I’ve put off the real first look post on this camera until I had the finished product in my hands. I did have a video and post ready to go after the Double Exposure event. I didn’t post it, not because the hardware and software were bad, but because they weren’t finished. Seeing an unfinished product doesn’t help anyone decide to buy said product.

Before I continue, it should be noted this is only after a few hours of owning it and a bunch of sampling. A full review will be forthcoming. I’m having some fun with it so far, so let’s see what this little thing is all about.

I felt it was my duty to pick up the blue Re. I am a Maple Leafs fan after all! It almost matches my Reimer sweater. It measures a hair under four inches tall, an inch and a half between the edge of the lens and the edge of the capture button and the barrel diameter is 3/4 of an inch wide (Metric: ~10 x 3.81 x 1.905cm). There are only two buttons, a shutter button and a slow motion button. The micro-USB for charging and micro-SD slot are both on the bottom.

I purchased a 32GB card for the Re, as 8GB isn’t a hell of a lot for video. I’m not sure yet how I’ll be using this, but there are some truths that always apply: You can never have enough SD cards and it’s better safe than sorry. Changing the card involves removing the waterproof cover, giving the card a push and pulling it out. In practice this isn’t a lot of fun. The cover is continually in the way as it’s tethered to the bottom of the camera and the card doesn’t eject far enough for me. Tweezers would have helped, but I got it eventually.

Sample Photos

Rather than make a usual gallery I’m going to post a couple and talk about them a bit. Context is important in this part.

Normal Stills

It seems a little hit and miss here. The first photo is the Re taking a picture of the live view on my HTC M8. That one came out a bit fuzzy and off. The latter, however, is of acceptable quality. If you’re expecting full frame or APS-C quality out of a camera with a f/2.8 16 megapixel sensor, prepare to be disappointed.

Ultra Wide Angle

Of the last two photos, one is with wide angle and one isn’t. Can you guess which one? This ultra wide angle setting was something I was eager to test and left me wanting in the end. All my test shots leave a huge fisheye effect on the photo. The picture of the bench seat shows just how exacerbated it can be. In the Re app, it is possible to turn a wide angle shot into a regular shot, but something curious happens there:

It is actually named “defisheye”. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. I’m saying know what’s going on here with the wide angle shots. There are surely some really creative people out there who could use this to their artistic advantage. That or make every iPhone bend…

Video

I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t admit my stupidity here. I never turned ultra wide angle off before I shot this video. I’ll do a proper comparison for the full review, but the big takeaway here (aside from dat fisheye) is the audio is actually quite good. The microphone is essentially a pinhole affair atop the camera. As I walked through those crisp New York Autumn leaves, you can hear the crunch really well. I’m not disappointed at all with the Re video functionality.

I realize there is a lot missing here. It is important to remember this is not the full review. This is playtime for us, and in a week or so of actually using the Re properly there will be much much more to say. Stay tuned for that fun!