![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings.webp]] # Insta360 X5: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide & Best Settings [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8odW0CICT2s) · MountMedia · 2025-05-09 · 35:13. Written from YouTube's English captions and the creator's chapters. ## Outline - **0:00 – Intro.** The tutorial is split into 20 named parts matching the X5's main features so viewers can jump back to them, and it ends with a lens-cover replacement demo. - **0:29 – How to protect the lenses.** Like every 360 camera, the X5 has two sensors and two protruding fisheye lenses. Options: the pouch in the standard box, a rubber lens cap (sold separately depending on bundle), or screw-on lens guards (notch down and to the right, turn left). Werner uses the lens cap a lot but dislikes the guards because they can cause lens flares. A lens replacement kit exists if a lens gets damaged. - **1:42 – Body, ports & buttons.** A battery door on the left and a small side door at bottom right hide a USB-C port for charging and accessories such as the mic adapter or Quick Reader; the door pulls off for the mic adapter. Both doors are only sealed (waterproof) when no orange is visible. The SD slot sits behind the battery; use a fast card rated at least UHS-I and V30, label facing inward, battery arrow pointing up. Four buttons: power (on/off/standby) and Quick button (presets) on the side, shutter (front left) and menu (front right, toggles video/photo by default); both Quick and menu buttons can be reassigned. ![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings-t0150.webp]] - **3:31 – Mount & invisible selfie stick.** A 1/4-inch thread on the bottom takes mounts. The best mount is a selfie stick, which is erased from 360 shots automatically; he suggests Insta360's 114 cm stick to start. The stick must be mounted straight in line with the camera; a bent stick held like an action cam won't disappear. - **4:33 – The Insta360 app.** The camera must be activated through the app on first power-on. The app also installs firmware (install updates immediately, since they add features as well as fix bugs), gives full remote control, holds the album for viewing and editing, and offers effects and multi-clip editing. - **5:48 – How to operate the camera.** Power button wakes from standby. Swipe down for settings, from the left for recordings (view, mark, delete, transfer straight to the phone), up for resolution and frame rate, and from the right for advanced settings. The bottom-right icon switches which lens is previewed, the preview can be dragged, and the bottom-left camera icon picks the shooting mode. - **6:50 – 360 mode vs single-lens mode.** 360 mode stitches both lenses into a 360 image that can be exported as-is but is usually reframed into a flat clip, which is a big advantage but always requires editing in the phone app or Insta360 Studio. Single-lens mode works like a normal action camera: pick the right lens first, frame while shooting, no invisible selfie stick and no reframing, but the clip is ready to use. In 360 mode, hold the stick so the result doesn't look strange once the stick vanishes. ![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings-t0700.webp]] - **8:57 – The shooting modes explained.** Standard video; photo; interval (e.g. a photo every 5 seconds for 3 minutes, usable as a timelapse); burst (e.g. 15 photos per second for fast action); Starlapse for the night sky; Road mode as a dash cam with a looping storage allocation (e.g. 40 GB); and loop recording, which loops by time (e.g. 10 minutes) instead. - **10:18 – Bullet time, timelapse & timeshift.** Bullet time needs a mount you can spin overhead, such as Insta360's new selfie stick with a bullet-time function. Timelapse needs the camera still on a tripod and benefits from reframing in post; Timeshift is a moving hyperlapse that the camera stabilizes, best done moving steadily in straight lines. - **11:16 – The PureVideo mode explained.** PureVideo and standard video are both 360 video modes; PureVideo is optimized for low light, which includes indoor scenes under artificial light, and gives clearly better results there. Standard video has a few more settings but otherwise they barely differ. - **11:58 – The InstaFrame mode explained.** InstaFrame records both a 360 clip and a ready-made flat clip. Selfie view keeps the subject centered; custom view lets you set framing by finger, with bottom, top, front and rear presets and a field-of-view setting. Two icons trigger a horizontal 360 spin or a barrel roll mid-recording. The flat clip can be horizontal or vertical up to 1080p, with the 360 clip at up to 5.7K+ 30 fps. For best quality, use standard video mode instead. ![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings-t1215.webp]] - **14:02 – The best settings on the X5.** 360 mode tops out at 8K (two 4K images merged), and because reframing crops heavily, he recommends the highest resolution. 8K drains the battery faster, risks overheating when warm and still, and fills cards faster. 5.7K is enough for social media and phone viewing; 5.7K+ sits between the two in quality with noticeably smaller files than 8K. 8K offers 24, 25 (PAL regions) or 30 fps; he recommends 30 fps for most action-camera users. 50/60 fps (only at 5.7K) looks smoother and allows 40–50% slow motion, and 5.7K also unlocks HDR, which protects highlights and shadows but is off in 5.7K+ and 8K. 4K at 120 fps gives slow motion at much reduced quality. He shoots almost always at 8K 30. ![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings-t1430.webp]] - **18:01 – The best capture settings.** He leaves exposure on auto. Color profiles: Standard (natural and contrasty, his usual choice), Vivid (more saturation for social media), and Flat for grading; I-Log is an even flatter profile but only at 5.7K, with downloadable LUTs from Insta360. Use EV compensation (e.g. -0.3) to avoid blown highlights, which can't be recovered. White balance stays on auto. Jitter blur reduction helps in low light, though PureVideo is preferable; balanced exposure can stay automatic. - **20:11 – How to create a preset.** Press the Quick button, tap plus, name the preset (e.g. "customize"); it captures all current settings, can be edited, and saves with the check mark. The Quick button then switches between presets. - **20:57 – The recording interface.