DJI teaser all-but-confirms 360-degree camera launch

DJI has released a teaser for a product launch that can only be the rumored Osmo 360 on July 31 – just a few days away. It looks as though the company is now definitely making the anticipated play for the 360-degree camera market.

What, though, can we learn – other than the launch date – from the brief video clip that the company has shared on social?

Something that at least confirms we're probably looking at a 360 device is that we see a flash of a square imaging chip just before the "camera" we're seeing it from moves back to reveal the two lenses.

Two fish-eye lenses, arranged back-to-back, should afford a 360-degree view, and this is the pattern we see on all the best 360-degree cameras. Some, admittedly, are not arranged precisely, but that's one of the reasons, historically, why the cameras haven't been quite as good – for example, the GoPro Max's offset arrangement seems slightly less able to get perfectly stitched spherical video than the Insta360 X series.

The sphere of video (or stills) is what the 360-degree content is recorded as, even if it is then presented in other ways.

That leads us to another point. Market leader Insta360 has an extensive range of software tools, and GoPro, too, has been extending theirs. If DJI is to enter the space, will the company bring their own, or rely simply on 3rd party applications out there already?

All of this remains to be seen, but software is a massive part of getting the best out of a 360 camera.

I'll also be looking, very closely, at whether DJI can meet or exceed Insta360's 8K spec (and if so, at what frame rate). If they do, how long will the camera be able to shoot for on one battery (or at a time without overheating)?

Perhaps – too – that proud flash of the sensor in the video clip might mean we ought to be paying attention to the size of the imaging chip? Certainly, DJI has done well with the Action 5 Pro and Action 4 thanks to their large imaging sensors that help get better results in low light – is this another opportunity to get one over on the established competition?

We don't have long to wait before we find out!

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If you want to check out the existing competition, the market leader is definitely the Insta360 X5 (which I also compared to its predecessor: X5 v X4).

We also keep hearing rumors and teasers – but seeing nothing concrete – about a new 360-degree camera from GoPro – the latest even seemed to show it in use dropping out of a plane!