Tag: Insta360 Ace Pro

We had 4 boats at FBYC for the ILCA Spring Regatta on a cool and overcast day. Mike C, Mike M, Todd and myself went out for 5 races alongside a couple Melges 15s. The Flying Scots elected not to sail. Out on the race we had a steady 13-14 knots with some white caps.

In the first race Mike C, Mike M and I all dragged race out to the left. I went a little further left and got some breeze wrapping around Stove Point and almost overstood the mark. I was just ahead of them as we went downwind, but I was able to keep a loose cover on both of them just behind me to finish first.

Race 2 was windy and shifty out of the east at times. The wind had gone a little more left which meant we were a little more sheltered behind Stove Point. I again played the middle left of the course and was able to stay just ahead of Mike C and Mike M.

Race 3 didn’t go as well – I was about to be leading at the top mark, but I missed the cleat after a tack and let the sail out while I was hiking and plunged the boat over me to weather while the other boats sailed by me. I caught up 1 boat to put me in 3rd, but I was never able to catch up to Mike C and Mike M to finish that way.

The 4th race saw a shift to the left, I went down to the pin at the start and almost laid the weather mark with a comfortable lead and finished that way.

For the 5th and final race of the day I knew I had to finish 3rd or better to win first overall. Mike C was ahead as we approached the weather mark and I flubbed the tack allowing Mike M to get by me as well. On the second upwind Mike M would struggle around the weather mark allowing me to sail by him to a 2nd place finish.

All in all it was a really fund day of sailing in a solid breeze and mixing it up with Mike C and Mike M in some close racing. Thanks to the Race Committee for running the race for us and we’ll be back for the Summer Regatta in August.

EVENT WEBSITE | PICTURES | RESULTS | VIDEO

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This weekend the Battle Rhythm crew joined the Race Committee for the Opening Day race. The 3 fleets did a middle distance race out into the Chesapeake Bay and back. The wind was light and took about 3 hours to do the ~15nm. We had a 4-6 knot breeze in the Piankatank the entire time. The boats out in the bay saw much less than that at times and many of them abandoned when the current started taking them faster than the wind.

Being on Race Committee this was a perfect opportunity to get some video of the boats and try out a borrowed 360 camera.

VIDEO | PICTURES | EVENT WEBSITE

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For this sailing season I wanted to add another modern action camera to my arsenal. In reviewing all of the cameras out there – the battery life left some to be desired in the cameras on the market with the best features. While the image quality, usability, mounting, and other features are important to me, none of that really matters if the camera has run out of battery. On a sailboat, oftentimes I can’t easily swap out a battery – either because when we’re on a big boat I’ve got a job to do in the middle of a race and can’t easily get away to get a new battery and swap it into the camera, or on a small boat – I simply don’t have any space to take a spare battery or even keep it dry.

Reviewing all of the specs and reviews online I settled on the Insta360 Ace Pro (buy on Amazon). On paper it got 10 minutes more battery life (100 minutes) compared to the latest GoPro Hero 12 (90 minutes). But the Insta360 Ace Pro hadn’t been on the market very long and none of the reviews really mentioned the battery life other than in passing. I bought the camera and still wanted to settle the question – how long can I expect the battery to last? I had also seen some after-market batteries becoming available and wondered how those compared to the Insta360 batteries.

So I set up some tests for 14 different batteries from 7 different retailers for over 268 hours to answer those questions and I wanted to share my findings.

How Long Does the Insta360 Ace Pro Battery Last?

On average across all of the batteries tested, the camera filmed for 97.7 minutes – just shy of the 100 minutes advertised. In only 29% of the tests did the camera film for more than 100 minutes. The Insta360 batteries average 92.2 minutes and hit the 100 minute mark just 15% of the time. While the other 6 brands of batteries tested average 98.8 minutes and hit 100 minutes 33% of the time.

Which Battery Lasted the Longest?

There were 2 batteries of the 7 brands tested that hit the 100 minute mark significantly more than the other batteries test. While that looks like a big difference on paper, the real difference is only around 4 minutes of film time. The NBZZ and REYTRIC batteries lasted much longer than any of the other batteries tested by 4-6 minutes.

Insta360 Ace Pro % of Battery Tests Over 100 Minutes

Here’s the average runtime for the different brands:

Insta360 Ace Pro Average Battery Duration

And here you can see the individual performance of each of the batteries. Note the range between the minimum and maximum tests along wit the average. The Insta360 batteries are on the far right and far left.

