Insta360 or GoPro?

[@hughburgess4168]

Thank you Steve! I use an iPhone 13. Your video is an excellent pointer to the next step. ⛵️

[@lagerheadadventureco]

Thank you! Your camera gear videos are so informative!

[@Nunyabizn3ss]

This is really neat. When I think of 360 cameras, I envisage a weird bubble distorted view of the world. This is really eye opening.

[@FlesHBoX]

I've seen a lot of positive reviews of the insta360 stuff, and was pretty sure I would be picking up at least a One RS 1", and probably the 1 inch 360 edition for my motorcycle. But had always had that little bit in the back of my head thinking "are these reviews legit? Are these reviewers actually knowledgeable, or are they just reading copy written by insta360?" And found myself being constantly pulled back toward gopro, since they have been the "standard" for so long. So knowing your professional background, your opinion carries a lot of weight. I definitely will be going insta360 whenever I get around to picking up an action cam.

[@svfairisle]

I’ld like to try the 1 inch version, but for you on a motorbike you probably won’t be seeing much of a lift over the standard versions (unless you’re shooting low light) Action type footage is usually best with a pretty wide field of view. The 1 inch lens will come into it’s own if you’re wanting to place the camera but then pick out subjects, so using a borrow field of view and therefore less pixels, the 1 inch version should cope better with that, although as I said I’ve yet to try one.

[@FlesHBoX]

@@svfairisle Yeah, I figure why not grab the 1inch so when it's not on the bike I can take advantage of the larger lens, even if it doesn't mean a whole lot when it's on the bike. :)

[@svfairisle]

Yes that's true but just be careful with the quality of the mounts. It's a heavier camera than the X series and there have been reports of people breaking mounts when using the camera as an action cam.

[@FlesHBoX]

@@svfairisle oof, good to know!

[@carltondodd953]

Another outstanding factual technical video that is brilliant go watch.

[@davidyendoll5903]

Thanks for this video . I have very little experience of cameras ; I have mainly used digital cameras to record days out and holidays , but no video filming . You have shown how modern equipment makes amateur filming efforts look a whole lot more professional and I am sure your video will have people like me delve into video filming . What I would like to know now is how much memory space is needed , both on board the cameras and your laptop , and maybe how you manage your film archives . Very inspiring , thank you .

[@svfairisle]

Thanks David, that could certainly be a subject for a future video. Having a good workflow is key really as it can make your life very hard if you get it wrong!

[@ianpaterson3092]

Try a small rubber band around the microphone wire and in the groove on the insta 360 microphone adaptor it helps keep the wire out of the stich line.

[@sailinghaldis]

Agree completely, GoPro is glitchy. Not sure why. I have have the same issues with it automatically turning off and the screen lock which is only remedied with battery removal. I have a much smaller and insignificant sailing channel so I will wait to upgrade for the time being😊.

[@stanleysteamcar]

Great review Steve. Thank you. GoPro are really getting a bad press at the moment and since Insta have come along, I've not heard anything bad from the sailing community about them and to get a thumbs-up from a pro camera operator like you is always a good sign. The whole set-up inc those great sticks are so well thought out. Hopefully, you'll be able to try one of those fully waterproof drones from Inanix, but I don't think they're on sale yet.

[@svfairisle]

well the waterproof drone thing is interesting. The PowerVision Egg that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago is a good option but is slightly hindered in some conditions by the fact you are shooting through the perspex bubble so can get flare and reflections, I have a idea though to utilize the insta360 on the drone by simply suspending it from the bottom. In theory this should work really well as the stabilization is excellent, I can pick whatever view I want so dont have to point the drone in any particular direction and I can get the nice shot from below to above water as I take off. Weirdly I'm also going to try out the new Splashdrone as they want to send me one to review even after I trashed their last waterproof drone in the PowerVision video, should be interesting!

[@ianpaterson3092]

Thanks for the Insta360 review the insta cameras are a gamechanger .Ditched the Glitchy gopro a year ago I amsuprised it has taken some youtubers so long to convert to insta keep up the good work.

[@steven_vogt]

Glad to have discovered your channel! I have also become disenchanted with GoPro over time and have started to consider switching to Osmo or Insta360.

[@budlaumer]

I bought a GoPro when we moved to Spain and it was a huge disappointment. There was an issue with my new--at the time--M1 Mac not being supported and then there were the glitches. Question: What do you use for editing and photo management? I need to organize my legacy materials and I'm reluctant to make more content until I solve this question

[@yarpenzigrin1893]

I'd go for DJI Action 3. It's important to get one manufactured after november 2022 though, it's a revised version where focus issues were solved.

[@svfairisle]

I haven’t tried the DJI action cams, but after the bad experience I had with their customer service with their drones I won’t be going in that direction.

[@yarpenzigrin1893]

@@svfairisle Yeah, the vast majority of these Chinese manufacturers don't have any customer support. In that case I'd pick GoPro, Insta360 is also a Chinese company and I don't expect their customer service to be much better than DJI.

[@pentaman24]

Good review. GoPro glitches are frustrating but their colour is better that the 360’s. I could easily when your shots were filmed in the 360 because the colour is washed out. Still, it’s good to have more competition in the action camera genre.

[@svfairisle]

I think GoPro do have a good colour gamut out of the can, shooting in log and grading your footage can give you great images on the 360 though if you want to spend the time getting the look you want

[@DIYNauticalDream]

The insta 360RS looks like a great replacement for the gopro Hero 11 we bought a few months ago. I am so frustrated with the gopro 11. Of course, we went out and bought every accessory for it at the same time. We could have bought a nice Canon with the money we spent. Our experience with gopro has not been good. We own 2 now and will likely never buy one again. Did you ever get the dual microphones to work with the insta 360RS? By the way, we love your videos. I think you may have sold us on the insta 360rs

[@svfairisle]

I only shot this 3 days ago so haven't got an update on the dual mono issue yet

[@DIYNauticalDream]

@@svfairisle okay 👍.

[@viratchopra]

The video quality from insta 360 is not good, your video is pixelated on a 4k tv

[@svfairisle]

Filming on a 360 camera means you are shooting 5.6K but you are then picking a section of the image to show. Depending on how narrow the angle you pick will define the resolution available for that image. I am editing on a 1920 x 1080 timeline not a 4K one and my videos are exported in this resolution so viewed on a large screen 4K capable monitor they may seem less defined than something that has been kept in 4K throughout with any camera. It's just a choice you make in the production process. If I thought many of my viewers were watching on very large screens I would choose a different approach, but the vast majority of YT views are on phones and tablets and at the most PC's. I can see that from the analytics. It should not appear pixelated however and certainly doesn't when I view it. Are you sure you have a fast enough connection? Pixelation is usually a function of the bit rate of the camera not it's resolution. The Instas record with good bit rates, again though this can and will be throttled back in the edit unless you are producing material for the big screen and choose to keep all the file sizes high because of that.

[@viratchopra]

@@svfairisle Thanks for the clarification, i was watching on a 65inch tv, all your videos are a delight to watch.

[@svfairisle]

@@viratchopra Thanks, sorry they’re not 4K!

[@CPTCleoTorris]

Very informative video! You forgot to mention the skewing that occurs in your video with the 360. It is a great camera but I do not think it can replace the GoPro style cameras totally.

[@svfairisle]

The barrel distortion is a function of all 360 cameras when you try to capture certain angles. You can have no distortion if you don’t let the angle get too wide. The Insta ONE RS can be used in linear mode with the standard lens and will produce exactly the same type of pictures as a go pro. So it’s not that with these cameras you are stuck with distortion, you get to choose if you want it or not.