Insta360 has announced the Ace Pro 2, refining and advancing on the features of the first camera.
September through to October has become action camera season in recent years, with all three major players in the market releasing their new wares unto the world. Today is the turn of Insta360 with the announcement of the Ace Pro 2.
The Ace Pro 2 is a slightly unusual release, because the original Ace Pro was only launched at the beginning of this year. While the Ace Pro was a very well designed device, it did lose out to competitors in areas such as the lens design, which wasn't as useful for POV as the GoPro and DJI Action series.
All of that has now changed with the Ace Pro 2, with an all-new 157-degree FOV lens and a replaceable lens protector. This now means that the Ace Pro 2 has the widest FOV out of the box of any of the current action cameras, as well as opening up the possibility for third party ND filters to be attached to it.
The wideness of the FOV has always been a limitation on the Insta360 action cameras, so it is good that this has now been addressed, with Leica working to produce a lens that is not only super wide but also minimises distortion.
To go with the new lens, the sensor has also been upgraded with a claimed 13.5-stops of dynamic range now possible in 8K/30p, as well as 50MP photos. Additionally, the Ace Pro 2 offers another first: It features two separate 5nm processors, with one of them dedicated to image processing, and the other for further processing and general camera performance.
The new processors mean that specialised modes such as PureVideo, which allows users to film in extremely low light, can now produce an even better image than was previously possible.
As per the first camera, in resolutions up to 4K/60p the Ace Pro 2 can apply its Active HDR mode, which effectively tone maps the dynamic range captured by the sensor into a readily usable image. Although Insta360 is also offering creators another option in the form of i-Log, which as the name suggests rather obviously is a log function designed for post production grading. This is still recorded at 8-bit colour precision, but it's a step in the right direction to bring the camera into line with rivals. For those who don't wish to grade, the camera features several pre-made image profiles, including two that have been engineered by Leica.
Audio wise, the Ace Pro 2 features a clip on wind guard. This can be removed for use underwater, but it will be interesting to hear how it improves audio overall for surface shooting in windy conditions. Durability has also been improved, with the camera able to survive depths of up to 12 metres on its own, or down to 60 metres with a dive case. The durability of the flip up LCD screen has been overhauled, along with the quality of the display itself.
There's now a larger capacity 1800mAh battery, which can still be charged to 80% within 18 minutes or 47 minutes for a full charge. The Ace Pro 2 can also be placed into an Endurance Mode, which Insta360 says will give the camera a 50% longer runtime in 4K/30p than the previous camera.
Smaller additions include TOD timecode for easy synchronisation of multiple cameras and the ability to shoot with a 360-degree horizon lock in-camera.
The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is available now for £389/$399 for the standard bundle, and £409/$419 for the dual battery package.