My conclusions about the Panaroma

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Larrygee

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I've been running this Panaroma for almost 6 months now and here are my thoughts;

1) very reliable platform. Runs consistently without hiccups
2) simple menu driven features
3) great daylight and good low light videos
4) easy to update firmware
5) reasonably priced for the quality

Here's what I don't like:

1) the fish eye lens. Very difficult for viewer to gauge distances. I can be 5' behind a car and the image on the camera and on replay makes it look like the car is 30' away.
2) shock sensor. No matter how much I adjust this setting, even the slightest bump will display the "crash" image.

Overall it's a great camera but my next camera will have a narrower field of view to get a less distorted image.
 
Larrygee said:
I've been running this Panaroma for almost 6 months now and here are my thoughts;

1) very reliable platform. Runs consistently without hiccups
2) simple menu driven features
3) great daylight and good low light videos
4) easy to update firmware
5) reasonably priced for the quality

Here's what I don't like:

1) the fish eye lens. Very difficult for viewer to gauge distances. I can be 5' behind a car and the image on the camera and on replay makes it look like the car is 30' away.
2) shock sensor. No matter how much I adjust this setting, even the slightest bump will display the "crash" image.

Overall it's a great camera but my next camera will have a narrower field of view to get a less distorted image.
Click to expand...

Good truthful conclusion.
I am also supporter of narrow FOV so front view cars numberplates will be closer.

About G-sensor sensitivity issue you right, It was known, but after FW v1.12.03 this has been resolved. Try v1.12.03 or 1.12.06 and you see the difference.
 
Larrygee said:
1) the fish eye lens. Very difficult for viewer to gauge distances. I can be 5' behind a car and the image on the camera and on replay makes it look like the car is 30' away.
Click to expand...

I agree.

That said, it's easier to ensure everything is focused better with a wide angle lens, than otherwise. For me the tradeoff was choosing between wide or narrow angle. I went with wide angle, to ensure I got as much as possible in view. Just in case I ever need it. Since multi lens cameras combing their views into one movie isn't good enough ( yet ) to equal or better my Panorama II. If or when that happens I WANT ONE:D. Especially if they mirror the view my eyes feel is normal.

As mentioned elsewhere in this forum, dashcam technology is improving all the time
 
JazJon said:
Let me confirm what the Panorama 122 hardware is capable of.
Click to expand...

This raises the question, Do all Panorama II dashcam's use the 122 hardware ? or if not, how do we tell if my model does?
 
The Panorama is the Zoran Coach 12P - no dewarping listed for that though:

http://www.csr.com/news/zo/release/511/en

The Coach 14 can do it though:

http://www.csr.com/news/pr/2013/coach-drives-garmin-virb-action-cam

In addition, COACH14 internal lens correction capabilities enable VIRB users to choose either fish-eye look or undistorted video. COACH14 also delivers proven stills processing capabilities, ensuring still images taken with the VIRB's 16 megapixel camera are of the highest quality. These capabilities include photo burst, time lapse options and stills photography while recording video.
Click to expand...

Who knows, maybe this will appear in a higher end dash cam sometime?
 
spotnz said:
This raises the question, Do all Panorama II dashcam's use the 122 hardware ? or if not, how do we tell if my model does?
Click to expand...

The PanoramaII (and new Panorama S) both use a CSR Zoran Coach 12P ZR364242BCCG Processor and a Sony Exmor IMX122LQJ CMOS sensor. The new S model added a metal base for the option CPL magnets
 
dewarping of the image to get rid of the fish bowl effect, A7 can support this on some models, can be done via video editing software also
 
Here we go look this was from when I had the A7 device and was playing with firmwares. The top shows what a dewarped fisheye video would look like, i.e. straight lines, and the second one shows what a fisheye still looks like with the bendy lines when it's not had dewarp applied:

2d97lfk.png


In my case it was the wrong way around and it had a normal lens fitted which didn't need dewarp, so the dewarp ended up warping my images - quite interesting seeing exactly what it does though.
 
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