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Add to SafariWhen comparing Ricoh Theta S vs LG 360 CAM, the Slant community recommends Ricoh Theta S for most people. In the question“What are the best 360-degree cameras?” Ricoh Theta S is ranked 1st while LG 360 CAM is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Ricoh Theta S is:
Allows manually tuning ISO, white balance, shutter speed, noise compression, and exposure compensation.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Offers good degree of manual control over image capture
Allows manually tuning ISO, white balance, shutter speed, noise compression, and exposure compensation.
Pro Straightforward to use
This device is very easy to use. Simply switch between photo or video capture by pressing a toggle on the side of the camera and then press the button on the front of the camera.
Pro Highly portable
The camera is small, making it easy to carry around. It can easily fit into a trouser pocket.
Pro Comes with a protective sleeve for carrying and storage
The protective sleeve is not only highly practical, but it also looks very sleek and doesn't add much bulk.
Pro Reasonable stitching quality
The Ricoh Theta app is reasonably successful at stitching. While artifacts and splicing issues can occur, they will usually not be noticeable during a casual viewing, only revealing themselves upon closer inspection.
Pro Real-time live preview via a smartphone app
The smartphone app allows previewing the footage that the camera is capturing. It can also adjust settings such as exposure and white balance.
Pro Built-in interval photography support
You can set intervals between images and the number of images you wish to take.
Pro Offers HD live streaming
You can live stream to YouTube in dual fisheye mode.
Pro Includes HDR mode
HDR mode allows the user to capture exactly what they see before them and helps take overall better-looking photos. HDR is particularly useful when capturing landscapes, low-lit scenes and scenes in which there is excessive sunlight.
Pro Compatible with the new Google Street View app
The app allows you to capture and publish your photo spheres instantly to Google Maps for people all over the world to explore.
Pro Perfectly placed shutter button
The shutter button is placed far from the power button in order to avoid accidentally turning off the camera instead of pressing the shutter button.
Pro Built-in service for uploading videos and pictures
Ricoh Theta S has a built-in service for uploading pictures and videos on social platforms such as Google+ and Flickr, making the whole process of uploading your work as seamless as possible.
Pro Takes high quality stills
The camera takes crisp 14.5MP stills with well judged colors. There's little noise or artifacting, and only minor stitching issues. It performs well both in daylight and in dim environments.
Pro Possible to attach to a tripod or monopod
Ricoh Theta has a standard tripod/monopod mount.
Pro Durable for casual use
Provided you take care with the lenses, the camera is more than able to hold up to casual use. It's made of a grippy, hard plastic and works in a temperature range of 0-40C.
Pro Highly portable
The LG 360 camera has a small rectangular frame with a plastic sheath that slides over its lenses to protect them from scratches. It's rather short and a little thick, which may make it feel a bit bulky. But even then, it's small enough to be carried around and fits comfortably in a pocket.
Pro Good bang for the buck
Most good 360 degree cameras cost upward fo $300. LG 360 is one of the few (if not only) 360-degree cameras that costs $200 and has great specs.
Pro Easy to use
The camera on its own is very simple to use. It only has two buttons: a power button and a shutter button.
Most of the time though it will be used in tandem with a smartphone which again, is pretty easy to do. Connecting a phone to the camera consists of selecting it from the phone's Wi-Fi settings like any other wireless network.
Pro Storage capacity can be increased
The micro SD card can be quickly removed and replaced with another if the user requires more storage. In this sense, the user is not limited to the built-in storage capacity of some other options.
Pro Comes with a protective lens cover for carrying and storage
The camera is easy to damage due to the protruding lens. However, it comes with a hard shell cover which keeps it protected when in your pocket/bag.
Pro Clear stills in good lighting
The LG 360 has one of the higher MP specs at 16MP, and the images have good clarity in well-lit areas.
Pro Allows manually tuning ISO, white balance, shutter speed and aperture
Gives you the option of tweaking the camera settings for capturing images in difficult situations and/or adding an artistic effect.
Pro Multi-purpose lens cover
The lens cover not only provides protection, but it also doubles as a small stand.
Pro Sharp videos in bright locations
When taken in good lighting, the higher resolution results in a fairly clear and sharp video.
Pro Real-time live preview via a smartphone app
The smartphone app allows previewing the footage that the camera is capturing. It can also adjust settings such as exposure and white balance.
Cons
Con Functionality is split among multiple apps
Capturing and editing is done via different apps, which only creates hassle for the user. This could have been avoided had there been only one app providing both functions.
Con No expandable storage
The camera is limited to the 8 GB of storage that it comes with.
Con Connectivity to the smartphone app over wifi
Smartphone app connects to the Ricoh Theta using wifi, that means, you can no longer be connected to the internet over wifi. Also the connection process is quite slow.
Con Poor quality smartphone app
Smartphone app usually can't find the device even if you are connected to the Ricoh Theta wifi. Usually you need to restart the app in order for it to see the device. And overall smartphone app quality is not very good.
Con Non-removable battery
The device's battery cannot be replaced.
Con The device can be easily damaged
You have to be extra careful in how you store the device due to its protruding lens design and the fact that it can easily fall over. The lenses are also not scratch resistant.
Con Low resolution video
Videos are recorded at 1080p and 30fps, which is relatively low as far as 360-degree cameras go.
Con Minor stitching issues can occur
When looking closely at an image, you may be able to notice some splicing issues with the stitching.
Con Cannot view photos or videos directly on the camera
Since there's no screen on the camera, the only way to view what you captured is to transfer them to your phone or PC. For most photos this is not an issue as the process is very fast, but unfortunately it's quite slow for videos that are large in size.
Con Stitching quality is poor
Con Third-party software is required to edit video
Neither the mobile app, nor the desktop program that the camera comes with can edit the captured footage.
Con Poor video quality
The stitching in videos is much more evident than in the photos. The video loses a fair amount of clarity in low light settings.
Con It's easy to accidentally damage the device
You have to be extra careful in how you store the device due to its protruding lens design which makes it quite easy to damage.
Con Indicator lights are difficult to see in the daylight
When outdoors on a sunny day, the indicator lights can be very difficult to make out. For example, it can be difficult for the user clearly see whether the camera is recording or not.
Con Photos are out of focus
Only a small area at the center of each lens is capture properly in focus. Everything else is blurry to some degree with nearby areas being especially poor. Plus, the stitching quality is not that great either.
