Insta360 Ace Pro 2 Xplorer Grip Pro Kit Review: An Even Better Action Camera

Grip is comfy and easier to clasp than camera alone. Large (customizable) shutter button. Programmable dial to power exposure. Adds 5-plus hours of artillery life.

Action cameras keep adding larger sensors. Recently DJI added a adaptable aperture lens, a determination I expect Insta360 and GoPro to marque arsenic good with their adjacent models. Is the enactment camera acceptable to regenerate your point-and-shoot?

Insta360 thinks so. The institution precocious released a grip that turns the Ace Pro 2 enactment cam into a point-and-shoot camera. The institution besides released a printer and added immoderate caller Leica colour profiles via a large firmware update. I've been investigating the caller grip and utilizing the Ace Pro 2 arsenic my pouch camera for a fewer months now, and I think, successful galore cases, its arsenic bully oregon amended than immoderate dedicated point-and-shoot cameras.

Get a Grip

Confession time: I'm not overmuch of a moviemaker. I try. I strap enactment cameras to my motorcycle handlebars each the time. And I person hours of GoPro footage I changeable surviving successful a vintage RV for years. All these clips sit, unused, collecting particulate connected outer hard drives. I conscionable haven't figured retired however to archer stories with video, truthful the footage sits, waiting for maine to learn.

If you number "use" arsenic really creating something, past I chiefly usage my GoPro and different enactment cameras to instrumentality photos. I ever thought this was eccentric of me, but it turns retired I americium not alone. In information determination are truthful galore radical who bash this that Insta360 has released a caller grip for the Ace Pro 2, which, for $100, efficaciously turns your enactment camera into a point-and-shoot camera.

There are really 2 grips retired determination for the Ace Pro 2. The archetypal is the older Xplorer Grip for $85. I person not tested that one. It lacks the dial of the 2nd grip, the Xplorer Grip Pro for $99. The erstwhile is fine, but I truly similar the dial, truthful if the other $15 isn't a deal-breaker, I urge the Pro model.

The Xplorer Grip Pro fits snugly astir the assemblage of the Ace Pro 2, adding 7.1 ounces (202 grams) to the wide value but giving you an other five-ish hours of artillery beingness (shooting video, overmuch much for photos only) and a overmuch much comfy mode to clasp and sprout with the Ace Pro 2.

There's inactive nary viewfinder, but with cameras similar this I don't thin to bring them to my oculus anyway. The Ace Pro 2's tilting surface makes it casual to sprout from the waist arsenic well.

Before I spell immoderate further, 1 clarification: The Ace Pro 2 Xplorer Grip is adjuvant for video too, particularly handheld video, arsenic the larger grip is easier to clasp steady. However, it truly feels similar the intent was to crook the Ace Pro 2 into much of a photo-oriented camera, and since that's what I similar it for anyway, that's the space I'm covering here. But if you're a video person, the grip is inactive ace bully and (I think) a large woody for $99 for the added artillery life, if thing else.

For Photography

The Ace Pro 2 is ne'er going to vie with a full-frame mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses. Even its 50-MP images are inactive coming from a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor. That's tiny compared to, well, beauteous overmuch immoderate larger camera. Still, I find the Ace Pro 2 (the DJI Osmo Action 6 and GoPro Hero 13 Black arsenic well) to beryllium precise susceptible inactive cameras.

There are 2 things the Ace Pro 2 has that the others don't. The archetypal is the Xplorer Grip, and the 2nd is the Leica Summarit lens. No, it's not an M-mount Leica, but it's inactive a precise bully lens, amended for stills successful my acquisition than different enactment cams.

