Insta360 Ace Pro action cam or video camera? Both!
In the immense market of action cameras, a fundamental tool for all sports lovers who want to record their exploits over time, something like this was missing. What? A product that could fulfill this task but also, if necessary, be a real video camera, for video quality, for versatility and why not, also with the possibility of taking high-level photos. Well, he finally thought about it Insta360 with its ACE PRO, a truly exceptional product, a true 3 in 1 that will allow us with a single device to do everything we need for our V-Logs, professional filming, sports filming, photos and so on and so forth put some. Let's see its main features.
Topics of this article:
ACE PRO PACKAGE
In the STANDARD package we find:
- ACE PRO
- Type C – Type C charging cable
- Action Cam magnetic attachment
- Suction cup attachment for helmet
- Quick start Guide
- Various sheets
Talking in 360° about this action camera would take us hours, so I will try to focus on the points that I consider fundamental and which make it, in my opinion, one of the best products on the market (not to mention the best). Let's start from the general technical characteristics and then go into the specifics of the fundamental topics:
ACE PRO TECHNICAL FEATURES
- Sensor size: 1/1.3”
- Opening: F2.6
- 35mm equivalent focal length:16mm
- Video Resolution: Standard video (Active HDR activated for recordings up to 4K30fps) 8K (16:9): 7680×4320 24fps 8K (2.35:1) : 7680×3272 24fps 4K (4:3): 4032×3024 60/50 /48/30/25/24fps 4K (16:9) : 3840×2160 120/100/60/50/48/30/25/24fps 2.7K (4:3) : 2688×2016 60/50/48/ 30/25/24fps 2.7K (16:9) : 2688×1520 120/100/60/50/48/30/25/24fps 1440P (4:3) : 1920×1440 60/50/48/30/25 /24fps 1080P (16:9) : 1920×1080 240/200/120/100/60/50/48/30/25/24fps FreeFrame Video 4K (4:3): 4032×3024 60/50/48/30 /25/24fps PureVideo 4K (16:9) : 3840×2160 30/25/24fps 2.7K (16:9) : 2688×1520 30/25/24fps 1080P (16:9) : 1920×1080 30/25/ 24fps Slow Motion 4K (16:9) : 3840×2160 120/100fps 2.7K (16:9) : 2688×1520 120/100fps 1080P (16:9) : 1920×1080 240/200/120/100fps
- Photo Resolution: 48MP (8064×6048) 36MP (8064×4536) 12MP (4032×3024) 9MP (4032×2264)
- Video Format: MP4
- Photo Format:
- JPG DNG (can be exported via App or Studio)
- Video Mode: Video (with built-in Active HDR), FreeFrame Video, PureVideo, Slow Motion, Starlapse, Timelapse, TimeShift, Pre-Recording, Loop Recording
- Photo Mode: Photo, HDR Photo, Burst, Interval
- Color Profiles: Standard, Vivid, LOG
- Video Coding: H.265 and H.264
- Max Video Bitrate: 170Mbps
- Exposure value: ±4EV
- ISO values: 100-6400
- Shutter speed: Photo: 1/8000 – 120s Video: 1/8000 – at the limit of frames per second
- White balance: Auto, 2000 – 10000K
- Sound Modes: Wind Reduction, Stereo, Directional Enhancement
- Audio format: 48 kHz, 16 bit, AAC
- Weight: 179.8g
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 71.9mmx52.15mmx38.5mm
- Storage Space: No built-in internal memory. Supports microSD cards up to 1TB.
- Microphones: 3
- Battery capacity: 1650mAh
- Charging Time: 46min (30W fast charging adapter) 63min: 5V/3A
- Battery life: 100 minutes *Lab tested at 25°C with AI Assistant turned off, recording in 4K30fps in Active HDR mode. Battery life may vary under different conditions.
