After weeks of teases, the Insta360 Luna Ultra is official – but how does it compare to the market’s most portable gimbal camera, the DJI Osmo Pocket 4?
While both share the same broad design, sporting a gimbal-powered camera system with an integrated touchscreen and controls to make recording videos super easy, the two differ in key areas like video editing, storage and color design – and that can make it difficult to decide which one is best for your needs.
While we haven’t met the latest Insta360 handheld camera yet, here’s how the Luna Ultra compares to the Osmo Pocket 4 on paper.
Price and availability
The Insta360 Luna Ultra retails for $769 in the US, and is available for purchase right now after today’s announcement. UK availability is expected – Insta360 has a huge UK presence, after all – but that’s not currently available.
The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 has the opposite problem; with DJI’s ongoing problems in the US, it’s actually not sold in the region. In the UK, however, it will set you back £445, with an available builder’s kit and accessories at extra cost. It is also available to buy now, following its release in April.
The Insta360 Luna Ultra has a removable screen and controls
While both the Insta360 Luna Ultra and DJI Osmo Pocket 4 share the same broad design, the latest Insta360 gimbal camera system pulls a feature we’ve never seen before – a 2in OLED screen and detachable controls.
While the screen and controls are baked into the camera body by default, you can remove them and use them as a remote control, giving you better image control when you’re in front of the camera. It also works up to 20m away, making it ideal for solo content creators who want to do more in front of the camera than just stand and talk.
The Osmo Pocket 4, on the other hand, has a 2-inch OLED touchscreen that can rotate between horizontal and vertical orientation to quickly change the aspect of the video you’re shooting – again, perfect for social media content – as well as controls to quickly zoom and move the camera, but both screen and controls remain securely attached to the camera’s trunk.
Which one is better for your needs will depend on how you want to capture content, but there’s no arguing that the Luna Ultra’s detachable technology makes it more versatile.
The Insta360 Luna Ultra offers a zoom lens system
If you compare the main sensors from the Luna Ultra and the Pocket 4, the two are equally good.
Both offer a 1-inch CMOS sensor to capture more light and improve low-light performance, with support for 37MP stills and 10-bit video recording. The Insta360 camera doesn’t feature Leica co-engineered optics, which often means a compromise in overall sharpness – although we’ll need to see how it performs in real-world conditions first.
Where the Luna Ultra really shines is in its secondary telephoto lens – and with a 1/1.3-inch sensor, it’s not much smaller than the main camera. It offers lossless zoom of up to 6x and digital zoom of up to 12x, making for a dynamic shooting experience – especially when compared to the Pocket 4.
The Pocket 4 doesn’t have a second lens at all, so it relies solely on digital zoom to get closer to the action or tighten up the frame – and that works out to just 4x.
Insta360 Luna Ultra offers the best video capture
Aiming to showcase the Pocket 4 wherever possible, the Luna Ultra tries to one-up its main rival by offering 8K video capture – albeit at a slower 30fps frame rate than the 4K@60fps it also offers. While 8K is somewhat of a gimmick, it does provide high-res video that you can go into and get 4K video from.
Instead, DJI seems to go all in on the frame rate. While it doesn’t match the high resolution 8K of the Insta360 option, it does offer up to 4K@60fps video recording and a special 4K@240fps mode for those buttery-smooth slow-mo shots.
Both also offer LOG recording support – 10-bit I-Log on the Luna Ultra and 10-bit D-Log on the Pocket 4 – with the same goal of capturing a soft image that can be color-edited in post-production, although that only works for those using high-end video editing software.
Insta360 Luna Ultra has flexible tracking
The Insta360 Luna Ultra ships with the company’s latest version of its Deep Track tracking technology, now in version 5, with a variety of shooting modes on offer.
The most important for many will undoubtedly be the automatic tracking that will keep you in the frame when you move around, although it also supports active zoom tracking, group tracking, and what Insta360 calls smart frame, which helps to keep the subject not only in the frame but correctly positioned, even when you move around.
DJI has its own technical equivalent, of course, called ActiveTrack 7.0, and it will keep you shot as you go, and it will zoom in – although it does not have a zoom lens like the Luna Ultra, this is very limited in scope. There are also Spotlight Follow and Dynamic Framing modes, as well as touch controls to trigger recording.
Both seem to be equally compatible on paper – the proof, as always, will be the one that works best in real-world use, especially in busy areas with lots of people around to confuse the systems.
DJI Osmo Pocket 4 has built-in storage
If the Osmo Pocket 4 wins in any area, it will be the built-in storage.
While the Luna Ultra only offers 47GB of storage – something that could quickly fill up with the 8K graphics on offer – the Pocket 4 offers a more capable 107GB. If you want to get lost in the numbers, that’s a whopping 128% more storage than the Insta360 option.
That said, both camera systems offer support for up to 1TB of external storage via microSD, so both can be upgraded significantly depending on your needs – that you won’t need to. indeed immediately with the DJI option.
Early thoughts
On paper, the Insta360 Luna Ultra looks the most ambitious of the two, with flexible camera setup, high-resolution video capture and that clever detachable screen that gives you more flexibility for single creators.
The DJI Osmo Pocket 4, however, appears to be a more straightforward and user-friendly option, with built-in storage and a more understated design that might appeal to those who just want to pick it up and start shooting.
Indeed, it seems that the Luna Ultra would be better suited for those who are after greater flexibility and creative shooting options, while the Pocket 4 may suit people who value simplicity and a more grounded shooting experience – but we’ll wait until we’ve tested it side by side to give our final verdict.