From Google, Nokia and Samsung at the beginning to LG, 360 Heros, Jaunt VR and Next VR now, more and more manufacturers have begun to put their chips on VR content creation (one of the biggest problems in VR at present is the lack of content), and have all invested in the field of panoramic cameras. There are also many manufacturers of panoramic cameras in China, which may be based on special national conditions. Domestic panoramic camera products tend to be consumer grade, with low price and high cost performance, allowing users to experience VR content creation at low cost. This Insta360 Nano we evaluated is a 1000 yuan VR panoramic camera.

appearance

The packaging of Insta360 Nano is very creative. The packaging box itself is a VR box. Inside the VR box lies an Insta360 Nano, USB data cable, packaging bag and instructions.

Insta360 Nano adopts a straight shape with gray and white mixed colors. The overall shape is strong and simple, and the Front and rear dual lens design, each lens has an ultra wide angle of 210 °. Through the front and rear two ultra wide angle fisheye lenses, 360 ° X360 ° pictures/videos can be taken, and then real-time splicing can be carried out, which can capture panoramic videos with 3K resolution (3040X1520). There is a Micro USB port and a Micro SD card slot at the bottom.

It is hard to imagine that the net weight of the Insta360 Nano bare metal machine is only 70g, and the size is 110x33x21mm. Such a small body is enough to complete the shooting of 3K panoramic video. Because of its size, the Insta360 Nano can be carried anywhere at any time. Connect to iPhone via Lightning and plug and play.

App

The interface of Insta360 App is very simple. There are only three simple project categories: photo album, shooting, and setting, which can be used skillfully in a few minutes. At the same time, it also supports one click sharing, live broadcast, and other functions (described later).

The videos/photos taken through Insta360 Nano will be saved in the Nano's Micro SD card, which can be viewed, deleted in the Nano App, or exported to the phone's system album. It is worth mentioning that Insta360 Nano can take blind photos without connecting the mobile phone. We can take photos through the round power button of Insta360 Nano, and the panoramic photos/videos taken will be automatically saved in the Micro SD card.

Practical experience

It's also beautiful for girls to take selfies with panoramic cameras~

In the actual experience, whether indoor or outdoor, it is no problem to use Insta360 Nano for panoramic shooting. The exposure and color of the picture are close to the actual scene. Although the pictures/videos of the Insta360 Nano are spliced by two 210 ° cameras, there is no splicing problem in both pictures and videos, which is one of the most important differences between the Insta360 Nano and some low-cost panoramic cameras on the market.

During the shooting process, the response time of the Insta360 Nano imaging is relatively short after pressing the shutter, and the processing can be completed in about 0.5 seconds (excluding the shutter time). The overall use experience is no different from that of the camera provided with the iPhone. Without the use of anti shake pan tilt and handheld camera, the Insta360 Nano's imaging can basically ensure the image is not false. Although the details of panoramic photos can not be kept as good as those of flagship phones, it still ensures the content of samples. As a 1000 yuan panoramic camera, it is a great pleasure to have such performance.

Insta360 Nano promotional video:

Panoramic video shot with Insta360 Nano:

The panoramic video captured with Insta360 Nano is in. insv format. It takes 47 seconds to capture. The video capacity is 160MB. Since Youku does not support. insv format, we use Insta360 Nano App on the mobile phone to convert and export the video to MP4 format, and then upload Youku directly. Due to the serious compression of panoramic video in Youku's VR channel, even the ultra clear mode is somewhat different from the original picture quality.

We can see that in the single hand-held panoramic video, Insta360 Nano's images are naturally spliced, and even if there is slight jitter in the panoramic video, there will be no fragmentation or mosaic.

One click sharing

One click to share panoramic pictures to the circle of friends

One click sharing panoramic video to the circle of friends

For VR content creation, the most important thing is sharing. If every VR content needs to go through complex and tedious steps to share to social/video websites, it will be fatal. Insta360 Nano supports one click sharing function. We can share panoramic pictures/videos to Sina Weibo, WeChat friends circle, Facebook, Twitter, and QQ space with one click. For example, an Insta360 page will be shared in WeChat friends circle. When we open the page, we can drag the view angle to view the panorama perfectly Pictures/videos.

(Note: Since the panoramic video captured by Insta360 Nano takes up too much space, the size of the video will be compressed to some extent after sharing to social networking sites.)

About panoramic live broadcast

Panoramic live broadcast can be said to be one of the main uses of panoramic cameras. At present, most panoramic cameras on the market do not have the function of panoramic live broadcast. Insta360 Nano's The live broadcast function is in the internal test (the invitation code is required). Insta360 Nano has opened the live broadcast streaming SDK, which is compatible with the third-party live broadcast platform. After the third-party live broadcast platform accesses the SDK, users can conduct panoramic live broadcast on the live broadcast platform through Insta360 Nano. Users can also broadcast live via Insta360's own live broadcast function, with a maximum of 2M code rate, 1440P resolution, and 30FPS.

Although VR is very popular this year, due to the lack of a large number of high-quality VR content, most users' VR experience is still in the "fresh" stage, and content, price, and technology restrict the development of the VR industry. In fact, most users will be willing to spend a small amount of money to buy a cheap VR box to try, and at this time, the spread of VR content has become a just need in the industry.

However, at present, most of the devices on the market that can shoot VR panoramic video are not many, and most of the manufacturers have only launched panoramic cameras with high prices, which are not easy for ordinary users to try. This product is similar to a "brand" of panoramic camera manufacturers and is not easy to popularize. Compared with them, there are a few products on the market, such as Insta360 Nano, which maintain a low price, highlight the cost performance of panoramic cameras, and are more easily accepted by consumers. This 1000 yuan panoramic camera may become a basic tool for VR panoramic content production.

Finally, Baidu Cloud Disk address of panoramic photos/videos taken by Insta360 Nano is attached: //pan.baidu.com/s/1jIcymZO