The front of the Nikon KeyMission 360... and, er, the
back. Well, we think it’s that way around... isn’t it?Top view – we’re sure of it – shows off
the twin lens configuration. Of course,
each lens also has its own sensor.Separate buttons are
provided for video start/stop
and shutter release for stills.23
ON TRIAL NIKON KEYMISSION 360
presets, again for daylight, cloudy,
tungsten lighting and fl uorescent
lighting. Again, depth-of-fi eld takes
care of sharpness. There’s an
underwater mode, but the KM 360
also has Nikon’s ‘Active D-Lighting’
processing for dynamic range
expansion in contrasty situations
and, given the size of the pixels,
this is a facility well worth having.
Stills are captured as JPEGs at
7744x3872 pixels if you use both
lenses or at 3872x1936 pixels if
you shoot with just one to give a
more ‘conventional’ fi sh-eye view.
Video can be captured in the 4K
Ultra HD resolution of 3840x2160
pixels, but only at 24 fps. The 2K
options are Full HD 1080p at 24
fps or HD 960p at 25 fps while
the slowmo speeds are limited to
standard defi nition. The time-lapse
and ‘Superlapse’ recording options
are also available, but the KM 360
doesn’t have in-camera image
stabilisation. Instead, information
about all the camera’s horizontal,
vertical and rotational movements
along the way is recorded with the
footage and then used to correct
for camera shake during playback.
Like the KM 170, the 360
model is designed to take a bit
of punishment so its fully sealed
bodyshell is waterproofed down
to 20 metres – extended to
30 metres when you swap to
the supplied underwater lens
protectors – shock-proofed for
a drop of up to two metres and
insulated for sub-zero shootingdown to -10 degrees Celsius.
Obviously it’s dust-proof too.
The battery/card compartment
cover again has double locks so
it can’t accidentally fl ick open if,
for example, the camera takes
a knock. The KM 360 also uses
microSD cards and the same
EN-EL12 lithium-ion battery pack
as its sibling. This compartment
also contains the camera’s USB
and HDMI ports plus a switch
for selecting airplane mode so
the camera can be used without
it continually trying to connect
to your smartphone or tablet
(which, incidentally, also saves
on battery power). The battery is
recharged in-camera and then it’s
good for around 230 still images
or an hour of continuous video
recording. In practice, this actually
isn’t all that long – and is reduced
further if the camera is continually
communicating with a smart
device – so purchasing a second
or even third battery is a good idea
(especially as the camera is out of
action when recharging).
Unlike with the KM 170, the KM
360 isn’t supplied with a remote
trigger, but the former’s ML-L6
unit is available as an optional
accessory Given that you’re much
more likely to want to trigger this
camera remotely, it’s a curious
anomaly (but if you’ve bought both
cameras, you’re set). However,
there’s an otherwise handy kit of
supplied accessories including
a dedicated micro-USB cable,
two mounts with various base
adapters, a silicon jacket which
provides extra body protection and
the underwater lens protectors
mentioned earlier.CHALLENGES
Shooting 360-degree video or
stills is a whole new experience.
For starters, you’re always going
to be in the shot no matter where
you position yourself which is one
reason why remotely triggering
the camera is a good idea. It’s also
a good idea to mount the camera
in some way rather than shooting
hand-held which is quite hard
to do smoothly, but rather more
problematically, your hand gets in
the way of one or other lens. Using
a selfi e-stick is one option if you
really want to run-and-gun with the
KM 360 or, when shooting stills,
you can set the self-timer and
then fi nd somewhere to hide...
or pose yourself as part of the
image. Of course, you can alwaysSHOOTING
360-DEGREE VIDEO
IS A WHOLE NEW
EXPERIENCE. FOR
STARTERS, YOU’RE
ALWAYS GOING TO
BE IN THE SHOT
NO MATTER WHERE
YOU POSITION
YOURSELF
retouch the image post-camera.
The shutter release and record
start/stop buttons are also the
power-on buttons and there’s a
pair of indicator lamps which show
green when the KM 360 is in stills
mode, red when it’s in the video
mode. There’s also a battery power
indicator lamp which is yellow.
As noted at the start of this
article, the two 180-degree images
are stitched together in-cameraand this is mostly done very well
with the stitch only occasionally
noticeable... mostly if a close-up
object transitions from one lens to
the other because there actually
is a bit of a ‘black spot’ at the top,
bottom and sides of the camera at
around 60 cm or closer. However,
the overall effect is so absorbing,
you really don’t notice the odd
visual glitch. It’s more of a problem
when shooting 360-degree stillsCamMayJune17_018-025 NikonActionCams.indd 23 13/04/2017 9:56 AM