GoPro Omni Camera Specs, Release Date, Price: Why Is It The Perfect Camera For Budget-Conscious Filmmakers?

First Posted: Aug 12, 2016 06:26 AM EDT

GoPro has taken sports photography to another level by creating a highly durable camera with professional quality that could work on the rough terrain adrenaline junkie gravitates toward. Since then the company has been thinking of ways to expand. Finally it is now ready to introduce Omni 360 camera, a VR (vibration reduction) capture device which will start shipping next week for the whopping prize of $4,999.

According to digitaltrends.com, although the camera is quite expensive for a regular consumer, the Omni will be quite attractive to budget-conscious professional filmmakers who have set their minds on a 360-degree video without having to spend a fortune. The Omni camera which is expected to start shipping on August 17 includes an aluminum cube-shaped gear fitted with six Hero4 Black action cameras which if put together can create a 360-degree video at a final resolution of up to 8K.

Each of the six cameras with the Omni rig uses a customized version of GoPro's software; this can also records a bunch of metadata that will come in handy during the editing process later. The metadata collected does not only include timing information, it also has data on where in the rig the camera was placed.

Omni will be shipped with a copy of Kolor's VR stitching software, which GoPro has managed to acquire a little over a year ago. This software can be used in the stitching process. The software automates the process making it possible to stitch, edit and render a 360-degree video for YouTube, Facebook or even VR headsets within a few minutes, variety.com reported.

Other notable features for the Omni include: pixel synchronization, "error-proof" shooting, heat dissipation, modular parts, and metadata management. Uploadvr.com also reported that GoPro has also created GoPro VR which is an online hub to view your 360 creations. It can be accessed using the web, desktop or mobile. GoPro VR is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones.