World's first modular 360 camera
The Insta360 One R is the world's first modular 360 camera on the market. It comes in 3 parts: the battery base, core, and lens mod.
The best thing about a modular camera is that you can upgrade certain parts of the camera. You don't have to buy a new with improved quality and features when you can just buy a module. If there's a new lens module coming out, you can just buy that. If there's a new core with more processing power, you can buy just that too.
Speaking of modules, with the one developed with Leica ($299.99), the Insta360 One R is the first action camera with a 1″ sensor. This is great for low-light shooting and should produce better quality image and video.
Insta360 One R Features
- Waterproof up to 16 ft (5 m) without the case (60 ft with dive case)
- Has replaceable lens covers
- 4K module has protective glass cover for rough environments
- Has touchscreen that allows you to easily adjust the settings
- Touchscreen can show 360 live preview
- Bright display
- 360 playback on the camera screen
- Voice commands
- Can turn on grid lines to help you compose your shots
- Live histogram for easy exposure settings
- 100 Mbps, H.265 recording for better video quality (higher bitrate than Insta360 One X
- ColorPlus automatically applies color grading to your videos
- Can export to ProRes 422 format
- 4K wide-angle module (4K – 60 fps, 2.7K – 100 fps, 1080p – 200 fps, HDR video)
- 1″ sensor wide-angle module developed with Leica (5.3K – 30 fps, 4K – 60 fps, 1080p – 120 fps, great low-light performance)
- Drone module
- AI-assisted noise reduction
- USB-C microphone adapter so you can use high quality microphones
- Compatible with bluetooth headsets including Airpods for wireless audio recording
- 9-shot HDR in Raw without ghosting
- Night Shot with image stacking feature that works in Raw
- Keyframing with roll correction
- Multi-editing – combine videos including the ones from other sources like your phone or Insta360 One X
- AI-assisted editing
- Point to track
- Auto-editing
- Deep tracking
- Edit without downloading first
- Easy to upgrade
- Easy to replace damaged parts
- 3D VR180 module available
Weaknesses of the Insta360 One R
- More parallax stitching error compared to the One X with the 360 module because of the greater distance between the lenses
- Shorter battery life than the One X due to the bright touchscreen display
- May be more convenient to have 2 dedicated cameras than having to switch modules
- Slow start-up compared to GoPro Max, GoPro Hero 8, and DJI Osmo Action
- Internal microphone seems to pick up noise from handling the selfie stick or the frame
- Drone module for Mavic Pro 2 blocks the GPS
Pros
- Modular
- Works great in low light
- Easy to upgrade and replace modules
- Can be controlled via Apple Watch
- Compatible with external microphones
- Wireless audio recording with bluetooth headset
- Automatic editing
Cons
- May be more convenient to use separate dedicated cameras than switching modules
- Lower battery life than One X
- Mod for Mavic Pro 2 blocks the drone's GPS rendering it useless
- Slow startup
Conclusion:
The One R is a very interesting 360 camera than can transform into a wide-angle action camera by switching out the modules. Though it may seem complicated, features like automatic editing, 1″ Leica module, touchscreen reversible display with live 360 preview, great low light performance, one of the best stabilization, ability to connect to external microphone, wireless audio recording with bluetooth headsets, and more make it a very attractive product. It's future-proof too provided Insta360 can come up with new modules at least once a year.
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