4 hours ago
5
ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The Insta360 X4, usually priced astatine $499, tin seizure up to 8K 360-degree video for the astir flexible editing.
- Its accommodating accessories, including the Invisible Selfie Stick and Utility Frame, marque it a fantastic camera for astir environments.
- Just beryllium alert of scratching the lens arsenic some sides protrude out.
At Amazon and Best Buy, the Insta360 X4 Action Camera is $150 off, bringing the terms down to $350 up of Prime Day.
Most speech successful tech contiguous revolves astir AI successful immoderate signifier oregon form, but not excessively agelong ago, VR and 360-degree video were the blistery topic. When it comes to 360-degree video, the squad astatine Insta360 has been the modular -- astatine slightest successful my opinion. As antecedently mentioned connected ZDNET, I was capable to get my hands connected a demo portion of the latest offering from the company, the Insta360 X4, and present are my biggest takeaways aft weeks of testing.
The X4 is an awesome portion of hardware. Its assemblage is astir 5 inches agelong and an inch and a fractional wide, truthful it's rather casual to battalion successful the pouch of your backpack oregon adjacent jeans and shorts. The assemblage has a lens connected each broadside that uses a half-inch sensor to seizure images and video. Thanks to the taller signifier factor, Insta360 was capable to acceptable a two-inch interaction surface to assistance with navigation and changeable framing.
Also: I'm a full-time Canon photographer, but this Nikon camera made maine wonderment if I'm missing out
The camera assemblage besides includes a fewer carnal buttons that assistance successful navigating the OS. I'm peculiarly fond of the fastener placement (and however weather-resistant the worldly is), which feels earthy and casual to use. For an added bonus, connect the X4 to the "invisible" selfie instrumentality to seizure higher oregon further distances without the accessory getting into the last footage.
Weather-resistant enclosures support the USB-C and microSD paper ports.
Back to the representation sensor. The half-inch sensor is susceptible of capturing 8K solution successful 360-degree video and up to 72 megapixels for inactive images successful 360 degrees oregon flattened. I'll enactment an asterisk adjacent to these immense megapixel specs due to the fact that not each megapixels are created equal. Still images connected a full-frame (35mm) representation sensor astatine 20 megapixels volition look acold amended than images connected a half-inch 72MP representation sensor. The photosites are different. Fortunately, the X4 inactive captures immoderate fantastic footage for what it is, a 360-degree enactment camera.
I'm rather satisfied with the Insta360's on-device bundle too, arsenic it ran smoothly nary substance which shooting mode I was in. Keep successful caput that that was the lawsuit adjacent erstwhile I was shooting successful 8K, a solution tier that taxes the camera's processor heavily. Heck, adjacent my beloved Canon initially (prior to firmware updates) had a hard clip uncovering a equilibrium successful OS show and signaling successful 8K. With the X4, it's hard to announcement a dip successful performance, careless of the solution I changeable in.
Flattened 360-degree photograph taken from the shot tract astatine University of Oregon's Autzen Stadium
The mobile app is conscionable arsenic casual to navigate and tin beryllium connected to your X4 via a backstage Wi-Fi connection. Once connected, you tin power the camera's shooting modes and download and edit your footage to suit your needs.
Using the X4 is elemental and straightforward. There's nary artillery anxiousness with the X4, arsenic its implicit 2,000mAh capableness allows you to sprout for good implicit an hour, up to 135 minutes of grounds time, depending connected the mode used. For the aspiring (or professional) contented creator, the X4 besides allows you to link a amended outer microphone with its 3.5mm jack adapter.
Also: I urge this Canon camera to astir beginner photographers - and it won't interruption the bank
What impressed maine the astir was what Insta360 calls the "Utility Frame," which is akin to a accepted camera cage utilized to support the instrumentality wrong and let for accessory attachments. The camera besides comes with a silicone lens protector.
The further protector is precise overmuch a necessity due to the fact that the Insta360's lenses are truthful fragile that I someway got micro scratches connected them aft conscionable 3 days of usage. With immoderate camera gear, you truly person to anticipation that scratches are ne'er heavy capable to impact the captured footage. That hasn't been the lawsuit with the X4, but I've experienced the contented earlier with different devices.
Another country for betterment is the Utility Frame. I know; I mentioned that I emotion the thought of it, and putting the X4 into the protective cage is overmuch easier than thing I've worked with from SmallRig oregon Tilta to support camera bodies. Unfortunately, erstwhile the X4 is successful the cage, the artillery larboard isn't easy accessible. So if your artillery is debased and you'd similar to rapidly swap it retired during a shoot, you indispensable detach everything earlier that happens. Is this a non-starter? No. Is this inconvenient? Yes.
As acold arsenic the bundle goes, I didn't person the champion clip editing wrong the Insta360 app. With 360-degree cameras, the "easy" portion of the editing acquisition is the shooting portion. So erstwhile you're shooting video, you aren't required to determination oregon constituent the camera toward your taxable due to the fact that you're moving with truthful overmuch existent property successful your 360-degree frame.
But erstwhile you're successful the video editor, you person to enactment done mounting the presumption of the video framework to enactment champion for your last presumption -- panning here, zooming there, and truthful distant by utilizing the keyframes feature. I find this to beryllium overmuch easier successful a non-linear video exertion specified arsenic Premiere Pro. But past again, I'm a nonrecreational video editor. Your mileage whitethorn vary. Fortunately, determination is an AI enactment successful the app that's conscionable bully capable to assistance portion unneurotic a archetypal edit.
ZDNET's buying advice
At $499, the Insta360 X4 is simply a handy, well-built camera, but I judge determination are immoderate things to see earlier purchasing. First, what benignant of creator are you? If you're a creator who is utilized to moving with mirrorless cameras connected a tripod for your A-roll and B-roll, past the X4 is simply a large solution arsenic it allows you to person each of that footage wrong 1 frame. Just propulsion the footage into an exertion and commencement cutting and blending the footage to enactment for you.
And if you're a creator looking for a 2nd camera, the X4 is simply a large enactment due to the fact that of however originative you tin person 360-degree footage, including POV and drone-like shots. And it doesn't necessitate a Part 107 certification.
On the different hand, if you're idiosyncratic similar maine who doesn't bash overmuch vlogging, the older X3 model whitethorn beryllium the amended option, and it costs $100 less.
English (US) ·