Automatic Zenith / Orientation Correction on Z1 and from THETA V firmware 3.00.1

[gerlos]

Moderator Note: The title of this post was changed to make it easier for the community to find this information on the firmware upgrade.

Hello, I saw that now (at least, in firmware 3.10) my Theta V seems to automatically correct Zenith orientation in camera - can anyone confirm?

I tried to take shots with camera in different orientations (e.g. upside down, or laying on one side) and always got shots with correct Zenith orientation and with Pitch and Roll EXIF tags resetted to zero (regardless if I downloaded the picture from smartphone app or from laptop).

Does anyone know if this feature can be temporarily disabled?

[codetricity]

There’s a way to do it in the API from v3.00.1 and later.

Notice of website closure

I’m not sure if the mobile app can do it.

@iantresman wrote an article about using the web API without programming.

Using the THETA Web API without programming (Remote photo app)

This might help those who don’t program. I have a Ricoh Theta SC, but it should work with other models. This method may enable you to interact with your camera, and with other Apps such as Tasker and IFTTT. You can also create shortcut icons on your Android desktop. This example shows how to make a shortcut to remotely take a picture. You can use the THETA Web API without programming. The “Info” protocol (I would have called it a command), can be accessed using your Browser because it uses the …

I have not used any of these types of “task” apps, but it might be worth explorer if the RICOH THETA official mobile app doesn’t support the parameter you want to change.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm

[gerlos]

Great info, thanks! I’ll give a try.

About the first question: can you please confirm that the correction is enabled by default in recent Theta V firmwares?

Thanks!

[craig]

I pulled the option from the camera and it does appear that the _topBottomCorrection is set by default. To change this, you need to use the API.

I did my test with firmware 3.21.1

Z1 Tests

Firmware and Model used in test

Test with _topBottomCorrection set to “Apply”

How to Verify Camera topBottomCorrection is set to Appl

Send this command

You should see this reponse.

Check to see if we can get orientation data

Exif Data
Camera is upright - no data on orientation

Camera is lying on side - not data on orientation

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Disabled

Sideways - we have data

Upright - we have data

Conclusion

it appears that the topBottomCorrection wipes out the metadata. To get the camera orientation, you need to “Disapply” the topBottomCorrection through the API

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Problems with Food Shots

I was trying to use the THETA Z1 as a food camera (alternative to my mobile phone). In this usage, I crop the picture to just show the food in non-360 before sharing on Facebook. I forgot that I had auto-leveling on and did not get a good shot of my onigiri.

What I was hoping for was a closeup of the unagi onigiri that shows clearer details. I’m going to experiment with this more.