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Following months of teases, leaks, a secretive debut at NAB 2026, and an initial launch in China, Insta360 finally announced global availability for its first handheld stabilized camera. The Luna Ultra features a pair of 8K cameras atop a 3-axis gimbal, offering an upgrade to DJI’s Osmo Pocket 4 and Pocket 4P, which both max out at capturing 4K footage. While the latest versions of DJI’s baby steadicams still aren’t sold in the US, the new Luna Ultra is available starting today for $769.99 through Insta360’s online store and other retailers including Amazon, B&H, and Best Buy.
The Luna Ultra’s primary camera features a 1-inch 8K sensor paired with a Leica Summicron lens while its secondary camera uses a smaller 1/1.3-inch sensor with a telephoto lens offering up to 12X zoom capabilities, or 6X lossless. Still images are captured at up to 37-megapixels, but like Insta360’s Ace Pro 2 action camera, 8K video captures max out at 30fps. Dolby Vision, 10-bit I-Log, and additional color profiles developed by Leica are supported when capturing 8K video, as well as several cinematic filters that can be applied in-camera, but bumping the frame rate to 60fps requires a drop in resolution to 4K. You can boost the 4K frame rate to up to 120fps for capturing slow-motion footage, but doubling that to 240fps limits the Luna Ultra’s resolution to 1080P.
DJI Osmo Pocket users will be familiar with the Luna Ultra’s design, including its 2-inch rotating OLED touchscreen and a built-in microphone that can be augmented by connecting other Insta360 wireless mics. What sets the Luna Ultra apart from DJI’s Pocket cameras is that its touchscreen and controls can be detached and used as a wireless remote with a livestreamed preview at a distance of over 65 feet. That alone could make it a tempting alternative to vloggers working without a dedicated camera operator.
Insta360 estimates the Luna Ultra’s 1,550mAh battery will power the camera for up to four hours between charges, but that will depend on what features are used and how hard its stabilization system has to work. The camera features the company’s Deep Track 5.0 technology that can automatically track individual subjects or groups and zoom in and out to ensure they remain properly framed.
Optional accessories include a POV Head Tracker worn over the ear that translates your head movements to the cameras so they’re always looking where you are, a battery-boosting handle, ND filters, and a wide-angle lens. You can also expand the Luna Ultra’s storage to up to 1TB with a microSD card, but out of the box you get 47GB built-in.
The Verge’s Sean Hollister has been testing the Insta360 Luna Ultra for the past few weeks and has a full review enroute. Due to the camera’s release date being unexpectedly pushed up, he shared some initial thoughts on its performance, hardware, and new features:
So far, I don’t think I actually prefer the Luna Ultra to my Osmo Pocket 3! The second lens with 6x lossless zoom and wireless detachable touchscreen are very nice to have, letting me capture my daughter’s ballet recital and my dad’s wedding ceremony without leaving my seat. I could read the notes at my kid’s piano lesson from across the room at 12x zoom unlike the DJI.
But the Luna’s nowhere near as effortless to use. It’s not as compact and easy to grip, it’s so dang annoying to have to un-navigate a menu after you change each setting (you can’t just hit record to go back to recording mode), and most importantly, it’s even harder to tell if things are in focus on the Luna than my DJI. I’d rather have a sharper screen than a detachable one, particularly since the Luna isn’t quite as good at automatically choosing the right focus to begin with. I can generally trust the Pocket 3, but the Luna needs some more work.
I am finding the Luna slightly better at automatically tracking people, and the 47GB of built-in storage means no swearing when I leave the SD card in my PC. It’s clever how the extended grips include tiny fold-out tripods, too, and I’m looking forward to trying other useful accessories like a neckmount and an earpiece that rotates the camera to match your real head’s point of view.
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