As the action camera market grows and diversifies, there are now all kinds of options out there. Not just brands, but size and power of camera. Much like mountain bikes themselves, you can tailor your camera to what you want to do with it. I.e. it’s not just the latest GoPro anymore. Enter Insta360 and its tiny, but powerful GO 3S. We’ve had one for a couple years now and it’s impressive.
One of the smallest cameras on the market, but still with 4K resolution, Insta360’s mighty mouse preforms well beyond its size. There are limitations, particularly if you’re using it for professional purposes. But if you just want to film your ride, this tiny camera is hard to beat.
Insta360 GO 3S: By the numbers
Insta360 has emerged as a true rival to the empire of GoPro cameras. Its done so by taking on the action cam pioneer side-on. Insta360 offers its flagship (and namesake) 360-view cameras, a drone and the Ace, an action cam that directly takes on GoPro’s Hero line. But there’s also the GO 3S. A tiny-but-mighty little camera that is roughly the size of your thumb.
This tiny camera still offers impressive stats. The camera pod itself, which attaches to a more GoPro-sized base, weighs just 39g. It still shoots in 4K resolution (30fps) with multiple field of view options from narrow to MegaView and with FlowState image stabilisation. It has a max frame rate of 200fps (1080p). There’s Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity.
Mounts and memory
To make creative use of the tiny and light camera, Insta360 offers a wide array of mounting options. Some physically hold the camera in place while others make use of the pods magnetic backing to keep it from wandering. Unlike a larger camera, the tiny size means you can mount it almost anywhere without it getting in the way.
The trade-off is that the pod on its own has a roughly 40 minute (38, to be exact) filming limit on its own. Bring the base along and that’s boosted to 140 minutes. It’s also limited to 64GB or 128GB storage on the device, with no memory card. The base itself has some flash features like a flip screen, touch screen and a few more buttons to make dialling through the settings easier without the app. But there’s also an app. The base also works as a remote.
There’s a suite of other features too long to list. These include the ability to pair with Garmin or Apple Watch devices to display stats with your video, like some sort of real life video game, a “Free Frame” feature to export the same shot in different aspect ratios, an optional quick reader for more memory on the go, and waterproofing up to 10m.
Insta360 GO 3S: A mighty mini camera on the trails
The first thing I noticed using the GO 3S is that the colour is great, even in the really challenging and changing light that most mountain bikers spend their time in. Rapid transitions from dark woods to open light and even the dreaded dappled light through the trees, all of these were handled easily by the Insta360 GO 3S. It does run into some limitations riding at dusk or, you know, in the dark.
For someone that is … neither naturally adept at video nor patient enough to become adept, not having to go in and mess with colour grading. To get vibrant colours clear lighting straight from the camera on its stock settings was great. I know this is possible on other cameras, I’ve seen it done. I’d still rather my very expensive camera do that for me, please and thank you.
Stabilisation vs the feeling of speed
The Insta360 GO 3S also strikes a nice balance between stabilisation and the feeling of movement and speed. This helps mute the dreaded GoPro effect. In the same general settings (field of view, stabilisation, etc), the Insta360 did a better job of conveying more of the feeling of speed that I felt riding than a Hero10 did. GoPro’s stabilisation may win in terms of making video clear and decipherable for viewers, but it also makes it look like you’re moving in slow motion. Insta still felt easy to watch back, there’s no motion sickness effect, but it kept some sensation of speed. It wasn’t shaky, but it still conveyed more of the body language and movement that is part of the visual vocabulary of mountain biking.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not particularly fast. I’m also not going to get much faster in my life (though I’m working hard to stave off the opposite). But I at least want my home videos to show what little speed I did manage on the trail. And I think a camera made for consumers should make the footage fun to watch at whatever speed you’re riding. I don’t think you should have to be riding at a pro’s speed to feel the action in action cam translate to your screen.
Insta 360 GO 3S: A great casual, non-pro option (and maybe more)
There are a lot of tech blogs and websites out there that will dive deep down into the minutiae of frame rates and buffering speed and some other words I don’t know that I don’t know. But I can tell you that, from the perspective of a casual user (I have used it for work as well, I don’t want to undercut this tiny camera’s abilities) it is very easy to get what you want out of the Go 3S. It’s clearly capable of much more, and there are a suite of dedicated and creative camera mounting options if you want to be the next content creator star. But it’s also easy to get a lot out of with very little effort. The app is intuitive and consistently and quickly connects with the camera. There’s even a ton of tutorial videos right in the app, if you want to learn more or are new to cameras.
Size as a super power
Not all the mounts are perfect for all kinds of biking, but there are a ton of interesting ones that aren’t possible with a heavier or larger camera. Like, it’ll easily fit under a visor, if you’re using it for racing/practicing purposes, where adding even small weights is quite noticeable.
Another example: I set up what Insta 360 calls the handlebar mount on my seat tube so I could see what my dog does when he’s chasing me (another stunning clip that won’t make it to an IMAX theatre near you). The GO 3S stayed in place and caught the good lil’ boy doing his thing. I tried the same with a standard sized GoPro Hero 10 and it didn’t make it past the first root before the weight of the camera
The magnetic pendant is the best example of what you can do with the minimalist weight, and the limits. It is a strong enough attachment for relatively smooth riding, I watched a father film his son for entire stages at BCBR without it bouncing out of place. I tried it at home and it stayed in place until I hit some jumps or awkward compressions. Maybe I should be a smoother rider and it’d work better. But, even with my hack skills, the pendant mount was a useful and easy option for a bunch of situations. No harness, no mount, just a magnet on a string.
Review: A camera that makes it easy to feel pro
I think all of this makes it a great camera, with more than enough power, storage and resolution, for the vast majority of us out there. It makes it very easy to get footage that reflects the feeling of the ride. It makes creative camera angles possible. Its quality is good enough to go up against the mighty GoPro (as Insta360 might be doing in court, soon). The lack of external memory might be limiting to some pro users (or data hoarders), maybe. But I think it’s good enough for pro use in some situations. Not shooting for IMAX, but when you need a tiny camera in a weird place or need it to be small and not attract attention.
Insta360 offers the GO 3S in multiple bundles, from the $434 (CAD) standard bundle and 64GB version (lens guard, action pod, magnet pendant, pivot stand, easy clip) to $594 for one of two cycling bundles, with a bunch of other bundle options between. The 128GB option adds about $30 to that price.