Hey, welcome back, everyone.
Right now, you are watching me flying above my partners' house, overlooking the river
and the famous Panyu bridge in Guangzhou, China.
This Epic 360 drone shot is captured by the brand new Insta360 ONE R. Not the 360 drone
Mod yet - b/c I can't fly like that smooth without GPS.
But still, I think if you watch this in Oculus Go or Quest, it looks good.
Stable and immersive.
Today, we are not talking about beautiful 360 drone shots, we are going to do another
apple to apples comparison among Insta360 ONE R, ONE X, Qoocam 8K, GoPro MAX and Ricoh
Theta Z1in 5.7K 360 video.
As all these are 360 cameras and it should be viewed in 360 format, on YouTube or inside
a VR headset like Oculus Go or Quest.
Right now, all you see on the Internet are 2D over capture video.
Nothing wrong with that.
But to truly see the power of these camera, what they are designed to do originally, we
should at least look at this format to do image quality and stabilization comparison.
The new ONE R studio also significantly improve the render quality even shot with the old
ONE X - as you see right here.
I highly recommand restitch some of your old ONE X footage.
I am not just going to show you ONE R and ONE X footage.
As you see right here, it is actually captured with the Qoocam 8K and later, GoPro MAX.
If the camera performs well in 360 videos, it will for sure look great in over capture.
Consider this video it is a 360 guide of the best 2-lens consumer 360 camera of 2020.
If you are bored in the gimmicky over capture videos and want to venture into the wonderful
world of immersive content creation - this is a must-watch video.
We will first answer the biggest question: should you upgrade from ONE X to ONE R by
focusing just these two cameras.
As this video is shot with the final release firmware - so I think it will be a fair comparison.
I will give you TWO major reasons why you need to upgrade even the resolution stays
the same.
Then we will compare ONE R, GoPro MAX, and Qoocam 8K to decide which camera you should
get in 2020 for immersive content creation.
If you are ready, let's put on a VR headset, or turn your phone in full-screen mode on
YouTube App and sit yourself down on a chair that you can turn around, and enjoy this comparison
video.
First, we have the ONE X. Immediately, we see a CAMERA LENS FLARE
problems under the Sun.
These flares take the form of polygonal bright regions, like here on your right, in addition
to bright streaks and an overall reduction in contrast.
You can see that near the sun.
Some people called the polygonal bright spot Red dot of death.
But as you see right here, it is actually green.
So stop calling it that.
I am trying to help the 360 photographers out there to sound more professional.
I am okay with the occasional bright spots, and sometimes, it can be artistic.
But the overall washed out look (aka the Veiling Flare) in almost half of the entire 360 video,
that is totally not okay.
This washed out issue under direct sunlight is the biggest problem I have with ONE X and
probably due to its lens quality.
Almost 99% of the over capture ONE X video you saw on the Internet has this faded, reduce
contract look - even with the newest Color Plus.
Later, you will see a dramatic improvement in the ONE R. This is the No.1 reason why
I will upgrade to ONE R. Now, look at the sunspot again.
ONE X also has a pretty bad dynamic range in hightlight.
I overlay ONE R and GoPro MAX here so you can see it better.
Here we have a video chart 2 ft away from the camera, sitting in the stitch line.
We also see chromatic aberration around me and the tree lines - another known issue of
Insta360 ONE X.
If we look up above the chart, we see an unnature stop of light around the stitch line - which
is the other stitching issue of ONE X.
Then we have another video chart 6 feet away - to help you see the resolution of each camera.
Pause it here in VR headset if you need more time.
Also, you see the image quality improvement of the ONE X when it is not facing the sun.
This is also why almost all reviewers do not point the ONE X to the sun or show you ONLY
over capture footage - reframe to the side that is not facing the sun.
We then have me playing with the stitch line to see how stitching quality reacts to motion,
which is usually a good test of the optical flow stitching algorithm.
Now, let's take a look at ONE R. As you see the color, the contrast and image quality
increase on the side of the lens that is facing the sun.
This is a clear sign of a higher quality lens module in ONE R. But still, the lens flare
problem is not completely eliminated.
As you see the same green spot right here just like ONE X.
Although, the intensity of the flare is significantly reduced and kinda has the artistic effect
I was talking about.
I hope in later firmware upgrade - we can eliminate that flare entirely.
Pay attention to the shadow area.
Beside richer and deeper black, I see a lot more details than ONE X.
But they are also digital noise.
You can use AI to remove grain within your mobile app or on the desktop app to further
remove noises.
It is good to have more details and some noise in your shadows instead of crushing the black
as you see in later GoPro MAX sample.
I want more information to handle that in post-production as we can clearly tell ONE
R capture more information than ONE X and later the GoPro MAX.
Now turn the sun on your left.
We see the bright streaks are gone.
The sky is a lot more clear.
Surprisingly, you also see better close distance stitching quality in ONE R compared to ONE
X.
Also, you don't notice chromatic aberration - the purple fringing - around me and the
tree lines behind me in the distance.
This means the lens edge sharpness is better in ONE R than ONE X - so we can conclude the
ONE R has really high-quality lenses - it is well worth the money to have an upgrade
- as lenses are not cheap.
When I move around in the stitch line, it does mess up the original calibration.
Moving object around stitch line is the biggest problem of Insta360 ONE R and ONE X.
As Insta360 is not using pixel to pixel optical flow for stitching.
It is a hybrid between template stitching and optical flow, they called it dynamic stitching.
It is a lot faster than Qoocam 8K or even GoPro MAX.
But it does not do well if there is moving object very close, around the stitch line
- like what you see right now.
You can fix that with 3rd party software like Mistika VR.
Or you can simply break your sequence down into session and hit the stitching calibration
button a couple of time to re-calibrate inside Studio desktop software.