- Operating Temperature: -20°C to 40℃
- Water resistance: Without Underwater House:10m, With Underwater House:60m
- Bluetooth: BLE 5.2
- Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz, 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- USB: Type-C
- Gyroscope: 6-axis gyroscope
- Color: Black
HIGHLIGHTS
MAGNETIC QUICK CONNECTION
Let's start from the beginning, how to attach our cam to the selfie stick, tripod or any other device we need. Well, with ACE PRO it has become a convenient and very fast operation. Under the cam we find a new type of proprietary attack that will allow us to perform this operation in a few seconds. In fact, we will have a magnetic tool equipped with hooks that will attach securely and will give us the possibility of then fixing it with the classic standard toothed support for action cameras. Harder to explain than to see.
DISPLAY
Let's start from what in my opinion is one of the biggest and most obvious pluses of the Ace Pro, the 180° adjustable display. One of the biggest limitations of almost all action cameras is precisely that of being able to see the shot from the smartphone application which for obvious reasons we often cannot hold in our hands. Here, however, we have a beautiful 2.4″ touch display that can be rotated by 180° which will allow us to see clearly what we are recording. Being touch it will also allow us to access all the menus and adjust them with extreme ease, making the use of the smartphone/PC almost superfluous. Perfect for selfie videos, changing video and photo settings, reviewing and deleting our works to avoid keeping too much useless material which normally always just generates a lot of confusion. We can absolutely say that this display transforms an Action Cam into a real video camera in all respects. Obviously, this wouldn't be enough... but what I will talk about in the next paragraphs will also confirm this bold statement of mine.
SENSOR
Here is another fundamental point that makes this Action Cam an absolute top product: lens and sensor. The first in collaboration with LEICA and sensor it's really very big, 1 / 1,3 ". This will lead to our cam recording better videos, capturing light better (later I'll tell you about night videos), sharper videos and more defined colors.
CONTINUOUS RECORDING AND AI
This is, in my opinion, the coolest feature of this action cam, what it is: normally when we do our day of recording we often do several sessions that start in the morning and maybe end in the evening. What will the final result be? having 30 videos to watch and fix in post production, the worst job in the world. But with Ace Pro NO! in fact, it will be possible for us to record the first video, stop it, turn off the cam, turn it back on, enter the gallery, select that video and resume recording from where we left off! and she will make us attach the second shot to the first, and so on ad infinitum. This way we will only have one file to edit and this makes our life much easier. But that's not all, from the settings we can activate theAI which will allow us to let you decide which are the best moments of our footage and edit them automatically. It is obvious that we will always have the possibility to re-edit the generated movie and add or remove other pieces that have not been selected or selected byAI.
By keeping the AI activated we can then, via the INSTA360 application, generate futuristic films with beautiful 3D effects. In this case our video will be uploaded to their servers, processed and then re-downloaded.
AUDIO CAPTURE
One thing that really impressed me is the audio capture: perfect! Better even than my €1300 smartphone and at the same level, if not superior, to my professional RODE microphone. I don't understand how they managed to achieve this, but they did it. The voice is very clear, warm, well balanced with background noises. There are 3 capture modes:
- stereo – no noise reduction, the sound effect will be as natural as possible
- Wind noise reduction – reduces ambient noise, such as wind, to improve voices
- Direction Focus – directional improvement, the audio coming from the front of the cam will be improved (ideal for V-Log)
CLARITY ZOOM
One of the major limitations that action cameras have always had is the impossibility of zooming. Well, starting today with Ace Pro you can do it. In fact, we have the modality clarity zoom which will allow us to run one zoom 2x without loss of quality. To enable it, just double tap on the display and you're done. once enabled, a double blue arrow icon will appear indicating the active zoom. Click on the same icon to return to normal mode. It goes without saying that having a zoom available will really make the difference if you want to shoot a subject that is too distant, which would make the shot too anonymous.
