On my recent trip to Maldives, I shot a simple Starlapse with Insta360 Camera. Specifically it was with the Insta360 Go 3S that I had brought along for the trip. I also shot a simple sunset time lapse with the same camera.
I keep using the word “simple” as that is how I did it. No knowledge of advanced photography skills. Just set and shoot. And go to sleep. And pray it turns out well. Ha.
It did to me. I am happy with the results. It helps that I have a clear view of the sky from the villa I am staying in Maldives at Sirru Fen Fushi – Private Lagoon Resort.
Starlapse with Insta360 Camera
Here is my one and only Starlapse video taken with the Insta360 camera.
How to shoot a Starlapse Video with Insta360 Go 3S
I did the following steps.
(1) Set up a tripod with the Insta360 Go 3S camera. Make sure the tripod is stable. Maybe place some weight on it. I used dive flippers to secure. Very useful 🙂
(2) Connect a good power bank to the camera. I used the old Challenger Valore power bank. At the end of the shoot overnight from 11pm to 6am, there was still 60% power left !
(3) Use an app called “PhotoPills” to check the sky. To be honest, I am not sure how to do it. I just choose the function (aka pill) called Night AR and point at the sky.
Apparently the whole mess in this AR photo is where the Milky Way is. By the way, the girl in the AR photo is not a ghost. It is a human. HA.
So I pointed the Insta360 camera at that area of the sky. Looks like it is between Southwest and South. Make sense.
If you don’t want to use or buy the app, according to what I read, if you are in the northern part of earth, point at the north. If you are at the south (eg Maldives) then point at the south. Er. Singapore is in the middle, point where huh 😉
(4) Prepare your environment as much as you can. For example, in my villa, I switched off all the lights in the swimming pool, the sitting area and even the villa itself (switch off all the lights inside the villa.. anyway you are sleeping).
(5) Select the Starlapse video function in the Insta360 Go 3S camera and go to bed 😉
(6) Wake up in the morning and check the results in the Insta360 app. You can only make the “Starlapse” video using the app. I guess, based on my limited knowledge, the camera took a series of very light sensitive photos over the whole night to track the stars movements. You then connect the camera to the Insta360 app and then transfer the files over for the app to snitch it together. Pretty sure you can use other apps to do something similar on a more advanced level.
Time Lapse for Sunset at Maldives
I also used the Insta360 Go 3S to shoot a time lapse of the sunset at the Maldives. It was just setting up on the tripod, press one button and let it take the shot for one hour.
The result is pretty nice too.
