While I am disappointed in the quality of the images, I find the speed to be totally acceptable. I scanned a 1,750 sf ranch home + garage in non-HDR in <5 minutes and the same home in ‘time shift’ (to keep self out of photos) non-HDR in <7 minutes. Ok, that is more than acceptable, it is really good. But HDR is definitely slower, so I have to run those tests next. Because of my use case, I wouldn’t want it to be slower, but for most people the non-HDR seems like more than enough speed. And for users, I am thinking the HDR slowdown wouldn’t be an issue either.
Again though, these are NOT professional photos being taken. Great job Planitar with a speedy system. I think this definitely has its place. Now, charge $3 - $4k for something slower than Planix and a little faster than IMS-5 but with a professional sensor/lens combo.
100% Agree with you on the new camera. I hate the Theta Z1 (I have 2 of them) and you will get tons of artifacts due to the camera design and light bouncing off of it. I would only use the new system for floor plans only and not sure about that yet. My first test of the new camera was not very succesful. Tons of alignment issues. Issues that don’t happen with my older iGuide camera.
Here’s a test tour of my own home, excuse the mess, obviously I would take more time on a real tour. Looking at this, I think I brightened the panos a bit too much. The quality from a dslr shooting panos would be superior but the speed of shooting and post processing would take longer. As a virtual tour I think it does the job but additional professional photos and quality video would compliment the iGuide. I talked to a realtor yesterday and her firm wants all of the above. iGUIDE 3D Tour for 672 Brandenburg Blvd, Waterloo, ON
I’ve been using the theta z1 for about a year now. I agree that the image quality is not quite as good as I’d like. But I haven’t had any complaints from agents about the quality. In fact most of them have been delighted with what they received…Having said that though, I have always advised customers to get photos taken with my high end camera along with the panos. I just purchased the new Iguide system to work with my Theta z. So far I am impressed with the system.
Based on what I have seen lately the Z1 has become quite popular with Matterport and Zillow 3D. I’ve seen some samples of the new Planix system. Viewing on a phone or similar device it looks fine. I’m using a 49" Sony X800H as a monitor. I’ve viewed bother iGuides and Matterports fullscreen and they both look about the same. They don’t look great on a screen like this up close. My screen setup is not typical.