2021-08 Insta360 Setup

Insta360 ONE X2 360 $430 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M3B9754

Insta360 Selfie Stick 1/4 $20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HMW9JSC

Delkin Devices Fat Gecko Triple $110 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A86MMY8

SanDisk 256GB Extreme microSDXC $42 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FCR3316

I went with ONE X2 for simplicity. There’s the ONE R which is a different form factor and had interchangeable lenses incl. a Leica. Seems overkill and had mixed reviews. Generally with 360º cameras people make assumptions about resolution… 5K in 360º ≠ 5K with a normal field of view; won’t have the level of detail when zooming/panning (aka reframing) to a normal field of view after edit. The big value is you never have to worry about framing anything since everything is in frame.

Selfie stick: I actually bought 2 since I thought I may want to connect together, but in the video I just used one. It’s extendable anywhere between 12” and 48” so that gives good flexibility. Longer will reduce distortion with car, but could be more bouncy video. Avoid the longer “extended” selfie stick offered by Insta360 as it only has two lengths - fully collapsed or fully extended.

Mount: Obviously want something beefy / extra secure. Clean surface obvious is a must. I would prefer to mount on glass surface. I really had to crank down the clamps to remove bounce, so glad this mount is strong. That said, I think there’s a bit more bounce than I would like. I may try to rig up something with a second mount point or possibly rig up some sort of stint to remove flex at the main pivot point. I think if one takes care, this mount can work fine by itself.

I’m going to try this on LFA next week. One neat thing to try out: There’s a way to pair Airpods and use as stereo microphones. Let’s how well it captures Yamaha musical instruments-tuned cabin / induction sounds! I wonder if I can pull in some level of binaural effect. It’d also be neat to explore spatial / ambisonic audio capture at some point. Should be neat w/ 360 video & Airpods or similar headphones that support spatial audio. Easy to go down a rabbit hole with all this!

Starlapse

https://youtu.be/eY_uXzyvdII 400 ISO 40 sec exposure 3 secs between shots 2.35:1 aspect Don’t forget external power

Next: GMRS Radio