and launch the AFAFI FPV, the unique 180-degree tilting camera – with 3-axis stabilisation and 3X zoom – will provide an exhilarating view at speeds of up to 31 mph (50 km/h).

ANAFI FPV’s brand-new FPV interface in FreeFlight 6.6 is a simple, streamlined heads-up display (HUD) with an immersive, unobstructed view of your aerial acrobatics. Additionally, any safety alerts or geofencing limits are automatically highlighted in your field of view.

The main FPV HUD shows contextual information, such as flight speed, direction, altitude and drone location. However, by clicking a button on top of the Cockpitglasses, you can easily swap to a minimal HUD interface. Doing so means you can fully immerse yourself into the FPV experience.

You can even find your ANAFI in mid-air without removing the Cockpit glasses: Switch to See-Through View, and you’ll see live video from your smartphone camera. An overlay shows the exact position of your drone. Moreover, if your ANAFI is off-screen, an icon points to its location.

The new standard for aerial photography

ANAFI FPV is so much more than incredibly fun. The camera experience is a new paradigm for aerial photographers and videographers. The full array of ANAFI’s manual camera settings are available in FPV mode – but only when you want to see them.

Photographers can enjoy total immersion in the on-screen image, exploring new techniques for shot composition – then seamlessly toggle into deep image controls to fine-tune photos and videos.

Clicking the button on Cockpitglasses and opening the settings menu offers you fully manual settings such as shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation. Also, there are advanced features such as an image histogram and “zebra” exposure assistance overlay.

Fast access to manual settings can also be accomplished with the Skycontroller 3, which supports custom mapping of the right trigger to adjust exposure.

Video

Two new flight presets join ANAFI’s menu of options, designed to help pilots of every level capture stunning videos with ease.

Available in FreeFlight 6.6, the new additions allow ANAFI FPV pilots to expand their creativity at the tap of a touchscreen.

Cinematic preset

With the Cinematic preset, you can capture smooth and dramatic footage that looks like you’re behind the controls of a glider. The horizontal axis of the 4K HDR camera is locked to the tilt of the drone, and footage shows every majestic bank and turn in your flight.

Racing preset

While the Cinematic preset is built for stable and fluid motion, the Racing preset will get your adrenaline pumping! The horizontal axis is also locked to the tilt of your drone, but this preset is built for speed instead of smoothness: Your videos will have a more aggressive look as ANAFI bobs and weaves through the air at high speed.

Arcade Mode

Along with the launch of ANAFI FPV, FreeFlight 6.6 also introduces Arcade Mode.

In Arcade Mode, flying is as simple as pointing the camera in the right direction. The Skycontroller 3’s left joystick controls the camera, which allows you to view in any direction, while the right joystick controls the movement of the drone.

By holding forward on the right joystick, the drone will travel in the direction the camera is pointed.

Birds Eye View

The new presets and flight mode can also be used in combination to capture stunning results. For example, using the Cinematic preset and Arcade Mode together make it incredibly simple to simulate a “bird’s eye view” as it soars and swoops through the air.

Portable

Built for any time, anywhere, ANAFI’s ultraportable drone platform included a brand new ANAFI Backpack. The pack doubles as a stable platform to prepare and launch your drone right in front of you. So, you no longer need to put your drone down on snow-covered slopes, mud and dirt, or rugged terrain as you prepare for launch.

The new backpack extends ANAFI FPV as the ultimate go-anywhere drone. ANAFI FPV’s one-of-a-kind folding design, lightweight body, and superb battery life with USB-C charging on the go complement its outstanding image quality, easy-to-use modes and presets, versatile manual controls, and groundbreaking immersive experiences.

Pricing and availability

The ANAFI FPV All-In-One Pack includes and ANAFI FPV quadcopter drone, battery, Skycontroller 3, Cockpitglasses 3, 16gb SD memory card, USB-C cable, extra set of propellers and ANAFI FPV backpack.

The cost for all of that in the AIO Pack is £729.99 and it’s available now.

