I have had these both on X2 and X3. They are good to have, BUT I find that the material isn't that great, they get scratched easily like normal plastic (even when you keep camera in the pouch provided). Also the worst part is THEY GET FOGGED UP even in normal weather! and you'd notice this when you see the shots, not during use so you may lose really good shots. My suggestions for Insta360: (1) don't use PMMA material, use glass (2) do something about the fogging problem. You're great Ben. Keep it up. From random guy who said hello :-)
fog can be eliminated when apply lens protector during cold and dry air. if you apply protector during hot and wet conditions - most moisture transforms into fog when temperature goes down
I have had mine fogged once when I jumped high to water and some water got it. Dried the water inside of the lens guard and put it back and haven't seem them fogging since. Even went to swim with it couple times without any issues. So I think that the comment below is correct, you have moisture inside there when applied it or it's not air tight and you live in moist area.
So on the fence about this, Yes it protects the lens but highly degrades the footage like it's a glass bubble. It also fogs up really bad if its not a perfectly sunny day which destroys your footage. I know because I use my buddy's X2 with this same lens guard and the footage is always choppy and you can see all the scratches from the plastic lens.
Nice vid! It's definitely a tradeoff between safety and image quality. Its good to have the peace of mind, but for my tests it did make parts of the image blurrier. Strong light sources also had weird flares which was too much for me. Also, you cannot have these lens guards on if you want the cam to fit in the x3 dive case...so if you do deep dives often, be prepared to take the sticky lens guards off a lot!!
Even being very careful in the application process, two small dust particles ended up under the front lens. Even though small, the particles ruined the image. So, I took the guards off and have never been happier.
I put the sticky lens guard on in a clean environment and very carefully making sure there was no dust inside. Now I see blurriness/lens smudges all around even with the Lens Guard setting on and thoroughly cleaning the lens guard in bright environments.
In short, Yes, best action camera by far. I had so many GoPros, but I stopped using them because they always had issues. This one is such a beast, and the software is rock solid. I just ended two powder days. The battery held all day (I do not record continuously), and the record button never fails. If you press when the camera is off, it will start the record, and the second press will stop everything. If you have the camera on standby, it will just start/stop the recording. Simple and intuitive. Recommendation: Take the lens guards, probably a couple of pairs. I damaged one, and I was very glad I had it.
@@GadgetsGearCoffee check your countries warranty laws. In my country, the law overrides manufacturers warranty and any product is considered warranted for the reasonable life of the product. I.e. an oven would still be warranted for up to 10 years as that would be a reasonble life for an oven, maybe longer. I actually got a full refund on my oven after 7 years because the switches kept failing. A t.v is similar. Some products are different, like a car, because different parts have different expected lifetimes, and if you don't maintain it or follow service schedules, you will not be covered in any case.
Hey! I really want this camera but have heard a lot of negative reviews of the mounting options not being strong enough. Have you had issues with the mounts provided by insta themselves?
I highly recommend to use a lens guard. It won't damage the real lens if you accidentally drop your camera. Trust me, I have been there and it's stressful to have scratches on your lenses.
@@AboudMadrid sanding, polishing and cleaning it by yourself will be easiest and cheaper way. It broken anyway so might be try experimenting to repair it first then replacing it.
When applying, be sure you do it in a moisture-free space - even subtle humidity caught behind them causes condensation on the center of the view field, especially in winter and in summer when it rains.
The lens guard is a must for me as I like that added protection and piece of mind that if ever I do drop the chances that the main lenses get broken are decreased a lot. it is an expensive camera so be sure to protect it.
Ive put these through the wringer. I mount my 360 to my truck roof when chasing tornadoes. These have saved my lenses several times, given the potential for extremely fast-moving debris/rocks/dust/hail in my use of the camera. They do knick fairly easily though. This is my first season with the camera, and am on my second set of covers. Expecting to replace them after the season again since they have a few light marks. Still, $20 every couple months is far cheaper than a new camera every month
I just got my Insta360 X3 and was puzzling over these. This video and the comments were both very helpful in deciding whether they were necessary for my purposes. Thank you!
They came with my Insta360 Sphere, and I installed them, it seemed like a smart thing to do since the camera is going on a drone. The down side is you can see the stitch line a lot more now. Great video Ben, and thanks for sharing.
I used the lens guards on the GoPro Max. Easy on, easy off, and a fair balance between safety and quality. The Insta seems like a royal PIA in terms of installation and removal and way too many complaints about the cheap plastic. For now, I'm not going to install them.