Also why I never use the Premiere Plugin - it is lacking this recalibration feature.
Now I walk to the video chart 6 feet away - I will go into details to show you the side
by side comparison in my 2D review of the ONE R, if you hate to jump around in VR headset
or just want to hear my conclusion.
Link in the description below.
Another biggest issue I have with ONE X is the old FlowState stabilization, especially
for motorsport lovers - aka motorcycle racers, bikers, ATV, FPV drones, and commercial drone
applications like what you are watching right now.
This beautiful flight in Kauai is completely useless because of the rolling shutter on
both sides - as I pointed out.
Check out again my recent flight with the ONE R - it absorbs all the machine vibration
- it is as good as GoPro if not better.
Yes, if you want cinematic FPV footage, you need the ONE R - and I hope this answer the
question for lots of motorcycles bikers on this channel as well.
Moving on, we have the GoPro MAX.
Now you understand why I like the GoPro color science.
It just looks great out of the camera.
It has a crunchy black and dynamic, contrast color.
And my mail man just stops by and think I am crazy.
Well, things I do for my subscribers.
Don't forget to give me a like.
GoPro MAX also has really good stitching, if the object is stationary.
But it has weird snapping when you move around in stitch line.
So take notes for that.
Avoiding point the stitch line to subject you try to film.
MAX has no chromatic aberration at all and you can not tell where is the stitch line
unless I am crossing it.
One of the competitive advantages of GoPro advanced D-wrap stitch algorithm from the
old Kolor AVP.
If you don't know what I am talking about, you have not been in the industry long enough.
360 filmmaking requires lots of experience, and that why me and the team in CreatorUp
trying to help you to supercharge your creative skill set and get you ready for a paid job.
Don't forget to hit the subscribe button.
If you look at the chart again - it is as sharp as the center of the lens - also a great
indication of a high-quality lens with a great edge to edge sharpness.
But GoPro MAX is losing details in the distance - especially in the shadow area right here.
MAX is a great close distance 360 action camera.
But for travel, nature, sightseeing or anything far in 360 - GoPro MAX is not as good as ONE
R and later, Qoocam 8K.
Wait until I walk away, you see GoPro stitch is not perfect as well.
The pole support to be straight instead of blended here.
Again, check out the focus chart 6 ft away from the MAX.
One thing about MAX compared to ONE R, it the color.
You won't see that until you check the color chart.
The White is truely white compare to ONE R. And black is really black.
I will be releasing a LUT pack to get ONE R to look exactly like GoPro tho, so don't
worry.
It is just color grading - no magic here.
Subscribe and get noticed when that is released.
Okay, Let's move onto Qoocam 8K downscale to 5.7K.
Even tho Qoocam 8K does not have a big flare spot like ONE X or ONE R, lens flare problem
like bright streaks, as pointed out, and veiling flare is still pretty noticeable.
Just like ONE X, veiling flare affects the overall contrast in 180 degrees of the full
360 video.
Kandao will release ND/PL filter lens module as they promised to tackle this problem.
I will follow up when this is available.
For now, I think both GoPro MAX and ONE R have better lens flare resistant than Qoocam
8K and ONE X.
You do see a lot more details in the Qoocam 8K even it is downscale to 5.7K. A larger
sensor just captures more details - look at the bricks here.
Both GoPro MAX and ONE R is blurry in that far distance.
When in the stitch line, Qoocam 8K does not has snapping problems like ONE R or GoPro
MAX - it keeps pretty consistent stitch quality.
But the stitching again is not perfect, as you see right here.
If you look up, you see the same problem as ONE X.
But the upcoming firmware upgrade will fix this.
The Chinese new years' delay the release, so I can't test it in time.
Even tho the Qoocam is sharper in the video chart 6 ft away, it has a known issue in the
current firmware of missing colors.
You can clearly see that in the chart in color red.
Now quickly check out ONE R HDR compared to all the above video.
The dynamic range - especially highlights have a dramatic increase.
But stitching now has a bigger issue - as it is merging multiple videos and we can not
re-calibrate stitching in Insta360 Studio.
So my recommendation is: if you are going to use HDR video, make sure your subjects
are pushed further away from the camera around the stitch lines.
We are running out of time so I have to keep this super cute Poodle stabilization test
of the ONE R in the next video.
But I do want to spend the last coupled minutes to talk about low light quality among all
these cameras.
As I know low light is one of the key deciding factors of my viewers.
You are watching ONE R in low light right now.
It shares the same characteristic of ONE X.
Even tho the ONE R has more details, but the noise at this point is pretty high.
Let's take a look at GoPro MAX.
The MAX has obviously less details than ONE R - but it also has less noise out of the
box.
I think GoPro MAX looks decent in low light - what do you think?
Comment below.
Here is Qoocam 8K - which significantly more details, way higher dynamic range even downscale
into 5.7K.
Just look at the frame behind me and the neon sign.
I think Qoocam 8K is a clear winner in Low Light thanks to that 10-bit color and bigger
sensor.
Thank you for watching this in-depth review in Virtual Reality 360.
I hope it helps you to decide which 360 camera you are going to choose in 2020 for immersive
content creation.
Please comment below and let everyone know, so your answer and feedback will help others
to make up their minds as well.
We are growing really fast, head toward 50K now.
Remember, you are still a pioneer content creator who dare to challenge your creativity
in immersive media.
And your effort will be rewarded when Oculus, HTC, Google VR, and all those platforms are
ready for the massive consumers.
So remember to help each other out, share this video, invite others to experience your
own 360 contents, ignore the negativity, and keep creating to tell great stories.
One day in the future, when you look back, you will appreciate all your hard works today,
and all the advice your boy gave you.
Now go win some Emmy, I will see you at Sundance Frontier or see you in VR.