After quite some years of using Action Cameras to shoot some on board Windsurfing Action, last autumn Insta360 approached me to test their new OneX in Watersports. It’s a 360 Degree Video camera, which captures action in 5.7k and has some quite cool features. To demonstrate what is possible I made some short clips to show you the possibility of shooting a 360Video and editing it in classic style, because that also means you can shoot the action first and point the camera later.

FlowState Stablization – a Game Changer

My favourite feature about the Insta360 One is the so called „FlowState“ Stabilization. It gives you an electronical Videostabilization which comes very close to a gimbal. If you put the InstaOne the Selfie-Stick it even makes it invasible. It’s exactly the thing I did in the following shot:I was walking to the spot and while carying my board I had also the Selfie Stick in my hand. It’s smooth and stable and you can not see the stick! I am impressed!

Shooting Windsurf Action with the Insta360 One X

When it comes to capturing watersport action you have whole new possibilities with adjusting the angle and point of view after capturing it. For me with classic actioncameras it was always a problem that I got out of frame during a movement. This will simple never happen again. On the left you see the Video framed 180 Degrees but with no adjustment in the angle during the movement – a classic action camera view. On the right I adjusted the angle in different ways – as the Insta360 one shoots in 5.7K you are able to zoom in quite a bit to have a closer shot or zoom out to have a wideangle shot.

As you can see the cool thing about is that you can really move the camera around. FlowState is also working really great while Windsurfing those hardcore chop on the brandvlei lake. The only small problem right now is, that you need a housing to make the Insta360 OneX waterproof. I first used the „Diving Case“ but found out it is not perfect for watersports as it is too open on the bottom – this is exactly what you can see in my video on the Skopu:

So I was talking back to Insta360 and they told me that I just need the cheaper „Venture Case“ – which is designed for watersport (OK my fault, I ordered the wrong one). On a new trip to Croatia I used the Venture Case and finally got some really pleasing results. With the Venture Case the Insta360 worked like a charm. As you can see on the following three Videos: Flaka with adjusted superwide view, Spock with adjusted view and rotating with the rotation (great possibilities in Waves I think!), and last but not least another cool Feature, the little Planet on a Funnel.

Selfie?! Yes, but with Bullet Time Shot

Sometimes it’s cool to take a selfie. Put it on the selfie stick and adjust the frame later, ok we now already that you can do that with the Insta360 one. With the camera the company delivers a rope which connects to the camera. If you swing the OneX around you – you get a Bullet Time Shot. Check the Video.

 

For me the best thing about it is, with the Insta360 App I can download these kind of shots directly to my mobilephone via Wifi and push it straight into my instagram stories. My plan is to really experiment with this feature through out the whole year and make a best of with some nice sunsets and sunsrises all over the world.

But how to edit the Videos? If you are on the go, you can do this on your mobilephone, the sample Videos from above are edited with Adobe Premiere and the Insta360 Plugins, but there is also a own Editing Suite from Insta360 (Insta360 Studio 2019) which is for free and works pretty amazing.

What’s next?!

My first tests in Capetown were not perfect – yes, but really promising. With the Venture Housing everything changed, altough I just hunted a few gusts with it in Punat (Krk, Croatia), it made me hooked. For those Windsurfers which are just cruising around, and don’t really jump – this camera is really the next step! You will get much better and more interesting footage! For Freestylers and Wavesailors – hell yeah – endless possibilities! You are changing the side and going out of the screen on your Actioncamera? On the Insta360 you can flip just turn the angle to the right point

In total for me the whole technology is the future: the stabilisation is amazing and with the shoot first, point later philosophy I will always have the right angle! The invisible selfiestick is also a big plus for a lot of sports or vlogging. What I really wanna try is the so called Drift Shot – you put the camera into something like an arrow and throw it, it captured shots like a drone in environments, where a drone is simple not possible to fly. I can not wait to test this little camera more!

P.S.: If you are into Wintersports – there is a instagram story/comercial I shot for JBL last Winter, and parts of it are with the Insta360 OneX – find it here