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Comment by QuantumNomad_ | Hacker News Reader

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QuantumNomad_

> These days other brands give better quality video in better quality hardware and more functionality, for cheaper.

I had a GoPro many years ago. Eventually sold it because I needed the money for other things.

Been thinking about buying a new action camera eventually.

Got any recommendations?

The one that interests me the most of the ones I’ve seen is the Insta360 X4 Air plus an underwater case for it.

I want to be able to bring my camera swimming, bicycling, hiking, etc. And I think 360 degree cameras are pretty cool. Hopefully it’s not just a gimmick that loses its appeal after a few hours.

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As someone who watches a reasonable amount of PoV outdoor activity footage shot on helmet cams and the like (base jumping, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, etc)… I don’t love watching 360 videos uploaded in the raw because of the perspective distortion.

I’m assuming it must be possible, if the resolution is good enough, to post process a portion of each overall frame into an undistorted 1080p (or better) view of the key view of the action, but a lot of people don’t do this (perhaps it’s much more difficult or time-consuming that I’m imagining, or perhaps many viewers enjoy the distorted 360 view more than I do).

Just my two cents, YMMV, etc.

Yes it's possible, and yes it's time-consuming.

part of this is by design, which unfortunately also makes very steep terrain not look as terrifying, but gives you huge FOV. I find in all but the latest Instas its the worse low-light quality that is most notable. More annoying is that everyone is trying to compete on weird angles and perspectives, andY YT shills push attachments and niche features vs. photographic quality

If you're willing to put a little time into video editing, a 360 cam is great. The insta360 tools can make that a little easier if you want something simple.

If you just want to store a snapshot of the moment as it was captured, a regular camera that you pointed in the right direction is better.

The downside is the 360 editing tools are kind of sluggish and not great to work with, and even at 8k res in-camera, the export for a 'normal' looking FoV is pretty low quality compared to a normal action cam recording in 4k.

I have an insta360 X5, it's neat and there's a lot of flexibility, but it does have downsides.

The app is also a pile of crap, it's crammed full of ads, social media junk I don't want, it's slow as molasses, and the size of the app is massive.

Have you tried resolve's 3d editing?

I'd love to film in 3d. But being dependent on a single app of a single company (that is not even a good app right now) is literally the worst feature for a hardware I could imagine.

Why are you dependent on a single app? Pretty much any NLE has ability to edit 3D footage.

I didn't know that. I've got told it's a proprietary format while got shown the insta360 app.

Good to know, and reconsider!

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