Insta360 turned its action camera into a tiny retro shooter and it’s every bit as adorable as you’d expect
A tiny retro-inspired action camera bundle that turns the Insta360 GO 3S into a surprisingly charming pocket shooter
I love Insta360’s approach to making the most of its “old” tech instead of just churning out newer and newer products just to claim higher frame rates or more pixels than its competitors.
Last year’s Flash Print Bundle is a good example of this, adding a printer to the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 and effectively turning it into a high-resolution Polaroid rival. It was a clever accessory to an already handy product, extending its versatility beyond what was originally intended.
The brand’s latest launch doubles down on this mentality, but instead of using the flagship model, it focuses on another fan-favourite model, the dinky Insta360 GO 3S.
Pocket spy fantasy
The GO 3S Retro Bundle combines the GO 3S with the Retro Viewfinder accessory, creating a small camera akin to one James Bond might have used on a mission in the 70s. You know, the one he took out of his tuxedo pocket to snap some sneaky photos of documents.
As the name suggests, the accessory has a physical viewfinder, something even modern mirrorless cameras often lack. Granted, it’s a pretty simple setup and consists of a small angled mirror in the Retro Viewfinder’s body, but it does make a difference when you’re framing your shots.
The only caveat of the viewfinder is that it only really works when you look at the camera from above. Rotating it for vertical shots turns the viewfinder to the side, which means you have to shoot towards one of your sides if you want to see what’s going on in the viewfinder.
Tiny camera, surprisingly versatile
The GO 3S is still the same with its 39 weight and 4K video capability. You can use the camera without the Retro Viewfinder, opening up a whole host of creative use cases. As I mentioned in pretty much all my GO Series reviews (most recently in my Insta360 GO Ultra review), the only limit to its use is your own creativity, not hardware limitations.
Well, there is another one, namely battery life, but Insta360 thought of this, too, with the GO 3S Retro Bundle. The included Battery Pack extends recording time to up to 76 minutes and supports charging while recording. Neat.
Retro looks, modern workflow
App connection has always been an integral part of the Insta360 experience, and it’s the same with the GO 3S Retro Bundle. The camera can be operated without touching your smartphone, but the film filters – Negative Film, Positive Film, CC Film, NC Film, GR-F, Mono, and Vintage Vacation – can only be accessed via the app.
This created a funny situation where I often had the app open, cycling through the different filters while holding the camera with my other hand. A mix of retro and modern shooting, I say! Of course, you can just pick a filter before you set off and use that all day, which is probably the most hassle-free option.
Charm doesn’t always mean practicality
It’s probably just me being a fan of stills, but I mainly used the GO 3S Retro Bundle to shoot photos, even though it’s actually perfectly capable of recording 4K videos.
And despite my best efforts to time the shutter, I ended up with a bunch of odd photos with the camera half-rotated or in the process of being put away. The beep is quite loud, so I turned it off, but since there is no other feedback (e.g., tactile) when the camera is exposed, you can only guess whether you’ve taken the photo or not.
Another thing to note with the GO 3S is that, like most action cameras, it has a wide-angle lens, equivalent to a 16mm lens on a 35mm camera. So wide, in fact, that it’s easy to get your finger, the one pressing the button, to appear on the image. For the same reason, don’t expect the GO 3S to be amazing for portrait photography.
It’s not impossible to shoot good portraits, but you have to be very close to your subject, which makes it only suitable for photos of people who know you’re taking a photo of them. Again, there are a ton of creative uses I probably haven’t even thought about, let alone tried, but portrait or macro photography ain’t those.
One extra trick too many
The Bundle comes with an NFC Custom Skin, allowing you to tap the camera with your phone to access the Insta360 app. I found this feature somewhat redundant, since opening the app on the phone is hardly cumbersome. I appreciate that some people appreciate not having to look for the app on their phones, though.
Imperfect photos never looked so good
All that said, I love the vintage-y look of the photos coming out of the camera. The sensor is tiny, so it certainly isn’t worth pixel-peeping your images, but they have a cosy feel and a pleasing colour balance. The fact that you can choose between quite a few built-in (and handsome) filters is a real boon.
The Insta360 GO 3S Retro Bundle is available today from the Insta360 store in Canvas White and Classic Red. It includes the standalone camera, Retro Viewfinder, Battery Pack, NFC Custom Skin, a Strap, Magnet Pendant, Lens Guard (pre-installed) and a USB-C to A Cable.
Two storage options are available: 64GB and 128GB, priced at $300 / £260 / €300 / AU$470 and $320 / £240 / €280 / AU$500, respectively.
For those who already have a GO 3S, the Retro Viewfinder is also available on its own for $48 / £46 / €55 / AU$80.