** Press the shutter only briefly to start (holding too long won't start it). The flag icon marks highlights, which make moments easy to find and feed the app's AI auto-edit. A short press stops; press and hold while recording to stop and delete a failed clip at once. - **21:51 – How to reframe a shot in the smartphone app.** Open the clip from Album, choose the output format (9:16, 16:9, 1:1 or 2.35:1), and drag to frame. Custom offers Selfie (auto-centers the subject after a quick analysis) and Forward. Extras: zoom/field of view, trim, Dewarp (he leaves it off since it stretches subjects), and Dolby Vision export for brighter highlights on supported phones. Keyframes give more control, interpolating framing between points; Record lets you reframe live by finger or by moving the phone; tracking follows a subject; AI Frame picks framing automatically with an alternative offered; the editor joins clips and AI Edit builds a video with music. Export lets you set resolution, frame rate and bitrate. He suggests beginners start with Selfie or Record. ![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings-t2305.webp]] - **25:39 – The special features of the Studio app.** Transfer files by SD card or USB-C (choose file transfer, webcam mode or reverse charging on the camera). Insta360 Studio has a Media tab for reframing single clips and a Project tab with timeline editing, transitions, music and titles, mouse-driven framing and tracking. Two Studio-only features: eased transitions between keyframes (he likes fade in/fade out) and ProRes export for the best quality, with very large files. - **27:10 – The best settings in single-lens mode.** Use the top resolution, 4K. Format and field of view must be set before shooting unless you use FreeFrame video, which then needs the app (he rarely uses it). Choose 16:9 or 9:16. FOV options: MegaView (default, very wide with reduced distortion), Dewarp or Linear for vlogging with less distortion and slight crop, and Action View, wider vertically with more distortion, for chest or helmet POV. - **28:37 – The Me mode explained.** A single-lens mode used like a 360 camera: stick mounted straight, the camera finds the subject, outputs a flat clip and removes the stick, like InstaFrame's flat clip but up to 4K 30. Above 2.7K 30 the clip is only stabilized in the app, so it must be exported there; at 2.7K 30 or below it's usable straight away. Format and FOV are set before recording. Great for vertical social clips and vlogging. - **30:05 – Extra features of the camera.** In the swipe-down menu: AI Highlights Assistant marks highlights in real time (power-hungry, so turn it off if unused); gesture control (hand movement to start/stop, a peace sign for a photo) and voice commands ("start recording", "stop recording", "take a photo", "shut down camera"); Twist to Shoot (twist the stick twice); Endurance mode for up to 3 hours at 5.7K 30 (not in 8K); Quick Capture to start recording from off with the shutter, which he'd definitely enable; Timed Capture to schedule recordings such as a sunrise timelapse; Bluetooth headphones like AirPods as a mic (modest quality) and remotes like the GPS Preview Remote or the new Mini Remote; Garmin or Apple Watch GPS data; and audio modes using the new wind guard to favor wind reduction or voice. In the main settings, set bitrate to High and video sharpness to Medium at most (Low looks soft and needs sharpening in post). - **33:54 – How to replace the lens cover of the X5.** With the kit: align the lens grip tool's orange dot with the white dot under the lens, turn it two full turns counterclockwise to remove the ring, lift the cover with the removal tool, clean with blower, brush, wipe and cloth, fit the new cover with the suction cup, screw the ring back, remove the cup. The affiliate link included a free lens replacement kit for a limited time; he points to his X5 mounts and accessories video. ![[images/Insta360 X5 The Ultimate Beginners Guide and Best Settings-t3410.webp]] ## Things mentioned ### Cameras - **Insta360 X5**: 360 camera with two sensors and fisheye lenses, up to 8K 30 in 360, 4K in single-lens mode, user-replaceable lens covers, new wind guard ### Accessories - Rubber lens cap and screw-on lens guards (not in the standard box) - Insta360 X5 lens replacement kit (grip tool, removal tool, blower, brush, wipes, cloth, suction cup) - Microphone adapter and Quick Reader (USB-C) - Fast microSD card, at least UHS-I V30 (Insta360-branded card shown) - Insta360 114 cm invisible selfie stick; new selfie stick with bullet-time function - GPS Preview Remote (touch display) and the new Mini Remote - Bluetooth headphones such as AirPods as a mic; Garmin and Apple Watch for GPS data ### Software and features - Insta360 app: activation, firmware updates, remote control, album, reframing (Selfie, Forward, keyframes, Record, tracking, AI Frame), Dewarp, Dolby Vision, editor and AI Edit - Insta360 Studio desktop app: Media and Project tabs, keyframe easing, ProRes export - Shooting modes: Video, PureVideo, InstaFrame, Me mode, Photo, Interval, Burst, Starlapse, Road mode, Loop recording, Bullet Time, Timelapse, Timeshift, FreeFrame video - Settings: 8K / 5.7K+ / 5.7K / 4K 120, HDR, Standard / Vivid / Flat / I-Log color, EV, white balance, jitter blur reduction, bitrate High, sharpness Medium - Camera features: presets via Quick button, highlight flags, AI Highlights Assistant, gesture and voice control, Twist to Shoot, Endurance mode, Quick Capture, Timed Capture, wind-reduction and voice audio modes, webcam mode, reverse charging ### Purchase options - Insta360 X5 (15% off plus free MicAir, per the description; the video mentions a free lens replacement kit for a limited time): https://bit.ly/MountMedia-Insta360X5 - Insta360 X5 accessories: https://store.insta360.com/accessory?utm_term=INRNHMF - Related video, the best accessories for the X5: https://youtu.be/bL3ZqBEG8d4 - Music: Audiio (promo code SAVE70 for 70% off) ## Bios - **Werner Plank** runs MountMedia, a YouTube channel of camera tests, comparisons and tutorials focused on 360 and action cameras. He narrates and demonstrates this full X5 tutorial. - **Insta360** is the maker of the X5 and of the Insta360 app and Insta360 Studio software covered here.