Category Archives: Insta360

Insta360 X3 and X4 file transfer comparisons

There are several ways to get photos and videos off of an Insta360 X3 or X4 camera. I no longer have a ONE X2, and never had a ONE X, so these may apply to those as well but I cannot verify.

  1. USB CABLE: Hook camera to computer via USB, mount it as a drive and copy files over. WARNING: I was doing this during a vacation, and it corrupted the microSD card. I just read about this happening to someone else (either on REDDIT or Facebook). They were able to use a file recovery tool to get their files back. In my case, the card had already been modified so some of my files were lost permanently. Because of this, I no longer use USB to transfer files directly from the camera.
  2. MEMORY CARD READER: You can take the microSD card out of the camera and then put it in a computer (via a microSD card slot, or using an microSD-to-SD adapter, or via some form of USB card reader). This is how I do it on my MacBook.
  3. VIA MOBILE APP AND ITUNES: If you transfer files into the Insta360 App, you can then hook your iPhone to a Mac via USB cable and browse the file system on the iPhone and copy files out that way. I expect there is a way to do this on Android as well.

Speed Comparisons

The X4 has a much faster USB-C connection and can copy in a few minutes what the X3 took 30+ minutes to copy. I ran a disk speed test on the memory card via a USB reader on my Mac, and then the same test via a USB mounted X3 and USB mounted X4. All were using the same Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB microSD card.

I used the AJA System Test utility (available for Windows and Mac) to obtain these speeds.

microSD -> SD Adapter -> Apple USB-C Reader

Write: 67-77 MB/sec. Read: 88 MB/sec.

X3 via U-Disk Mode

Write: 18-19 MB/sec. Read: 22-23 MB/sec.

X4 via U-Disk Mode

Write: 50-55 MB/s. Read: 64-72 MB/sec.

Speed and Safety

As you can see, reading the memory card directly (assuming you have a fast SD card slot or a fast USB reader) is the fastest way to go. It is also safer, since if you are using a microSD-to-SD adapter you can toggle the “write protect” switch to ensure you don’t corrupt the card and lose any data. “Just in case.”

There is also a way to move files using WiFi — with the X3 being much faster than the X2. I assume the X4 will be even faster, but that is a test for another time…

Until then…

Insta360 X4 360 camera with 8K

The latest 360 camera from Insta360 has been released today. You can watch their Apple-like presentation here:

I became intrigued with 360 photography quite some time ago. Apple QuickTime VR was the first time I ever saw it, and that software allowed taking a bunch of photos in different directions and splicing them together in to on virtual reality image that let you look in any direction. That started back in 1995 though I did not learn about it until a bit later.

I got my first digital camera in 1996, and experimented with panoramic “stitcher” programs that let me stand in one location and take photos in all directions then stitch them together to make a large panoramic image. This is why you can find odd “panorama” folders in my only photo galleries, like this one from 2002:

https://photos.atthefaire.com/Illinois/Geneseo2002/Panorama/index.html

This led me to experiment with “one shot 360” systems, such as the SurroundPhoto attachment I owned. It was a half-mirror ball on a stick that mounted to a camera, then you took the photo pointing up, capturing all 360 around you. Software would later de-warp this in to a 360 image that allowed you to look in all directions, including limited up/down.

You can read about the various 360 devices on my old One Shot 360 web page.

Here is an example of a 360 photo taken using the SurroundPhoto attachment:

I was excited to later learn of a new 360 camera that had three camera lenses and promised to take these types of images in one shot, without any post-processing or klunky add-ons. I backed the 360cam on Kickstarter, and that was quite the fiasco, taking so long to actually ship that other companies such as Kodak and RICOH came out with their own (and cheaper) units.

Over the years, I have owned:

  • 360Cam
  • Kodak SP360
  • RICOH Theta
  • RICOH Theta S
  • Insta360 X2
  • Insta350 X3
  • …and maybe one or two others I have fogotten about.

In the early years, Insta360’s “ONE X” had inferior quality compared to the RICOH, but it had more “fun” features and effects that could be applied via the app. At the time, I did not want a device that needed an app. I just wanted to take photos and download.

RICOH remained the king of 360, with the best photo quality in their $1000-priced Theta Z model, but I was not interested in spending that kind of money on a better 360 camera.

I ended up with an Insta360 X2 and installed found it the funnest camera I had ever owned. I used it more than all the previous 360 cameras I had owned, combined. When the X3 came out, I upgraded to get improved photo/video quality.

The X4 is a slightly larger and heavier camera, but adds 8K recording, and thus needed a larger battery. With the release of X4, paid ads (er, “review videos”) have popped up all over YouTube telling us how great it is. After the X3 release, I learned many of these “review videos” were misleading – stating facts that were incorrect (either lying, or just uninformed), or mentioning how great a new feature was that — we later found out — did not even work in the beta firmware the “reviewers” were using.

We’ll see if the X4 lives up to the hype.

With the X3 price down for $399, I highly recommend it as a fun camera. For $100 more, the X4 may be worth it — but I’d wait a few months and see what real users think about it.

