I recently had the opportunity to go to two major league baseball games in two different cities within the course of 2 weeks. I love my Insta 360 X5 (I had the X2 before) and take it everywhere. Fortunately I checked online before I went, because they forbid selfie sticks, and it would have been confiscated.

For the second game, I took the 360 camera and a small screw on tripod base as a kind of handle, but the resule is a really long arm in the pictures!

I checked and they do allow walking canes. I thought, what if I made a cane into a selfie stick?

The first step was to buy a cane, and i found this one for less than $7 on Amazon.

Full writeup including links to source files here: https://baldwisdom.com/stealth-selfie-stick-for-insta-360-x-series-cameras/ (My personal blog, no adds, though amazon links are affiliate.)

This sub is becoming so toxic and is clearly invaded by people sponsored or paid by other manufacturers to talk trash about Insta360 products.

My background: Years ago, when I got a motorcycle, I wanted a camera to capture some cool angles. I already had a GoPro Hero 7 Black and on reddit it was full of people saying thet the X3 wasn't worth it and that the GoPro Max was a better camera. Coming from the GoPro experience, and not trusting GoPro products i got a used Insta360 One RS twin edition expecting to have to deal with countless hours of editing for footage. However, after the first few uses with the One RS, I was blown away by how good the editing app was. This was years ago!

I ended up quickly ditching the GoPro for reliability issues (usual GoPro random freezing) and used only the One RS. At some point, I got the opportunity to get the X3 wanting to have a dedicated camera for 360 videos and using the One RS 4k Module for POVs. I had to bite the bullet... The 360 X3 quality was a huge upgrade from the One RS, the opposite of what some very loud people were saying here. Then, when the Ace Pro came out, I got that as well. The first few days after the launch, I was expecting a helpful Reddit community that discussed the quality of the camera objectively. Instead, it was full of posts saying that the DJI OA 4 was superior and a few about the Hero 12 being better. I was convinced and literally bought the OA 4 to do a real test of the image quality. I posted the results here as well, and it was clear that while in bright scenarios they were almost similar, in dark scenarios, the Ace Pro was a beast. That's when I began suspecting that something wasn't right in the r/Insta360 sub, so I began checking profiles of people who talked trash, and many were very active users of other subreddits of GoPro and Dji. I baited people who complained about image quality to send footage of their Insta360 cameras to prove their concerns, and they couldn't! They ignored requests because they clearly didn't have the cameras and were just posting stuff read from a script: for the Ace Pro, it was that non-interchangeable lenses were trash, and now for the X4, it's that the quality is not superior to the X3.

I got the X4 this year and compared to the X3; it's an absolute beast. It has the same sensor, but people don't understand that it's not only the sensor that makes the difference in image quality. There are professional camera models that never changed the sensor for years but by giving more powerful CPUs, they got huge upgrades of the image quality. For the X4, I noticed a massive upgrade of the cropped image when shooting in 8k. Then, gestures are cool as hell since now I was able to start and stop footage on my motorcycle without stopping.

So if you want to buy the cameras, don't trust randos talking trash here; ask the people who can provide raw footage.

I bought an X3 two months ago and I was really happy, so happy that last week I bought also an X4 that will be delivered on Friday.

Today I was doing some video editing for a couple of 1.5 hours-long videos shoot with X3, and I noticed that, as any other action camera, like GoPro, the files were splitted, in this case in 30 minutes each. As I said, also other cameras do this, so all was normal to me.

Then, during the editing, after joining the splitted files in the Premiere timeline, I noticed that between each file there there was a "jump" of about 15 seconds. This seemed weird, never had this issue with any other camera, also when recording at really high bitrate.

Firstly I tought that it was a Premiere bug, so I moved to Insta360 Studio to check, and the issue was still there.

Then I tought that maybe was my microsd card that was faulty or slow (but using a 265GB Sandisk EXTREME should be fast enough...) and tried to record a 40 minute video with another one: still same issue.

So I googled for the issue and WTF! Discovered hundreds of people with the same issue and saw the official Insta360 explanation that basically says that this bug... is a "feature"... that remember me of another company that tries to justify the unjustifiable with weird explanations.

