Interchangeable Lens Design is Versatile and Upgradeable
Review by Dave Williams
Insta360 is leading the 360° photography and videography space, and this camera has truly stepped up the whole game a gear. The One RS 1-Inch 360 Edition from Insta360 packs a powerful punch and solves a lot of problems in the 360° imaging space.
The interchangeable lens has been co-engineered with Leica, giving us their expertise in the field of lenses and optical design. Behind these two lenses, you’ll find dual 1″ CMOS sensors that deliver incredible dynamic range and mind-blowing, low-light performance. Recently, I had fun shooting star trails with this camera. It showed me what it’s capable of, as well as giving me a still image and a “starlapse.”
Starlapse, one of several shot styles within the Shot Lab developed by Insta360, takes the post-process work out of creating star trails by building the shot for you in the form of a video. Other Shot Lab styles include Cinelapse, which applies a similar effect during the daytime to create a hyperlapse video.
The editing in the Insta360 mobile and desktop apps (Insta360 Studio 2022) uses AI technology to automate the majority of the process and deliver epic results. PureShot and PureShot HDR are examples of this, using standalone and bracketed shots to give less noise and better detail. FlowState Stabilization carries over from other Insta360 tech, and it serves to provide smooth video footage driven by a proprietary image-stabilization algorithm and six-axis stabilization. Also present is 360 Horizon Lock, along with Deep Track 2.0, which tracks your video subject to keep it center-frame. The Insta360 Invisible Selfie Sticks (available separately or as part of a kit) works perfectly with this camera, too.
Moving on to facts and figures: the One RS 1-Inch 360 Edition gives you 6K 360° video and 21-megapixel 360° photos. The device is IPX3 water-resistant, which translates to mean that it can withstand water spray. In the modular handle, you’ll find a 1350 mAh battery powering everything in this 239 g/8.5 oz package, charged via USB-C and storing all your epic shots on microSD. Connection with a phone is via Bluetooth 5.0, which is low latency and secure. This is parallel with a Wi-Fi connection good to 20 m/65 ft.
You can shoot video in LOG and photos as DNG, giving you full creative control in post-process, and the lens itself is fixed at f/2.2, with a 35mm equivalent of 6.52mm. The ISO range is 100–3200, and you can shoot between 1/8000 and 120s.
Insta360 is truly leading the 360° imagery field and constantly pushing boundaries, combining traditional methods with AI tools to give us the best results in beautifully designed packages. The Insta360 ONE RS 1-Inch 360 Edition packs a massive punch, and it performed flawlessly in my testing. The nearest competitor comes in heavier and more expensive. It’s a no-brainer!