Insta360 Pro review by Philip Bloom: “Impressive” image quality

Renowned filmmaker Philip Bloom reviewed the Insta360 Pro.  Here’s what he said.

Philip Bloom is a renowned filmmaker and director with 26 years of experience, and  whose clients have included LucasFilms, CNN, and Discovery channel, among others.  While Philip is most well known for his work with DSLRs for filmmaking, he is also an advocate for 360 filmmaking.  Interestingly enough, he began to shoot with 360 with the Ricoh Theta m15 in March 2015, just a couple of months before I did (my first 360 camera was the original Ricoh Theta).  He also has a wide collection of 360 cameras, including the Panono.

Philip has been shooting with the Insta360 Pro, and he posted a review.  Before we get to his review, first here is a sample 8K video shot by Philip with the Insta360 Pro:

Now here is Philip’s review of the Insta360 Pro:

Here are some of the things Philip said about the Insta360 Pro in his review:

“The image quality for me really was impressive. The 8K looked very crisp and very detailed.”  Philip pointed out that when viewing a 360 video, we are seeing a heavily cropped portion of the whole video, which means resolution is important.   According to Philip, the Insta360 Pro’s 8K resolution could withstand cropping better than any of his other cameras (note: that presumably does NOT include the Panono because it has no video capabilities, and is therefore in a different category).

Philip further said, “This is the first time that I’ve shot video in 360 that I really love and can look at and enjoy with a headset on to a point where I feel like I’m there.”

To be fair, he does point out that the Insta360 Pro records in 8-bit, which is not as high as some higher end 360 cameras such as the Nokia OZO.

“I do love the Pro. It is by far the best 360 video camera that I’ve used,” Philip concluded.  For a more detailed review of the Insta360 Pro, see my review here.  If you are interested in getting the Insta360 Pro, pls. email me with the “Insta360 Pro” in the subject line so I can help you get a special discount for 360 Rumors readers.

Incidentally, Philip also voiced is thoughts about the Insta360 ONE, about which he says, “It’s probably one of the best, if not the best, all-in-one unit I’ve got in this price bracket.” Here is my detailed review of the Insta360 ONE.