Is the Insta360 mirrorless camera hoax doing the rounds online actually true?
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Credit: @masaru1088
A YouTuber has circulated a video which purports to include two different designs of Insta360 interchangeable lens cameras, suggesting they will be launched in 5 months at the CP+ show at the end of February 2027.
There have been rumors about at least one interchangeable camera from Insta360 – and a lot of speculation about using the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system – for a while. Indeed Jingkang JK Liu has posted images in the past that hint at it. So what is wrong with this video?
I'm certainly not saying that it doesn't make sense for the company to be working on either of these products.
But the lens ring in the first camera looks exactly like the Sony E-mount – same number of pogo pins, same everything.
The camera frame itself looks a lot like what an AI might create if it was "inspired" by one of Sony's mirrorless bodies and the Canon EOS M6 Mark II .
It doesn't look exactly like either, but it certainly doesn't have any unique style, which I'd definitely expect of Insta360, speaking as someone who has reviewed a lot of the company's products.
The proportions don't feel right to me, let alone the icons and button arrangement. Not just AI, but bad AI! | Credit: Masaru1088
I've also personally spoken to Max Richter , co-founder of Insta360, who carefully avoided denying that the company was working on an interchangeable-lens camera (though he said the company's partner in ventures like the Luna Ultra , Leica, need not be concerned).
Perhaps the biggest give away is the way the text around the lens rim moves in the video. | Credit: Masaru1088
The second camera that the same creator has generated seems even less convincing.
It is very obviously a white Ace Pro 2 but with a MFT lens mount that, well, probably wouldn't fit the Ace Pro 2.
The reason that Insta360 might be creating a camera for this section of the market is clear, of course.
With GoPro finally reclaiming some places on the best action cameras list and generating excitement with their own Mission Pro ILS , there is a need to keep up.
But the Mission Pro ILS doesn't exactly fit as simply as the generated image. The lens mount protrudes from the side of the camera body on one side, and sticks in front of the monitor on the other, blocking the view.
Some have gone so far as to suggest that GoPro designed the camera – which isn't waterproof because it uses the MFT mount – just to create conversation rather than for any practical purpose.
Insta360 could either solve these problems with an all-new mount design, or a significantly different camera physically, but the simulation seems pretty dubious to my eye.
