Product Spotlight: 360Fly HD Video Camera

The sports action
camera market has been a pretty hot segment the past five years
with a steady flow of new companies joining the fray. Of course
it's great to have a selection of cameras to choose from and
competition helps keep pricing fairly reasonable. The problem is,
until recently every sports cam company was essentially offering
the same thing: high-def video and hi-res photos from an easily
mountable, compact, and lightweight camera. All that has changed
now that 360Fly has
entered the scene.
Recording and delivering highly interactive videos, the
[mageProductLink sku="725-360flyblk" title=""]360Fly HD Video
Camera[/mageProductLink] offers a truly different video capture
experience that helps viewers immerse themselves into what they are
watching. Similar to a fly's 360 degree field of view, the camera
records 360 degree horizontal and 240 degree vertical high def
video-hence the 360Fly moniker.
Offering an
extremely wide field of view, recording 1504 x 1504 pixel
resolution at 30 fps, the 360Fly camera provides MPEG-4 compressed
video format to obtain high quality video with lower data size
making it easy to edit and share straight from your mobile device
via the 360Fly app. Housed in a unique golf ball like case, the
spherical lens points straight up while a three axis sensor and
accelerometer maintains proper orientation and reliable motion
sensing while enjoying high action activities. Sure you can record
similar 360 degree, interactive videos with other cams, like the
GoPro, but it will require multiple cameras (often 6 or more), a
special rig/mount, and software to stitch all the videos together.
The 360Fly is one simple unit that requires no video stitching or
special software.
The 360Fly is compact and lightweight making it ideal for mounting
on top of a helmet, attached to a handlebar or just about anywhere
else. The rugged housing is able to withstand moderate abuse (shock
resistant to nearly 5 feet) extreme conditions, and is dust
resistant. Unlike other cameras that require an additional case for
underwater recording, with the plug covering the built-in micro
phone this cam is water resistant to a depth of about 165 feet. The
camera is outfitted with 32 GB of internal memory, which might not
be a ton of storage, but it works out well with two hour recording
time of the built-in, Li-Polymer, 1600mA, battery-reachable via
usb.
Operating the 360Fly is extremely easy as there is only one button
that powers up/down the device and starts/stops recording. There's
no screen or interface to deal with so no superfluous options or
settings to have to fuss with. Simply long press the power button
and the camera powers on/off, then a quick press begins/ends
recording. A blinking LED informs you if the camera is on, pairing,
or recording. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, the camera pairs great
with smart phones and with the 360Fly app you can use your device
as a viewfinder, or edit and share videos to your social media
feeds. The app is available for both Apple and Android devices and
there's a desktop version as well.
When watching videos on a smart phone users can either swipe the
screen to rotate the viewing angle or simply hold the camera in
front of them and then move in the direction they want to see the
video from. Rather than a passive viewing experience, the viewer
now becomes integrated into the video, changing the perspective
from what's ahead to what's behind, on the sides, above, or down
below. The lens does have its limitations and depending on where
the camera is mounted limits the downward view but still delvers an
awesome experience.
Add in the optional
[mageProductLink sku="725-flyvrblk" title=""]360Fly Mobile VR
Viewer[/mageProductLink] ($39.99) and you can take the viewing
experience into the exciting world of virtual reality. Utilizing
Google's Cardboard version 2.0 and a smart phone, viewers can
immerse themselves into the footage simply by looking up, down and
side to side. Other optional accessories include a Handlebar Mount
($29.99), Flat Adhesive Mount ($14.99 ) for securing the camera to
helmets, and the 360fly Action Camera Adapter ($19.99) which allows
you to mount the camera to GoPro mounts you might already have.
The 360Fly camera has already been getting great
responses from early testers and users. Even high profile athletes
like professional motocross/Supercross racer Chad Reed have
endorsed the camera; and the company is one of Chad's sponsors for
his 2016 Supercross season.
[caption id="attachment_58184" align="alignright"
width="300"] Bell will be
offering its Bell Star and Moto 9 helmets with the 360Fly camera
integrated into them creating a sleek design for capturing all your
high-speed hijinks.[/caption]
Most recently Bell helmets announced that it was coming out with a
line of helmets with the camera integrated into them for a smoother
and lower profile look. Nestled into the top of the helmet the
camera goes almost unnoticed and word is it will be removable with
the ability to mount into other Bell helmets deigned for the Fly360
camera.