Fixing focus on the Gear 360

The 1st test of the Gear 360 on the pole was a failure. The Samsung recorded a 4k timelapse for only 15 minutes, overheated & stopped, but didn't power down. The Gopro recorded 4k 30fps for the full 28 minutes. Mechanically, the setup worked quite well. Would definitely brace with the big tripod while setting up the tent posts. It wobbled in the wind. It couldn't be extended completely. The wobble was quite obvious in the gopro footage, but the Samsung stabilized all of it out. Sadly, the Samsung's rear camera was out of focus.


The improvement from elevating the camera 11 ft was only obvious nearby, while the horizon was virtually unchanged. It might get over people's heads. Combined with the wobble, a quad copter would have been a better solution.


Important to note the Samsung only records timelapse in 3840x1920. Only single photo mode takes 7776x3888, in which case the broken rear camera was horribly out of focus & the edges of the FOV on both cameras were worthless. Photo mode does extract more detail from the center of the cameras. Making a timelapse would require cracking it open & wiring a remote control to it.


The most reliable way to start recording was decidedly pressing the buttons with the pole retracted & then extending it. Use a mirror to view the Samsung's display. Any wireless method is more risky.


The Samsung's long rehabilitation began with repairing the focus. It required digging all the way down to the sensors. Out of pure luck, the problem was merely a razor thin gasket added to the rear camera to make it nearsighted. Just remove the gasket to make it focus farther away. This one had only 1 gasket. Any more shift would require grinding plastic.


The cameras are obviously focused by a factory girl mounting them on a test jig & adding razor thin gaskets to the optical stack until they look focused. For all the system integration involved in putting together the beast, it was crippled by this 1 error prone step.


Testing it in outdoor conditions will require much more work. The amount of work in making it useful is like the camera modifications James Cameron once did for many projects. Sadly, there will be no movie moguls documenting the eclipse. It won't be captured in 4k hydrogen alpha or 360 from a copter overlooking a vast plain. The industry doesn't have the impact it did 20 years ago to justify such projects & it's completely consumed by politics. The best footage may just be Casey Neistat showing a few seconds shot with a handheld Samsung phone.