So I just got a call from the post office here in Chamonix that there's a package waiting for me
and the timing couldn't be better because it's UTMB race week here in Chamonix, France
and what better place to test out a new 360 camera than in the Alps.
This is the brand new, Insta360 X3,
the newest 360 camera from the company that brought you the Insta360 One X2.
If you're not familiar with that camera,
I've got a review which I'll link to in the description below
where you can learn all about that.
The Insta360 X3, and you'll notice they've dropped the One from the name for simplicity,
has a few exciting new features including, most excitingly for me, a larger 1/2" sensor.
Larger than most action cameras on the market, including the GoPro,
and larger than any other 360 camera that I'm aware of at least to date.
A larger sensor means you'll get much better performance in lower light conditions
which, as a trail runner, is really important to me because
I often find myself filming under the canopy and even at night.
So in this video I'm going to give you my initial impressions of the Insta360 X3,
and I'll show you some of the sample footage that I filmed at UTMB,
the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in Chamonix France less than two weeks ago,
along with a bit of other footage we've shot since here on our paddleboards.
Now if you're not a trail runner and aren't familiar with UTMB,
it's a trail race that circumnavigates 106 miles around the Mont Blanc Massif,
with close to 10,000 metres almost 30,000 feet of elevation gain, plus equal decent.
It's basically the Super Bowl of Trail Running.
I was pretty stoked to have been sent this camera from Insta360 ahead of its release
because what better place to put a brand new action camera to the test.
I ended up being out on course for over 34 hours, running through almost two nights,
so it was a great chance to put this camera's low light capabilities to the test as well.
But let's start first by talking about the specs of the Insta360 X3
which is will be price at $449.99 USD or 599.99 CAD.
Like with any 360 camera, the camera is essentially filming all around you, all the time.
Up, down, in front, to the sides, and behind.
So all you need to do is stick the camera up in the air or in front or even behind you,
but you don't need to think about which direction it's pointing
or how you're framing the shot and the camera can even be upside down.
Later you'll import the footage into either the mobile phone app
or, like I do, to the desktop application provided by Insta360.
You'll then choose how you'd like your shot to be framed.
The Insta360 X3 records in a resolution of 5.7K
but this is all around, so when you frame and render your final shot in Insta360 Studio
it will be somewhere between around 4k down to 1080p,
depending on the field of view you choose.
But the X3 does have a upgraded 72 MP photo mode so you can generate
super high resolution photos with much higher details than before.
It's also got a few new, exciting features like a 4K single lens mode.
So you can now shoot traditional wide angle shots like you'd get on a GoPro in 4k.
This means you're essentially getting two action cameras in one,
a 360 camera and a traditional 4k action camera, capable of shooting up to 120 frames per second.
It's got Active HDR as well although this isn't something I personally use,
I prefer instead to colour correct my footage in post-production,
but essentially this captures and combines a few images at different exposures
to maintain more detail in the shadows and highlights, even while on the move.
But none of these features matter as much to me as this new larger sensor
and that's what I was really excited to put to the test.
UTMB started at 6pm from Chamonix and
it wasn't exactly sunny at the start line either, we had a bit of light rain.
So it was fairly low light from the start.
Before long, the sun had set but I still wanted to get some footage
heading into the next major life base in Saint Gervais which you're seeing here.
I was surprised with how well the camera performed in basically pure darkness,
the only lighting being artificial.
The stabilization suffered a little bit which is to be expected,
that's a problem with any action camera as the stabilization relies on the camera
using a relatively high shutter speed, typically at least 1/120th of a second.
Below this, the algorithm usually isn't able to cope with added motion blur.
But in normal condition, the Insta360 X3, like the One X2, has excellent stabilization.
This is thanks to the flow state stabilization which is
the algorithm used when rendering your clips,
along with the fact that field of the view is just so wide to begin with.
On any camera, the wider the field of view,
that's how wide angle your shot is, the more stable it will be.
And of course, like with any 360 camera, the X3
will automagically remove the selfie stick from the shot.
This gives the appearance that the camera is almost hovering above you like a drone,
although the selfie stick's shadow can sometimes give this away.
It's also got a new larger 1800 mAh battery so I was able to easily get away
with using just one battery for the race since I was using the camera fairly sporatically.
One feature that I found to actually be more of a drawback for me i
s the relatively large touchscreen which, when combined with the larger battery,
makes the X3 slightly larger and noticable heavier than the One X2.
For most people this won't be noticeable though,
unless like me you're planning on carrying it for 106 miles,
but many people won't be using their camera in low light conditions like me either
so I think for some people the Insta360 One X2 might still be a good option.
But from what I've seen so far I'm definitely happy with the performance of the Insta360 X3,
and I'm pretty excited to include this footage
in the film that I'll be publishing this fall about my experience at UTMB.
So this video was really just to be my first impressions as a trail running,
but if you want to learn more about this camera and its specs
and maybe to buy it yourself, I'll provide a link below.
But from what I've seen so far, this new larger sensor is a huge improvement
and really sets Insta360 apart from competing cameras like the GoPro Max.
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