As you’d expect, image quality suffers considerably with the digital zoom. The processor does its best to keep the image sharp, but even in the best scenarios, the loss of quality is noticeable.
If your videos benefit from a zoom lens, consider the external zoom attachment Insta360 recently released, which adds 1.5X to the optical zoom (4.5X total), or the equivalent of a 90-mm lens. Unlike digital zoom, the image remains much sharper, but in my testing, I found almost no discernible loss of image quality when I used both optical and digital zoom with the telephoto attachment, at up to 200 mm. If you max out the digital zoom, you’ll be shooting with the equivalent of a 450-mm lens, but the image does start to get softer.
When it launched, the Luna Pro featured 4K vertical video, while the Ultra did not. But now Insta360 has added 4K vertical video to the Ultra with a firmware update.
Over the Moon
First, who needs the Luna or the Osmo Pocket products? The target users include solo filmmakers, journalists, and content creators. That’s why you often see them used by YouTubers and multimedia journalists.
Second, which Luna should you buy? The Luna Pro is probably the better value for most users. You do lose the zoom lens, but that’s about it, and you save $170. The Ultra only makes more sense if you want to shoot with a longer focal length, but I don’t think going beyond the 3X optical zoom is worthwhile.
If you’re primarily interested in shooting yourself while moving—think walking, riding, skateboarding, etc.—it’s also fair to consider Insta360’s X6 in this equation. It can shoot similarly stable video by cropping its 360 footage. While both Luna cameras produce marginally better-looking video, the X6’s 360-degree footage lets you pan around the shot in post, offering considerably more flexibility. Coupling the X6 with the folding selfie handle gives you an experience similar to the Luna. The X6 is also waterproof and virtually indestructible, so it can function as an action camera and 360 camera. To my mind, the main question is, do you need the higher-quality video of the Lunas? If you do, then the Luna cameras are the clear winner.