Field Journal

Written by Daniel Neilson
Produced in Partnership with Insta360

From Alpine cable climbs to Channel swims, here’s how the Insta360 X5 kept up with some of Sidetracked’s challenging shoots.

Bettmerhorn climbs to 2,872m, high in the Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. On what is euphemistically called a ‘vertical hike’, we climb up the southern flank of the mountain, mostly hands on steel cables and occasionally feet on wooden steps. To the east, there’s an impossibly steep drop down to Fiesch; to the west, a near-vertical drop down to Great Aletsch Glacier, the largest glacier in the Alps and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Recording this trail and the surrounding panorama is the Insta360 X5.

The Insta360 X5 has been a constant companion for Sidetracked over six busy months. Japan, Montenegro, Scotland, a choppy day out on the English Channel, and Switzerland. Hiking, biking, packrafting, mountaineering, swimming… It’s done everything. We’ve used it to make videos for our own editorial, brand partnerships, and even, ahem, an upcoming Amazon Prime TV series. As well as offering a bit of behind-the-scenes on the workings of Sidetracked, this goes to show the versatility of the Insta360 X5 – and our appreciation for it..

So, what is the Insta360 X5? And what does it actually do? It’s an action camera that shoots 8K 360º continuously. Insta360, a company founded in 2015, describes it neatly as a ‘multi-cam setup in one device’. The 360º video captures everything around you as you shoot – just hit record and start moving. The reframing happens during the edit in the app, with the best angles picked later, or in selfie mode, in landscape or portrait, or in AI mode for a quick edit. It’s an impressive tool and such a clever use of technology. And it’s particularly good when you’re concentrating on cycling downhill, steering a packraft, or not falling off a big mountain. Press record and concentrate on the adventure. It can also shoot stills in 360º mode too – fisheye and wide angle, you know, when you’re nailing that ollie, or you want to get that sweeping shot of you crossing Crib Goch.

As you’ll see from the clips we’ve accrued, it is exceptionally clear. This is particularly noticeable in low-light conditions as well. To throw some numbers around, the imaging quality is down to the Triple AI Chip and 1/1.28″ sensors. This means up to 60fps and what Insta360 calls AdaptiveTone, a way to mitigate overexposed skies or deep shadows in the woods, balancing light, colour, and contrast before you have to edit it yourself.

Impressive too – as you’ll see from our experiment with it cycling – is the stabilisation. This is the virtual gimbal that offers effortlessly smooth footage. When you’re setting up, you can choose from Pitch Lock, Follow, or drone-like FPV modes for steady movement in every shot. A horizon lock keeps the horizon level throughout the video.

You can also use it like a traditional action camera to shoot 4K60fps first-person videos as well as a superwide 170° view in 4K30fps – that wide-angle POV is all yours! We found this a great mode for cycling. There’s a smart mode to keep your subject centred, and a Virtual Joystick that lets you guide the frame in real time for instantly shareable flat footage without any editing, if you so wish. Versatility is the X5’s superpower.

As you’d expect from an action camera, it’s built to withstand a faceplant. There are also replaceable lenses – a good thing. The X5 is waterproof to 15m, and we added the Invisible Dive Case accessory – a very effective case basically – that we used for a Dryrobe shoot swimming around the cliffs of Beachy Head. That means you can dive to 60m with the camera and still shoot very clear video and stills, according to the brand. The Invisible Dive Case’s optical design eliminates light refraction, warping, and stitching too. Smart. Again. But not as smart as the Invisible Selfie Stick. This is what we used on our ridgeline walk. Using actual magic, the video eliminates the selfie stick, making it look like you’re using a follow drone. You need to avoid shadows, but it works seamlessly. In a neat, ahem, twist, rotate the selfie stick back and forth twice to start/stop filming or take a photo. There’s a very good gesture control too to start a video or take a photograph as well.

What else? There’s the tiny, brilliant Mic Air that connects seamlessly to the X5 and attaches to your clothing. No need to hold a little microphone here. A little squeeze and it will start the video too. For the X5 itself, there’s up to 208 minutes of battery life according to the manufacturer. It can shoot in Timelapse, Starlapse, TimeShift, and Bullet Time (Google it). And, well, there are dozens more features – it’s the kind of camera that you’ll continue discovering little clever things for months. What you do need to know is that it is a hugely impressive action camera and very versatile. We’ll continue to use it in our productions and adventures.

Click here to visit the Insta360 Store.

Insta360 GO Ultra

It’s hard to know where to begin with a camera that has so many features. We could talk about its Strava compatibility, its FlowState control that steadies the horizon and the camera, or perhaps the magnetic accessories that allow you to be highly creative with your shots. But maybe we’ll start with what it is: an incredibly versatile 4K action camera.

The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s tiny. The Standalone camera body weighs just 53g. This means that with the magnetic accessories, you can wear it on your clothes, on a cap, helmet, a paddleboard handle, pretty much anything, without really noticing it. This really opens up possibilities, and you’re limited only by imagination – a cliché, but true. Cyclists can attach it to the seat stay, the forks, the handlebar forward and back, anything really. You can put it underwater, on a surfboard; it’s IPX8 rated. And that’s the genius of it really. It has a genuinely strong magnetic attachment, so you can do all sorts of bumpy activities without worrying too much, but there is a security cord as well. You can control the camera either through a simple button, or full control via your phone. There’s also voice control: ‘start recording’ and you’re off.

The really clever bit, however, is the Action Pod, a secure casing that has a 2.5” touchscreen on the back so you can see what you’re shooting. It’s a flip screen too so that you can turn it around for a piece-to-camera shot. It has more controls here for the camera – Timelapse, TimeShift, and Slow Motion modes, etc, but it also adds way more battery life. At 1080p, you’ll get 200 minutes (according to the manufacturer) in the Action Pod and 180 minutes at 4K. It’s still an impressive 70 minutes on the Standalone Camera at 1080p and 60 minutes at 4K. It also charges fast, with only 12 minutes to 80%.

There’s also a microphone that uses AI to clean up the audio, and it uses similar technology to stabilise the bounce – brilliant for running and cycling footage. And on the cycling footage, you can sync your GPS, heart rate, and speed from Strava, a Garmin device, or an Apple Watch and add it directly to your footage.

This, like the X5, is just good. Huge amounts of features, but very simple to use and the results are spectacular. No wonder this is one of the most popular cameras.