Image Quality

A major bugbear of the Theta m15 was its 6.4MP 3584x1792 image resolution, which though adequate for a normal photo, isn't nearly high enough when the image is stretched all around your viewpoint. The Theta S' 14.4MP resolution (that's the total image size formed by both 1/2.3-inch image sensors) is a big improvement, recording images at 5376x2688 pixels and providing a small but noticeable increase in detail. However, even at this resolution, there still isn't enough detail to be able to zoom in very far on any particular area of the panorama. That's because once the image is wrapped into a sphere, you're only ever looking at roughly 3MP of image at any one time.

Apart from the detail increase, the Theta S produces similar image quality to the Theta m15. Dynamic range is poor and there's a tendency for highlight areas to severely over expose. Chromatic aberration is also a problem with fringing being easily visible around areas of high contrast.

High ISO performance is another problem area. Grain is clearly visible, even at the base ISO 100 sensitivity, though it doesn't increase significantly until ISO 800, at which point minor colour speckling can also be spotted. The maximum ISO 1600 is best avoided, such is the severe increase in grain and corresponding loss of fine detail. Fortunately both lenses have a large f/2.0 maximum aperture, so moderately lit indoor scenes rarely can usually be captured at ISO 400 or below.

Noise

The Ricoh Theta S has a sensitivity range of ISO 100-1600 at full resolution which is adjustable in 1/3ev increments. Manual ISO control is only available when operating the camera remotely via the Theta S smartphone app, available for Android and iOS.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Macro

Ricoh quotes a minimum focus distance of 10cm for the Theta S. You'll need to be good at judging this distance by eye, as with no on-board live view or any kind of focus indication, you've got no way of knowing whether the camera has accurately focussed unless you shoot remotely via the app. That said, this is a device designed for capturing everything around you, not so much a single object at close range.

Night Scene

This night scene was shot at the maximum f/2.0 aperture over 1/8th second, which considering there's no optical image stabilisation is about as slow as you can go when shooting hand held. A sensitivity of ISO 1600 was necessary to maintain a bright exposure, but this has introduced a lot of grain and obscured fine detail. The Theta S is not suited to very low light photography.

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Ricoh Theta S.

This is a sample video from the Ricoh Theta S camera at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 10 second movie is 20.2Mb in size.

View the Movie

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