In 2016, Insta360 released their first hardware in the form of the Insta360 Nano. Insta360 was founded in 2015 by JK Liu and Insta360 is the DBA for Arashi Vision Inc. As it turns out, even if one is only somewhat familiar with video editing and processing, getting the hang of this doesn’t take much time at all. Since I’ve never worked with a 360 type camera, I was concerned that this might have a steep learning curve. Insta360 recently sent me one of their One X2 cameras for a review. This can make for a much more interesting video and it can be done with one device instead of multiple ones. Having footage of everything surrounding the camera means a rider can now choose what to show throughout the video by changing the displayed portion of the video, or “re-framing”. These typically use two lenses back to back that capture two 180 degree videos-and then, through software, combine them into a single video that can capture everything around it.
INSTA 360 ONE X AFFILIATE PROGRAM FULL
More recently, a wider range of action cameras are available that shoot a full 360 degree sphere around the camera. Most of the cameras are limited of course to showing just the one view in which you have the camera pointed. These small cameras are great for motorcyclists who want to capture their rides.
In creating a different kind of action camera - one whose lenses you can swap out for a 360 camera - and pairing it with a robust app, Insta360 offers a compelling alternative.Over the past few years, action cameras have come way down in price and steadily up in quality. Unless something unprecedented happens in the world of action cameras, it’s hard to see any company topping GoPro’s annual innovations. You can get the One RS with just the 4K lens for $299, but if you want just an action camera, then go with the GoPro. By comparison, the Insta360 One RS with the 4K Boost Lens and 360 Lens costs $549.99. While you sacrifice a little in the name of video quality, you can have two cameras in one.Īs of this writing, you can get the GoPro Hero10 with a 32GB microSDHC card and a one-year subscription ($50/year) - which includes Unlimited cloud backup and discounts on GoPro accessories - for $349. However, if you’re looking for the most versatile action camera, then the Insta360 One RS is the way to go. It has better video-recording capabilities, it’s slightly smaller, and because of its larger buttons and screen, it’s a little easier to use on the go. When it comes to the best action cams, I still think the GoPro Hero10 is the best around. One thing to note - if you’re editing video on your smartphone directly from the One RS, it will chew into your battery life pretty quickly, so I’d advise either downloading clips to your smartphone, or offloading them to your computer and editing them there via Insta360’s desktop app. Other editing tools include the ability to slow down or speed up specific sections of your video and Snapshot, which lets you take a picture of a particular moment. Going a step beyond, you can add music (the app offers a range of tracks). Insta360 One RS review: AppĪ lot of the magic of Insta360’s cameras lies not in the hardware, but in the company’s smartphone app, which lets you edit your footage in a number of very creative ways.įor all videos, you can adjust what it looks like by tweaking the color, contrast, and filters. The one minor issue I had, though, was that there was a good deal of wind noise when schussing down the slopes. I didn’t have a GoPro on hand to do a direct side-by-side comparison, but based on my past experience, while the GoPro was most likely better - you can rock it back and forth up to 45 degrees - you won’t have any complaints with the Insta360. The camera’s motion stabilization feature, known as Flowstate, also did a tremendous job in keeping the action smooth as I zigged and zagged down the mountain.