Insta360 Link 2 review: Much more than just a web camera

The pandemic brought about a revolution in online conferencing and streaming. One such development was for higher quality webcams. Simon Wyndham takes a look at Insta360's Link 2 camera system.

Webcams are one of those things that don't really make up much conversation when it comes to camera talk. The humble webcam is, it is assumed, a fairly low quality device that does a useful job rather terribly. It's true that webcams in laptops are getting better, but they still lag behind the best smartphone cameras, and don't even come close to a mirrorless or DSLR camera.

One of the side effects of the pandemic was that people started to care more about the quality of the image their webcam put out. HDMI adaptors for hooking up larger sensor cameras via USB were in short supply in 2020 due to overwhelming demand. With continued home working, web conferencing is still something we all have to deal with, whether we like it or not. As a result, companies such as Insta360 saw a market for a dedicated high quality webcam that could be used in challenging lighting conditions, as well as track people for online presentations. This culminated in the Link series of cameras.

This year Insta360 released the second generation versions of the system, the Link 2 and the Link 2C. As you'll find out, these devices are useful for much more than simply doing a web conference with Susan from accounts.

The Link 2C is the non gimbal version of the Link series.

Initial impressions

The Link 2 cameras are both a similar size to the company's GO series, and feature 1/2" sensors. The Link 2 is attached to a two-axis gimbal, while the Link 2C is a static camera. Both cameras are nicely built, with a large green indication light so that you can see when they are active. The Link 2C features a slider which closes an iris over the lens to ensure privacy when required. Both systems can record in 4K up to 30fps and 1080p up to 60fps.

The cameras mount to the laptop via a magnetic mount that they attach to. The mount itself doesn't hard clip to the laptop, instead hooking over the front of the screen with an adjustable hinged plate resting up against the back of the laptop. This means that you do need to be careful if you want to move the computer with the cameras mounted to it, since there is the risk they could fall off.

The box also comes with some markers, which are used to place on the four corners of a whiteboard so that the camera can perform automatic framing of that section of the shot.

The large green light makes it abundantly clear when the camera is active.

Powering up

The cameras connect via USB as you'd expect, and the computer automatically recognised them as webcams. However, to make the most of their abilities you'll need to download the Insta360 Link software.

The Link software gives you access to all the different tracking options, picture profile settings and resolution and frame rate settings. It's the Link software that makes the Link 2 cameras stand out as devices that can be used for much more than just web conferencing.

Everything from contrast, exposure, sharpness and saturation can be adjusted to taste. There are also some set picture profiles you can choose from, as well as being able to save your own. I particularly appreciate the ability to minimise the sharpness to give a look that is much less digital looking than any other webcam I've seen so far.

A few of the image adjustment options available within the Link Controller software.

Pretty much everything can be manually adjusted, including white balance and shutter speeds. You can even create a custom exposure curve for a truly individual look.

Tracking can be turned on and off via icons in the software, or the tracking can be turned on and off via hand gestures. It all works seamlessly and reliably. Smart framing can be enabled, which uses a digital zoom to keep a particular framing, such as head and shoulders. HDR can also be enabled for particularly difficult high contrast lighting conditions.

Regarding gestures, these can be used to remotely enable tracking, zooming, and whiteboard recognition. I've found that as long as your hand is clearly visible to your side, it works quite seamlessly and reliably.

Audio options

The Link 2 cameras feature a big microphone on the top of the camera body and the software can be set to three different noise cancelling settings. Voice focus, which is designed to reduce background noise, but is tuned for voice pickup closer to the camera. Voice Suppression mode is designed to reduce background noise as much as possible, and is therefore best for noisy environments. Finally, a Music Balance option turns off all noise cancellation so that musical instruments can be recorded faithfully.

Overall, I found the audio pickup to be good, and perfectly serviceable for general use. However for more professional use, such as podcasting, you'll still want to use a dedicated microphone. One issue I had while using an external mic for podcasting was that I found that the sound was out of sync by around 6 frames. Easily correctable in a NLE, but it could be distracting during a livestream or conference.

I haven't got to the bottom of why this happens, and it is puzzling, since a colleague of mine also has a Link 2 camera and is also using an Apple silicon machine and hasn't been suffering the same issue. So, more investigation is required.

