Insta360’s CEO Seemingly Teases Two All-New Cameras
Insta360’s CEO and founder, Jingkang “JK” Liu, posted a very interesting photo on Chinese social media site, Weibo, leading to rampant speculation about what Insta360 may have up its sleeve. It appears that Liu teased two new Insta360 cameras in a single photo, accompanied by a pithy caption.
Insta360 is no stranger to teasers. The company teases essentially every single one of its products before it is fully unveiled. However, these teasers are typically very polished and official, appearing on Insta360’s global social media accounts rather than on JK Liu’s Weibo account.
As reported by The New Camera, there is a lot going on with Liu’s latest post. In it, the Insta360 CEO is holding a white camera in vertical orientation. This white camera is intriguing because it doesn’t appear to be from a different manufacturer, and Insta360 doesn’t currently make a camera that looks anything like it.
The camera has a few visible controls, including a switch to go between photo and video modes, a playback button, and a third unidentified button. The large screen features the typical user interface elements photographers expect, including battery life and mode indicators, as well as exposure settings. In this case, the camera is in aperture-priority mode set to f/1.8, which is an interesting aperture.
This suggests that Insta360 is working on a compact, fixed-lens camera, akin to a Sony ZV-series vlogging camera or a Canon PowerShot model. It could also indicate that Insta360 is working on an interchangeable-lens camera, though which mount it would use remains a mystery.
This is purely speculation, but L-Mount could make some sense. Insta360 has a close relationship with Leica, the founder of the L-Mount Alliance. The two companies most recently collaborated on the excellent Insta360 Ace Pro 2 action camera.
In fact, there’s a lot about Liu’s post that’s mysterious. The CEO wrote, “向新的焦段出发,” which translates roughly to “Moving toward new focal lengths.” While enticing, it is not very informative.
There is something else to consider here, though. Not only is Liu holding what appears to be a unique, unknown camera in the photo, but the camera itself also has a pixelated object displayed on its rear screen. This must also be an upcoming Insta360 product, because why else would it be pixelated?
Based on prior leaks, The New Camera speculates that the pixelated object could be an upcoming Insta360 pocket camera designed to compete with DJI’s super-popular Osmo Pocket 3. The two companies compete across nearly every imaging segment, with DJI recently getting into the 360-degree camera space and Insta360 taking a crack at drones via its offshoot, Antigravity. The two Chinese companies have never shied away from one-upmanship, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest Insta360 is going to lob the next volley.
Image credits: JK Liu, Insta360
