360 Camera Accessories

Bullet Time 2.0: Insta360 shows its new bullet time accessory

Insta360's new bullet time accessory
Insta360’s new bullet time accessory

Insta360 is releasing a new accessory that makes bullet time videos easier with the Insta360 ONE.

When Insta360 ONE (reviewed here) was launched last year, they created a sensation with their bullet time effect. It enables the user to swing the Insta360 ONE around and capture a super slow motion view around the user that looks like the bullet time scenes from the matrix.

A few weeks later, I created a tutorial for the bullet time effect with almost any camera. The key was to use a handle with swivel.

Insta360 has taken this idea and created a dedicated accessory for bullet time. The problem with the swiveling handle I used was that it had a GoPro mount so you had to support the swivel to keep it vertical and in-line with the handle. The Insta360 accessory has a fixed 90-degree angle, so you can simply hold the handle. The new accessory also has a simple 1/4-20 attachment for a selfie stick, which makes it easier to use it. Here’s a video with the new accessory:

No word yet on cost or availability. The Chinese New Year holiday, which is the most important holiday in China, and lasts a week, begins February 8. If they haven’t launched it by now, I don’t think we’ll see it until after the February 15.

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Mic Ty

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  • Not sure if I will state is 2.0 and an accessory which will be available to the public… not according to their answer

    ” Insta360 Hi Ed, that rotating handle is a custom accessory not currently sold but you can check out what’s included in our bundle here: http://bit.ly/valentineONE

    even on their Valentine bundle is not coming the swiveling handle. I truly believe customers are asking for it, that a lot of current customers will buy it (I will do depending on cost for sure).

    • I wonder if that “bundle” with the selfie stick is their way of getting rid of their current stock of “regular” selfie sticks so that they can in a few months introduce their “all new” bullet-time selfie stick !

      Many enterprises proceed that way. For example, you will see a software at a very low price and then two months later, there is the new version of the software at regular price… Same thing with cameras where the price goes down a lot and then a month later there is the all-new model !

  • I imagine this would work just as well with other 360 cameras such as the Mijiia…Its just a 90 degree handle with a swivel, I wonder if a third party solution could be found elsewhere?

  • Watching their clip a few times, I wonder just how many times people will be shooting bullet-time selfies. It’s bound to get repetitive to watch after a while – seeing people twirl this thing around themselves with their arm extended.

    We’ll very rapidly get to a point where we’re bound to say “Oh no ! Not another one of those !”
    Watching that couple do a few imaginative things with it was kinda fun, but would we watch dozens of these ? Surely, seeing a bunch of twirling selfies of some guy with the inevitable statue of liberty pose in every shot is definitely going to get boring real fast !

  • Early in February, I posted: “I wonder if that “bundle” with the selfie stick is their way of getting rid of their current stock of “regular” selfie sticks so that they can in a few months introduce their “all new” bullet-time selfie stick !”

    Well, I was right. And it didn’t take “a few months”. Insta360 just announced their new bundle (a single month later) available from Apple and it includes that illusive “bullet time” handle…

    https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HLY42ZM/A/insta360-one-camera-bundle

      • Ha Ha ! I beat you to it ! 🙂

        But actually, it might be interesting to find out if that handle will also be sold separately as an accessory and if it will be available elsewhere than from Apple…