Audio pickup is via a large top mounted microphone.

Effects

The Link Control software has a few different effects available to help enhance the image. These are extensive, so I won't cover them all, however I will mention those that I think are useful or standout.

The one I use all the time is called Natural Bokeh. This, as the name suggests, creates a natural looking shallow depth of field. It works incredibly well, and it's extremely hard to tell that it's a fake effect. It looks far more convincing than the terrible looking background defocus effect that you might be used to seeing in software like Zoom. What's more, it properly adjusts as you move away from the camera and towards it as the camera refocusses.

When enabling effects such as Natural Bokeh, the Link 2 is placed into what Insta360 calls Virtual Camera mode. So, if you want to see the effect implemented in third party conferencing software such as Zoom, FaceTime, Slack etc, you'll need to select the Virtual Camera as your webcam device rather than the Link2 camera. If you're one of the few remaining people on Skype, the virtual camera doesn't seem to work with that software, only displaying a blank screen.

Other effects include background replacements, which suffer similar masking issues to other webcam software. Although if you really do have a messy office you don't want anyone to see, you are presented with some different views to the same old ones found in Zoom and its ilk. You can also switch on a more extreme background blur to completely obscure your messy office or room.

Reactions are another specialised effect, allowing clever visual effects such as balloons going off, or a particularly cool one that involves lasers and smoke! Using these requires lowering the resolution of the camera to 1080p. Further options for background defocussing are also opened up, along with Studio Lighting, which is similar to the effect you may have seen on your iPhone, along with a few other effects. While some of them may be gimmicky, added up it all means you can create a truly unique look for your webcam.

Privacy

As I mentioned earlier, the Link 2C has a user controllable iris like lens cover that can be used to make sure there's no unintentional broadcasting. Similarly, pointing the gimbal based Link 2 down will put it into sleep mode, with a message to whoever is watching. Audio can also be made to go to automatically mute in these modes, too.

With regard to the Link 2 with its gimbal, users can set things up so that it won't go beyond certain areas of the room. Quite handy if your 'clean' office space features a lot of mess that you've cleared out of shot to the sides of the room!

Much more than a webcam

I've alluded to the fact that the Link 2 cameras are much more than just webcams. The quality of them means that they can be used as very effective podcasting cameras, or for recording online tutorials. I've found that the image, when set up well, to be of a quality that I wouldn't normally expect from such a camera. You can watch a podcast created with the camera here. This was recorded using the Riverside.fm service, so the image isn't quite as good as a fully locally recorded one.

The compact size means that they're much easier to transport if you're on the move but still need a decent quality camera for recording. Podcasting is, in fact what I've been mainly using the Link 2 for, and so far it's been incredibly effective. It copes quite well even in low light levels. And, when you set up dedicated lighting for it, it really shines. Even if the sun is streaming through the windows in a room that ordinarily has high levels of contrast in such a situation, the HDR mode captures things effectively, without looking fake or processed.

Conclusions

So far, I've been impressed with the Link 2. True, I have had some sound sync issues, and I've also found that it can stutter when in virtual camera mode, but I think that this is due to some kind of conflict or resource usage with my current laptop rather than a fault with the camera itself. A few times the Link Controller software has alerted me to the stuttering as a result of high resource usage from somewhere else, so that's just another gremlin I need to track down.

Those issues aside, the Link 2 produces a far better image than I'd expect from this type of camera. Colours are rendered nicely, and skin looks naturally good. It's easy to use and setup, and I think it's perfect for everything from basic web conferencing, podcasting, and live-streaming. It saves me the hassle of having to setup my mirrorless camera or Osmo Pocket 3 as a webcam, which require tripods and HDMI adaptors. I don't have any battery life issues to worry about, either.

Something else worth mentioning is the close focus ability, allowing you to show off products or objects in detail very close to the camera. Something that you would find very difficult to do with a standard webcam. Add in the Desktop view, which tilts the camera down and that perspective corrects the image so you can write visible notes in front of you, and the Link 2 is an extremely capable device.

The Link 2 and Link 2C are priced at £199 and £149 respectively, which might sound pricey for a webcam, but the sheer configurability and image quality that the cameras produce make it worth the outlay, if you're using such a camera extensively.