The Insta360 One was just announced after a few weeks of frenzied anticipation, at least among the relatively small world of 360 camera enthusiasts. Now that the Insta360 One has been unveiled, there are more than a few features that could see the camera break out of this small work and be the first to enter the mainstream. My first impressions of the Insta360 One are almost entirely positive, but why is this 360 camera different from all the rest? There are 5 features in particular I’d like to highlight as shining beacons for all future 360 camera to follow if they want to expand their market.
5 Most Exciting Features of the Insta360 One
Shoots RAW photos
As someone who’s been editing photos for half my life, I can’t tell you how much this pleases me. Shooting in RAW format allows those who want to significantly edit our 360 photos in a professional editing program like Photoshop, to be able to do so without significant loss in quality. This may not be useful for people who want to snap a quick photo, add a filter and pop in on Facebook, but for us geeks who like to tweak and edit every faucet of our photos to get them looking their best, this is a huge boost.
Slow motion 360 video
This is the first camera under $1000 that can shoot 360 video in slow motion. The Insta360 One can shoot at a frame rate of 120fps at a resolution 2048×512@. Granted, on a large screen or VR headset that resolution is going to look potato quality, but on a Phone screen (where most content is now consumed), it should be just about OK. Slow motion and 360 are natural bed fellows. The main concern I hear from people when they watch 360 video is that they are going to miss something if you don’t look in the right direction. Slow motion gives people all the tie they need to look around a full 360 image without feeling like they are missing anything. Not to mention slow motion is just awesome anyway.
Insta360 have found a very cool way of utilising this slow motion capability, it’s called….
Bullet Time
A whole new way to use your 360 camera, to create matrix style videos that make it look like your camera is hovering around you at speed. This feature was first shows in the teaser video from the Insta360 One and made everyone wonder how the hell it was made.
It turns out that in order to create this type of video you set the Insta360 One to slow motion mode, spin your camera round you for a few second (using some string or a ling selfie stick), then in editing select Bullet Time and the app will create the video for you. Seems pretty simple and the results look awesome. You will have to be OK with swinging your camera around you like a madman, expect some stared from concerned citizens.
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Freecapture
Another reason to buy this camera even if you are not at all interested in 360 video is the free-capture mode. Freecapture allows you to use a 360 video to create a new, normal HD video without having to move your camera.
After you capture your 360 video, you then choose where you want the camera to point at certain times, and because you’ve captured everything around you, you won’t miss a thing. This is useful for pretty much anyone who shoots video where they have to move the camera. If you want to ensure you don’t miss anything, just capture everything at once!
Smart Track
Another unique feature only found on the Insta360 One is “Smart Track”. It’s similar to Free-Capture because you’ll end up with a normal non 360 video, but in this mode you choose what you want to camera to follow and it does so. See the example below for what this looks like.
This is awesome if you want to record something that moves, but you don’t want to physically follow it. The Insta360 One captures the entire environment in 360 and using the app you decide what you want to focus on, now the app will create a non 360 video following whatever you choose.
Insta360 One will be available from Early September: Click here to pre-order
These are some very unique, untested features that could expand the demand for 360 cameras massively. Whether they turn out to be effective, useful and popular remains to be seen. No doubt this is the most innovative 360 camera to date and I can’t wait to test all of its features.
If you want to keep track on the Insta360 One I suggest joining my 360 Camera Facebook Group.
