Insta360 Luna Ultra review: Powerful vlogging camera with stunning video and surprisingly capable photography

Action camera innovation has plateaued slightly in the last couple of years, at least when it comes to traditional GoPro-style models. There is a physical limit to how small optics and components can be without compromising the minimum focusing distance, and higher resolutions and frame rates will only get people so excited.

The new battleground among compact camera brands, seemingly, is vlogging gimbals. DJI had immense success with its Osmo Pocket series, so much so that it became the number one action camera brand in Japan in 2025. The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 added 107GB of internal storage and 4K/240fps slow motion to the already excellent camera.

It was only a matter of time before other brands decided to get in on the action, and while there are quite a few companies trying to launch their own take on the concept, the one rival everyone's been waiting for is Insta360. The 360º camera expert has teased its upcoming Osmo Pocket rival for quite a while, but now, it's finally here.

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I’ve been testing the flagship Lune Ultra for almost a month, and I’m thoroughly impressed with it. The camera borrows a fair amount of its design from the big rival; as with action cams, there are ergonomic limitations to vlogging gimbals. However, it offers a ton of exciting new features, not to mention the excellent specs and camera performance.

Insta360 Luna Ultra review

Price and availability

The Luna Ultra was officially announced on 10 June 2026 and is available to buy now in Cosmic Black and Stellar White at Insta360, Amazon, Best Buy, and select retailers worldwide for $769.99 (~£575 / €667 / AU$1,098). The company says availability in Germany will follow at a later date.

At the time of writing, it's unclear how much the unit will cost in markets other than the US. The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 retails for £445 / €499 / AU$769, but it lacks the second camera, unlike the Osmo Pocket 4P, which is yet to be released and therefore isn't officially priced yet.

(Of course, DJI's vlogging camera isn't available in the US, so Insta360 has a big advantage over its imaging rival with the Luna Ultra.)

Design and build quality

One thing I noticed immediately as I lifted the gimbal out of its box is just how substantial it feels. At 233g, it's hardly heavy, but it's more than 20% heavier than the Osmo Pocket 4 and taller and wider, with a robust camera unit.

The latter is understandable, considering there are two lenses on the Luna Ultra. The dual Leica Summicron lenses offer up to 12x zoom and 6x lossless zoom. There are also 2x and 3x zoom options, which I assume are cropped versions of the second, 6x zoom lens.

The Luna Ultra uses a 1-inch sensor, which is quite large for such a small camera, allowing more detail to be captured and better low-light performance. For comparison, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro, DJI Osmo Action 6, and the Osmo Pocket 4 all have the same sensor size. Of course, physical sensor size is one thing, but it certainly doesn’t mean all of these cameras perform the same way.

In the case of the Luna Ultra, the unit adds a "triple AI chip" setup, which includes a 4nm chip and dual imaging chips, for better low-light performance. Historically, Insta360 cameras have been criticised for being too noisy in low-light scenarios, sacrificing colour accuracy for brightness. The Luna Ultra’s 1-inch sensor definitely helps with this.

The Insta360 X5 already has a triple-chip architecture, but it’s different from the Luna Ultra’s. For one, the 360-degree camera uses a 5nm AI processor, while the vlogging camera swaps it for a newer 4nm AI chip alongside dual imaging processors. To take low-light performance even further, the Luna Ultra also has the 4K60fps PureVideo mode, a dedicated setting to enhance clarity in low-light situations.

Back to the physical specs of the camera, the Luna Ultra has an “industry-first” detachable controller that lets you use the panel as a remote control. I’m not 100% sure it’s necessary to have on a camera with gesture control; how often would you need to control the gadget remotely?

I found myself not really using the controller off-camera, only when I shot 360 panos, but that’s such a niche use case that it doesn’t really justify the structural danger a detachable control panel poses.

It’s a moving part and, by default, more prone to damage. The gimbal head is already a liability, so it makes little sense to add even more risky components to the mix. The spring or plastic buttons that hold the controller in place can break, and it’s also more likely that you’ll lose the panel somewhere, rendering your Luna Ultra unusable.

The controls are also more laggy when the panel is detached (not terribly, but still), especially if you’re playing around with the zoom. This could be down to my using an early software version, but if you think about it, the remote is a sliver of a device, so it will have limited space for transmission components. There will be compromises.

On that note, Insta360 came up with a solution, not just to protect the remote but the gadget as a whole. The case is quite basic and makes the Luna Ultra bulkier, but it certainly does a decent job of easing your concerns about chucking the gimbal in your bag. Plus, it has accessory slots, such as for the wide-angle lens, that attach magnetically. Sweet.

The button layout on the Luna Ultra is slightly different from that of the Osmo Pocket 4. In addition to the joystick and record button, Insta360 included a zoom slider at the lower end of the handle. The two customisable buttons are located at the bottom of the rotating display, a better solution than DJI’s, which hides them under the display in vertical mode.

Performance

The Luna Ultra can shoot 8K video at up to 30 fps and 4K slow-motion video at up to 120 fps, while the low-light PureVideo mode is 4K@60fps. In addition to high-resolution videos, the Luna Ultra handles colours well and can shoot in Dolby Vision.

