Insta360 is one of the fastest-growing companies in virtual reality. They are best known for their 360 cameras, but they also make other products like VR headsets and accessories. The company’s latest product is called the Insta360 EVO camera, which was released in late 2017. This piece will review all of the features that this camera has to offer so you can decide if it would be a good fit for your needs!
Insta360 EVO
Introducing the Insta360 EVO-the world’s most versatile 360° camera. Whether you’re creating 180° 3D videos or capturing immersive 360° photos and videos, the EVO is perfect for capturing every moment in incredible detail. Flow State stabilization ensures your videos are shake-free, while HD photo and video deliver natural and vibrant colors in every direction. The headset-ready design makes it easy to integrate with your favorite VR headset, delivering an immersive experience that’s impossible to beat.
Specifications:
- Lenses: Dual F/2.2
- Video Resolution: 5760 x 2880 30fps / 3840 x 1920 50fps / 3840 x 1920 30fps /3008 x 1504 100fps
- Photo Resolution: 6080 x 3040 (18 MP)
- Stabilization: Software / 6 Axis Gyroscopic
- Battery: 1200 mAh
Design
The Evo’s blocky rubberized shape makes it a more conservative styling choice than the elegant Vuze XR. However, its design offers more than its fair share of advantages.
It’s compact (50x49x53mm folded and 98x49x26mm unfolded), and light (113g), making it more affordable than its competitor.
Nonetheless, it is likely that you will need to attach a handle to your Evo to film, and this will require packing accessories. Insta360 supplied a small folding tripod and an extending selfie stick. They are lightweight and easy to carry around.
When a lock is removed, the Evo will open from its 360o-shooting cube shape into a VR-shooting side by side arrangement. It’s not as cool as pressing a button to open the camera, but it works.
The companion app handles most controls. There are only two buttons on the camera: a combined power/shutter and a mode button. The first button was used to turn on the camera and it turned off during our review. However, they were fine and could be useful for anyone who is using the camera alone.
A micro USB port is used for data transfer and charging, while footage and photos can be stored on a microSD card. These ports are open to all elements, so please, extreme athletes, but this card should not be used in harsh weather or underwater.
Video Quality
The EVO should not be considered if you are interested to shoot 3D 180 video in VR 180 format. The EVO can shoot 360 videos, but there are many other cameras that can do this. However, the EVO was designed for 180 videos.
Below are examples of 3D 360 video shots taken with the EVO. This video is best seen with a VR headset to see the 3D effects. If you don’t have one, you can also use 3D glasses.
It’s impressive how sharp the video looks and that there is very little blurring. The best thing about 180 videos is the fact that the pixels are condensed more, which makes the video look close to HD. This video, along with others that were shot using the EVO, was viewed on a VR headset. The 3D effect works well if your video is properly shot.
To get the best out of your camera, you can use HDR or LOG mode to shoot video. I find that shooting in LOG mode helps with color correction later on and is the best way for your EVO video to look its best. Variable frame rates are also available. These range from 4K at 50fps up to 3K @ 100fps. These slow-motion effects look great when shot in 180 modes. The slow-motion effects aren’t worth the lower resolution when viewed with a VR headset.
The EVO has limited capabilities due to the use of basic lenses. Although the Dynamic range isn’t great and some areas can be blown out, the overall video looks great on both a VR headset and smaller screens.
Full 360 videos can be shot at 5.7K by the EVO. Although the video quality isn’t quite as sharp because twice as many pixels are required to cover the same area, it’s still decent when compared with other 360 videos. The Insta360 One X 360 video is almost identical to the original.
The EVO is not going to be happy if you shoot it indoors or in low-light situations. The Evo is best used outdoors during daylight hours, but you can shoot indoors if there’s enough light. Avoid night photography.
3D Photos
The EVO is capable of shooting 360 and 3D 180 photos at 18-megapixel resolution. The camera’s unique selling point is the 180 aspect. I will focus my attention on this again. Although the EVO photos are quite good, they are not exceptional. The 3D effect with VR is not as apparent, but it still works. The HDR mode can enhance the appeal of photos, but you won’t use this camera to just take photos.
Stabilization
Insta360’s flowstate stabilization is a well-known feature that has helped to make its products successful. EVO now incorporates this technology. You should be careful when shooting in 180
3D 180 video must be centered. If you do not, it could cause blurred vision. Even though your EVO can be used to run and walk, it can’t be moved as much as an action cam. All bets are off when shooting in 360 modes. However, you can flip it upside down and stabilize everything.
Mobile App
Insta360 EVO cameras have manual controls that allow you to toggle between video and photo modes, snap photos and turn off the recording feature. To get into the settings, you will need an Android or iOS smartphone that has the Insta360 Evo App (iOS and android).
The companion app for Insta360 gives you full control of the Evo camera. You can view how much space you have left on your MicroSD card. This includes how many photos you can take, how many video minutes you can record, as well as remote formatting the card.
You can also change the quality of the captured images (from Max Quality to Storage Saver), and update the firmware. You can also run a stitching calibration or calibrate your gyroscope in case the camera loses alignment.
Insta360 Evo allows you to remotely control the camera’s settings. You connect your smartphone to the camera’s Wi-Fi network. The software shows you a live preview of the content that the camera sees on its phone. Remote access to the camera’s memory can be used to view previously recorded content. After reviewing the images or videos for the first time, you can save lower-quality copies to your phone.
Conclusions
If you’re looking for an affordable 360 camera that makes it easy to upload your footage and create immersive videos, the Insta360 EVO is a great choice. The latest update has resolved many of the issues I had with rendering times and connectivity–it now functions as promised with no serious technical problems or annoyances (although there are some minor features missing).
