Insta360 - ONE RS 1-Inch 360 Edition

In theory, osmo would give you a better result as its sensors are bigger. By bigger, i mean the useful and exploitable surface of the sensors. So it should receive more light and result in a less noisy quality. That’s the theory. In the real life, in a “very low light” conditions, Insta360 One RS 1inch is giving me better results than my X5. Pure Video mode is not very compatible with club lighting, that’s better to use a manual settings with limited ISO for instance. DJI is promising a quality comparable to a 1inch sensor. I need to see it to believe it. but if that’s true, Osmo would be your best bet, added to the fact you’ll probably have a better result shooting in DLog 10bit, too. That said, if you’re not in a hurry, I’d wait for the first results people will share in the next weeks.

I like insta360 because they still have PC editing software. Gopro trys to force you into a subscription cloud model and mobile only software. Plus the last gopro I had did chaptering and made editing longer videos super annoying.

Agree on this. I had file corruption during video recording on insta360 one RS 1 inch until I switched to Sandisk Extreme Pro, the problem is almost non-existence since. Got an X4 for a recent trip using a 1TB Sandisk Extreme Pro, zero issues with recording. Video quality, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired.

I got my X4 a month ago before my 2-week trip. I also own the One RS 1 inch. To be honest, having to toggle settings to deal with different lighting conditions in hopes of getting slightly better quality videos is annoying, unrealistic and in most cases, pointless. I don't know how often someone is going to be under "perfect lighting condition" - I don't. I don't expect any cameras to do great under low light, but at the very least, it needs to perform admirably under cloudy weather or reasonably lit indoors. By admirably I mean little to no grainy areas. If I were you I would return the X4 right away. I will be able to test the X5 tonight when I get home, but even if it turns out not a big improvement from the RS 1 inch, there is no reason to keep the X4 around. I bought my X4 from Costco - it seems I should have a 90-day timeframe to return it - and I am going to try to do it.

Thanks for the reply. I did some video capturing of indoor and evening lighting outdoor using the X5 and the RS 1 inch, and viewed the videos on my iPad. I still find the RS 1 inch videos nicer to look at. For the X5 I went with 5.7K and 60fps with H.265 encoding. The grainy/noise is still too distracting to look at. Perhaps I should try the lowest setting for sharpness on the X5… I don’t know what else I could do to make the video of X5 better. Long story short, the 8K feels like a gimmick at the moment. I notice the iPad app has some nice improvements and it enhances the video of either camera. Update: I found the PureVideo mode, and gave it a try. I also set the sharpness to low - and that I think does make a huge difference regarding noise of the image. It seems I could even try 8K instead of 5.7K with PureVideo, which I will try next because right now the video is a bit blurry. Update 2: PureVideo mode 8K is the way to go for indoor medium to low light. Definitely low sharpness for every lighting level for me going forward.

I changed back to medium sharpness with PureVideo 8K on X5 - the noise level remains under control. Yes, for the mid to low light condition, X5 videos look better than the RS 1 inch, especially when the camera is moving. I should mention that I watch the videos on my normal size iPad Air, and I do sometimes stick my face into the screen to look for issues. PureVideo does take the sharpness away slightly as a drawback. Under good light condition, I still feel RS 1 inch video looks better with less noise. I have read about people saying using PureVideo under good light condition could cause the video to lose details - but I am going to give it a try anyways.

I have both and a one inch one rs.  The video quality of the 4 is tangibly better than the 3.  Is it better in daylight under your use case? Maybe not much.  The removeable lens covers are well worth it though.  Any 360 camera will have protruding lenses and thus be more fragile. Do not expect GoPro durability.  Also do some thinking about how you mount your camera.  Motorcycles have a lot of vibration which tends to loosen bolts.  Also the forces from the motorcycle are amplified down a stick which acts as a lever.  There are many stories of people who lost their cameras off the back of a motorcycle.  Even the motorcycle kit insta360 sells tends to break.  It’s definitely doable but I would use mounting solutions from professional video companies rather than anything from insta360 or Amazon. 