The post Parrot ANAFI FPV Launched at IFA 2019 appeared first on GadgetyNews.

There is still a resurgence for all that is retro and for gadge that gives us a flavour of analogue. The Polaroid POP is here to remind you of when seeing your photos straight away involved your camera spitting out a hard copy print.

The Polaroid Pop is part of the Polaroid line of instant cameras and printers that use the Zink format (zero-ink). The gadgets quickly print fun-sized digital photos that resemble the old Polaroid snaps of times past.

I always wanted a Polaroid camera back in the 80s, so this was a fun chance to see what I was missing, albeit that the Polaroid name is now licensed to a variety of kit – from televisions to cameras.

Polaroid POP Design

The Polaroid POP’s design states its fun credentials loud and clear. If you had any thoughts of using the POP as a serious photographic tool, then one look of its chunky exterior tells you otherwise.

The main body of the POP is black with the bottom, removable quarter, being a solid pop of bright colour. Our review model is yellow, but there’s also green, blue, peach and more to choose from. There are six colours in total and all come with an optional matching chunky plastic wrist strap.

At the front is the 20MP CMOS lens with flash next to it. Around at the rear is a small 3.97-inch touchscreen. The only other thing of note is the big red shutter button.

One of the reasons for the Polaroid POP’s heft is that it is also a printer. Up to ten sheets of Zink paper can be loaded from underneath by removing the coloured section. The coloured part is held on magnetically and also reveals the SD card slot.

At 454g the POP is surprisingly weighty, and at 15cm tall, you can’t really call it compact. However, it’s not uncomfortable to handle, and its size is kind of necessary to hold that printer paper.

In use

Firstly, that glossy plastic loves fingerprints. If you were thinking about giving this to a kid, then be prepared to have the POP age in seconds.

The Polaroid POP has built-in Wi-Fi so you can send photos and videos from the POP to your phone or tablet using the free Android and iOS app. Alternatively, you can send snaps on your phone and use the POP as a printer. You can even add the Pop’s various borders and filters to those photos before you print.

Using Wi-Fi, as opposed to Bluetooth, means that transfers are pretty quick. All it means is that you have to disconnect your phone from whichever Wi-Fi connection it has and connect it to the camera’s own Wi-Fi network. Not tricky at all and, chances are, all the camera’s SSIDs are 1234567890 by default.

Also, if you want to post one of the POP’s photos on Instagram, you have to send the snap to your phone and hit accept. Then, you have to disconnect from the Pop Wi-Fi, hook up to the internet as you would typically and then share it online. It really is a shame that the POP isn’t able to share with your socials directly.

Taking the camera out and about I found myself using my phone, a Huawei P30 Pro if I wanted a specific shot and the Polaroid POP if I wanted a particular look.

Photos and filters

The particular look is reminiscent of the instant cameras of the 70s and 80s. Colours are muted and detailing isn’t what we now expect from our phones, let alone cameras. Additionally, low light and moving objects are Kryptonite to the POP.

However, we must remember what this camera is supposed to be doing. Once you get used to the lag between pushing the button and the photo appearing on the screen and that you’re never going to get forensic levels of detail, there is a certain magic to still be enjoyed.

Additionally, it’s fun to play with the filters, add borders, and stickers to the images. I can see teens especially getting a kick out of the POP. But, frames, stickers and filters can all be attained on most smartphones now through apps and even the phone’s own editing software.

The POP can also create gifs and shoot video, with a similar range of potential effects. Naturally, these cannot be printed and have to be sent to your phone over the Wi-Fi connections.

Printing

The small format of the prints does disguise some of the camera’s shortcomings. Selecting the print option sends the internals whirring and clunking.

Before you can print anything off you have to send through a blue card with the calibration settings printed upon it.

The neat touch of the selected image moving up the screen as the camera starts to print would have been better had it been in sync. That said, printing off pictures around friends and family, still garnered a feeling of excitement and anticipation.

The Zink does appear to mute the colours even further in some cases, but I’ve seen snaps taken by the original Polaroid cameras and those images don’t really pop, either, so to speak.