Dolby Vision is a high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging technology that is said to enable “dynamic optimisation for every scene, or even every individual frame.” One of the main benefits of the technology is that it’s used by other companies and apps, enabling a more seamless post-production process.

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One very cool thing about the Luna Ultra’s zoom capabilities is that it can do macro photos. The minimum focusing distance is 15 cm (~5.9 inches), but with the 12x zoom (equivalent of a 240mm telephoto lens!), you’ll get plenty close to your subject. 12x zoom isn’t lossless, but the camera retains a significant amount of detail.

There is only one issue with macro photography. As of now, there is no focus peaking on the Luna Ultra, so it’s pretty much impossible to tell where the focus is on the tiny display in broad daylight, or even in a decently lit room. I hope this will be added soon via a software update!

(The above video was shot on the Luna Ultra.)

On the question of 8K footage, there are very few platforms where you can showcase videos with such high resolution, so it’s best to treat the feature as what it is: a tool that enables you to crop into footage without sacrificing 4K resolution. Plus, it’s useful for things such as 12x zoom, which, again, looks pretty crisp considering it’s only digital magnification.

I was very pleased with the Luna Ultra's photographic performance. The images aren’t as sharp as a DSLR or a mirrorless, but the camera unit is a lot smaller, so what do you expect? The camera can shoot in RAW, with the maximum resolution in UltraPhoto mode being 37MP.

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One of the many benefits of the Luna Ultra’s 3-axis mechanical stabilisation (it also has Electronic Image Stabilisation) is that even when you’re zoomed in, the footage isn’t shaky and photos aren’t blurry, either. Try holding a mirrorless with a 240 mm equivalent telephoto lens attached with one hand, and tell me the Luna Ultra compact form factor isn’t impressive.

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Videos look balanced, and the camera provides plenty of settings to tailor the footage to your liking. In Basic mode, you can adjust exposure (I’d recommend going down to -0.3 or even -0.7 EV as default) and choose between the many colour profiles provided by the Luna Ultra.

You’ll find three Leica-branded options, as well as film-style filters I enjoyed using on the GO 3S Retro Bundle. Positive and negative film, CC (Colour Chrome or Colour Color-Positive) film, and vintage film look are just some of the options. You can also shoot in Dolby Vision and I-Log if you prefer to adjust colour in post.

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I’ll be 100 per cent honest: I haven’t been playing around with the professional colour modes, purely because the footage coming out of the Luna looks good as it is, especially in good lighting conditions.

As for low-light performance, I couldn’t spot a significant difference between standard video and PureVideo modes in dimly lit scenarios (not full-on night). As long as there is some light, the triple AI chip and large sensor will do their magic without triggering any special modes. I’ll report back once I've tried the Luna Ultra in an after-dark setting.

Battery and charging

Battery life is one of the Luna Ultra's stronger points. The camera uses a 1,550mAh battery, with Insta360 claiming up to four hours of runtime. While I didn't manage to completely drain it in a single session, my testing suggests that figure isn't unrealistic under lighter workloads.

Using a USB-C PD charger, the Luna Ultra jumped from 18% to 60% in just nine minutes and reached 77% after 16 minutes. The camera hit full charge in roughly 20 minutes, closely matching Insta360's claim of reaching 80% in 23 minutes.

During charging, power draw initially hovered around 42W before gradually tapering off as the battery filled. The body became slightly warm but never uncomfortably hot, with charging speeds occasionally dropping to protect the battery from overheating.

One interesting quirk is that the detachable control panel isn't prioritised during charging. The main camera unit is replenished first, before power is redirected to the controller.

For battery testing, I recorded 4K/60fps video continuously for 22 minutes, followed by a short cooldown period and then 44 minutes of 8K/30fps footage. After a combined 66 minutes of recording, the battery still had 59% remaining.

The camera became warm during extended recording sessions but never excessively so, and there were no overheating warnings or unexpected shutdowns.

Based on these results, the Luna Ultra appears capable of comfortably handling a full day of casual shooting, while the rapid charging speeds make topping up between filming sessions refreshingly painless.

Verdict

The Luna Ultra is a compelling first entry into the vlogging camera category from Insta360. Rather than producing a straightforward Osmo Pocket clone, the company has added enough genuinely useful features to make the camera feel distinct. The dual Leica lens setup, up to 12x zoom, strong macro capabilities and surprisingly photography-focused feature set give it a character of its own.

Video quality is excellent, with crisp 8K footage, Dolby Vision support, effective low-light performance and stabilisation that remains impressively smooth even when shooting at longer focal lengths. Add in fast charging, strong battery life and expandable storage, and the Luna Ultra feels like a mature product rather than a first attempt.

Not everything is perfect. The detachable controller feels more like a solution looking for a problem, and its removability introduces another potential point of failure on a device that already carries a delicate gimbal mechanism. The lack of focus peaking is also frustrating, particularly given how much emphasis Insta360 places on macro photography and zoom shooting.

Those shortcomings feel more like software and design niggles than fundamental flaws. What impressed me most during testing was how versatile the Luna Ultra proved to be. It's an excellent video camera, a surprisingly capable stills camera and a genuinely creative tool that encourages experimentation. If Insta360 can continue refining the software experience, DJI's dominance of the pocket gimbal market might not look quite so secure anymore.