HDR MODE
This mode is not exclusive to Ace Pro but it works flawlessly here. It can be enabled with video frame rates no higher than i 30fps and will allow us to shoot in difficult lighting conditions, for example backlighting or with the sky in the background. In these cases normally either the subject is captured well and the background is burned out (where a strong light source comes from) or the background is captured but the subject remains totally dark. Well, with HDR enabled we will have videos with perfect exposure on both the subject and the background. Try to give in
PURE VIDEO MODE
Another known and recognized limitation for action cameras is definitely that of recording videos in low-light environments. And here comes to our rescue the video mode Pure Video that thanks to the size of the sensor and the noise suppression algorithms, based on AI 5nm, which is present in our Ace, will allow us to take excellent shots even at night (excellent always considering the fact that we are talking about an action cam). Let's say that here the gap with the other cams becomes almost embarrassing. So if you are, for example, a lover of urban night shots, this is definitely your device, and I add DEFINITIVE
DEWARP MODE
If you are a v-logger you know, filming yourself with action cams is not the best thing as having a very wide field of view the close-ups of people are often slightly distorted. The DEWARP mode comes to our aid and allows us to record in the foreground without having distortions due to the wide field of view. Therefore, in addition to the classic uses of an actio cam, Ace Pro also allows it to be used to make V-log or selfie video videos while maintaining excellent video quality. Let's not forget that the rotatable display will make all this a breeze.
FREEFRAME MODE
Are you undecided in which mode to record because you don't know if you want to upload your video to FB/YOUTUBE (therefore landscape) or to TIKTOK/IG (therefore portrait or square)? Very well, use this mode to then decide in post production which format to save: horizontal, vertical or square!
WATERPROOF
Another incredible gem is being able to immerse it up to 10m which will practically allow us to carry out 99% of amateur underwater filming. As far as I'm concerned, even 2m would have been enough since to go further you need considerable physical preparation and in-depth knowledge of the habitat. With the original case you can then go down to 60m, depths which obviously become for professional use.
GPS
A really cool accessory deserves a special mention, the GPS watch! Very comfortable, you can put it on your wrist and through its touch display we can interact with the cam, start videos, take photos, view what the cam is framing and obviously have all the telemetry data present in our video. If you have some money to invest in accessories this is undoubtedly the first on your shopping list!
ALL VIDEO – PHOTO MODES
There are so many photo shooting and video recording modes, to browse them all just click on the cam symbol at the bottom left and you will enter the menu that will allow you to browse them all. Here we will find some settable and other predefined modes:
Settable:
- video – Record videos with standard default stabilization, settable: stabilization, aspect ratio, HDR actie, duration, resolution, frame rate.
- Pure Video (already explained)
- Free Video Frames (already explained)
- Time shift – Accelerate time and space to create a cinematic hyperlapse
- Timelapse – Create timelapse effects for static scenes
- Loop recording – loop recording, saves only the last segment of fixed length. Turn your video camera into a dashcam and save space by recording multiple videos at set times.
- Slow Motion – Stabilized slow motion videos. Adjustable aspect ratio, duration, resolution (4K, 2.7K, 1080p) and frame rate (240, 200, 120, 100fps)
- Starlapse – Take and store multiple photos for Starlapse effects. Start shooting by framing the stars to capture the magic of the night sky with spectacular startrails.
- Burst photo – Take photos in sequence, settable: sequence 3p/1s, 5p/1s, 10p/1s, 15p/1s, 30p/1s,10p/3s, 30p/6s, 30p/10s, aspect ratio, format, timer
- Interval – Automatically take continuous photos at specific time intervals. Settable: time interval, aspect ratio, duration, format
- HDR photo – Take photos with high dynamic range HDR, adjustable: format, resolution and aspect ratio
- Photo – Take single photos, settable: format, resolution and aspect ratio
Default:
- Bike – 4k video, 60fps, 16/9, FOV action view, auto shooting parameters
- Skiing – 4k video, 120fps, 16/9, ultra wide FOV, auto shooting parameters
- Surf – 4k video, 120fps, 16/9, ultra wide FOV, auto shooting parameters
- Diving – 4k video, 60fps, 16/9, ultra wide FOV, auto shooting parameters
- Vlog – 4k video, 30fps, 16/9, FOV dewarp, auto shooting parameters
The default shooting settings can however be modified and we then have 5 customized ones that we can create to our liking. Of course, there is no lack of third-person shooting, an incredible algorithm in the Insta360 app will make the selfie stick disappear in your shots, with immediate effect on your device without having to upload it to the cloud first.
