The Insta360 Go is a tiny camera with incredible stability capabilities. It is perfect for capturing FPV footage and you can stabilize it in a couple of different ways. The 180-degree field of view allows you to customize your shots in ways you just can’t do with other cameras. It’s lightweight (18 grams) and small form factor allows you to put this camera almost anywhere for awesome footage you just can’t get with any other camera.
You can put it on the front of your drone for traditional footage or have it behind the drone for a unique third-person view. We’ve even had it facing the drone upfront for one-of-a-kind footage. Plus it works great for quick jogs, hikes, or biking. This is a versatile little tool.
We tested this camera on a bunch of different drones, in a bunch of different ways. If you want to see your drone from a new perspective the Insta360 Go is a great option.
Insta360 Go – The Creator’s best friend
If you fly FPV drones then you know there isn’t really a great way to capture your flight footage. You can of course record the footage from the goggle DVR, but often that doesn’t look very good. You can add a GoPro Hero or Session but they add significant weight. The DJI Air Unit does a good job of recording footage, but it won’t stabilize your footage. Because this camera is so small you can put it on almost anything. We even mounted it on our Tinyhawk Freestyle 2.
The Insta360 Go solves a lot of these issues. It is tiny, about the size of your pinkie finger. It is light, only 18 grams. Best of all it does a great job of stabilizing your flight footage. You can opt to stabilize it in two different manners. There is a typical FPV stabilization and also they have a Flowstate stabilization option that will keep the horizon fixed. I love the FPV stabilization as it makes me look like a much better pilot than I actually am. You mount the camera in the front of the drone just like you would a GoPro or secondary camera. However, there are some different ways to capture footage with this tiny cam. The Flowstate is awesome if you attach the camera behind or in front of the drone for a third-person view.
3PV – Third Person View
We used some carbon fiber drone arms to get the Insta360 Go behind one of our FPV quads and the result is pretty unique. I recommend using the Flowstate stabilization for a view of the drone that you’ve never experienced before. You’ll see the quad flip and roll, while the horizon stays fixed. Because the camera is small and light you can get away with this. Good luck doing this with a GoPro.
Another unique perspective is mounting the camera in front of the drone, but flip the camera to face the drone. You’ll see the drone move around, but the horizon behind the drone will stay fixed. We have done this with some of our photography drones and you’ll get to see the gimbal working hard to stabilize its footage.
We have even tested this camera mounted on the side of a drone. That is a pretty different perspective. I’m not sure there is another camera that you could do that with.
Editing footage with the Insta360 Go
You can record up to 5 minutes of flight footage with the Insta360 Go. It records onboard the camera and you can transfer it to your phone or computer using the included case. You can edit the footage using a smartphone app or export it to your computer and use Insta360 Studio to edit. There are pros and cons to both methods.
The app is fairly easy to use. You can opt to have it edit clips for you using some predetermined themes or you can edit them yourself. The app is nearly a full feature editor. You can cut, trim, change speeds, and even adjust the perspective from the camera. Because it is recording a 180-degree image you can decide to “zoom” up, down, and left and right. You can even roll the image like you would if you were flying a drone. The biggest drawback is that it exports a 1080p video at a low bitrate. The videos will look fine on a smartphone, but get grainy on a tv screen or a bigger computer monitor.
The good news is you can export the video using your computer for better quality. The bad news is that you aren’t able to edit the video beyond trimming footage from the beginning or the end. Plus I found the software to be glitchy. It crashed often. However, eventually, I was able to get it to produce a video and the quality was definitely superior to the app. Hopefully, Insta360 will update the software so that it has some editing capabilities. That is one thing holding the camera back.
It isn’t perfect
The camera does have some drawbacks. It only has one microphone. It does ok for close vlog style videos but struggles on a drone for sure. The Insta360 Go can handle a quick splash but isn’ totally t waterproof. That would add another epic level of awesomeness. The design is a little odd as it is a giant oval. It does come with a bunch of accessories so you can attach it to almost anything. In spite of its shortcomings, this is one tool I’d recommend to any drone owner or content creator. Its versatility makes the sky the limit with this little camera.
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