Insta360 Luna Ultra Review: Everything You Need to Know

I’ve been using the Insta360 Luna Ultra for a couple of months now, and honestly, I’m having a lot of fun with this camera.

Now before we get started, Insta360 sent me this camera to test, but this isn’t a sponsored review. Nobody has approved this article, and nobody is telling me what I can or can’t say.

If you’ve followed my channel for a while, you’ll know I’ve been a fan of these little gimbal cameras ever since DJI introduced the Pocket series. In fact, they completely changed the way I cover trade shows and events.

Instead of carrying a larger camera rig, microphone setup, tripod, and all the extra gear, I could just pull a little camera out of my pocket and start shooting.

The problem was there were always a few compromises.

The zoom wasn’t great.

The image quality was good, but I always wished it was a little better.

And there were situations where I wanted more flexibility.

That’s why I got excited when I first saw the Luna Ultra.

After using it in the real world, I can say that Insta360 didn’t just make another gimbal camera. They rethought quite a few things that I’ve wished existed for years.

The biggest surprise? The detachable touchscreen.

But we’ll get to that in a moment.

First, let’s talk about what’s inside this thing.

Dual Cameras and Real Zoom

One of the first things you’ll notice is there are two lenses on the front.

The main camera uses a Leica Summicron lens and shoots up to 8K with an f/1.8 aperture and Dolby Vision HDR.

Then there’s a dedicated telephoto camera which is also a Leica Summicron lens, but at f2.0.

This is important because we’re not just talking about digital zoom here.

The Luna Ultra gives you:

1x (20mm equivalent)
3x optical zoom (60mm equivalent)
6x lossless zoom
Up to 12x AI-enhanced zoom

In practice, this is one of my favorite features.

When I’m filming, I can quickly go from a wide establishing shot to a tighter composition without changing cameras or moving halfway across the room.

Now, you’ll notice a small transition when the camera switches from the wide lens to the telephoto lens at 3x. That’s normal because it’s physically changing cameras.

If you’re doing a slow zoom move, I would start on the zoom lens and stay there during the shot.

The Image Quality

Let’s talk image quality because that’s really why most people are interested in this camera.

The Luna Ultra shoots:

8K video
10-bit color
Dolby Vision HDR
Insta360 I-Log

I’ve been shooting most of my footage in I-Log.

If you’ve worked with Log footage before, you already know why.

It gives you more flexibility when color grading because it preserves more detail in both the highlights and shadows.

The footage looks flat straight out of camera, but once you apply a LUT or start grading, you get a lot more room to work.

If you don’t want to do any color grading, don’t worry.

The standard color profiles actually look very good straight out of camera.

And Insta360 included a bunch of Leica-inspired looks that can be applied in-camera if you want a more cinematic look without touching editing software.

The Feature That Changes Everything

Okay, this is the feature that made me say, “Why hasn’t anybody done this before?”

The screen comes off.

Seriously.

You squeeze the sides and the entire touchscreen becomes a wireless remote.

Now I can put the camera somewhere, walk away, and still see exactly what the camera sees.

I can reframe, pan, tilt, zoom.

I can start and stop recording.

I can even monitor battery levels.

As someone who shoots a lot by myself, this is huge.

Normally, you set up a camera, walk back to position, check the framing, walk forward, adjust it, walk back again…

We’ve all done it.

Now I can just stand where I’m going to be and adjust everything from the remote.

It’s one of those features that sounds nice on paper, but after using it, you realize how much time it saves.

The detachable screen has a microphone built into it.

You’re basically carrying a monitor, remote control, and wireless microphone in one device.

That’s smart design.

Tracking That Actually Works

I’ve always liked Insta360’s tracking technology, and it’s very good here.

You can tap a subject or draw a box around it and the camera will track it.

What I really like is you can decide where the subject sits in the frame.

Most tracking systems insist on putting you dead center.

Sometimes that’s exactly what you don’t want.

With the Luna Ultra, you can place yourself higher, lower, left, right, wherever makes sense for the composition.

The camera keeps you there while tracking.

That’s a small thing, but for creators who care about framing, it’s actually a big deal.

Battery Life

One of my frustrations with earlier generations of these cameras was battery life.

Insta360 rates it for up to four hours.

More importantly, it charges incredibly quickly.

You can get to around 80% in roughly 23 minutes.

For me, that’s almost more important than the total runtime.

If I stop for lunch or jump in the car, I can top it up and keep going.

Internal Storage

This is one of those features that sounds boring until the day you need it.

The Luna Ultra includes 47GB of internal storage.

Translation?

If you forget your memory card, you’re still shooting.

I’ve had that happen before.

Trust me, you’ll appreciate this feature when it saves the day.

How Is It for Photography?

Even though most people will buy the Luna Ultra for video, I was pleasantly surprised by how capable it is as a still camera. By default, it shoots 9MP photos, but you can step up to 37MP Ultra RAW when you want maximum detail and editing flexibility. It also shoots DNG RAW files, which means you can bring them into Lightroom or Camera Raw and recover highlights, open up shadows, and make all the adjustments you’d expect from a more serious camera.

One feature I really enjoyed is the panoramic mode. The Luna Ultra can automatically capture and stitch together images up to 200 megapixels right in the camera. Just set it down, hit the shutter, and it does all the work for you.

The gimbal stabilization also makes handheld photography easier, especially in lower light where even a small amount of camera shake can soften an image. Is it going to replace a dedicated mirrorless camera for serious photography? No. But for travel, social media, behind-the-scenes content, landscapes, and everyday shooting, it’s much more capable than I expected and gives you another creative reason to keep it in your bag.

Final Thoughts

After using the Luna Ultra for the past month, I can honestly say this is one of the most interesting cameras I’ve used in a long time.

Yes, the image quality is excellent.

Yes, the zoom is useful.

Yes, the tracking works well.

But those aren’t the things I keep thinking about.

What keeps impressing me is how thoughtfully this camera is designed for people who actually create content.

The detachable screen.

The remote controls.

The built-in microphone.

The tracking options.

The internal storage.

These aren’t gimmicks. They’re features I’ve actually been using.

And that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give it.

The Luna Ultra doesn’t just shoot great video.

It makes shooting easier.

And for creators, that’s often even more important.

‘ve only scratched the surface in this review. If you’d like to see the camera in action, hear the different microphone tests, see sample footage from the various shooting modes, and get a deeper look at the features and settings, be sure to watch my full video review and tutorial below. I walk through everything step-by-step and share plenty of real-world examples so you can decide whether the Luna Ultra is the right camera for you.

Watch the full video review and tutorial below, and let me know in the comments what feature you’d like me to cover in a future Luna Ultra tutorial.

Thanks

Colin