Insta360 X6 lands at $699 with dual 1-inch Sony sensors
We knew this one was coming. The leaks had been everywhere since early July, a Romanian shop accidentally sold retail units weeks early, and Insta360’s own teasers were basically the spec sheet. But Tuesday’s official launch still landed heavier than I expected.
The headline numbers: $699.99 for the Standard Bundle, $769.99 for the Essentials Bundle. Both up $150 from the X5’s launch pricing a year ago. That is the part nobody loves. Every X-series generation since the X3 has stepped up $50. The X6 stepped up three times that. So the question is whether the spec sheet earns it.
In my opinion, mostly yes. Dual custom Sony sensors that Insta360 is marketing as "1-inch equivalent" — that wording is careful, they have not published exact physical dimensions yet, but they are meaningfully bigger than the X5’s dual 1/1.28-inch sensors. 8K at 50fps in 360 mode (up from 8K30). 10-bit color with an I-Log profile in 360 mode, which is a real grading workflow upgrade because the X5 was 8-bit only. The triple-chip AI system got a redesign. The body is shorter, wider, and noticeably more pocketable. Replaceable Lenses 2.0 swaps faster. Battery life is a touch better on the new 2600 mAh "Extra Xtreme" cell.
I wrote the full launch breakdown earlier this week, so if you want the X5-versus-X6 comparison or the Brandon Li side-by-side with the DJI Osmo 360, go read that piece. Short version: if you shoot a lot of 360 and reframe in post, the 8K50 + 10-bit combo earns the upgrade. If the X5 is already handling your workflow, wait for Black Friday pricing.
The thing that nags me is the $150 jump. I asked around in a couple of hybrid-shooter Discords this week and the consensus was about 60/40 against pre-ordering at full price. Most people I trust are waiting to see what DJI does with the rumored Osmo 360 II, which we are now hearing could drop within four to eight weeks of the X6 launch. Smart move. The 360 market is a two-horse race again, and Insta360 just gave DJI a reason to respond aggressively on price.
The Nikon Z70 just showed up on Apple’s ProRes page
This one I did not see coming. Monday night I was scrolling PetaPixel and a headline stopped me cold: "Did Apple Just Spoil an Upcoming Nikon Camera?" Clicked it. There it was — Apple’s official ProRes and ProRes RAW Authorized Products page had briefly listed a Nikon Z70, before somebody noticed and quietly pulled the entry.
Let me explain why this matters more than a typical leak. Apple does not add cameras to that page based on a rumor. They add cameras when the camera is genuinely going to support the codec, and they generally add them right before launch. The Z70 was listed in both the ProRes and the ProRes RAW sections, alongside the Z6 III, Z8, Z9, and the ZR. None of Nikon’s existing APS-C bodies have any flavor of ProRes, let alone ProRes RAW. So this is not "Nikon is working on something." This is "Nikon has been working with Apple on codec integration for months and a partner-portal update got pushed too early."
What that implies is the camera is real, it is finished, and it is close. Most rumors are pointing at September or early October. Asobinet in Japan spotted it first, PetaPixel confirmed it before the page was pulled, Nikon Rumors covered it, and Matt Irwin made a YouTube video I have now watched twice. If the camera launches where I think it launches — somewhere between $1,800 and $2,200, body only — this is Nikon’s answer to the Canon R7 II and the rumored Sony A7000. A real APS-C flagship. The first since the D500 in 2016.
I shot with a D500 for three years. It was a beast. The fact that Nikon has not shipped a true successor in nearly a decade is one of the weirdest gaps in their lineup. If the Z70 lands in October with a 33MP stacked sensor, EXPEED 7, dual card slots, and ProRes RAW internal, it is going to be a very serious camera. And if you are a working hybrid shooter who already owns a Z6 III or Z8, this becomes the obvious B-cam. Or, honestly, the A-cam if you do not need full-frame.
The Canon R7 II rumors are pointing at September too. We might be looking at the most competitive APS-C flagship fall in years.