To be continued…

DJI MIC 2 transmitter works with Insta360 X3 with no adapter needed.

12/9/2024 Update: For search engine visibility, this should also apply to the Insta360 X4 and the new DJI Mic Mini. I will update this post with more details when I remember to do so…

In addition to the new DJI MIC 2 working with the native iPhone camera app, it can also be used directly with an Insta360 X3 360 camera. With the previous DJI MIC or something like the RODE microphone system, you needed to use the microphone receiver and an Insta360 microphone adapter and have it all connected to the camera with a cable.

The DJI MIC 2 adds Bluetooth and you can pair it directly with the X3 just by pairing it as if it were AirPods. (I suppose Insta360 needs to update the firmware to just say “Bluetooth” if it supports devices other than Apple.)

This means a $99 DJI MIC 2 transmitter is all you need for remote audio for an X3 (or iPhone, with an extra step to switch the phone over to using it). There is no need for the receiver and cables unless you are wanting to use more than one microphone at a time (as far as I know, you can only pair one Bluetooth microphone at a time with the phone or X3).

Unfortunately, the DJI firmware disables local backup recording when using Bluetooth, and also disables the new noise elimination feature. This means if anything screws up with the Bluetooth connection, you are out of luck. Pity. Backup recording is one of the features that makes the DJI MIC so useful. Maybe this is a firmware thing they can change in the future.

Until then…

Changing default view for 360 video on Insta360 X2/X3 and others…

When you export 360 video to a format that can be uploaded to YouTube, Facebook, or other online service that supports 360 video, you get a wide, warped video file that looks like this:

For the Insta360 ONE X2 and X3 cameras, the front facing camera (the one opposite of the preview screen) will be the focal point of the video. In this case, it’s the entrance of the Whalebone Grill in the Awa (water) realm of the new-for-2022 Lost Island Themepark in Waterloo, Iowa. (This new park is pretty amazing with its backstory and unique themes.)

But, what if you wanted the 360 view to default to a different view when first played? Unfortunately, the Insta360 mobile app and desktop apps do not provide a way to do this (currently; folks have been asking about it for years, so maybe one day…). Often, the advice is to put the video in a video editor like Premier or Final Cut Pro and change it there.

Some quick web searching led me to this REDDIT post with a comment from user glitch007 explaining a way to use the free ffmpeg utility to reprocess 360 video and set the initial view:

ffmpeg has command line options to specify the X/Y adjustments (yaw and pitch) for the 360 video export. You can import the original MP4 file and export it out as a new MP4 with the view changed. If, for example, I wanted my Whalebone Grill video to start with folks facing the seating area, I could change that and it would look like this:

The command line option to do this is:

ffmpeg -i "input.mp4" -vf v360=e:e:yaw=90:pitch=0:roll=0 "output.mp4"

In this example, “yaw=90” tells it to change the X view by 90 degrees. You could pass in 180 to make the video face the opposite direction. The “pitch” controls the looking up and down, and “roll” controls tilt (I believe; I haven’t actually tested it).

For the curious, the command line options mean:

  • -i … Input file.
  • -vf … Video filter (and any parameters it needs).
  • v360 video filter:
    • e … Equirectangular projection (the type of 360 format the video is in).
    • yaw / pitch / roll … Set rotation for the output video. Values in degrees.

glitch007 shared a timesaver where you specify a start and end section of the video and can quickly process just a snippet so you can see the results before doing the entire video. Using “-ss” sets the starting section, and adding “-to” lets you specify the ending second:

ffmpeg -i "input.mp4" -ss 00:03 -to 00:08 -vf v360=e:e:yaw=90:pitch=0:roll=0 "output.mp4"

If you run that, you’d get a 5 second clips covering seconds 3 to 8 of the video, and could look at that and see how the view is. This allows quickly making changes to yaw/pitch/roll to get what you want.

I used the ffmpeg command line utility to do this, but there may be Windows/Mac programs that put a graphical user interface on it, making it easier for folks to use. If you know of a good one, please leave a link in the comments.

Thank you, glitch007, for this tip!

Insat360 X3 now allows changing WiFi password

The Insta360 app has an option to change the password on the X3 camera. This may also work on other cameras, but I have not tested it. I have done a password change, but have not verified this actually did anything.

This option will cause the camera to display an authorization prompt, and once confirmed, you can type in a new WiFi password which the device will use.

I encourage ALL Insta360 camera owners to do this, as the default password is well documented and it allows anyone within WiFi range to access and download any photos/videos on the camera.

Insta360 X3 filenames are different than ONE X2 filenames

I did not expect to need to make any changes to my Insta360 ONE X2 filename article, but it looks like things have changed in the new X3 model. The files are no longer compatible (reading a ONE X2 memory car in an X3 will report corrupt files), and some of the names have been changed.

A quick one is the LRV (Low Resolution Video) files. On the ONE X2, they would be named like this:

LRV_20220925_160926_11_072.insv.mp4

You could open that in any video player, since it was an MP4 file.

