A True Fly Fishing Camera?

You Be The Judge

One thing I know for sure, and this isn’t quoting my Grandpa either, “Good Shit Costs Money!”

Now, hear me out … that isn’t necessarily a “RULE,” but even “good” costs something nowadays, and sometimes the “Best” is actually in reach … if I just mow a few more lawns.

The INSTA 360 X5 has me looking real hard at it right now. Why? Well, let’s roll this back a couple of decades shall we?

I began buying and writing reviews on cameras to help you shoot fly fishing video almost two full decades (20 years) ago. I am sure some of those articles will dangle at the bottom of this post, but generally those past posts span the entire two decades. I started writing about shooting fly fishing video, and trying my hand at it, in 2007. Back then the only thing worse (by today’s standards) than the cameras, were the CODECs that YouTube was using to compress videos into unrecognizable pixels the size of my baby toenail. In one word, BAD.

THEN COMES PROGRESS

I don’t need to give the old man lecture … you know the one, “…technology, leaps and bounds, exponential, powerful, sharp, HD, 4K, stabilized, palm of your hand, in a phone” … add whatever word / phrase you want. Today’s cameras are truly technological masterpieces – FULL STOP.

I have been on board with digital photography since it began. It was a painful bleeding edge that rain into the double-digit thousands, and I have scars to prove it. But what comes from photographic scars? For me, it was a determination to push harder, push through, and test the limits of what little cameras for FLY FISHING could do. The DSLR’s and now MIRRORLESS cameras are high and dry, until that ship comes in with the underwater housing I can actually AFFORD! (This is the ONE.)

AS OF LATE

Lately, I have been craving more ways of capturing my fly fishing adventures – for you to see. I ON-BOARDED the idea of a new Gimbal first. That is because of the increased stability, ability to run a mirrorless, like Nikon Z-7ii or a GoPro or a INSTA ACEPRO and have it follow ME all around the deck as I fight fish. One camera, one angle BUT following the whole time.

ENTER the amazingly priced and amazingly capable DJI RS4 MINI, a Gimbal with a follow module ($$ extra) that allows you to sit your Gimbal Camera ON and that module will follow you around, moving the camera to keep you in the frame, anywhere in the frame you want to be! As I said, the ability to put ANY CAMERA I HAVE (up to 4.4 pounds) on this and have it follow? WHOA. Still, a lot of cereal boxtops to send in for this one.

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🔥THEN CAME THE INSTA 360 X5🔥

I am glad I didn’t have the cereal boxtops for the DJI RS4 MINI, because the new Insta 360 X5 was released, and the more I watch videos on the darn thing, the more impressed I am with it. And it doesn’t hurt that Insta China took the time to send me their Insta 360 ACE PRO, and give me a live orientation lasting more than an hour – when I rolled that camera out. I wonder … can I go back to that well one more time!?!?!?

FIRST – Like the bleeding, and bled out edge, Nikon KEY MISSION 360, the Insta X5 has the ability to let the viewer select the perspective they want to watch the video from. I think that is the absolute ULTIMATE in handing power to the viewer. I thought it years ago when the KEY MISSION came out, and I believe it NOW – maybe more than ever!

SECOND – You/I still have full control. Shoot it in full 360 coverage and choose your crop for the video you make! Ok, now we have just added another element to a fly fishing camera I have been sold on (a 360) for many years. My imagination ran wild with what I could do with that old dog NIKON KEY MISSION, and it turned out to be a complete bust of a camera – for software (APP) reasons☹️. I am looking at the new X5 as redemption for my belief in the VIEWER choosing the angle they want to watch the video from! IMAGINE! A single shot video that lets us watch the person on the bow fighting a fish, and then they can pan with their cursor, to see the guide on the poling platform – making suggestions on casting, leading fish, how to fight, when to pressure AND all those things good guides do! IMAGINE: This camera also has the tracking function of that DJI Gimbal! It will follow you in 360, and the camera is stationary! THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. THESE VIDEOS WILL BE UPLOADED SOON by someone I do not know, and they will start a new revolution in how we watch our fish porn. The future of fish porn is – viewer perspective control.

LAST – If all you are interested in, in a fly fishing camera, is pixel count, 8K video, 120 FPS, and all the latest “jing-janglery?” then what you are probably going to do is … just sit there, and wait and wait. I hear you now, “… yeah, but the next generation is coming out soon … what about DJI’s 360 … what about sensor size … it’ll be worthless in a week… ” all of this is commonplace commode banter. I still shoot my worthless cameras, can you tell? I have my own Texas saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make ’em think.” And if the guy I stole that one from (40 years ago) is reading, claim it now, or forever it is mine. While the X5 is short on hardware by a fraction, it is LONG, WAY LONG on firmware! And there, my fly fishing friends, is the difference.

DRILLING DOWN ⬇️

I probably take some things about videography and photography for granted when telling you about these things. Maybe I should drill down a bit on this “viewer perspective control concept?” As we have become more scroll than full screen sit-and-watch, a better more capable set of fingertips have developed on your hands! It is true because I have seen you guys, young and old! You are incredible scroller and typists, simply amazing really. Now, take one of those fingers, or in the case of the NIKON KEY MISSION video, load up the video full screen in your phone (FULL SCREEN!!!) and just turn your phone in different directions to see the different perspective. If you watch the KEY MISSION 360 video otherwise, use the cursor to change your perspective! Now does it make sense?

I CAN SEE

I can see a time when I will be uploading videos with either choice – my chosen edit, or the 360 fly fish porn where YOU CHOOSE the angle you want to watch from and scroll to change YOUR VIEW anytime in the video. Heck, I bet the actual PORN INDUSTRY has already adopted the format! You tell me on that one … icky. Please! I don’t want to know the answer to that one.

PANS AND BRANDS

In conclusion, there is much talk in the outdoor action photography and videography air, and much of it centers on how GoPro has squandered their dominance of the waterproof sport action camera market lead. Funny thing; they still have a huge lead. But, the competition has heated up even more since my review of the Insta360AcePro when it came out, and that camera began to widen my open eyes a bit more – to just how much viable competition GoPro now has. And I have been nipping at GoPro since BEFORE my viral breakout video “How To Fix GoPro Overheating” came out a couple of years ago. GoPro is a fat and happy company, and it shows. Even their latest cameras still overheat! These other comers – INSTA and DJI – they release new cameras that ACTUALLY are NEW! Who can say that about GoPro in the last ten years … baby steps at best. THAT SAID, GoPro was the best game in my little camera town when I was updating and upgrading, so yes, I do run a GoPro10 and a GoPro11 on a regular basis. I have been running GoPro’s since the 3. But I have also gone to great lengths to promote fly fishing camera change, like my reviews and my accessories for the Insta360 AcePro that is also in my shooting mix.

JUST PUSH RECORD

The new old saying in YouTube world is, “Just Push Record.” If you want to talk, ask questions, or send me out to find the answers I don’t have (and there are so so many) – – feel free to COMMENT BELOW. When I taught photography, I learned as much as I taught on a regular basis. It was, in short, A BLAST! But first, you just have to just push record.