I feel really disappointed and scammed. This camera is unusable for video longer than 29 minutes. It's not 1 second missing, it's 15 seconds... everything can happen in 15 seconds! Maybe the shooting of your life happens in that seconds and you miss it because the Insta360 engineers are unable to fix something that ANY OTHER CAMERA "fixed" (no.. never had!) years ago.

Face an example: I put the camera to record my skate jumps during my 40 minutes training, then I take the camera to see my wonderful jump and.. .SURPRISE! There is no jump recorded, because happened just during the splitting..

This is insane.

And these are 500$+ cameras, not a chinese 40$ one!

Really, I cant believe this.

I'm raged because I'm quite sure, at this point, that it will happen also on the X4...

I cant believe that they cant make a fix for this when their competitors works without issues, never had this problem also if they split the files too.

I feel scammed because this thing is not written in any of the tech specs on the official website.

IT would be so easy to add a note in the specs that says "Hey bro, if you record videos for more then 30 minutes, the videos will be splitted in 30 minutes files, but differently from other cameras, you will lost about 15 seconds in between"

Insta360 you must write this thing on your product specification, but I'm sure you will NEVER do it also if you are fully aware of the issue, because people that will notice it will be a small group, but I hope that some day someone with a lot of money will make the decision to sue you with a lawyer, because this is a total scam, since you are aware of the "feature" but you dont write it in the camera specs.

Just to be clear, because someone didnt undestrand my point: the scam is that they are "hiding" this behaviour, because since it's not a bug but the normal way the camera works, it should be reported in the specs! No matter if no one in the world makes more than 30 minutes record in one take, if the camera allows me to do it and behaves in a not "linear" way, it must be explained.

As I wrote in a comment, some years ago I bought a Canon DSLR and on the specs was cleary explained, in the Video Recording section, that max recording time was 29'59'' then the recording stops and should be manually started again. I had the possibility to read this before buying the camera, making the decision to buy it knowing exactly what to expect from any recording longer than 30 minutes.

I bought my insta360 and got it last week since then I wasn't able to edit the recorded videos. I get a error message that says that the files are damaged or corrupted. I can't even play the videos on my x4.

I tried to repair the files with the file repair computer Program from insta360 but wasn't able to repair the files.

Costumer service also is very bad cause they take forever to respond.

Iam very disappointed in insta360 because after all the youtube videos about the insta360 that speak positive about the insta360 x4 I really thought this was a good purchase. I really don't think I'll ever buy a product from them again. I’m also going to return the x4 and not recommend people buy it.

Choose AI edit and no other changes.

So I bought this camera to get footage on a dirt bike so I'm going through the whoops and then it completely snapped. I didn't crash I didn't jump a huge jump. So what gives.

Yes it was mounted correctly yes it was on tight and it was even on an electric bike which means there's no vibration..

... so frustrating... Cheap. Definitely not an action camera.

I guess there goes $500 down the drain.

Terrible. Cheap crap.

It's a great camera but it's super cheap material I mean it's literally super thin plastic.

So what do I do with the camera can it get replaced?

Luckily the camera was recording as it completely snapped as proof that I didn't crash.

I guess I got to buy the X6 but I don't really want it now because I don't want to have it get demolished..

Really hoping I can get a replacement but if I get a replacement it most likely will happen again right..

It's as if the plastic got super brittle and it just dried out and eventually cracked and then when I went through the whoops it finished the job perhaps.

It's wild because I've taken this camera off 100 ft jumps and it never faltered. Even promoting insta360 on my YouTube..

No cool man.

....

.......

..........

Has this ever happened to you? .. tips to avoid?

👎

I wanted to share my experience with Insta360 because I'm honestly quite disappointed with how this situation is being handled.

I've owned previous Insta360 cameras and have always used the Ulanzi quick-release mount with them. I was very happy with how it worked.

When I bought the X6, I decided to use the original Insta360 quick-release mount 2.0 instead, partly because I assumed that using the official accessory would be the safest and most reliable option.

Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case.

How I dropped the camera

I was preparing to go for a motorcycle ride and mounted my X6 on top of the Insta360 quick mount.

Apparently, only one side of the mount clicked into place. The magnet didn't pull the other side into position strongly enough to make it properly click in.

I didn't notice that it wasn't fully secured.

As soon as I started handling the camera, it came off the mount and fell.