Insta360 Ace Pro Battery Test

The Batteries

  1. REYTRIC Upgraded 2-Pack Batteries with 3-Channel USB Charger
  2. NBZZ 2 Batteries Pack with Dual Fast Charge Hub
  3. Topwowe 2 Packs Batteries with Dual Fast Charge Hub
  4. Insta360 Ace/Ace Pro Battery
  5. Burflo Battery
  6. DONGNI 2 Pack Ace Pro Battery
  7. Rszfnjxry Batteries(2 Pack) with Fast Charge Hub

How did I test?

Using the settings I’d most likely be using for sailing – 4k 30 fps with horizon leveling and HDR on – I set the camera up in my living room to look at my backyard until it ran out of battery. I did this at least 11 times for each battery to get the data. All of the batteries were charged using the same 3-battery charger and the Ace Pro firmware was 1.0.27.

To see my videos created with the Insta360 Ace Pro – check out No Quarter Sailing on YouTube.

If you are interested in the battery life of the Insta360 X4 – check out a similar test I did for that camera.

Disclaimers: I purchased the camera and some of the batteries myself. Other batteries were received through the Amazon Vine Voices Program. As an affiliate in Amazon’s program I may receive a commission for product links.

By Posted on Posted in Life, Photography, Video 4 Comments Tagged with , , ,

I recently got a new action camera to upgrade my capabilities with better features and image quality with the latest tech – the Insta360 Ace Pro. This camera has a lot better audio than what I’ve had in my other cameras. It’s got better video quality and features like HDR and horizon leveling that I’ve never had before in an action camera. So far I’ve used it once at ILCA Midwinters and I’m looking forward to using it more once the sailing season gets underway.

Insta360 Ace Pro with a cage and mounted to an ILCA mast.
Insta360 Ace Pro with a cage and mounted to an ILCA mast.
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Tuesday/Wednesday

We had an easy trip down to Florida splitting it up into two days and arriving Wednesday evening with a stop in South Carolina.

Ready for 4 days of what looks to be light-air sailing in St. Petersburg in a 41-boat ILCA 7 fleet.

Thursday

We don’t have a great prospect for wind in the next couple days, but there was 6-7 knots in the morning so we went out relatively on time. After a short postponement on the water they got the ILCA 7 fleet racing.

I had good start at the boat and made my way middle right. The left ended up paying even better, and I was mid-fleet at the top mark. The next leg was a reach and the wind started to drop a bit. We went downwind and then on the second upwind I went right and made up a few boats. I lost a couple downwind and managed to finish 26th.

The 4.7’s also got a race in and the 6 fleets were all abandoned in their races. We stayed out on the water for another hour and a half and with no wind they sent us in to postpone on short. A nice sea breeze filled around 4, but it was too little too late and racing was called for the day.

Friday

Another day without a great prospect for wind at the 2024 ILCA Midwinters in St. Petersburg. The RC was expecting a sea breeze to fill later in the afternoon so they postponed us on shore for a couple of hours with the plan to tow us 4-5 miles south where we’d likely find a sooner and stronger sea breeze.

We floated around for almost 2 hours with no sign of a sea breeze. Eventually they called it and towed us the 5 miles back in with no racing at all.

Saturday

Saturday was a repeat of Friday but with a little more wind. The RC again postponed us on shore until noon and then towed us to the race area 5 miles south. When we got there, we found enough light air to run a race and all of the fleets were started.

We had a light air race and the wind eased as we were raced. I didn’t have a great start and had a little trouble getting a clear lane, but once I did I stayed in it as long as I could up the middle of the course and rounded in top 15 with a nice gap behind me. I only lost a boat on the downwind and upwind and they shortened the course at the end of the reach to the outer course. Once the U-flags were processed I was given a 14th for the race.

With the wind dead, we stayed out on the course for an hour and a half hoping the sea breeze would fill. It eventually did very late in the day and given that the seven fleet had 2 races already and none of the other fleets did, they all got starts and there wasn’t enough time to sail us and we were sent in.

I got a fast tow in. Jess and I got to see St. Petersburg and went out to dinner on Central Ave.

Sunday

Sunday saw a line of strong storms rolling in during the morning and racing was postponed. It cleared in the afternoon with enough time to sail 2 races in windy conditions. We elected instead to do some tourist stuff in town and get an early start on the ride home.

Thanks to St. Petersburg Yacht Club for hosting the event. Check out the video here.

VIDEO | PHOTOS | RESULTS | EVENT WEBSITE

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