Insta360’s latest release, the Insta360 Luna Ultra, is a Leica-backed vlogging camera with a 1-inch 8K main and a 1/1.3-inch telephoto camera offering up to 12x zoom, alongside a detachable wireless touchscreen control, AI tracking, and professional video features like Dolby Vision and 10-bit I-Log.
The Luna Ultra offers an alternative to the DJI OSMO Pocket 4 and is an especially enticing option for American consumers, given that DJI’s products remain banned from the US market.
Insta360 Luna Ultra at a glance:
- Price from: $769/£649
- Dual lenses
- 1-inch and 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensors
- 8K30p video
- 10-bit I-Log recording
- 3-axis stabilisation
- detachable 2″ OLED touchscreen
- 1550mAh battery
There are two lenses on board; the standard camera has a Leica Summicron lens with a bright f/1.8 aperture and is backed by a 1-inch type 8K resolution sensor. The second lens is a Pro Telephoto shooter with a 1/1.3-inch sensor and an f/2.0 aperture, giving you lossless zoom up to 6x (equivalent to 120mm on a full-frame camera), while the full zoom range tops out at 12x or 240mm zoom. This lens is also ideal for capturing close-up detail.
High-resolution 8K30p video recording means there’s scope to crop the footage to suit various social platforms and their preferred formats and resolutions. Pure video is a dedicated low light and night shooting available up to 4K, while for slow motion footage, you can choose between 4K120fps and 1080p240fps. 10-bit I-Log recording enables professional colour grading and greater flexibility during editing.
The gimbal head provides 3-axis stabilisation, while the Deep Track 5.0 and Rapid Focus options automatically recognise and lock onto subjects even when moving at a fast speed away from the camera and effectively track groups.
There’s a detachable wind guard included in the standard bundle, but opting for the creator kit you get a Mic Pro Transmitter that supports 32-bit float recording and AI noise cancellation, not to mention it has a cute customisable E-ink display that looks like a colourful pin.
The detachable 2-inch OLED touchscreen panel can be used to monitor as well as control the Insta360 Luna Ultra. The built-in microphone lets you monitor both video and audio. This has a 20m transmission range. No need to run back and forth to check composition and whether you just moved out of shot. You can place the gimbal down for full-body shots, or secure it high or low for interesting shooting angles, then shoot and review video.
Insta360 paid particular attention to how portraits are captured. The Luna Ultra can recognise faces, and the built-in Beauty Mode effects help you smooth out imperfections and fine-tune skin tone to create footage that’s ready to share. There’s a separate mini fill light you can attach on top of the cameras to aid night capture; however, its availability isn’t confirmed yet. There are Leica colours and filters on board with the option to create, save and share your own colour solutions via a QR code and QR Color Share.
The 1550mAh battery provides 4 hours of shooting, but it can be fast-charged to use again in only 23 minutes. There’s ample internal storage with 47 GB, while you can expand using an SD card.
The Insta360 Luna Ultra is available in Stellar Black and Lunar White for $769/£649 in the Standard Bundle, which includes a slide-on wind guard, a protective cover, a 1/4″ thread handle housing the battery and a wrist strap. The most comprehensive offer is the Creator Bundle, which, on top of what you get in the base package, adds a Mic Pro Transmitter, an extra battery handle with 1000mAh, and a Wide-angle lens mod that gives you a 108˚field of view. The whole kit comes in a small black water-resistant carry bag retailing at $969/£829.
It seems like the Insta 360 Luna Ultra will not just be a backup option for American vloggers; based on its impressive spec sheet, it may become the ultimate vlogging tool in its own right.
Related reading:
- Insta360 X5 review – I’m addicted to making videos with this 8K 360° camera
- Insta360 GO 3 action camera review – little wonder
- DJI Osmo Nano Review
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