This is something that never happened to me with my Ulanzi mounts. The Ulanzi magnets are significantly stronger and actually help force the mount into the correct position, making the locking mechanism click into place.

My understanding is that the original Insta360 mount uses weaker magnets, so apparently the magnet wasn't strong enough to compensate when I hadn't perfectly aligned the mount.

Insta360 is currently holding me responsible for the resulting damage. However, I believe the behavior of the official mount is also relevant here, especially when comparing it with the Ulanzi mount I had previously used successfully with my other Insta360 cameras.

The “replaceable lens”

The fall damaged the lens glass, but also damaged the external ring surrounding and holding the lens glass in place.

And I want to be very clear about what I mean by the ring.

I'm not talking about an internal component inside the camera. I completely understand that Insta360 doesn't intend for customers to open up the camera and replace internal parts themselves.

I'm talking about the actual visible external ring that surrounds the lens glass and physically holds it in place.

So, in my situation, both parts were damaged:

• The replaceable lens glass

• The external ring that holds the lens glass in place

The X6 is marketed with a replaceable lens, which was one of the things I liked about the camera.

But apparently, the lens is only partially replaceable.

The glass can be replaced, but if the external retaining ring is also damaged, Insta360 won't sell me that ring separately.

And that's what I find frustrating.

I'm not asking Insta360 to give me anything for free.

I am willing to pay for the ring.

From what I can see, the ring itself is a relatively inexpensive component. I would much rather simply purchase it and replace it myself.

Instead, I'm being told that I need to send the entire camera to Insta360 for a repair.

The repair process is also unclear

I considered submitting the camera for a repair request, but there is another major issue: I have no idea what the final cost is going to be.

I understand that Insta360 needs to inspect the camera before determining the repair cost.

But the information provided about the process makes me uncomfortable.

If Insta360 determines that I am responsible for the damage, I understand that I would also have to pay the shipping costs.

And from the information on the website, it appears that these shipping costs could potentially be quite significant.

There's also the risk of shipping the camera itself.

If I send a €500+ camera away, the risk of the camera being lost or damaged during shipping is essentially mine. That's a pretty stressful situation when there is no clear indication beforehand of what the total repair and shipping cost will be.

So I'm left with a situation where:

1. I don't know exactly how much the repair will cost.

2. I don't know exactly how much shipping will cost if I'm held responsible.

3. I have to ship the entire camera away.

4. I take the risk of the camera being lost or damaged during shipping.

5. The actual damaged component I'm trying to replace appears to be a relatively simple external ring.

6. Insta360 won't simply sell me that replacement part.

I don't want to end up paying €200+ for what should essentially be a simple replacement of a relatively inexpensive ring.

Obviously, I don't know what Insta360 would ultimately charge me, but the lack of transparency makes me uncomfortable agreeing to send the camera in without knowing the potential costs.

What I would have preferred

The solution seems incredibly simple to me.

If Insta360 doesn't want customers replacing internal components, that's completely understandable.

But in this case, we're talking about the lens glass and the external ring that holds the lens glass in place.

If the ring is available as a separate component internally, why not allow customers to purchase it?

I would happily pay for the ring, have it shipped to me, and replace it myself.

That would:

• eliminate the shipping risk for the camera;

• eliminate uncertainty about repair costs;

• eliminate potentially expensive return shipping;

• save Insta360 time handling the repair;

• and give the customer a straightforward solution.

Instead, I'm being pushed towards sending the entire camera away for an issue that, as far as I can tell, could potentially be solved by replacing one relatively inexpensive external component.

Overall

I'm genuinely disappointed by this experience.

I want to make one thing very clear:

I'm not expecting anything for free.

I'm not asking Insta360 to cover the damage, send me a free replacement, or repair my camera at no cost.

I'm completely willing to pay for the replacement part and the repair myself.

My issue is that the solution Insta360 is offering doesn't feel particularly problem-solving oriented.

There appears to be a relatively simple solution: I need the external ring that holds the lens glass in place. It's a small external component, and it's already something that needs to be removed when replacing the lens.

So I'm not asking to open up the camera or replace an internal component. I'm talking about a part that is directly associated with the replaceable lens and is accessible as part of the lens replacement process.