HOW TO TAKE PHOTOS
Let's start from the assumption that photos are certainly not the most sought-after feature of an action cam, especially in the era of smartphones which often make the camera department the workhorse. It's obvious that from medium range up (€500 up) it is preferable to shoot with the phone but I can assure you that you can easily use our ACE PRO to take photos because the result is really good. There are many format alternatives, from the type JPG-PURESHOT-PURESHOT+RAW, to the resolution 12-48Mpx finally with the aspect ratio 4/3 o 16/9. We then have the possibility of shooting in HDR mode but here the file type can only be PURESHOT and the resolution 12Mpx. My advice is to use 12Mpx resolution, 4/3 aspect ratio and PURESHOT file type, a mode that allowed me to obtain the best results. If the lighting conditions are particularly challenging, the HDR mode is obviously the best to use. Here I bring you some examples of shots in "normal" mode, HDR mode and DEWARP format, the final judgment is obviously up to you.
STANDARD PHOTO
HDR PHOTO
HOW TO RECORD VIDEO
This is the fundamental chapter in deciding whether to buy an action camera. Unfortunately I don't practice extreme sports so I won't be able to give you an opinion on how it records in extreme conditions, therefore very shaky or particular videos. My tests are done in fairly normal videos and I can tell you about these and the various aspects to take into consideration:
VIDEO CAPTURE
One word: eccellente. There is little to say or object to, the videos recorded in all resolutions and frame rates are simply perfect. The stabilization, which we can select on 3 levels low-standard-high, works perfectly and will allow you to take home exceptionally stabilized videos. The high one is recommended for sports such as mountain biking where obviously the shots will be very lively. For more “linear” standard sports it is fine and if you are doing V-Log low will be more than enough. Of course it can also be disabled. The audio capture is very good and will also allow you not to use an external microphone and have good audio in your videos. I also consider this a fundamental aspect because if an action cam records excellent videos with poor audio it will force you to connect microphones that are really uncomfortable, especially if you are doing sports. The mode HDR, which I remind you has a maximum frame rate of 30fps, will bring you results that are nothing short of surprising when the lighting conditions are difficult. My advice is to always use it. Obviously, if, for particular editing needs, you need higher fps, you don't have to worry as the quality will always be very high. The maximum resolution even reaches 8K a 24fps, a mode that I recommend only if you then have to crop the video to obtain good quality on distant subjects while the 4K arrives at 120fps. This, however, can be used if, still in post production, you want to create those beautiful slow-motion cinematic effects. The Clarity Zoom option is also very good and will allow us to record videos, with 2X zoom, without loss of details. Even with this mode the final result remains excellent. In short, adding the convenience of the 180° rotatable display, I can assert that the ACE PRO it is the best action cam that has been on the market for a few months now, an action cam that you can also use as a real digital camera.
APPLICATIONS
The fantastic thing about having a 2.4" touch display, so defined and bright, is being able to carry out all operations, including video editing, directly from the cam. But if we then have an app like Insta360 (from as much as 1Gb) then everything becomes simply perfect. In my opinion, and I have read the same opinion from many other bloggers, this application is the best in terms of detachment compared to all the other brands. I won't even talk to you about the infinite operations you can do via the app, also because it would probably take me a couple of days. I want to mention just one of the many, but the one I liked the most: you can in fact generate videos with a futuristic effect that are becoming popular online among the best content creators in the sector. In this case you will have to upload your video, an effect that can be generated on a maximum of 30 seconds of video, to the Insta360 servers and then download something simply amazing.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
What to say? Which is undoubtedly the best action camera you can buy. Huge 1/1.3″ Leica collaboration sensor, huge 2.4″ 180° rotatable touch display, magnetic quick release, exceptional HDR recording, continuous single file recording, excellent audio capture, integrated AI chip, waterproof up to 10m, 2X zoom without loss of detail , 30W fast charging, excellent night recording (video too), recording up to 8K 24fps (4K at 120fps), smartphone application light years ahead of the competition. Is all this enough for you? Yes to me!
