I’ve been starting to film my sessions due to my brother bugging me to show him my progress, and I’m finding it really useful for breaking down my issues and working to improve.
I’ve got an older GoPro 6 that I found on the beach and “works” but has issues, so I’m looking at getting a new cam.
The big question is regular action cam (gopro) or 360 cam? What do you guys prefer, both for your own videos and what do you prefer to watch?
I have been looking at lots of footage lately trying to form my own opinion, and while the 360 cams offer a pretty magical view point, in my opinion it’s kinda “tiring” or maybe uninteresting to watch for long. I don’t know, something about the curve or something, but even though it’s amazing and the pole is invisible I find it hard to get a sense of the action.
I’m inclined to just get another gopro that works, but I have to admit I’m 360 curious and it does seem like the two together would offer good coverage of the session.
I’d love to hear what you all think. 360 or GoPro, what do you guys like to see?
Gopros are junk, but they serve a purpose. I have a hero 8 that has been nothing but issues since new. Can’t bring myself to buy another.
360cameras seem to hide the wave and some movement due to the way the images are put together.
An iphone in a case on a selfie stick really works well. It doesn’t have to be the latest and greatest, and certainly not your actual phone. I also find rhe videos a lot easier to deal with.
Insta360 is where it’s at. I’ve had the ONE-RS and I’m going to be buying the new X3 next year.
Came from GoPro and never going back.
The ease of just sticking it anywhere and not worrying where it’s pointed, then going and doing all the editing and capture direction from your smartphone is great.
I’ve used it kiting and paragliding so far - not really a good enough foiler to warrant for that yet
No opinion on the operation of either, but really don’t like the 360 watching experience…imagine it would make it more difficult to analyze form/technique if that is one of your goals.
Loving the input so far, thanks so much all. It seems my opinion is not mine alone. I have been thinking the 360 seems so cool and it gets everything and the invisible stick looks great, but all that said, I’ve been feeling that I really don’t like watching other’s vids filmed that way. After trying to figure out why I think it’s because it puts the subject in the forefront and distorts the background to the point that it becomes homogeneous from shot to shot. I don’t know for sure, but after watching a lot of foiltube I am finding I definitely prefer the standard gopro shot as a viewer.
But, like Zarb says, 360 is pretty awesome for getting everything without any worry about setting up the shot. Hmmmmmmm.
You can toggle between 360 and normal action cam modes on the GoPro Max. It doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the newest Hero’s but it’s pretty good. If you can’t decide which direction to go that gives you the option to try both.
I agree with another commenter that the GoPro software is really bad. Their remote is also garbage.
both views are not any good that’s why you hardly see them on instagram. They’re only good when you are in a massive barrel and that’s rare on foil obviously LOL. I guess you could hold a selfie stick while you are riding…
If you notice the foil clips on instagram are nearly all filmed on the beach or ideally from a drone.
What I do is to take 1 gopro and pass it between the crew during the session
the one with the camera will shoot others when he’s resting/waiting and they manage to pump back and connect close to him
I use a non wide view and zoom during editing.
See results in Matan Shapira (@foiliving) • Instagram photos and videos
GoPro’s and Insta360 are best used when filming others. If you want ease of use though. Insta360 software editing on your phone is something like draw a box where you want it to aim and it will only show you that box. It also has auto edit functions that spit out decent results. Auto horizon leveling etc.
GoPro has the auto horizon leveling on the newer ones. 10 and up I think. Much more intensive editing. More accessories if you care about that.
Both of them get water inside if you’re not careful about sealing them up.
Great stuff gang, thanks for all the input so far. I’m sort of pleasantly surprised to hear the consensus on watching 360 footage. I thought it was just me.
I’m a bit of a luddite and don’t really use a phone, and haven’t looked at Instagram in years. I’ll be doing everything in post on PC desktop and if it needs a phone involved or an app I don’t want it.
That said, Kurtis, your idea is interesting for sure. Just use a cheap older iphone as a cheap action cam. I like it.
The fact that you can use the newer 360 cams as normal action cams is intriguing.
I definitely agree that none of these are ideal and it’s much better to get someone else to shoot you. All of this has me thinking maybe it’s better to not buy an action cam at all and put that money towards a soloshot.
A lot of the “360” looking views are intentionally edited in that viewpoint. You have a choice in the post-edit app to change the perspective so that it doesn’t look 360.
If you narrow the field of view it will look like you just shot it on a normal camera. Again - you can narrow the field of view to capture anything in the 360 radius (at any point in time) which is what makes them so great. It doesn’t matter where the camera is while you’re filming, you can track subjects, change views, change effects, zoom in/out, at any point in the edit. And because captures everything in that radius, when you crop it to a narrow view following a subject - it also automatically stabilizes the shot.
If you want to minimize that 360 distortion effect, you can use a 2m pole, but that gets tiring to hold. I would also point out that while the insta 360 app is pretty good, you do have to process every single clip and choose framing and export unless set to regular action cam mode or me mode on the x3. GoPro app is terrible and the files are huge if you use max resolution, but the finer details of the water show and you have access to slow mo beyond 60fps, which is really good for learning.
I’d recommend finding a deal on a GoPro 8 or newer which gives you great slow mo and narrower FOV option for filming others. Will cost fraction of a360 cam, and they sell floating cases so you don’t lose it to the ocean!
Great topic. I just got an Insta360 X3. Hoping to use it to film prone and eventually DW. I am wondering what sort of selfie stick people are using for their 360 cams. I have the “invisible selfie stick” from Insta but is DOES NOT FLOAT. Are people using special floating selfie sticks? I noticed OscarFoil uses a 360 for his epic, narrated, super long pump/surf session videos. Looks like he sticks the selfie stick in his mouth while paddling into waves. Therefore he cant be using a wrist lanyard. I couldnt see any floats or anything obvious.
I guess i could try and tape a section of pool noodle around my selfie stick and give it a go but wondering if anyone has come up with anything cleaner.
Thanks for the replies guys. Insta360 does not offer and extending selfie stick that floats (just a floating handgrip). I came across the 3pv aqua pole (https://3pv.co/). Turns out its the same one that OscarFoil uses for his review videos. I ordered one a few days ago and am looking forward to trying it out. The one that @Velocicraptor mentioned looks like it would work well too.
Insta360 didn’t hold up well in the saltwater for me, I’ve heard this from others as well. Interface was easier, simpler though. Went back to gopro360 and it felt a little more finicky at first but hoping it’s more durable. Plenty of forums discussing insta360 and saltwater troubles
Insta360 experience: make sure the battery hatch is fully closed, can’t see even a sliver of colour. (session 1: camera destroyed by salt water, insta graciously replaced for $250).
Make sure you have a floaty wrist strap and test it actually floats that 5lb metal selfie stick (why is it so heavy?). And ensure you have it tethered to you as secondary [session 10: camera came off tether in decent surf, gone forever ].
Borrowed a friend’s gopro 360 briefly, was surprised how noticable the extra weight is on selfie stick. But I think it’s worth it for bomb proof water use … seems obvious that Insta is not made for what we’re doing with it, will work for a while, then probably not. Gopro was made for surf.
If looking for older one, I hear earlier Fusion edition has clunky software/editing. Max is supposed to be the better option.
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