All right, here’s the Insta360 ONE X2.
And here is the bullet time cord.
The first time I’ve ever attached accord to a camera.
I have the sneaking suspicion that this is actually going to fly off and turn into an actual bullet and kill somebody.
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Hope that intro montage turned out okay, because right at this moment, I’m not totally sure it’s gonna come together.
But regardless, I have the newest Insta360 camera.
This is the ONE X2, and this is the first time I’ve used one of the X line of cameras.
I’ve used this guy a lot.
This is the ONE R which is a modular 360, an action camera.
And personally, I kind of love this new Insta360 S carved out for itself.
A few years ago, I wasn’t all that interested in 360 video because it seemed a lot of work.
It’s a little intimidating, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with 360 footage.
But now, with Insta360’s app, the Shot Lab, which is a collection of tutorials.
And AI assisted editing tools that combined with these sort of wacky accessories like the invisible selfie stick or the bullet time handle which is now become the bullet time cord.
Those all combined to kind of guide you along on this journey to making something with their 360 footage.
And honestly, I appreciate that.
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Okay, so with that said, that ecosystem is integrated into most all of Insta360 cameras, and that’s not the only thing similar between the X2 and the R. For starters, the ONE X2 costs 429, which is currently the same price as the base model of the ONE R. Now, the ONE R is modular and you can add stuff and even get a one inch sensor and a leica lens that will get you up to the 600 and up range.
But much of the actual features are the same.
Spec wise, they’re pretty similar too.
They both top out at 5.7K resolution at 30 frames per second and shoot 4K at 50 frames per second.
But keep in mind that when you stitch your videos together, you’re probably gonna wanna export it something like 1080P for it to still look crispy.
Now, both these cameras shoot slow motion 100 frames per second at 3K.
Whatever 3K means.
Yeah, it’s right here.
Both still kind of struggling low light.
Here, they are side by side when I skated to capture this crazy ominous sunset.
They have their obvious flaws, but for what it’s worth, I still love this footage.
I felt like I was stepping up to the River Styx and what dreams may come, and the fact that I could just roll a camera and capture everything around me.
It’s pretty amazing.
Both cameras can shoot HDR and log, and both have 18 megapixel sensors that can capture raw photos.
They also have a decent set of manual controls for exposure and white balance.
But personally, I’m leaving in an auto most of the time for just fun and quick shooting and exporting.
Okay, you see where this is going.
These cameras are really similar.
So let’s talk about where they’re different.
It’s design time, baby.
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Now, I’m sure opinions are gonna land all over the place on the design of the ONE X2, but I for one like it.
It kind of reminds me of an old flip video camera.
I don’t know if you remember those.
I actually had one and will give it some credit for getting me into videography in the first place, and the ghost of the flip video camera is alive and well in the ONE X2.
It’s gotten that plastic.
It’s got rubber.
It feels really solid.
The micro SD goes right next to the battery, which can be a little hard to get too, but you get used to it after awhile.
And best of all, this thing fits in your pocket really easily.
It comes with a nice neoprene sleeve.
You can really just put it in your pocket and take it with you wherever.
It has this new circular touchscreen LCD viewfinder.
It is kind of funky but I think it looks cool and kind of maybe symbolizes the nature of the footage or shooting.
It almost looks like a portal to another dimension.
And speaking of portals to other dimensions, let’s hop inside real quick and get the mic listen.
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It seems like the parallel universe is some sort of snow planet.
Well, I have the audio set to wind reduction off.
You can also turn wind reduction on.
There’s not much wind right now.
I haven’t notice a huge difference between the two modes, but take a listen.
You probably wouldn’t want to rely on this for any sort of important audio, but it works.
It’s waterproof up for 10 meters better than the ONE R.
I don’t have 10 meters, but I do have 10 inches of freezing cold snow melts.
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So now it’s a good time to talk about battery life.
Supposed to be an improvement over the one hour, and I think I’ve noticed it’s been lasting about 2 hours, give or take under heavy usage, but let’s get back to that warm office.
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I’m glad that’s over with.
I was worried I wasn’t gonna make it back here in one piece.
My head feels funky right now, but we gotta move on.
As you probably noticed by now, the stabilization inside this camera is pretty amazing.
