This thumb-sized camera is my new ‘must have’ for traveling

I’ll admit: I’m not a skater, I don’t deep sea dive, and I certainly can’t jump from wall to wall upside down. But when you give me an action camera the size of a thumb, it’s hard not to take it out for a spin, just to see what this little thing is capable of. and so that’s exactly what I did this weekend with the new insta360 go 3,

Also: My favorite camera settings for great phone videos. just don’t abuse it

As the name suggests, this is Insta360’s third outing with the pocket-sized camera, and this time around it comes with some notable upgrades like the ability to record in 1440p (up from 1080p) and shoot for over two hours Ability.

And in place of last year’s tripod stand, the camera is now bundled with this ingenious flip-out display module that also doubles as a battery pack. Think modern vlogging camera but smaller.

ZDNET Recommends

insta360 go 3

The most pocket-friendly travel camera with up to 2.7K video recording and multiple mounting accessories.

Naturally, the Go 3 attracts the attention of not only thrill seekers, but game-beaters like me. (Sorry, that was the best poem I could think of as an argument in this next section.) See below for a brief compilation of footage recorded with the camera, and then I’ll explain clearly that it’s all How captured and why the Insta360 Go 3 will be a mainstay of my travel bag for the foreseeable future.

The Insta360 Go 3 measures two inches tall and has a button in the center to turn on the camera (press and hold) and start or stop recording (single tap). If you’re using the Go 3 alone, you won’t be able to see the precise framing of your shots because there’s no physical viewfinder. But, because the Insta360 uses an ultrawide lens, you can expect most subjects in your eye-view to make it into the final cut.

This means capturing life’s moments is as simple as putting the camera on, either with the bundled clip-on cap mount, pivot stand, magnet pendant (imagine wearing a pendant and pulling the camera over your shirt imagine being able to), or my personal favorites, the new Action Pod, and Pressing Record.

With the Action Pod, you not only get a flip-out display to see what’s being captured, but you also have the ability to reduce distortion caused by the ultrawide lens, increase video resolution and extend the Go 3’s battery life has the capability. Attaching the camera to the module is as easy as fitting a puzzle piece, and its ease is part of the reason I kept going back to the accessory.

Also: This $15 Accessory Unlocks GoPro’s Game-Changing Camera Features

When entering the arcade hall, I had two mounts and one shooting mode in mind: magnet pendant for hands-free POV shots (basketball and view) open the lock), pivot stand for games with props (see). tomb Raider And motogp), and the Insta360’s Freeframe mode, which sets the camera’s field-of-view to the maximum so I can easily crop both 16:9 and 9:16 video in post. All in all, I’m very satisfied with the footage I was able to record, especially considering how little effort was required to frame the shots.

I only have two complaints with the Insta360 Go 3 and they both relate to the editing and exporting phase of the experience. First, you’ll need to pair the camera with the Insta360 app on your phone to download any videos over local Wi-Fi. When you consider how large these ultrawide, free-framing videos can be, each one can take three to five minutes to download. Worst of all, should the Go 3 remain on when you’re transferring video files, it gets hot enough to break the connection.

Also: This Thermal Camera Is So Sensitive It Can See You Breathe

There were times when I had to export the camera three or four times to let it cool down and then repeat the process, hoping it didn’t disconnect in the middle. But remember, this is a very small camera, so its internal cooling and heat dissipation can only be so effective.

Ultimately, it really takes some patience to get yourself a smooth and unobtrusive vlogging experience insta360 go 3, camera starts $379 for the 32GB model, but I’d recommend choosing either the 64GB or 128GB variant because of how easy it is to do so, so I often find myself recording more than necessary. And you probably will too.