Ricoh Theta

Do I love technology? Maybe, to some extend. I definitely don’t enjoy technology influencing every aspect of our lives. And I’m definitely not that guy always standing around and photographing everything, like it was a miracle, while praising my camera and bragging about its specs. 

Though, I think you’ve noticed, there’s a lot of people doing so.. too many, to be exact. Probably Ricoh noticed it too, which is why the brand is providing them with another toy.

Ricoh has came up with a new device, called the Theta. It’s a slim, hand-held, pocket-friendly stick sporting two fish-eye lenses – one at the front and one at the back. This gadget is user friendly – I’d use another description, but let’s move on – and allows users to just hold it at any angle and press the shutter button on the front, and.. done.

 You’ve got yourself an all-round view of the world. That easy! The one shot spherical image produced can then be viewed on a synced iPhone, uploaded to social networks or transferred to a computer.

Theta features something Ricoh is calling an ultra-small twin-lens folded optical system - a prism at the center directs light to two image sensors. The unit’s power button and wireless on/off switch are on the side, and there’s a micro-USB port and tripod mount hole to the bottom. Theta also benefits from auto exposure control, and has ISO100 – 1600 sensitivity. Since Wi-Fi technology is available, the device syncs with smartphones via a dedicated free app.
[via]

Theta will be compatible with the iPhone, and Ricoh has promised that Android platform compatibility is on the way. Some details about the Theta for iPhone app: users can edit the size and shape of the picture, geo-tag images, remote shutter release. Theta comes with 4 GB of built-in storage – enough for about 1,200 images. The device’s Li-ion battery promises to last for up to 200 JPEG format images (with the Wi-Fi is switched on and the device synced with an iPhone) before needing to be topped up. Should be enough for anyone, right?

No clue about the actual resolution of the captured images, but Ricoh reps stated that Theta is designed for comfortable viewing on a mobile device, and that images are compressed before being transmitted to the phone. Theta will be available for pre-order at Ricoh’s online sales channels this month in France and Germany for €399 (tax included), the UK for £329 (tax also included) and the US for a pre-tax base price of US$399. A strap attachment is available separately. Live free, die hard and take pictures in between!