How about mobile phone photography 360?

In this era of taking photos mainly by mobile phones, camera manufacturers should pay more attention to pushing new products.

At least in front of ordinary users, it doesn't seem to make much sense to talk too much about image quality and shooting effect. After all, they just need a readily available device to record their lives. And from previous reports, we can know that the camera performance of mobile phones is actually good. Although it can't compare with middle and high positioning cameras and professional photography institutions, it is no problem to meet the daily shooting needs.

It is precisely for this reason that the product space of entry-level cameras has been further reduced, so that many manufacturers directly give up the card cameras with entry-level positioning and gradually shift their product focus to high-end positioning products. Those manufacturers who are still struggling in the entry field hope to attract users and promote the consumption of new machines by constantly investing in new functions and new models.

When it comes to functions and new ideas, the camera brand Insta360 is definitely inevitable.

At first, this manufacturer only focused on professional VR solutions and 360 cameras, and their products are constantly changing with the market demand. Seeing that users are not so keen on using simple 360 cameras, they are also looking for more changes in their products, such as:

The "bullet time" shooting mode is realized by a 360 camera with slow motion shooting.

With 360 video recording and mobile phone, the Insta360 Nano S with 360 video calling function is introduced.

The stabilizer-level digital anti-shake technology is added to the camera, and two special sports cameras, Insta360 One and Insta360 One X, are introduced according to the shooting angle characteristics of the 360 camera.

The above is the functional exploration of Insta360. With its own accumulation in 360 video and VR technology, more different products are derived to guide users to try new shooting modes. I believe this is the focus of their attention now.

Now, Insta360 has launched another "two-in-one" camera Insta360 EVO. This is a camera that integrates the basic functions of 360 motion camera and 3D shooting function. It can not only display 3D effects in VR glasses mode, but also display naked-eye 3D effects on mobile phones through some accessories.

A new form of splitting into two

The shape of Insta360 EVO is different from the previous Insta360 products. Among these differences, the most intuitive is this folding design.

Because it is necessary to take both 3D photos and 360 video photos, the placement of the two lenses in the camera will be particular. In this regard, Insta360 EVO has added a folding structure, which connects two identical cameras together with a folding shaft and converts two different modes through folding.

When they are fully unfolded, the two lenses will be located on the same horizontal line, forming a state similar to "binocular head-up" for taking 3D photos. On the contrary, the two camera blocks are butted, and the two lenses are aimed at the vertical positive and negative directions, which is a common mode for taking 360 photos.

This folding method can not only directly realize mode switching, but also facilitate storage.

Users can completely lay the Insta360 EVO flat on the desktop without using it, or fold it up and put it on a flat surface, so as not to let the camera lens touch the desktop and reduce the chances of scratches and stains.

When it comes to folding, you should also mention the fixed structure of Insta360 EVO.

The two camera blocks are fixed by a set of metal plate bayonet to ensure that the cameras are in corresponding positions and locked after deformation. That's a good idea, but maybe because of the batch and workmanship, the buckle of my Insta360 EVO connected to 3D mode is a little tight, sometimes it won't buckle tightly and it will come loose easily.

Although this mode is usually taken horizontally, the Insta360 EVO placed on the tripod rarely comes loose, but the buckle is unstable and sometimes there are problems. So every time you take a picture, you should check it out before you take it. I don't know if other users who have got the machine have this problem. I hope to pay attention to it after Insta360. At the same time, users should be careful when switching modes, and don't break the buckle without unlocking it, otherwise it will be very troublesome to use the bayonet if it is broken.

The folding mode is the first difference, and the wired connection away from the mobile phone is the second difference on Insta360 EVO.

Unlike Insta360 One and earlier products, Insta360 EVO connects to the mobile phone through Wi-Fi, and there is no physical interface for connecting to the mobile phone. This is actually a design started on Insta360 One, which is directly implemented on Insta 360 One X. For Insta360 EVO, which has to take care of 360 content shooting and sports camera scenes, it is more convenient to use it without a mobile phone.

In addition to the lack of an interface to connect to a mobile phone, Insta360 EVO also continues the design style of Insta360 One X in appearance.

The outer bread of Insta360 EVO is covered with matte gray matte material, which has good comfort and shock absorption when it is used. The fuselage is very clean, leaving only the lens and the indicator light for shooting tips on the front. The two operation keys are concentrated on the top of the right fuselage, while the microUSB interface and microSD card slot are also placed on the edge of the right fuselage.

Perhaps it is because Insta360 EVO has no protection level requirements, and the interface and card slot do not have a cover to cover the protection like a traditional camera.

There is also a universal screw interface at the bottom of the camera on the right side of Insta360 EVO, which can connect a selfie stick and a tripod. Similarly, Insta360 also introduced a special-sized selfie stick, which just disappeared in the process of 360 video splicing, realizing the effect of "similar drone follow-up" proposed by Insta360 One at that time.

