Action Cam's? yay or nay?

Do you use one? Should you use one? 

I stopped using Action Cam's a couple of years ago, the main reason being that I felt it was detracting from my rides. Instead of just pulling the pin and going out, it was a case of making sure the batteries were charged, there was enough room on the memory card, etc. Also I found I tended to pre-plan routes to capture what I thought would be the best footage. Prior planning is not why I ride! Aside from a few local routes here in the U.K. that I use to escape I generally like to 'go get lost'. 

I have captured some amazing footage here in the U.K. and on the continent whilst travelling around using various models of the GoPro. A great tool and quite simple to use once practiced in the art. As with all technology though new models are inbound every 6 months, battery life decreases with constant use and it just gets a bit frustrating when you look back through hours of footage to find minimal gems due to the position failing, or getting hit by a pigeon!When I am overseas, I tend to escape the consistent stresses by locking myself in the cabin and replaying past footage (I love bikes), this generally calms me down and cheers me up, so with only old footage to view I am starting to miss re-visiting new stuff, I've done some great trips this year for instance but only have stills. Admittedly I do occasionally do video edits and play around with reels for  RideandRest but in all honesty my video/image captures are my own journey, my own happy diary of things I've done. 

With a few things scheduled over the next few weeks I thought I would mix it up bit and join the 360 crowd and capture some fresh new data. I am hoping this new tech will alleviate the problem with positioning a bit? so, I've gone and got me one of these here badgers - Insta360-x3. It's expensive, its shiny and it's new so it is officially a #gizzet! First impressions are good, (the packaging is very worthy of an apple product. The touch screen seems great, need to test more with sweaty digits on the MTB or gloved hands on the moto. The app and editing suite looks good so far, although far more complicated than GoPro suite. Inevitable though as you can get many more effects and viewpoints from this 360.

Tomorrow being Thursday, I'm going out for a play on the Orbea Alma maybe a 15-20 mile loop, I will be taking the Insta360 to put it through its paces. More to follow on this over the next couple of days. 

Lets go #ride