Back in April, GoPro first teased its upcoming Fusion spherical camera. It shot 360-degree panoramic footage that the viewer could subsequently pan and tilt within, to view the action from different perspectives. Well, the company has now announced pricing and availability, along with some other details.
The Fusion actually consists of two cameras – one on the front, and one on the back. These record at the same time, with their 5.2K/30fps footage being "seamlessly" stitched together to form one overall panoramic image.
The whole rig is waterproof down to 16 ft (5 m).
Utilizing the OverCapture feature, users will be able to pull traditional HD-quality videos or stills from the overall image. This means that after shooting a video with the Fusion, you could just stick with the one interactive version, or you could also create numerous non-interactive sub-videos that show the action from fixed angles of your choice.
Viewing options include Angel View, in which it appears that the footage was shot with the camera floating out in front of the user (it was actually on a pole, which is cropped out in the stitching process); Little Planet, in which it appears that the camera is looking down on a spherical landscape; and Panoflow, which creates a time-lapse pan of the footage.
The Fusion is available now for pre-order, priced at US$699.99, and is expected to begin shipping in November. You can click-and-drag your way through some of its footage, in the video below.
Source: GoPro