But on the X3, the LRV files are named like this:

LRV_20220925_160925_11_070.lrv

With the Insta360 Studio plugin installed, my Mac recognizes them as an INSV file but cannot preview them. Just like with normal .insv files, you can add .mp4 to the end and then at least open/view them.

More to come, I expect…

Insta360 X3 firmware v1.0.04 available

The previous firmware was not posted to Insta360.com, but this one is:

https://www.insta360.com/download/insta360-x3?r_from=%2Fx3%2Fen-us%2Fcamera%2Ffirmwareupdate

In case you cannot update from the app, you can manually upgrade that way.

Release notes:

  1. Improved system stability
  2. Optimized color for both 360 and Single-Lens video modes
  3. Optimized color for both 360 and Single-Lens photo modes
  4. Optimized Active HDR quality
  5. Optimized color for 8K timelapse feature
  6. Optimized Airpods connectivity
  7. Optimized image quality with Lens Guards installed

I hope this addresses some of the crashes, lockups and other odd things I’ve encountered with v1.0.00.

Please report any bugs you find for inclusion on my X3 firmware bug list.

Insta360 X3 firmware bug list

Updates:

  • 2022-09-21 – Added link to firmware. Added placeholder for 1.0.04 release.
  • 2022-09-25 – open WiFi.
  • 2022-11-12 – The default password can now be changed in the app.

The new InstaX3 was announced on 9/8/2022, and made instantly available on Amazon. It shipped with beta firmware, but had a 1.0.00 update available to install during activation.

If you have found any bugs, please leave a comment with the version and details and I will add them to this list. As workarounds are discovered, I will update this list.

As a new version of firmware is released, these bugs will be re-tested. When they work for some, and not for others, a note will be added to that effect.

Latest X3 firmware: https://www.insta360.com/download/insta360-x3?r_from=%2Fx3%2Fen-us%2Fcamera%2Ffirmwareupdate

X3

Initially, the camera shipped with pre-1.0.00 beta software. It would prompt to upgrade to 1.0.00 on activation from the app.

2022-9-9 – v1.0.00

  • TBAvarious crashes, settings being changed, etc.

2022-09-19 – v1.0.04

  • TBA
  • Open WiFi – a poorly implemented WiFi system has the camera broadcast itself as a WiFi hotspot to anyone within range, and allows users that know the default WiFi password all X3 cameras have to access and download any files on the memory card from a web browser… or worse. (Suggested by commenter, yt)

Insta360 X3 speed benchmarks

Firmware v1.0.00

Raw notes… will be cleaned up and made purty with more details, soon.

X3: up to 30 seconds between taking photos via app, and more timing notes.

Some notes on timing, for those who want to compare against your existing camera. This is with the current firmware that the camera will install when you activate it (v1.0.00). Recommended Sandisk Extreme 32GB card.

App (on iPhone 13 Pro):

360 Photo, 72MP, 2:1 – there is nearly 4-5 second delay between the time you press the on screen button and the time the X3 clicks. It takes a total of about 15 seconds before the UI updates and you can take the next photo.

360 Photo, 18MP, 2:1 – 4-5 delay, and a total of about 9 seconds.

360 HDR Photo – 3-4, then about 13 seconds total.

150 Photo, 36MP, 16:9 – 3-4, about 11 seconds total.

150 Photo, 9MP, 16:9 – 3-4, about 8 seconds total.

I did have one instance where it took almost 30 seconds to be ready for the next shot.

Camera Button:

Using the button on the camera is almost instant (within a second) and ready for the next photo in about 6-7 seconds total.

In 360 Photo mode, 72MP, pressing the button on the camera makes the click sound between 2-3 seconds later, and it takes a total of 14 seconds before the screen comes back on for the next photo.

In 360 Photo mode, 18MBP, it takes about a second to take the picture, and a total of about 5-6 before you can take the next shot.

In 360 HDR Photo mode, 18MP, it takes about a second to take the picture, and a total of 9-10 seconds before you can take the next shot.

Some of this feels like the timer is on, which isn’t being shown in the app or on the camera. earlier, I used the Quick button and had selected that mode. It seems it may be remembering settings that have since been turned off.

More to come…

Insta360 X3 also has the same open WiFi and root telnet as the ONE X2

Updates:

Earlier this week, Insta360 introduced a new camera – the X3. The X3 is the latest 360 action camera, and builds upon the feature set of the ONE X2 which came before it (and the ONE X before it, and so on).

Insta360 X3

One of the features that was brought over from the ONE X2 is the unprotected WiFi hotspot that is active any time the camera is powered up. This allows anyone within WiFi range the ability to connect to the camera and browse (or download) any photos or videos that are stored on it:

http://192.168.42.1/DCIM
http://192.168.42.1/DCIM/Camera01

In addition to this, telnet is still enabled, with the root account having no password. Just telnet to that IP address and log in as root to have full access to the camera’s file system:

telnet 192.168.42.1

It is disappointing to see this unsecure access method continued in the next generation of their camera, but the company has posted that they are aware of this and are working on it.

Let’s hope it is fixed before the X4 is released…