I do like that you get the large bottom border on the photo and that you can even scribble on via the camera’s app, should you so desire.

Conclusion

The Polaroid POP is good fun and I can see it being popular with young teens, college students and social folk. However, that friendliness may be tested as you burn through the 3.5×4.25-inch Zink paper at £29.99 for 40 sheets or £9 for 10.

I fear that the Polaroid POP could find itself in a bit of ‘no man’s land’ as far as who would actually buy it as, at £200, it’s definitely not a toy. Also, it’s not at a price point most of us would buy for just a bit of fun.

I cannot deny that I have enjoyed having it around and being able to print photos from my phone to the Zink sheets is nifty. The question is, would I buy a Polaroid POP or would I look for a small photo printer? I guess it depends on how grown-up I am feeling.

Price and availability

The Polaroid POP 2.0 is available now for £199 and comes in black, green, peach, white, blue and yellow.

The post Polaroid POP 2.0 Review appeared first on GadgetyNews.

AKASO has just announced the availability of their new EK7000 Pro 4K action camera. It will cover a variety of outdoorsy shinannigans as well as being equally home in the wet stuff. It will even double-up as a dashcam – all for under eighty quid.

The AKASO EK7000 Pro 4K action camera is the ideal companion for sporty and adventurous types.

As its name suggests, the EK7000 Pro 4K delivers 4K/25fps, 2.7K/30fps and 1080P/60fps videos and 16-megapixel photos.

That all means you should end up with high quality, detailed shots. Especially as the camera boasts built-in electronic image stabilisation up to 1080P/60fps and 1080P/30fps. The adjustable viewing angle also allows you to set the angle of the action camera as required with the choice of super wide, wide, medium and narrow.

Go anywhere

Additionally, you also get a waterproof case that’s good down to 40 metres/131 feet. By turning on Diving Mode, the camera can also compensate for the lack of red light in underwater scenes. The setting ensures that images and clips recorded are just as high quality as those on the ground.

In addition to water sports and on-land activities, the action camera can also be used as a dash cam while driving. With multi-functions including ‘Loop Recording’ and ‘Upside Down’, it can record any knocks or accidents providing crucial evidence if required for insurance claims.

The ultra 2-inch touch screen with IPS display makes it easy to change settings, switch shooting modes, and playback footage.

Share the action

If all that wasn’t enough, the bundled 2.4GHz wireless remote control enables you to operate the camera and not have to miss out on joining in the activities. The built-in Wi-Fi then makes it simple to share clips and images on the go as they happen.

The company’s iSmart DV app connects to the camera and makes it easy to instantly post to social media channels including Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Naturally, you also get a raft of mounting accessories including bicycle stands, seven mounts, and a helmet mount and clip.

The action camera also comes with a USB dual charger and two batteries which adds up to a total of three hours recording time.

Price and availability

The AKASO EK7000 Pro 4K action camera is available now for £76.99 from Amazon UK.

The post AKASO EK7000 Pro 4K Action Cam now available appeared first on GadgetyNews.

The MiVue J60 boasts a sleek design allowing the device to be discretely installed behind the rear view mirror. Not only does this look neater, but it also keeps your line of view clear through the windscreen. Despite its dimensions, it is not lacking in features.

The MiVue J60 provides full HD 1080p footage at 30 fps with 150-degrees wide-angle viewing and an F1.8 aperture.

Additionally, the J60 is packed full of safety features including Advanced Driving Assistance System [ADAS], Lane Departure Warning System [LDWS], Forward Collision Warning System [FCWS] and Fatigue Alert. That’s quite a list, but all of that tech should keep you safe as you drive.

As part of the ADAS, the MiVue J60 will give a sound alert if you start to drift away from the centre of a lane or should you pass the speed limit.

The device also comes with pre-installed safety camera data and free data updates for the lifetime of the dashcam. All handy to avoid those dreaded speeding fines.

The built-in Wi-Fi enables you to immediately back up event videos by uploading them to your phone via the MiVue Pro app.