Depends on your use. I do rock climbing videos, and I wouldn't use my 360 camera without them (anymore!). The very first time I used a 360 camera, I scratched the lens and had to replace the camera!!! Full disclosure, I have a GoPro Max. I want to get an Insta360 X3, but the cost of these lens protectors is what is preventing me. I sometimes go through 5 or 6 lens protectors in a single day of filming climbing. Once they get scratched, I replace them as they totally degrade the subsequent shot. The GoPro ones quickly snap on and off, and go on sale often. I usually pay a couple of bucks a lens protector for the Max ones rather than the ten bucks each that the X3 protectors cost.
The shape of the rim of each lens protector that sticks to the camera is not well designed. While it sticks well at the bottom of the protector, there is a noticeable gap at the top.
Put them on and immediately took them off. Even with the lens guard attached set in the Settings, the stitching is horrible. Under direct sunlight you can easily see how low quality plastics they used, flares and glares galore. I've realized in all my cameras, I don't ever remember dropping them, even on more heavy, more unwieldy, $1k lenses. I baby everything anyway. Knowing my recordings will be clean and clear gives me more peace of mind than having the guards on.
I have them on my X2, when I am out having fun in the woods but when I am shooting 360 tours I take them off for clearer shots. They have saved my lenses a few times
I'd say yes I had my X3 for 2 weeks maybe a little bit longer and ended up returning it because the lenses became all scratched and it also looks like the coating smeared off of them...... The entire time was kept in the original soft case that came with it because I was informed the rubber case would cause problem.... I don't know if it wore off because it was the case in my pocket during a convention or It was stored away in a camera bag in my truck 🤷
I bought some aftermarket lens guards for the X3. Judging by the comments they were identical (they look identical compared to the video too) to the more expensive one's you get from Insta 360. The plastic gets scratched up REALLY easily unfortunately so mine were usable for a couple of weeks. Once my camera fell to the gound and one of the lens guards cracked, so I'm happy they potentially saved the lens once (although the plastic obviously cracks much more easily than the lens). I might keep buying them and try to be even more careful with scratching the plastic and hope they last longer... I don't wanna have a cracked lens :|
Hello I would not recommend these lens Shields.I had a pair of these on an insta360 RS. First if your camera is anywhere near the Sun the reflections on the lens Shields cause major distractions and magnifications of the flares in the video and the actual cone actually showed up in the video. Also I noticed a lot of distortion which I had never seen prior to using the lens shields they were installed properly and the lens was clean prior to the installation. After the first use I took them off and sent them back.
Yes, definitely put the guards on for outdoor shooting. I was shooting with the Insta360 3rd party bicycle mount. The pole snapped and my Insta360 fell to the ground. Lucky the lens guards took the blunt of the scratches.
Just throwing this idea out there...I also wrote insta360 about this. Hoping someone smarter than me can figure out the details and let the rest of know how they did it or sell it. How about making a lens film that would be shaped like a contact lens that can be "stuck" to the lens. Like a screen protector for a cell phone, but with a concave surface where it adheres to the lens. This would remove the fogging issue since there is no air between the film and the lens. And when they get scratched they can be removed and replaced.
I was ready to buy the X3 until I realised there are no premium lens gards for the X3, and only those sticky lens guards. For me they are so bad and scratch very easily. I'd love to see some decent gards for the X3 but, may be I will never see this because of the extra size of the X3.. We'll see !
Based on the numerous negative comments and test about these plastic lens guards, I decided to go for the premium lens guard (which are made of glass) for my One X2. Haven’t been able to try them yet, but I would like to know your feedback about those?
And if you use the Sticky Lens Guards, and the camera is then moved to a colder area for use, under the Sticky Lens Guards will appear condensation, which may be removed by removing the Sticky Lens Guards and wiping them clean. I know this for a fact, as it happened to me multiple times, until I permanently removed the Sticky Lens Guards. An they appear to be more easily scratched than the original lenses.
I once stuck my One X on the extended pole and took it through a bamboo forest. It came out so scratched up that I would recommend these guards if ever you plan to use it in that scenario.
I have plans to buy X3 hopefully in near future for my motorcycle so yeah, lens guard will most certainly be peace of mind 👍 Update: Bought X3 and sticky lens. Barely put down on table and got small scratch; not real noticeable but yeah very touchy in terms of scratching but does give somewhat piece of mind.
What's the difference between the x2 and the x3 lense guard? They look the same...can one use the x2 guard on x3? Reason I'm asking is that I can only find x2 guard around where I am. Thanks.
I ordered these, and they have not come yet, but I can tell you think the stupid tripod fell over the very first time I used it and put a chip in the lense so I definitely wish I had them. its only slightly noticable in one spot on the back but DEFINITELY I would get these since it took me all of 5 minutes with the camera on a so called tripod to prove they are worth it.
Did you put the extension pole on the small tripod handle? The product page says not to do that because it's not a wide enough base, but a loooooot of people learn that lesson the hard way
my problem with this lens protector with my x3, is that, there is some shadow in certain angle when in outdoor sunlight or indoor with half sunlight. in i remove the protector, it dissapear. the protector is aligned both front n back. my advice, do not use these kind of lens protector. waste of money. you can not get your money back for its failure. i dont know if other lens protector available. i'd like to try.