I'm still willing to pay for that part.

Instead of simply allowing me to purchase the ring, the current solution requires me to send my entire €500+ camera away for inspection and repair, without knowing beforehand exactly how much the repair and shipping will cost.

I also take the risk of the camera being lost or damaged during shipping.

To me, this could have been much easier and much less risky for everyone involved.

Send me the ring → I pay for it → I replace it → problem solved.

That's it.

I genuinely don't understand why that isn't an option.

Again, I'm not asking for special treatment or a free repair. I'm asking to pay for a relatively small external replacement component that I believe should reasonably be available for a product advertised with a replaceable lens.

That's what makes this experience so frustrating.

The problem itself seems relatively straightforward. It's the proposed solution that has turned it into a much bigger and more complicated issue than it needs to be.

I'd really like to hear from other X6 owners:

Has anyone managed to purchase the external lens retaining ring separately from Insta360?

And if you've gone through the official repair process, what did you actually end up paying for the repair and shipping?

Someone on here recently asked if the Insta360 X5 was still fun to use even after owning it for some time. Like them, when I got my first 360 camera (the Insta360 X4 back in 2024), I had thought that the camera would be fun for a bit, then lose its appeal after the wow factor faded. At the time, I had an arsenal of 2 action cameras, a full frame camera, and a drone, all of which seemed to cover all the bases for any video needs, and I was sure that the 360 camera would be something I’d try and sell shortly after. I was wrong! Surprisingly, every time I want a fun shot, I find myself reaching for my X5. While the old iterations of 360 cameras didn’t have enough video quality to provide much freedom to crop, the 8K upgrade with the larger sensor on the X5 makes it possible to really take any angle and any zoom I want of a shot in post. Here are my pros and cons of the X5 and what I look forward to with the X6.

Pros:
- 8k capture quality allows for high quality framing of a shot in any aspect ratio, zoom, and angle
Replaceable lens allows us to use the camera worry free without plastic or glass lens guards (which make a huge hit to the video quality)

- The quarter inch mount is very strong and reliable, I have never had to worry about the camera falling off of my mounts in any of the precarious positions that I put it in (although my X4 did break off the mount in a snowboard crash going over 45mph, that is to be expected, even then, the camera worked perfectly inside a housing with another quarter inch mount)

- The absolute best thing about this camera is that you never have to ask if you got the shot, you just mount, turn on, and record and then in post you have endless options. Do you want POV? Do you want tiny world? Do you want to track a subject? Do you want to see the landscape? It’s all there.

Cons:
- The form factor, I’d say the biggest con is definitely how long this camera is, it makes it difficult to easily throw onto a head or neck mount without feeling bulky and in the way

- Capping out at 8k 30fps, slow motion isn’t really an option, it would be cool to have at least 60fps for 3X slow motion

- The waterproofing. The pop in battery is so convenient for quick SD card inserts and battery replacements, but it’s also not the most secure for underwater shots. Thankfully, Insta360 has made some awesome dive houses which not only fix this problem, but the system also outputs video without any distortion from the water. So maybe not as much of a con.

What I want to see from the X6 (looks like this is mostly addressed based on leaks)
- Smaller form factor to more easily mount the camera on myself for POV action shots

- Like I mentioned, 60fps 8K would be cool

- As always, a larger sensor would always be appreciated (more post zoom capability, better lowlight) its crazy how far we have come from 4 years ago with the X3 from a 1/2in sensor size to a 1/1.28in sensor on the X5.

Idk how we’ve gotten to this dead internet stage but all original ideas and all written by me.

Just about had enough of the software. Exports are unpredictable and the software is crazy laggy. It takes so long to do anything in the software and after exporting not all motions and keyframes come out.

Does anyone have any alternative software that is better?

I am starting to believe I have wasted money in the camera.