Furthermore, the MiVue J60 can also protect cars even when unattended. Thanks to its parking mode feature, when connected to the optional SmartBox II power cable, it will instantly start recording as soon as it detects something coming close to the vehicle.

Naturally, the J60 has built-in GPS that tracks the vehicles’ location and speed. No need for any additional devices for this.

Price and availability

The Mio MiVue J60 – Full HD 1080p In Car Dash Cam is available for £119.99 from Amazon.

The post Mio MiVue J60 dashcam – descretely packed with tech appeared first on GadgetyNews.

I’ve been playing around with the Vuze+ 4K 360-degree camera, initially launched in January 2018. The camera promises potentially professional video and photographic stereoscopic capture in 4K.  There’s plenty of impressive specs but does it all add up to something that you need?

Let’s check it out.

Vuze+ design

The camera is kind of a rounded square and finished in matte and semi-matte black. It tips the scales at a portable-friendly 460 grams and measures 12 x 12 x 3 cm in size.

Each one of the camera’s four sides has a pair of F/2.4 fisheye lenses (eight total). The lenses are arranged to mimic four pairs of eyes for stereoscopic capture. Each pair has its own Sony FHD image sensor.

Additionally, each corner gets its own microphone. Those mics join forces to capture first-order ambisonic audio – natural spatial sound.

On the top of the camera, you’ll find two buttons; one for power and mode control and the other to start recording video or capture a photo. There is also a pair of LED indicator lights.

The bottom of the camera has a standard ¼ screw for a monopod, tripod or other such accessories.

Behind the protective flap, you’ll find a micro SD card slot, USB 2.0 port and a button for pairing the camera to your smartphone. The latter caused me some confusion as I wasn’t expecting to find it there. Ah, well. That flap also endows the camera with an IP65 rating, meaning it’s dustproof and can withstand jets of water.

The USB port is used for transferring data as well as for charging the camera’s 3,700 mAh battery. The battery is good for about two hours, which is handy as the cable will be in the shot if you tried filming and charging at the same time. From empty to full charge takes the camera about 3 hours.

Finally, the camera has a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to track both the horizon and camera motion so the Humaneyes VR Studio can best stabilise the footage during rendering. More on that later.

Along with the camera, the box contains a mini tripod that also works as a handle. Most importantly, you also get a hardshell case bundled in.

Vuze+ tech

As already alluded to, the Vuze+ can capture 4K per eye stereoscopic 360 video at 30 fps or 4K monoscopic 360-degree video at 60 fps, as well as mono or stereo 360 photos. Additionally, if all that wasn’t enough, it’s capable of live streaming at full resolution (when connected to a PC) to Facebook, YouTube, Periscope and any RMTP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) platform.

Vuze+ in use

Setting up the Vuze+ is truly simple. All you have to do is insert your micro SD card and power on the charged camera. You can control it either with the two buttons on top of the camera or with its companion app for iOS and Android.

Pressing the power button will turn the camera on. Also, the same button can be used to switch between video and photo modes. The LED light flashes as it boots but solid blue means the camera is in video mode, solid yellow means photo mode, and purple means live streaming mode.

When the second light above the record/capture button blinks red continuously, you’re recording. If it flashes red once, you’ve taken a photo.

Using the camera’s buttons is relatively straightforward; however, I really recommend pairing the Vuze+ with your smartphone and using the app. Now you can control and preview footage on your smart device. The app also lets you change settings on the camera.

Vuze app

The free companion Vuze Camera app is easy to use and intuitive to navigate.

Within the app, the icon at the top centre of the app (the Vuze icon in a target) indicates whether-or-not the camera is level. If one edge is too low, it is shown by red dots. The icons at top right show you the mode you’re in, the capture frame rate, camera’s battery life and remaining memory.

The eye icon at bottom right is used to turn live preview mode on and off. Opposite the eye icon on the left side of the screen is the timer that ranges through off, 5, 10 and 20-second delays. Below that, you can change between video and photo mode, as well as initiate recording.