The FCC wants to retroactively ban DJI drones people already own
This one made me actually angry, which does not happen often with regulatory news. DroneDJ and TechRadar both reported on Wednesday that the FCC is taking public comments until September 2 on whether to retroactively pull FCC authorization from a list of already-approved foreign-made drones. The list apparently includes DJI models already on shelves: the Mini 5 Pro, the Air 3S, the Avata 360, and basically anything with LiDAR obstacle avoidance or thermal imaging.
Important nuance: your existing drone keeps working. They are not showing up at your door. You can still fly it, still get firmware updates, still use DJI Fly. But if approved, you will not be able to buy a new Mini 5 Pro or Air 3S in the US after September 2. The secondhand market survives. The new-purchase channel does not.
Why am I writing about this on a photo blog? Because a lot of you reading this shoot hybrid content. You mount a DJI gimbal, you grab some b-roll for the same YouTube video where your A7 IV is doing interviews. Half the wedding shooters I know in the US have at least one DJI product in their kit. If this rule lands, the conversation stops being "should I buy the Mini 5 Pro" and becomes "what do I buy instead, and at what price."
thenewcamera.com also flagged this week that DJI has confirmed a price hike on the Mini 4 Pro and Neo 2 in the US — separate but related. Between the price hike and the FCC action, the DJI drone market in the US is in a weird spot right now. Public comments close September 2. Three weeks from now. If you shoot anything with a drone and you have an opinion, worth ten minutes of your time.
Sony quietly slips the FX5 Cinema Line ship date
Brief one. The Sony FX5 was scheduled to start shipping August 18. Canon Rumors reported on Thursday that Sony has pushed that back to "at least early September." No specific date. No reason given beyond the usual "we want to make sure first shipments are right" line.
Not a scandal, just a slip. But I had a buddy in a corporate video shop message me about it on Thursday morning and he was not thrilled. If you had a production starting next week and were counting on the FX5, push your schedule a week. That is all.
A few smaller things worth noting
• Fujifilm X-T6 rumors are pointing at September 3. Fujifilm has been quiet all summer and this would be the first X-T line refresh since the X-T5 in late 2022. Details are thin but the talk is 40MP X-Trans sensor, X-Processor 5, and a body that keeps the classic SLR-style form factor. If true, this lands the same week as the rumored Canon R7 II and Nikon Z70. Three flagship announcements in one week. Photographers eating well.
• OM Digital is teasing a new OM model for September. OM System has been quiet since the OM-3 launch. Hope it is not a lukewarm update — the OM-3 was excellent but the lineup needs a real flagship to anchor it.
• Ricoh / Pentax K-3 III Mark IV is still on track. The 61MP back-side illuminated DSLR with IBIS that the Pentax team has been teasing for over a year. Pentax is the last holdout on DSLRs and they are committed. Love it or hate it, somebody has to keep that flag flying.
• Brandon Li’s full X6 review dropped. Real-world 8K50 and 10-bit I-Log footage. His conclusion: meaningfully better than the DJI Osmo 360 in side-by-side testing, with the caveat that DJI will likely respond within two months. Worth a watch.
• DJI Osmo 360 II USA availability update posted on thenewcamera.com. No specific date yet but DJI is "preparing stock" for a US launch. The 360 market is heating up fast.
What I am watching into next week
Three things, in order of how much I care:
1. Fujifilm X-T6 announcement. September 3 is a date I have circled. If Fujifilm drops the X-T6 with the rumored specs, the APS-C flagship race gets very real very fast. Canon R7 II and Nikon Z70 both have to follow.
2. FCC public comment outcome. September 2 is the deadline. If the FCC sides with the drone industry, status quo. If they pull authorization, US drone pricing and availability gets ugly fast.
3. DJI’s response to the X6. Osmo 360 II timing is the wildcard. If it lands before CP+, the holiday shopping season is a real battle.
That is the week. Three major product stories, one regulatory mess that affects how a bunch of us shoot, and a Sony slip that reminded everyone that even Sony’s launch logistics are not bulletproof. Not a boring August after all.
I will be back Monday with a fresh fixed-category piece. Until then, if you have an opinion on the FCC DJI thing, the comment window is open. And if you are a Nikon shooter, start pricing Z-glass.
— Leo