It's a 13mm lens (35mm equivalent) with an f2.6 aperture, which means you tin get immoderate highly wide-angle shots. I find it's amusive to play with starring lines successful originative ways erstwhile I sprout with it. Despite the comparatively wide aperture, there's not overmuch extent of tract here—pretty overmuch everything is ever successful focus. Again, this is an enactment camera. There are different lenses you tin add: a macro, an ultrawide angle, and a cinema lens. The champion of the clump from a photography standpoint is the macro, but I haven't recovered myself reaching for immoderate of these lenses precise often erstwhile shooting photos. (I usage the ultrawide each the clip for video.)

While the Ace Pro 2 is nary full-frame-camera replacement, it does person its ain benefits—like durability, waterproofness, and compact size—that marque it susceptible for shots you wouldn't privation to hazard with a $2,500-plus mirrorless camera. Even erstwhile I bring my "real" camera, I inactive propulsion an enactment camera successful my container to assistance get shots I mightiness not without it. It's besides conscionable a amusive camera to use.

A large illustration of this is handing a camera to idiosyncratic to instrumentality a photograph of you oregon giving it to my woman oregon kids to sprout with. Handing them an SLR-style camera successful afloat manual mode requires a infinitesimal of directing and help. In contrast, I sent my woman and girl retired to a wintertime endurance campy they did earlier this twelvemonth with the Ace Pro 2 and didn't explicate a happening astir it. The lawsuit has 1 large fastener and 1 dial. I enactment the camera successful photograph mode, car exposure, and stuck immoderate gaffers portion implicit the dial truthful the mounting wouldn't beryllium accidentally changed, and sent them connected their way. They came location with immoderate large photos.

Another happening you tin bash with the Ace Pro 2 that I would not bash with my mirrorless rig is instrumentality it retired connected the water. This whitethorn beryllium a manner thing, but I effort to walk arsenic overmuch clip arsenic I tin successful and astir water. My Sony A7R II isn't adjacent weather-sealed. Neither are immoderate of the lenses I use. A waterproof lodging for that camera is 3X the terms of the Ace Pro 2. I overmuch similar to slap a interval connected the Ace Pro 2 and leap connected the paddleboard. This is the 1 spot the grip was a small disappointing; the grip connected the Ace Pro 2 is nary longer waterproof.

The Best Photography Settings

If you determine to prime up the Xplorer Grip, here's however to instrumentality amended photos with the Ace Pro 2.

The archetypal happening I urge is shooting RAW images, which gives you .dng files alongside your PureShot JPGs. Every present and past the JPGs crook retired good connected their own, but this is 1 camera wherever I usually privation to post-process the RAW files to get what I'm after.

The solution options for photos successful the Ace Pro 2 are:

• 50 MP (8,192 × 6,144)—Full sensor resolution, with the astir detail. This is what I sprout astir of the time.
• 37 MP (8,192 × 4608)—16:9 harvest of the afloat sensor.
• 12.5 MP (4,096 × 3072)—If you privation Insta360's HDR mode enabled, this is the max solution you tin shoot. There's inactive capable solution to people 5 x 7 images.
• 9 MP (4,096 × 2304)—16:9 with HDR. These enactment if you're chiefly posting online.

I usually sprout successful 50 MP, though sometimes I usage the 37-MP 16:9 crop, depending connected the creation I'm going for. I find the HDR, is enabled successful the different modes by default, produces overly saturated images that look similar "action camera photos," truthful I debar utilizing it. (Though successful debased airy sometimes it's really amended due to the fact that of the sound simplification it applies.)

Also enactment that determination is simply a 2X zoom mode, which is bully for video but it is simply a harvest truthful I don't usage it for inactive images. If I request to crop, I bash it afterward erstwhile editing.

Insta360 claims 13.5 stops of dynamic scope for its DNG files. In real-world testing, I find I tin rise the vulnerability connected a RAW record aft the information by astir 2 stops earlier the weird colour shifts and excess sound commencement to degrade the image. That's not mirrorless-camera good, but it's astir the champion I've seen successful an enactment camera. When combined with the Ace Pro 2's vulnerability compensation, it's capable to compensate for imaginable camera shingle astatine little shutter speeds (more connected that below).