The bottom left corner thumbnail accesses your media gallery. The top left icon can be used to adjust the camera’s settings as well as being another point of entry to your gallery.

Settings

The settings options are as you would expect; different frame rates, resolution and so on. However, the really handy one when dealing with quadruple pairs of lenses is the exposure setting.

Through the exposure setting, you are able to choose which pair of lenses are used to set the overall exposure across all four.

Being able to choose which set of lenses sets the exposure of the entire frame is beneficial; especially outdoors amongst buildings where the lighting changes dramatically. There are also occasions indoors where the lighting in a particular room may be dark at one end but light at the other.

Vuze+ capturing

Using the app to capture video and stills is really simple. Pairing was faultless and enables you to control the camera from a decent distance. Of course, the best thing about that is being able to start recording without being in the shot yourself.

Humaneyes recommends a distance no closer than 1.6 feet (50 cm) at the camera’s sides and 5 feet (150 cm) at its corners, for both 3D and 2D footage.

I took the Vuze+ on my visit to Wiltshire, plenty of space out there. Thankfully, it was timed when the UK saw good sunny weather too. Items within the 5-7 feet range shows good detail. However, beyond that, this tails off quite quickly. Moreover, if those items are moving (check the vehicles driving past in the clip).

Dynamic range was better than I was expecting from the camera if I am to be completely honest.

You’ll have to click on the picture above to have a look around.

Using a tripod or even a monopod seemed to give me my best results. However, if you are considering to use the camera while moving around, I would strongly suggest using a compatible gimble as stabilisation is an issue.

Humaneyes VR Studio

With the Vuze+ camera, you also get access to Humaneyes VR Studio. This is mostly to help you stitch your videos as well as making other adjustments before publishing your creations.

You can either download your footage or just connect your camera to your PC, open Humaneyes VR Studio and import your footage directly. From there, select the clip you want to stitch and adjust.

Once your footage has been imported, and you’ve selected a video, you’ll be taken into the preview and edit window. Down the left side are tools to flip the video 180 degrees, set the centre point, set the field of view, replace the nadir with a logo, stabilise the horizon, as well as some more advanced settings.

The flip 180 degrees tool is useful should you shooting with the camera upside down such as suspended from a boom.

The set centre tool can be used to choose the direction in which viewers will initially be looking within the clip. Just select this tool, then drag to centre.

The tool to set the field of view can be used to choose only a portion of the 360 video to show.

There’s also the option to replace the nadir (immediately beneath the camera, where you will see the tripod) and the zenith (above the camera) with a photo. Using this you can replace the space with your logo or even a picture you took of the ground or sky of your scene. Vuze recommends uploading a plain, square JPG because the software will crop a circle from it and fit it into your video.

There’s also a tool to fix and stabilise the horizon. This goes back to what I said about shooting videos on the move. The Vuze+’s built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and compass track both the horizon and camera motion so Humaneyes VR Studio can best stabilise the footage during rendering.

At the top is some preset export options for YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and Humaneyes Zone. Select one, and the settings will change to what’s required for the particular platform, metadata and all. Very handy.

You can even submit your creation to Google Street View!

Although I didn’t delve very deeply into the software’s capabilities, I found it straightforward enough to use. I am sure that those more familiar with video editing will get much more from it; even more so, those experienced with tweaking 360-degree footage ‘stitching’.

Humaneyes Vuze+ review conclusion

I have been impressed by the Vuze+ camera. I love my tech (obvs) but this has been the closest to me using a prosumer 360-degree camera, and I was a little apprehensive, to be honest. However, I needn’t have been as it was straightforward to get set-up and start shooting.

I can happily recommend that anyone looking to invest in a decent stereoscopic camera, whether that’s small businesses or video enthusiasts, then the Vuze+ is a great option. Especially when you add in the easy-to-use editing software and ability to ping off your creations to social networks.

Vuze+ price and availability

You can buy the Humaneyes Vuze+ camera right now for £1,100 from Amazon.

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