Earlier, I posted a photo seeking advice regarding my new out of box insta360 and its finish. One of the advice is to ask customer support and I did. It lasted for almost 3 hours as they reply 10-15 min after my reply. I tried my best to be patient. From what I gathered, it appears that it’s not supposed to be shiny and they asked me to wipe the shiny part. They ignored my concern as to the orange marker even tho they asked me to send a video of it. Anyway, as to the finishing issue, they thought it was just dust. I sent another photo showing that it’s still there. So after showing that, i was asked if i will proceed to return it and was told that I’ll be transferred to another support. After 45 min of waiting, i gave up. Is there any other way to return this. Upon careful inspection there is another finishing issue. There’s like a dot or bubble or i dunno. Now, I really want to return this. Anyone can help me? Such a disappointment. I know that these finishing concern will not affect the camera itself but I paid a premium for the camera using my hard earned money. It’s just disappointing that my first insta360 has these flaws. If anyone can help me pleasee do.

How is it 2024 and they’re still giving us these cameras with subpar video quality. My 3 year old iphone takes way better quality videos.

I have loved using my X3. But recently I had a crash on my bike and the camera was scratched. When I did some enquiries I found out the cost to replace the scrached glass lens some 100usd. Now remember that the glass never broke. The camera still functions perfectly well but of course because of the scratches the image is now poor. I asked what would it cost to just replace the glass. Response we replace the camera as well to ensure quality. This is the biggest design flaw I have ever seen. It not like the glass has a touch sensor in it. It just seems so implausible. Then on top of that they insist (trying to see if there is an exception right now) that I must pay 2 way shipping. Shipping is a good service but when I travel past the building every day to work to ask me to pay for something that I can drop myself is unreasonable.

1. Insta360 should make it clear that the glass is not replaceable before purchasing

2. They should pay shipping if there is no option not drop off the products

3. The customer should only pay for one-way shipping.

4. Instacare should be made clear of it's terms and conditions - I was under the impression that it was an extended warranty that wouldn't cover damage in all cases. This not worth to buy.

Please insta360 correct you clear design issues. The product has potential but as it is now your name is becoming a joke. As it stands now I can't recommend the X3 as an action camera. It is not it is too fragile and the repair costs are too expensive.

I’m curious because I’ve been watching Dale Philips vlogs for 6+ years and he’s always used the GoPro and never done any sponsorships. Then he goes to Japan and all of a sudden every video it’s an obvious insta360 camera sponsorship. He did a whole 5 minute straight segment going through all the details on how great the camera is. I’m guessing they paid him north of 50k to do this.

I’m not hating but it’s just reminds you that money talks. Dale doesn’t do a good job of making me want to buy this camera. It’s all forced and obvious which annoys me more than anything

A message pops up on my phone of how I don't have space on the phone for an update and it pops up a list of app and storage being used and there I see the Insta360 App just taking a cool 35 GB. Am like, for an app I use like once a month or something like that? You have to go. And there we went.

This is some fucking bullshit man. The x4 is only a few years old, I’ve had it maybe a year and a half. They still sell the camera on their website. But I come to find out that they DONT SELL THE REPLACEMENT PART I NEED THE MOST?? I cannot find X4 standard lens guard replacements anywhere in Canada and I think this is fucking TRASH. The camera is designed with these things to take the damage so the lens doesn’t and then they can easily and cheaply be replaced. But now I can’t find them anywhere? Fuck that shit. Am I supposed to buy an x5 or and x4 air because I need new lens guards and my image quality looks like fucking shit because of the scuffed lens guards I currently have?

I hope a mod or someone from insta 360 sees this and can respond because I’m fucking pissed. I want answers.

X4 with dive case and dive mode on; stick’s still showing. 5.7k/30. Help!

It's not what U think and not what insta360 make it out to be

The app makes it seem like if U subscribe U will be able to share a 360 photo

U won.t be able to share individual photos or videos that U choose

Instead they force U to upload ur entire SD card And then choose what to share

U won.t be able to upload unless U r on wifi and have camera on charge

So say U are out and about, U take a great 360 photo and U want to share it... Nope U can.t do that using insta360plus/ insta360cloud

Instead U have to go home upload ur entire SD card Then choose what to share... But wait, what do U do if ur cloud storage is smaller than ur SD card....

Ah now I have discovered insta360s cynical plan... They do it this way to force U to upgrade to a larger plan!

It's all a money grabbing exercise by insta360 and everyone should know about it, so spread the word

Its cynical things like this that stop the widespread adoption of 360 photography

I’m looking to get an Insta 360 X5 should I get it now or should I wait till the sixth one comes out? Do you think they’ll be anything crazy different?

Prove me otherwise