Insta360 calls it flow state stabilization and it’s on by default, but you can turn it off in camera or while you’re editing.
This is me riding the bike one-handed holding the camera on the selfie stick like Heath Ledger in Knights Tale, but way less hot.
And you can see it’s just buttery smooth even on a bumpy trail.
Here it is with it turned off so you can appreciate all the hard work it’s doing.
Also, you don’t need to shoot in 360 all the time.
There’s just a wide angle mode that only uses one of the cameras.
You can also live stream through 360, although I haven’t tried it.
And there’s even this picture in picture mode that they say is for blogging.
I’m not sure about that, but I do know you can use it to see how cool I look chasing a soccer ball.
And then, of course, there’s bullet time.
You attach this cord, swing it around your head like a maniac, and then press a button and Insta360 edits together this pretty epic shots.
I felt really silly, but it was also very fun.
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And let’s talk about editing.
Historically, the most daunting phase of 360 video and what kept me away for years.
Now, Insta360 wants you to do most of your editing in the app on your phone, and I think that’s probably the easiest way to do it.
You can do it over WiFi without having to download anything.
And for the most part with a few hiccups, it works pretty seamlessly.
Although, I’m sure a lot of people know this, I sure as hell didn’t, so I’ll give you a warning in case you’re like me.
If you’re connected to the camera over WiFi, that means everything else you’re doing on your phone is on your data plan.
So if you’re editing a lot of stuff in that app, you’re gonna burn through your data really fast.
Okay, moving on.
There’s also a desktop app which isn’t as straightforward or hand-holdy as the mobile app, but you get used to it after awhile.
Except for then you don’t have the Insta360 Shot Lab and all your creativity has to come from your cabasa and that can be a little intimidating.
Certain things I haven’t had a lot of success with, like the fully automated flash cut editor that scans through your footage and picks what it thinks for the best parts.
But other things, like the super simple person tracking are consistently very good.
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Also, footage from Insta 360 cameras works pretty seamlessly with the GoPro FX reframe plugin for Adobe premiere, so you can edit your 360 footage in premiere itself.
Now is probably a good time to mention GoPro.
I have a GoPro Hero 8 black and I use it a lot and it’s really solid.
I’ve never actually used GoPro Max, GoPro’s 360 camera, but it’s roughly the same price as the ONE X2.
Now I’ve been using Insta360 software on both my phone and the desktop, and while they’re both in beta, an Insta 360 tells me that all the issues are gonna be cleaned up before this thing launches.
It’s still has been a little bit buggy.
And overall, my experience with a non 360 GoPro and these 360 cameras is that GoPros are a little less buggy.
But that being said, with a GoPro, you don’t have access to the Shot Lab and the AI editors and all the fun accessories that you get with Insta360, so make of that what you will.
Which brings me back to the main reason why I really enjoy using this Insta360 camera.
Especially nowadays, when I can’t really make videos with my friends and I’m doing everything as this one-man band, it’s pretty cool to take this little thing that fits perfectly in my pocket.
And a big **** pull and walk around my neighborhood and get all these really cool shots.
Like this shot right here, it looks like a drone is flying on the trail right alongside me, which is definitely not the case.
I don’t have the energy to pull off a stunt like that, and even if I did, I would probably hurt some innocent creatures along the way.
So in a single sentence, this camera has motivated me to get outside and start shooting stuff more than any other camera has in a really long time.
I can’t remember the last time I went out and rolled around in the snow like an idiot,
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Or return to the old pastime of wandering around places like this sketchy **** quarry.
Here, like I’m 15 again.
You’re gonna have a lot of fun with this thing, or something similar.
Whether you choose this or the ONE R, is a bit trickier over decision, I personally would choose this one because I really like the design, it fits in your pocket really easily.
It’s really ergonomic, and especially has an accessory to all your other camera gear.
It just seems like it kind of checks out that box a little better.
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And while we’re here, I actually made a video on the ONE R all about its AI editing capabilities.
And I asked it to make an entire skate edit for me.
You can watch it right here.
See me fall a few more times.
Thanks so much for joining me on this suburban Safari.
As always, be excellent to each other.
In the meantime vote, please vote.
Thanks so much.
Until next time.
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