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Orientated Imagery Cameras

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11-23-2022 06:53 AM
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BobHenry1
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Emerging Contributor
‎11-23-2022 06:53 AM

We are looking at passive imagery collection during field visits.  The idea is to have a storehouse of imagery that can be later referenced if there are any questions.  Looking for recommendations from the community for cameras to capture still/video with GPS for input into the Orientated Imagery environment.  I've looked at GoPro and Ricoh Theta but wondering if anyone has real life experience with these or other devices.

Thanks!

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ClarkSelby
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Regular Contributor
‎04-09-2025 11:18 AM

We mainly use GoPro and Insta360 cameras.  However, the X3 and X4 do not have an onboard magnetometer and therefore do not directly support image direction as shown in this image in green on the right: 

ClarkSelby_0-1744222338008.png

The image above is a 360° Photo Experience Builder widget that uses a photos-to-points approach:
View on Esri Marketplace

There are a few things that you can do, depending on your situation: 

  1. Populate image direction from trajectory. If your camera is on a fixed mount or otherwise does not move/rotate significantly during collection, this may be an option. There’s a tool called Geotagged Media Tools toolbox that does this: https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis-marketplace/listing/products/da29d507234d4292871cf44b563cecd5. This can also be done fairly easily via Python if you’re comfortable with it.
  2. Collect as video, process using direction lock (if necessary), then extract photos from the video. This can also be done using the toolbox.
  3. Manually populate the information (admittedly not the most fun option).
  4. Leave direction information blank for these photos. The photos will still display but will not show the direction.

There are only two cameras that we know of at a price point below 10k that have onboard magnetometers and embed that data into the metadata – both are Ricoh Thetas. The GoPro MAX technically has an onboard magnetometer, but they don’t include that data in photos – only video. 

There are methods to calculate/estimate direction data by combining the onboard sensors (gyroscope, accelerometer) with the location information. 

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