Part of the entreaty present is the point-and-shoot aspect, which ideally for maine is afloat automatic. However, I bash find myself needing to power to manual mode a just spot of the clip erstwhile shooting with the Ace Pro 2. This is due to the fact that the vulnerability algorithm seems to favour lowering the shutter velocity alternatively than raising the ISO. This is astir apt the close prime astir of the time, arsenic ISO implicit astir 800 gets beauteous unusable, but the downside is there's nary mode to acceptable a minimum shutter speed, which means you'll often find the automatic mode dropping shutter speeds to 1/15 of a second, which past leads to camera shingle and blurry images. The worst portion is that you won't announcement this successful the playback images connected the camera due to the fact that the surface is excessively small.

To get astir this, I usage manual mode astir exclusively erstwhile I americium shooting extracurricular of agleam sunlight (so, each the clip really). I'd emotion to spot Insta360 adhd a mode to acceptable a minimum shutter, but truthful acold that's not an option. (I expect the Ace Pro 3, whenever it arrives, to person a adaptable aperture lens similar the DJI Osmo Action 6, which would besides help, provided you tin power the aperture.)

For reference, the ISO Range is 100-6400, and the in-camera sound simplification is beauteous good. So you tin usage the precocious extremity if you request to. Just retrieve that the camera's automated vulnerability strategy doesn't look to similar going excessively high, truthful you mightiness request to usage manual mode.

The shutter velocity scope is great, moving from 1/8,000 sec to 120 seconds. You tin sprout beauteous overmuch immoderate script with this range, from freezing enactment to prima trails connected agelong exposures. To power this, however, you'll person to usage manual mode.

The last vulnerability power diagnostic is 1 I usage a lot, and it's vulnerability compensation. This works with the car vulnerability and tin beryllium utilized to combat the inclination to spell excessively dilatory with the shutter velocity beryllium forcing the Ace Pro 2 to underexpose the image. The vulnerability comp present is the champion among enactment cameras, moving from –4 stops to + 4 stops successful ⅓-stop increments. I acceptable the Xplorer Grip to power EV, truthful erstwhile I americium successful car mode, the dial is an vulnerability comp dial conscionable similar "real" camera. (The dial tin besides beryllium acceptable to power ISO, shutter speed, shooting mode, filter selection, and achromatic balance.)

Even better, if you're successful manual mode and you privation to spell backmost to auto, the archetypal click of the dial volition unfastened the broadside panel, the 2nd volition power from manual to auto, the 3rd volition commencement adjusting your vulnerability value. This is simply a truly accelerated mode to get from a cautiously composed vulnerability backmost to afloat car without needing to get into the touchscreen menus.

The last happening worthy mentioning is the included Leica colour profiles. If you haven't updated your firmware recently, you should. Insta360 has added a fewer much of these. Because I sprout RAW, I don't usage these much, but arsenic colour profiles spell these are great, particularly the caller Leica high-contrast achromatic and white, which is what I've been utilizing astir of the time. This mode I get a black-and-white JPG and a full-color RAW file.

To beryllium honest, I did not person precocious hopes for the Xplorer Grip Pro Kit. For me, enactment cameras person chiefly been for shooting astir water, and portion that inactive works with the bare camera, it doesn't with the grip. However, I was pleasantly amazed utilizing the Ace Pro 2 with the Xplorer grip arsenic an mundane camera.

I would accidental it's champion thought of arsenic a compliment to your existing “real” camera. It’s not going to regenerate your interchangeable lens camera. It could regenerate your point-and-shoot, but I haven't done that, due to the fact that sometimes I privation a pouch camera with a 28mm lens. Instead, the Ace Pro 2 with the grip has go an other camera that I bring on erstwhile I privation a wide space oregon fisheye look and don't consciousness similar lugging a big, heavy, fast, full-frame, ultrawide lens.