If it’s not on social media it didn’t happen, a phrase becoming more and more true. Everyone is now posting seemingly everything they do upon the abundance of the interweb. Even our resident old person, Glenn, is having his two long-suffering sons give him lengthy explanations on how his “smart telephone” works.
Story; Donovan Fourie
Biking is by far the coolest thing anyone can ever do and thus it remains the number one activity to appear before the social media masses (‘strue). It’s therefore imperative that your biking escapades are dutifully posted for posterity.
The ever-growing list of available onboard cameras can be confusing to such an extent that even no-name brand cameras built in sweatshops can produce some remarkable footage.
Your cellphone is capable of producing greater feats of cinematic brilliance than Steven Spielberg with the latest kit just a couple of decades ago.
However:
Where the sweatshop cameras and phones fall short is that they are only capable of filming one scene at a time and usually only at one level of zoom. It means that if Osama Bin Laden was having a light sabre dual with Donald Trump to the left of where you are riding but your camera is pointing forward, you’re gonna miss it.
That’s where insta360 is different. It concentrates on everything.
The camera consists of a rectangular body with one surface dominated by a touch screen where nearly everything is controlled. There are also four buttons because touch screens with gloves on while concentrating on riding can be tricky.
Then there’s the party piece – two fish-eye lenses, one on either side of the camera. These lenses are important because each one can see exactly 180º in all directions. If you were to stitch together the image from both lenses, you would get a 360º view, and that’s exactly what these cameras do.
The genius is in the software that is able to take two different 180º camera shots and seamlessly stitch them together so that no one would ever notice. More so, it also erases the camera itself from the shot and whatever stick or clamp is holding it at the time. It really is incredible.
The downside to this process is that it requires PT after shooting.
For example, you place the camera on your handlebars and go for a ride. On ordinary cameras, you simply download the footage of whichever direction the camera was pointing and post it online to the amazement of everyone. With the Insta360, the mountains of 360º footage need to be edited to be watched. The easiest way to do this is via the app on your phone in which you can choose the direction of the scene, the amount of zoom and the quality of the video. There are options like using AI, an option to focus on one subject and stay on it, and an option where you live edit by pointing your phone in whichever direction you wish people to see.
And so from having the camera on your bars for one recording, you will be able to extract a video of the road ahead, a video of the dash, a video of the rider, a video of each handlebar and everything in-between each at different zoom levels. Or you can pan between all of these shots at your preference.
And don’t let Glenn lie to you. It’s actually not that complicated, it just takes a bit of practice.
The latest model on Insta360 is the X4. Physically it is a slightly bigger camera than the previous X3 but it comes with advantages. The biggest being the ability to shoot at 8K meaning it can go from hugely fish-eyed shots right up to zooming in to the rider’s nose hairs.
More so, the colour saturation is excellent, it has great stabilisation and now a bigger battery for longer shooting.
It has a range of add-ons like my personal favourite, a three-metre, carbon-fibre selfie stick. Extend it fully into the air and it gives the illusion of being a drone. Keep it short and you can smoothly move the camera around for a variety of shots.
The aforementioned stick can safely extend to around a metre and a half in every direction before it starts wobbling too much. This gives the cool allusion that you have a tracking vehicle, a camera crew, a jig and a remote camera. People will be impressed.
Among the clamps is a double-sided one used to brace the selfie stick. The stick screws into the usual clamp while this second clamp mounts somewhere else on the bike and onto the part of the stick making it far more stable, allowing greater extension.
It’s not that expensive either considering the offering.
Insta360 is imported by Foto First who, you might remember, was the place we went to to develop your holiday photos after maxing out a disposable camera. They still develop photos (online nogal) but offer a wider range of photographic services including Insta360. And the people behind Foto First are adventure motorcycle nuts which is brilliant too.
The latest X4 version is on sale for around R13,500 but if you take the camera with the Motorcycle Bundle (yes, Insta360 has that offering) which includes mounts and sticks and things, it is on-sale for around R16,000.
Here’s another good thing. While the crew from Dirt And Trail were trying to learn to use theirs, it came adrift and ended up smashed on the tarmac…
A despairing call to Foto First saw the unit handed in and, for a nominal fee, exchanged with a reconditioned pre-owned unit. How cool is that!
I have used the Insta range for The Bike Show TV for years now. I wish that it had been invented earlier.
