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I have been wanting to get my hands on a 360 degree camera for quite some time now as I've seen some other YT channels where others are using them to record their bike rides. I was intrigued by the Insta 360 X2 but since that camera came out a while ago, I figured I'd wait until it got upgraded. Well, it got upgraded and the new X3 came out a few weeks ago. I watched a few YT videos from some of my favorite creators about the X3 and decided to pull the trigger. I was hoping it would come in before the Portland trip, but I missed it by a few days as it arrived after I had already left.
I had my daughter open it up and charge it while I was away so that as soon as I got home, I could try it on a ride with Bernie. Within 90 minutes of touching down back on Kaua'i, Bernie and I were already on a ride, testing it out. I haven't used a 360 degree camera before so it took a little time to get the camera set up and the latest firmware downloaded but I figured it out. I mounted the grip to my handlebars and Bernie and took off and we were able to record pretty much the entire ride, using just one battery. Nothing overheated and I was excited to see what it all looked like back on the computer.
Shooting with a 360 camera is a breeze since the footage records a 360 degree shot. . I just had to mount the camera to my handlebars and press record. Using a GoPro, I'd have to normally use one hand to point the camera in the direction I want and then have just one hand on the bars and brake. It's manageable but not the safest way to ride. Using a 360 camera like the X3 just made the ride a lot more fun because I didn't have to worry about missing a shot. With the GoPro, if I was holding it in front of me but turned to look at something on the side or in the back but didn't also move the camera, I'd miss the shot. You never miss a shot with the X3, unless of course you forget to press record!
Editing 360 degree footage does involve another tedious step however. You first have to ingest your footage into the Insta 360 app on your computer. This is where you can then adjust where you want the camera to look. This is how I was able to swing the camera from me to Bernie and then to the front in this video. The interesting part about 360 footage that I didn't realize until now is that if you decide to point the camera in one direction, it keeps that direction even if you go around a corner on the bike. This means a shot in front of you then becomes a shot of the side of you if you make a 90 degree turn. There is a way for the app to track you and keep you in the shot, but then you lose the ability to change it around to look at other stuff. This step is time consuming though as you have to continually edit the footage to point in the direction you want it to along your ride. Often a ride is not in a straight line so this involves adding in a lot of keyframes.
I have also been experimenting with just exporting a front view shot and a facing me shot separately and then cutting between them in my editor. It doubles your footage though so if space on your computer is an issue, this might not work for you. One other downside to this camera is that it's not the best in low light situations. You can see that at night the stitching gets messed up because the camera is having a hard time determining where a shot ends, I think. For sunny rides though, this thing is awesome.
All in all, despite the setbacks in editing and low light filming, the Insta 360 X3 is my current favorite biking camera. There is nothing that comes close!
If you'd like to get one yourself, consider using the affiliate link below as it does support the channel and website. Thanks for your support and ride on!
Audio captured with the Rode Wireless Go2 mic set
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