IS IT A SCAM? ACFlow Snap is like a modular Insta360 X3

What if the Insta360 X3 was modular and could even use a 270mm equivalent telephoto lens?  That’s the intriguing premise of the ACFlow Snap, a new 360 camera that looks strikingly similar to Insta360 X3 and has nearly identical specs, but is also modular like the Insta360 One R and One RS.  But is it legit or is it a scam?  Here are its specs and some potential red flags you need to consider.  UPDATE: ACFlow Snap has been canceled.

Insta360 X3 (reviewed here) is the most popular 360 camera in the market today.  Now, a company that 360 shooters haven’t heard about called ACFlow has announced a 360 camera that not only looks like the Insta360 X3, but also has almost identical specs.

ACFlow Specifications; Comparison vs Insta360 X3

Snap has almost the same specs as Insta360 X3 except:

• it has no Active HDR video mode.  Active HDR is a video mode that enables the X3 to capture a wider dynamic range by capturing two different exposures at the same time.
• it has no Me Mode.  Me Mode lets the X3 shoot a third person view with no need for reframing.
• it has no Starlapse mode.  X3’s starlapse can capture a timelapse with animated star trails.
• the aperture is slightly narrower at f/2.0 (instead of f/1.9)
• the body is longer (125mm vs 114mm long)
• larger capacity battery (1900 mah vs 1800 mah)
• it’s lighter (170g vs 180g)
• it’s not waterproof.  ACFlow claims the Snap is splash proof (IPX4).

Modular design

ACFlow Snap boasts a modular design.  You can swap out the 360 camera lenses for a 4K 60fps action cam lens, or a C-mount lens, with the option to attach a 10-50mm zoom (which appears to be 54-270mm equivalent focal length) with adjustable aperture.

The Snap would not be the first modular 360 camera.  The Insta360 One R and One RS have had a modular design that could even be used with the Mavic Air 2 to turn it into an invisible 360 drone.  However, the Snap would be the first action cam to have an industry-standard interchangeable mount.  The lenses shown by ACFlow include:

• 6mm (appears to be 32mm equivalent) wide angle with adjustable aperture f/2 to f/16.
• 16mm (appears to be 86mm equivalent) telephoto with adjustable aperture from f/1.4 to f/16.
• 10-50mm (appears to be 54-270mm equivalent) telephoto zoom.  They said the aperture is from f/2 to f/16, but it’s not clear if it is a constant aperture zoom or a variable aperture zoom.
• 120X microscope.

Moreover, the Snap lenses use C-mount, which is used by some security cameras and 16mm movie cameras, so it’s possible to add even more lenses.

The question for me is practicality.  Attaching these lenses would make the Snap much less portable.  If you had to carry a camera of that size, would it be more practical to carry a Micro Four Thirds camera or a digital compact camera such as a Sony RX100?

Sample videos?

The Snap website showed two sample videos that are supposed to be from the Snap.  The first one seems to show excellent detail, dynamic range and color, similar to Insta360, with even similar green spot flares.  If this is really from the Snap, then I would be very impressed.  I don’t expect this level of quality from a new 360 camera company.

However, in another part of the same webpage, they showed another video that’s also supposed to be from the Snap.  This one has more limited dynamic range and inaccurate colors much more typical of what I see in 360 cameras from new companies.  You can see the sky is almost blown out and the hue of the sky is greenish, compared with the natural blue color of the sky from the first video.  It’s possible that the red surface of the skatepark could have made the white balance and colors inaccurate.  However, the drastic difference between the color accuracy of the two videos makes me wonder whether the first one was really shot on the Snap.  I’d love to see the unstitched sample files from ACFlow to confirm if these videos are both from Snap.

Sample panoramic photo?

ACFlow Snap’s website has a section where they discuss reframing and include an interactive 360 photo.  The 360 photo looks very good — the dynamic range is perfect, the colors look accurate, and the detail is impressive.  Honestly, if this is how good Snap’s photos look, then it would be an incredible camera for 360 photography.

But the photo seems too good to be true.  I’m not aware of any dual lens consumer 360 camera that can take photos with this quality.  I hope ACFlow can show us the actual photo sample so that we can confirm it was shot with the Snap.

Crowdfunding campaign

The ACFlow Snap is an interesting concept but I’m very skeptical.  Besides my concerns above, I’m also wary that it’s being crowdfunded, which means you’re NOT ordering the product.  Rather, if you pay them, you’re investing in the company with the hope that they’ll send you a product as promised.  If they don’t send the product, you will have little or no remedy.  You probably won’t be able to sue them or get a refund.

I’ve supported several crowdfunded projects in the past.  Majority of them did ship out a product, although sometimes it was late (some of them several years late).  Some projects simply failed and I lost my money.  The crowdfunded projects that totally fail often have two characteristics: it’s a new company and/or their product is high-tech, such as a drone or a 3D camera.  This one checks both boxes.

Even if ACFlow does ship their camera to their backers, it might take them a long time to do so.  If the 360 camera is delayed by a couple of years, then by the time you receive it, the specs might be obsolete in this fast-moving industry.

But wouldn’t it be good to support a company with innovative ideas?  Fortunately, it’s not a binary choice.  You don’t have to choose to back them now or never buy their product.  If you like their product but don’t want the risk, then just wait for them to actually ship the product.  You’ll won’t get the discount from the crowdfunding campaign but it’s much safer than investing in a product that is very interesting but has some red flags.