Appearance, Insta360 EVO is so much. The addition of folding structure seems to add some surprises to the product, or it can also let us see the new design form of the new Insta 360 machine after Insta360 EVO.

Integrated new camera

In fact, the folding structure in appearance still serves the function of two in one. Insta360 EVO with two camera modules essentially has two tasks, which are a 3D camera and a 360 motion camera.

Standard 360 basic motion camera

In terms of 360 content shooting, Insta360 EVO supports shooting 5.7K 360 full-motion video, and also supports the post-free FreeCapture function introduced by Insta360, which can achieve the effect of shooting first and then framing, and can also achieve the effect of switching perspectives in three different modes when outputting video.

The reason why Insta360 EVO is also defined as a sports camera here is because it has joined FlowState electronic image stabilization technology like Insta 360 One X.

Insta360, as the first camera manufacturer to add the electronic anti-shake function of Yuntai, has been adjusted for this function for three generations (One, One X, EVO), and now it can achieve the effect of adding a handheld stable drama in handheld shooting mode. Although not every scene can achieve the goal of absolute stability like a photo, at least it is no problem to cope with general shooting.

In terms of shooting mode, Insta360 EVO only retains the most basic shooting modes, such as video, photo shooting, motion delay and HDR photo mode. When taking photos, Insta360 EVO also provides RAW format for users to choose, so as to improve the space after taking photos.

However, Insta360 EVO does not provide log video like the One series sports cameras. Perhaps due to the consideration of positioning and function, Insta360 did not add this mode to EVO.

In terms of imaging effect, the style of Insta360 EVO is still similar to Insta360 One and Insta360 One X, both of which are to increase the later space. Videos and photos will not be handled too prominently, which is somewhat similar to GoPro's early style.

Perhaps, Insta360 also wants to guide users to use the image and video processing functional areas of exclusive applications to make content.

Simple and direct 3D shooting experience

Compared with the familiar 360 shooting function, the brand-new 3D effect is actually the core selling point of Insta360 EVO.

Users only need to flip the Insta360 EVO directly to the horizontal mode, and the Insta360 EVO App can recognize the shape of the mobile phone and enter the 3D shooting mode. In this mode, there are not many operations that users need to adjust, so they can shoot directly. Similar to the gameplay of 360 content, Insta360 still puts more gameplay points on the later content.

Insta360 said at the launch of the new machine that the newly launched Insta360 EVO App is the only application that can directly post-process 3D content on the mobile phone, including basic functions such as color matching, playback speed adjustment and editing, which can be completed on Insta360 EVO App.

At the same time, Insta360 also cooperated with Adobe on Insta360 EVO to provide official plug-ins on Premiere, which is convenient for users to transmit these 3D videos to Premiere for processing.

In addition to shooting and processing, Insta360 also makes the viewing experience as simple as possible.

The distribution package of Insta360 EVO includes a pair of simple VR glasses. After opening the Insta360 EVO App, users can watch the content by embedding VR glasses according to the corresponding prompts. Insta360 EVO can also be directly connected to VR all-in-one machines such as HTC VIVE Focus, Oculus GO and Gear VR, and it won't be too much trouble to see the content.

▲ Protective sleeve supporting naked-eye 3D

Also, Insta360 EVO is also a shooting device that supports naked-eye 3D viewing. After the shooting, open the content through Insta360 EVO App, and then cooperate with the naked-eye 3D phone case included in the official package to display the naked-eye 3D effect.

This idea will be more convenient than the previous folding VR glasses, but it seems a little troublesome for Insta360 to adapt to so many mobile phone sizes in the adaptation of mobile phone models. But in fact, for general 3D viewing, simple VR glasses are actually enough, and there is no need to be too entangled in naked-eye VR display.

Is the two-in-one experience worth trying?

Before talking about the conclusion, please mention the price first. The price of Insta360 EVO is 2598 yuan, including Insta360 EVO, standard tripod accessories and simple VR equipment.

The mobile phone case mentioned above was not released at the press conference, and the special selfie stick commonly used by Insta360 was not included in the set, so it needs to be purchased separately. However, if you have bought Insta360 One X and Insta360 One before, then the selfie stick matched at that time has achieved the required effect.

Look at the product after seeing the price. Whether for users or manufacturers, the emergence of Insta360 EVO is an unknown new attempt.

It is difficult to judge whether 3D content shooting will form a new demand at this stage. Although it has appeared in the development of mobile phones, it is reasonable that HTC EVO 3D and LG Optimus 3D did not catch fire because the shooting effect and display technology at that time did not achieve the ideal effect.

But now camera manufacturers with experience in this field do it again, or the effect may be different. But at present, there is really only one consumer product, Insta360 EVO, and the follow-up effect is not easy to judge. At the same time, Insta360 EVO is also located in the category of family life records, which also adds some uncertainty to its future achievements.

But if you need a good handheld 360 video shooting device, then Insta360 EVO can also meet your most basic needs. At this time, if you still want to try some new shooting modes, its newly added 3D shooting may also add more fun to you.