The first day I got my Insta360x3 the lens guard got a scratch in it. I am very dissapointed in the quality of them. After seeing the video where the guy attached insta360x3 to a crossbow bolt and shot it like 50 m in the air without any lens guards, and it survived easily being shot three times without any scratches, I'm considering taking off the lens guard since it just ruins the stitching and quality.
Sure but don’t forget that they are fisheye lenses/lens guards so stick out much more than any other type of camera. I would not be using cameras like this so carelessly.
I'm thinking of buying the X3 but the lens guards are out of stock and i'm flying in 3 days. So i have no time to order them online. The thing is, i wanna buy the X3 only for snowboarding and that's it. Even if i drop it imma drop it on the snow. Is it ok if i skip the lens guards for now?
I just bought a X3, got the lens guards since I use the camera on my motorcycle. I had the camera attached to the side of the bike on the selfie stick. In a curve, the camera touched the ground, the lens cover came off and the camera lens touched the ground and ruined the lens. So the lens cover doesn't stick all that well.
I am in South UK and tried to record in the Sun this morning with the Lens guards on,the temperature was about 18 degree , Guest what? The condensation appeared inside them, right in the middle, and of course the video and photo quality will be a bit poor with the lens on, I am in two mind at the moment.
I had them installed when I bought my X3. The following day, I went for a very early morning walk to test it (a bit dark with street lamps still on). When I viewed the video, the stitching was noticeable, but the most troubling was that half of the stitch line was glowing in blue. The blue glow and stitch line disappeared in my succeeding videos when there was more light. Since I'm not into anything extreme, should I take it off instead?
I put them on my X3 for peace of mind but they do scratch easily and it shows in my footage. At least though the scratches are on this protective case and not on my X3 lens so in that sense they were definitely worth the extra $$$
But you now either have to replace them or have scratches, whereas its doubtful whatever you did would have scratches the lenses themselves if there were no guards.
*I bought them, but after I got the Frame from insta360 I removed it because the Frame has it's own Lens Guard. They are nice BUT...only if you're NOT planning on putting it in THE Frame*
Bought one pair and they shattered when dropping them from 5 feet then bought a second pair and kept them in my bag and they got scratched by a charging cord. They are kind of mid but I look for substitutes but couldn't find anything made by Insta 360 I guess I'm stuck with this until a future product gets released.
I would like to know how easy they get scratched because I both twice for the x2 and the did really quick with nothing, just having it in the silicon guard.
I'm waiting for my X3 to arrive and am really up in the air about these covers as I have read a lot of bad reviews. I'm wondering if getting the dive case would be a better/safer option. Any opinions?
I'm in exactly the same boat as you were. Camera is arriving next week and I ordered the covers but up in the air about using them. I won't be doing anything 'dangerous' but accidents do happen. What did you decide once your camera arrived?
The dive case is bigger and bulkier. It's also way more expensive. But if protection is what you care most about, it will do the best job, although there will be a real nasty blob in your shot due to the base of the case.
@@alonsoaguilar7534 Not for X3 yet but I did get it for my One X and it was not a perfect solution. While it does offer protection, it blocks the most important view, the one towards you, pretty much negating the "floating camera in space" effect.
It's my first 360 camera and I got the lens guard right away. Great video! By the way can you help me figure out if the X3 can be used as webcam? or is that feature removed in X3?
Good info. I see a few people complain that moisture gets into these lenses and fogging up. Have you heard about that? I live in a tropical humid country so a bit concerned.
Yes, moisture appeared inside of the lens guard of my X3 after shooting 20 mins timelapse in tropical Singapore, most probably due to heat dissipated from the camera. It did disappear after leaving the X3 to cool down after a while. Took off the lens guard since then and resolved myself to always keeping the camera in a hard pouch (designed for insta cams) and taking care of the lenses instead
Lens Guards base (condense moisture from the inside) internally, especially when there is a change in temperature. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?
When installing the guards, I recommend installing in a positive pressure clean room. Otherwise, be prepared for a dust particle or two getting caught between the guard and the lens. All kidding aside, I've installed the guards on the lenses using multiple new guards. There has not been a time I didn't get a dust particle stuck between the guard and lens, especially after wiping the lens, creating a static charge. Does anyone else have this problem? It really doesn't cause much of a video quality issue, except looking directly at the sun on bright days.
I bought these after breaking a lens almost immediately after buying the X2... I motorcycle vlog. and they just can't cope with speed and any shot with the sun... for me, the insurance is better... I know it's not cheap, but I honestly believe that I'm likely to use it... it's too easy to crack a lens on this thing.
