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I'm tempted by one of these Insta360 things for general messing about but one thing I've seen consistently in videos puts me off: the amount of fuzziness/judder in stabilised videos. I'm almost certain it's to do with the way they're connected to whatever mount is used resulting in a large moment of inertia - the lens is generally a long way from the mounting point and so you've effectively got a rapid-fire pendulum effect that the camera is trying (and failing) to compensate for. I've looked around but can't find any kind of solution to this. Does anyone know of an aftermarket mount/cage/solution that might help? Maybe a case that secures the camera and then mounts from the back rather than the bottom?
Have you seen a free software package called 'gyroflow'?
It uses the data from the camera gyros and overlays it with the video file. This then allows the software to correct all sorts of vibration to give high level stabilization.
Its used a lot in drones with tiny cameras that dont have GoPro levels if processing onboard.
I haven't but that looks worth a try. Thanks!
It's a limitation of the way stabilization works when driven by software rather than true optical mechanical stabilization.
Obey these rules for all cameras with such software.
a) lots of light to sample the image
b) generally higher frame rates and shutter speed.
Otherwise it looks rubbish.
That is the main deal breaker and why you see some terrible examples. 360 cameras are doing some serious processing too with limited data rates.
Equally don't expect miracles out of the x3 - it's a smallish sensor which starts at 6K but when straightened out to 16:9 more like 1080p.
I owned the higher end 1" system and it was pretty good but you get much better results if you don't swing it around (plan your moves)
so much and obey the shutter speed/environment rules of plenty of light.
The x3 does a lot for the money but is limited in its picture quality.
Varying light levels can be tricky too so filming in and out of forests is hard work.
You will have to crank the ISO up to get enough light in for forest filming.
Yeah I appreciate it's a consumer-grade camera and the cinematographic limitations that involves, but I'm talking about the practical issue of excessive shake caused by a long camera body with the lens at one end and the mount at the other. I think there would be a lot less required of the software stabilisation if the mounting solution could be improved.
How easy would it be to get something printed if I could knock up a 3D model?
3D printing takes a couple of hours with the right model. If it needs a bit of modding, longer. I could easily do a print for you in PLA, but posting it to you would take a few days (and I’m in Sweden),
On stabilisation, have you considered a GoPro? I have a 4 Black (no stabilisation) and an 11 Mini (latest version of Hypersmooth) and the two are night and day in how footage looks when it gets shaky. As an example…
The first jump is filmed on the 4 Black from my chin. The remaining ones are the 11 Mini from the top mount on my camera helmet.