Insta360 x3 or x4 or GoPro Max 360?

[Itsabeachthing]

Just got back from a liveaboard in the Exumas where one of the guys had a Insta360 x3 with dive housing and invisible selfie stick. All I can say is WOW! We were all amazed by the quality and 360 views we saw of the dives we just were on, often seeing the shark, turtle, corals etc that we may have missed looking the opposite direction, but the Insta360 recorded. Not a huge camera person but I do like to record dives here and there, especially when collecting research data for scientists, Reef Check, documenting Coral health, fish counts, etc. I loved the way you can just do your dives without stopping and taking pictures while it records everything for you, giving a bigger picture view of general dive site health. Software/video uploads for the Insta360 also seemed easy to use/do.

So my question is do I buy the Insta360 x3 which has a lot of non brand accessories available or do i splurge on the newly released x4 with longer battery and 8k or is the GoPro Max 360 the way to go? Appreciate the feedback.

 

[stuartv]

I totally missed that! Lol Yeah I think they meant 2020... I mean the i series wasn't even a thing until like 2009 / 2010...

My laptop is an i9-12900hk with 64GB and an RTX 3050 Ti.

I have been interested in photogrammetry for several years now.

This has piqued my interest, for sure. I wonder if I could do a model of the interior of the Thistlegorm with the footage I got.

 

[bpodbielski]

My laptop is an i9-12900hk with 64GB and an RTX 3050 Ti.

I have been interested in photogrammetry for several years now.

This has piqued my interest, for sure. I wonder if I could do a model of the interior of the Thistlegorm with the footage I got.

If you do go down that route, I'd be curious as to your results.

My two use cases for 360 UW video capture were:
1. Being able to share scuba diving adventures with family and friends via VR headset
2. Photogrammetry

I'm running a MBP with a M3 Pro and 36GB, so I don't have the same horsepower that you're running. If I get serious about it, I'd look at spinning up an Azure VM with an A100.

 

[stuartv]

Here is what it looks like with the leash run under my right arm, instead of over my shoulder. The bubbles are way less annoying.

 

[kevjli]

Here's a short 360 video converted to flat video from my Insta360 X4 that I took at Ni'ihau/Lehua in Hawaii recently. I just got the X4 two days before leaving home, so I'm still learning. The X4 was mounted on top of my still camera and I wasn't really paying attention to the X4. I had the footage track the shark in post using the Insta360 Studio software.

Overall, I like the X4. I used to have a Paralenz Dive+, but it flooded on this trip. I had hoped to run the Paralenz side by side with the X4 for a direct comparison. Over the years, I took very little "good" footage with my Paralenz because I simply mount my video cam on top of my still camera. The X4 is nice because I can track subjects in post. The resolution isn't great because it's taking 5.7K over an entire sphere instead of some smaller rectangle. The X4 also shoots 8K, but warns that you need good lighting... so I didn't try that underwater.

It's fun. For me, it's set and forget while I'm trying to take stills. The lenses are very wide angle so subjects will be kinda small.

The post processing software from Insta360 looks good, but runs kinda poorly on Windows.

 

[stuartv]

It's fun. For me, it's set and forget while I'm trying to take stills. The lenses are very wide angle so subjects will be kinda small.

Just an FYI, in case you haven't figured this out. I believe you can zoom in and out as you are setting your keyframes. The flat video does not HAVE to be as "wide angle" as this rendering is.

Otherwise... nice video. I think it looks a lot better than a lot of my X3 footage. But, that is partly because my X3 dive case has gotten so scratched up.

 

[kevjli]

Thanks. I tried zooming in a bit, but it made the picture grainier. And for this particular scene, the wide angle works well.

The X4 in the UW housing stitches up pretty well for things more than a foot or so away. From the YouTube videos I've seen, the X3 stitching was much more prominent.

 

[stuartv]

I got a new dive case for the X3 and had another go with video today. This time I shot in 4K/30.

The quality is much better, I think. My theory is that low light in the Red Sea did not work well for 5.7K/30.

My enthusiasm for the X3 is renewed....