+ Nano’s wireless livestreaming works better than the Theta’s livestreaming The Theta’s wireless connection sometimes doesn’t work. + more convenient viewing and sharing: just plug it in your phone. + 3k video is much more detailed than the Theta’s 960p video. – Dynamic range is pretty good for a casual camera.Ĭomparison with some 360 cameras: vs. – Contrast is a little high for my taste (I prefer a flatter starting image then adjust the contrast myself), although it makes it look better “straight out of the camera” without editing. – When the white balance works, the colors are generally good, although in bright light, some reds can appear oversaturated.
– The white balance is sometimes inaccurate but performs adequately in common situations. It’s the best flare resistance I’ve seen among my 360 cameras, as long as I make sure there are no fingerprints on the lens. However, I have rarely seen lens flare artifacts in real world photos. It is not totally immune to flare - if one lens is facing the sun directly, there will be a slight decrease in contrast in that side compared to the other side (the same is true for other 360 cameras I’ve tried). – Flare resistance is excellent as long as you keep the lens clean. – There’s serious chromatic aberration at the edges of the lens, but otherwise, aberration is a little more controlled than on the Theta. However, most casual users will probably not mind. – The image appears over-sharpened, with sharpening artifacts visible. – The Nano seems to have better edge to edge sharpness than the Theta (consistency of sharpness across the field of view), with a narrower range at the edge of the lens where the image quality suddenly drops, although in this respect it is not as good as that of the Samsung Gear 360. Insta360 says recalibration may be required if the Nano is subjected to a strong impact. The stitching can also be re-calibrated in the app, although I haven’t had the need to do that. – Stitching is quite good, no doubt due in part to the close distance between its lenses which reduces parallax stitching errors. However, because of the limited resolution, zooming in the photo won’t show any additional detail. – The photo resolution is only 3040 x 1520 (around 4.5mp) but the image looks more detailed than the resolution would suggest. It would be interesting to see how they compare with the LG 360 Cam ($199). – The image is reasonably detailed, although is not as detailed as that of the Ricoh Theta S ($349), or the Samsung Gear 360 ($349), which, to be fair, cost almost twice as much as the Insta360 Nano ($199). If you’re using the Nano by itself, the battery lasts longer, especially if you’re just taking photos and not videos. If you’re using the Nano with the iPhone, the battery drains approximately 1% per 1 minute of live view (or recording video), and the camera becomes very warm. (The Samsung Gear 360 has nearly zero delay between shots, but that’s because its photos or videos are not stitched in-camera.)īattery life depends on whether you’re using it with the app or not. This compares favorably with cameras such as the Ricoh Theta S, which takes about 8 seconds to get ready for the next shot. This is reasonably fast for a 360-degree camera. To be specific, it took me 32 seconds to take 10 photos. – Shot-to-shot time is about 3 seconds (from the time you press the shutter to the time the shutter is ready for the next shot). It’s good to count 2 seconds in your head as you hold the camera in position, before putting it down.
It’s long enough that before I was aware of it, I would usually put the camera down before the shot was taken, resulting in a missed shot. – Shutter lag: about 1.45 seconds (from the time you press the shutter to the time of capture).
– Shutdown time: about 2 seconds (from the time the power button is first held down until the Nano shuts off). – Startup time takes about 6.5 seconds (from the time the power button is pressed or the time the Nano is plugged in the iPhone, to the time it is ready for capture). In terms of performance, the camera is reasonably responsive: