KanDao QooCam 3 Review: Life Is More Than One Angle
Disclaimer: Kandao sent us a unit of the QooCam 3 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
The thing about humans is that we crave the ability to reminisce. Nostalgia is an important trait in defining our individuality. It makes a lot of sense why consumer technology is so focused on developing the highest resolution image sensory possible. Smartphone cameras and action cameras have revolutionized what it means to be able to capture memories. But do they really capture exactly what you’re experiencing? After all, your frame is only immortalizing one direction of view. This is where the KanDao QooCam 3 aims to change the game. 360 degree action cameras aren’t uncommon, but KanDao seems to have almost perfected the seamless interaction between capturing and sharing. It’s easier than ever to capture the exact immersive environment you’re standing in and I’m surprised at how useful something like this can be.
retail Price: $389.99
The KanDao QooCam 3 is compact and travel-friendly
all angles included
So what exactly is the QooCam 3 from a hardware standpoint? KanDao essentially threw on two ultra-wide fisheye lenses (one on each side) that records 5.7K photos and videos simultaneously. That means every single angle both front and back, up and down, is recorded at a press of a button. We’ve been hit with a few storms the past few weeks that I’ve had the QooCam 3, but when weather was permitting, I took it out with me on leisurely hikes through a park. I never realized just how much information I was missing when trying to record memories with a single camera frame like that on my smartphone or DSLR. It’s quite effortless to film using a 360 degree action cam as you don’t actively need to frame the shot. That means you can act freely and be more immersed in the moment instead of maintaining a perfect frame like you would holding a single shot.
A lot of what makes this camera work in the environments that it's supposed to inhabit is thanks to the selfie stick that is invisible. It is surprisingly cool to see it work as the images become a third person perspective. The camera has an algorithm that will remove the stick from the shot as soon as you start recording. It does look a bit strange in certain angles as you’ll be holding an arm out unnaturally with nothing in your hand, but I can also see this being a beneficial look for other activities.
I found myself haphazardly waving the invisible selfie stick around without focusing on keeping a steady hand like I normally would on any other platform. Shockingly when I went to view the footage, I found everything I had filmed was stable and smooth. That’s because the stabilization KanDao has built into the product is a six-axis gyroscope. From my understanding, a three-axis gyro works with a three-axis accelerometer to measure the acceleration in the three axes. On top of all of that, the QooCam 3 will automatically balance the frame by correcting the horizontal axis at all times.
sharp images and videos
With a F1.6 aperture shooting at 5.7K resolution, this camera is quite sharp. Images can pop in certain scenes and I found the results to be rather vibrant. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the video quality looked better than I envisioned a 360 degree camera could capture. I mainly shot videos at 5.7K resolution which is traditionally a cap on 360 degree camera resolutions. At the 5.7K mode, the only FPS setting it can shoot at is 30 FPS. From what I can see, activities such as running are perfectly suitable at 30 FPS. If you drop the resolution down to 4K, KanDao allows you to film at up to 60 FPS. That’s traditionally more useful to up the FPS count if you want to try slow motion capture. Of course anytime you’re working with fisheye lenses, you’ll run into some sort of barrel distortion. You can either embrace that style or play around with it using the smartphone companion app.
Speaking of that app, KanDao seems to have developed an app specifically for this device that is separate from their other app that links with their other products. Connecting and updating the firmware is effortless. I actually mean that. It was hassle free and a refined user experience for sure. The app has the ability to create some social media worthy content by utilizing keyframing and intelligent tracking of your recorded footage to create interesting edits. By providing templates for the edit, you can do things like motion delay, which makes a seamless long walk feel short, or something wild like an Inception inspired zoom in of a subject. The app even gives you tutorial walkthroughs of how to attempt these shots. There’s a lot of unique fun to be had if you invest in the time to master the capabilities that the QooCam 3 and the KanDao companion app offer.
minor hiccups, but mostly good
It isn’t all perfect though as there are some small software hiccups that should be easily fixed by an OTA update. For example, the camera’s timestamp is locked in Chinese. It’s not a big deal as even if you can’t read Chinese, dates and time are universally understood for the most part. As I’m located in the North American market, I tried finding settings to change it out of Chinese, but I have yet to discover a way to alter the language. I also occasionally run into a black screen while editing on my OnePlus 12R. A simple close out of the app fixes it, but I’d have to start the edit from the beginning. Once again, none of these things are detrimental to the experience, but I thought I should note it in this review.
Battery life
A single battery lasts for about 25 minutes of video recording time. It could be better, but the batteries charge up at a respectable pace so you should be able to get back out there after a short coffee break. The batteries are interchangeable and sealed nicely inside by a solid flap. Each battery is 1600 mAh. The camera doesn’t come with an external way of charging the batteries so I had to rely on the trusty USB-C cable to plug into the camera directly to charge. You’ll have to keep the flap open while charging as the ports and card slots are all concealed for water resistance. That’s actually a big deal because with an IP68 rating, you can technically take the QooCam 3 underwater with you to capture whatever sea or lake adventures you go on. KanDao says you’re able to submerge 33 ft underwater with the QooCam 3 and it’ll handle your work fine. I haven’t been able to go to Hawaii to test this out (wouldn’t that be nice), but the next time I’m in paradise I’m planning on taking the QooCam with me.
camera modes
With three main video modes that include timelapse, and loop recording, you can plant the camera down and have it work for you. The same thing applies to photos as the QooCam 3 can shoot at 11K intervals for photos to make something of a flipbook.
This camera system has a lot of well thought out design implementations integrated into a pretty small package. The QooCam 3 tech fits into the body of a square that sits completely within the palm of my hand. There’s some weight behind the product, which makes it feel like more of a premium product than it would initially seem to be. The entire camera can be operated through the two buttons on the top of the camera and the 1.9 inch LCD touchscreen that has another two capacitive touch buttons. One is programmable to do whatever you want it to, while the other one toggles between the front and back cameras. It is an incredibly simple device to operate. There’s no real front or back orientation as either of the camera sensors can technically be the front, although you’ll probably want to use it with the LCD display facing your face. Still, the QooCam 3 has tremendous flexibility and seems troubleproof.
There are four microphones built-in at different directions that capture four-channel audio. As with the video aspect of operation, you don’t need to necessarily point at a specific area to pick up audio from a subject.
final thoughts . . .
i’ve never been a huge patron of shooting 360 degree videos, but kandao makes it so simple with this device that i’m starting to feel like i missed out on obtaining a lot of information when i would take videos or pictures with a regular camera In The Past.
I’m rather surprised at how much I liked the KanDao QooCam 3. I’ve never been a huge patron of shooting 360 degree videos, but KanDao makes it so simple with this device that I’m starting to feel like I missed out on obtaining a lot of information when I would take videos or pictures with a regular camera in the past. Who is it specifically for though? I don’t foresee people buying this to take on vacation to replace their video camera to capture memories. So does that make this camera strictly for content creators looking to put together some cool reels? I’d be interested to see what other applications people could use this for outside of the hardcore adventurists who put themselves into gnarly situations regularly. There’s some terrific technology wrapped into the KanDao QooCam 3 and it needs its audience to keep expanding.
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