More information about Insta360’s new camera, the Insta360 ONE, is trickling out after Monday’s announcement.
On Monday, we learned that the Insta360 ONE will be able to capture 4K 360 video at 30 fps, but also has an interesting feature that allows users to capture a scene in 4K 360 video and crop out flat 1080p fixed frame video after the fact using the ONE’s companion app. Its smart tracking and bullet time features are also pretty interesting for unique use cases of 360 video.
“You can put it on a selfie stick and it’s like some invisible camera man is shooting a video of me,” said Lok Cheung, from our sister site, Photogearnews.com. But, he adds, the free capture video quality needs work. “Maybe that’s because this is a pre-production model. Maybe the retail model will be better or later they’ll improve it with a firmware update.”
However cool those features might be, they’re dedicated to fixed frame uses and the quality needs to improve a bit before it can really compare to other fixed frame cameras. So, this post focuses on the camera’s performance as a 360 camera to ask the big question: how does it compare to existing 4K 360 cameras?
360 video samples from the Insta360 ONE
Insta360 has shared samples from the ONE, including from a wingsuit flight and inside a jet:
Overall, the exposureThe measurement of the brightness and range (latitude) of light being captured by the camera. Exposure is governed by ca... More looks pretty good, though there is a lack of detail in the shadows. The stitching in the jet video was quite apparent, due to the proximity of the camera to the frame of the jet, but the stitching in the wingsuit example looks pretty seamless even as we fly by objects.
The camera also offers full manual control, including shutter speeds up to 60 seconds.
What really sets the camera apart from other 360 cameras is its ability to capture in LOG and Raw formats.
But, it’s also published sample footage from the camera’s LOG mode. Although the sample footage looks very gray, shooting in LOG format gives users more control when it comes to color grading.
The camera can also capture Raw images, meaning the photos are stored in their most original format without any processing, so the user has maximum editing flexibility. The Insta360 ONE’s stitched images remain in Raw format and are stored as DNG files, which are recognized by Adobe and almost all major image editing tools that offer raw editing.
Since the camera was announced on Monday, we’ve also learned that it will be compatible with Android devices via an adapter. The benefit here is that you can then use the same camera across devices, if you have both an Android and an iOS device. The Android adapter and app are expected to release in October, but that timeline isn’t set in stone yet.
Also, with the camera’s internal stabilization and automatic leveling, it’s actually a particularly good option for vlogging and live streaming (which it can do at 4K resolutions). Regardless of the camera’s orientation, down will always be down and the nadirThe bottom of the sphere. of your video will always be on the ground.
Another cool feature is that it can also work with iPads, as Lok pointed out. Not that you would shoot with it on an iPad, but you could connect the camera to your iPad to export the videos. Then, you can takeIndividual instance of a shot; a take = each time the camera is started and stopped. advantage of the larger screen and keep your phone free for other tasks. Plus, you probably have more storage on your tablet than your smartphone.
We’ll share more information about the Insta360 ONE as it becomes available.