If I am a DJ and need stationary 4k live streaming, I use the insta360 1" instead. Its low light is better. Dun believe the 8k nonsense, sensor size wins.

My other cameras are: 1. ZV-E10 with Sigma 16mm and 30mm. I'm about to add a 10mm, because I want a wider main angle. 2. A7III with a 70-200 GM. That pair belonged to my office, but I've stolen it. 3. GoPro 11. 4. iPhone 16 Pro Max. 5. Insta360 One RS. I'm borrowing it from a friend who forgot I have it. 6. DJI Mini 3. I use each of them for different things. The ZV-E10 is my main angle when I'm shooting myself because the screen flips out. I use the A7III for a b camera when I'm shooting interviews and for telephoto b-roll. It's also my main photography camera. The GoPro is just for timelapses. My phone is for when I don't have another camera. The One RS is just for weird b-roll. The drone is just for establishing shots. Is it overkill? Yes. I could probably do the entire thing with the Pocket 3 and the drone. But for my specific usage, I would give up the Pocket 3 before I gave up the ZV-E10. I'm not saying that you should do that though.

DJI Osmo Action 5, GoPro hero 11 or higher, or my personal favorite, an Insta360 One RS. The One RS is cool because it can do traditional action camera shots but also can do 360 footage if you get the right bundle.

look at the Insta OneRS - pretty old now so you should get a good deal or find second hand. It has two lenses, one 360, the other 2d. Example here: [https://youtu.be/6u5SG5iJnQY?si=G\_cBMNKEKA1SQUaG](https://youtu.be/6u5SG5iJnQY?si=G_cBMNKEKA1SQUaG) \- make sure you have switched Youtube to highest quality setting! Other thing to consider is how to wear it when kite surfing. Helmet mount best betbut if you don't wear a helmet then this is a whole other thread for 360 camera positioning Lenses will scratch but i seem to remember Insta offering overlays - but may have dreamt that

tl;dr: Look for something with a big sensor like the Insta360 1 RS. Details... If you want to know a bit about cameras that might help pick something (assuming you might not be a camera nerd): the graininess in low light is because the sensor in the camera (the thing that literally captures the image) isn't getting enough light, so it does some signal processing to boost the dark image it does get to make a picture for you. Same idea as when you try to up the gain on a low quality audio signal and the noise boosts. The thing that controls how much light the camera gets it the aperture and the sensor - so, if you want high quality low light footage, you need a camera with a bigger aperture and a bigger sensor. Tough part - small action cameras have small sensors and small aperture (literally they're just physically smaller)... so they're always working without much signal in low light. Thus, even the good ones are going to be a bit grainy. iPhones have pretty good algorithms for boosting the low light signal, so they work better, but never as good as a full-size camera. I've got a Nikon D3400 - an older DSLR camera - and shooting video on it with a big aperture lens is miles better than any action camera I've seen. I've set it up on a tripod for booth footage before. Definitely more involved than using an action camera though. So I think it comes down to how professional you need this to be. Most action cameras are going to be better at recovering a decent picture from a low light signal, but it's always going to suffer a bit from garbage in - garbage out because the aperture and sensor are so small. Despite what their marketing says :)

I went with the RS One for the form factor. Quality wise, it’s okay. It isn’t cinema quality but it splices much more seamless than the GoPro 360. And it does have an interchangeable lens if you just want front facing. I haven’t tried that lens yet, as I really like being able to catch my opening on vid. I’ve got it on a snag free mount from adrenaline workshop. I have a buddy using the x5 on a Mohawk mount. But something about the positioning of the two lens being pointed to the left/right causes a weird center merge effect of things right in front of you. If that makes any sense? Like…it makes your head/face look squished together. Like your eyeballs are touching lol I’m not a camera person so idk how to explain it. Some new stuff from dji and go pro is coming out so those could be good options too.