Ricoh has announced the Theta SC2, price tag £269.99 / $299.99, its latest 360 camera which can record 4K video at up to 30fps.
A successor to the Theta SC, Ricoh’s new 360 camera retains the familiar obelisk-shaped body design and houses a 14-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor.
Now capable of recording 4K video (the SC recorded Full HD), the Theta SC2 boosts video quality further with built-in in stabilisation to correct camera shake and real-time internal stitching.
It’s worth noting, though, that 4K video recording is limited to 3-minute clips.
A new Night View mode is Ricoh’s answer to smartphone night modes and employs noise reduction and dynamic range correction to capture natural-looking images in low light. Ricoh recommends a tripod for use with this mode, however.
A new Face Mode detects faces in your scenes and centres them within the frame. The SC2 also applies exposure compensation and noise reduction to brighten skin tones.
Other modes include Underwater and Lens-by-Lens Exposure, the latter which controls the camera independently for scenes in which light is much stronger on one side of the camera than the other.
Other new features include an OLED display on the front of the SC2 which tells you your settings and battery life. There’s also a self-timer button, 14GB of internal storage, WiFi and Bluetooth and Ricoh says data transfer speeds are 4x faster on the Theta SC2 than its predecessor.
The Ricoh Theta SC2 will be available in white, beige, blue and pink, with a release date set for mid-December.