In monsoon the fog goes inside the lens and you can't capture anything.. Just to protect from scratches, but not at all worth it.. It downgraded the video quality, weird lens flare, water get stuck inside the lens, not a single percent use in monsoon
I have another problem with the lens guard on. On a very cold day, when I took the insta360 x3 to use at outdoor, the lens guard fogged up inside, so the shot I took was wasted. How can I prevent this to happen ?
Thank you for this informative video since lens scratching was my big concern and makes it easier to pic the x3 to purchase over other 360 cams because I can now replace the guards when damaged. A few questions (if you know the answer or can predict) but first the scenario. I will be mounting it on top of my dirt bike helmet (motorbike) and will be riding through many trails where the camera can be brushed by small branches/leaves above because I will probably want the cam to be about 2 feet above the top of the helmet. Do you think these guards will hold up to light brushing of leaves/twigs/small light branches? Or is the plastic too soft? I will be avoiding low branches with leaves but sometimes a 2 foot extension can brush through them accidently. Riding through forests can change the temperatures a bit while going from sunny areas to deep brush. Do you think these guards will fog inside or is the adhesive seal pretty air tight? And last, as mentioned in other youtube X3 vids, the sides of the camera should face the front and rear so that the lenses are on both sides of the bike. My concern is that the display might get scratched (hopefully not broken). Do you know if a display guard exists? I’m hoping to not use a diving case as I am trying to avoid the more prominent seam lines and with the cam/mounting gear being on my helmet, weight is a big concern so I prefer not to add more than I need. Btw, do you know if diving cases fog up if I go that route? Thanks again.
I recorded under water with the lens guard (2 meters) and it got water between the real lens and the lens guard. It mad my shots foggy and terrible. I wouldn’t recommend them
Why dont just use the dive case everytime some risk is needed? Makes no sense the lens guards are incompatible with the dive case. The obvious option for me is just buy the dive case.
@@BenClaremont yeah. But if I need a lena guard and a dive case... Makes no sense to buy both, the dive case acts as a protection. Actually o got my dive case and the correct answer to this is: The dive case ruins the angle. The camera looses its Magic invisible selfie stick.
I scratched my X2 lens really bad on the beach… Then spent several hours polishing to remove the scratches along with the coatings… Really need to be careful around sand…
Insta360 should really release a venture case for the X3 like they did with the original OneX. A case is much cheaper to replace than a camera and the stitching is far better.
@@Sparky_D Not spamming here. Just searched my local shop site and found this. www.lazada.com.ph/products/for-insta360-one-x3-dive-case-waterproof-housings-for-insta-360-x3-underwater-protection-box-panoramic-action-camera-accessories-i3489332416-s17959017003.html?clickTrackInfo=query%253Ainsta360%252Bx3%252Bdive%252Bcase%253Bnid%253A3489332416%253Bsrc%253ALazadaMainSrp%253Brn%253A1a9728f0bb9f6031aa17a4b8f5cfaf13%253Bregion%253Aph%253Bsku%253A3489332416_PH%253Bprice%253A2285%253Bclient%253Adesktop%253Bsupplier_id%253A500167341021%253Basc_category_id%253A20862%253Bitem_id%253A3489332416%253Bsku_id%253A17959017003%253Bshop_id%253A1747313&fastshipping=0&freeshipping=0&fs_ab=1&fuse_fs=0&lang=en&location=Overseas&price=2285&priceCompare=&ratingscore=5.0&request_id=1a9728f0bb9f6031aa17a4b8f5cfaf13&review=2&sale=15&search=1&source=search&spm=a2o4l.searchlist.list.91&stock=1
Hallo, im Internet werden die Lens Guards für X2 zu sehr unterschiedlichen Preisen angeboten. Die gibt es schon für rund 12 Euro, aber auch für 25 Euro. Gibt es da Unterschiede zwischen diesen Angeboten? Oder sind die nur teurer, weil sie nicht direkt aus China kommen? VG Ulli
Took my brand new X3 outdoor rock climbing and managed to bonk the lens on a rock on the first move giving it a nice scratch. Immediately regretted not buying the lens protectors. Insta360 customer support was great, at least, ~$100 to get the lens replaced.
Would you recommend the X3 for rock climbing? i'm still on the fence because i'm afraid it is too fragile for it. Have you used it after that incident :P ?
Hello, excellent video, I uploaded some clips on my channel where I mount the protections on the x3, the videos are disturbed and blurry as you can see, many youtubers have advised me not to use the protections, but in my sport I'm not calm ... sure that for the amount it costs they could have integrated them better inside the case...thanks a lot for this nice video..good job
anyone tried the third party glass (they claim it's actual tempered glass) versions? I was stupid and bought El cheapo third party stickies and boy do they suck. maybe originals slightly better. just get insta360 to make the premium lens.
