Better than Fuji? A Pocketable Leica for Street Photography
This is not your typical street photography camera.
It’s an 8k action camera with a Leica lens.
This is the Insta360 Ace Pro 2.
Compact, waterproof, and durable, it’s built for sports and adventure.
But with the Xplorer grip, it turns into a nimble stealthy street photography hybrid.
Today we’re going to take a look at this camera and see how it stacks to mirrorless cameras like Fujifilm, particularly for street photography.
Let’s begin.
A Beast on Paper
When I first saw this camera I had my doubts.
I’ve used many action cameras in the past, but rarely ever used the photo feature.
This is because photos with action cameras, although of decent quality, are a bit difficult to take and not the most fun to shoot with.
Especially when compared to larger mirrorless cameras intentionally built for photography, there’s no comparison.
So when I first saw the Ace Pro 2, I thought it’d be just another gimmick.
That was until I saw the Xplorer Grip.
The Xplorer Grip is an attachment for the Ace Pro 2 that turns it into an actual photography camera.
It slides in and plugs into the USB-C on the side, giving the grip all electronic functions.
The grip itself makes it easier to hold and wield the camera and it actually has a shutter button - which I think makes a big difference for photography.
Furthermore, unlike other action cameras, the Ace Pro 2 has a Leica lens.
It sports a 13mm f2.6 Super Summarit lens on a 50MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS Sensor.
50 MP is a lot - that’s more than the Fujifilm x100vi.
Now whether this Leica lens is any good, we’ll have to see.
We’ve seen Leica toss their name onto other cameras before with mixed results.
Many photographers would consider the “true Leica lenses” to be for the M-mount - and everything else is subpar.
But having it in the first place on an action camera is pretty cool.
Leica has a deep reputation in the field so it may make the Ace Pro 2 more appealing to photographers.
Along with the Leica Lens comes many “Leica profiles”.
You get a variety of looks like Leica Natural, Leica Vivid, Leica Eternal, Leica Monochrome, and more other filmish profiles.
They can be easily rotated through via the manual dial on the Xplorer Grip.
These seem interesting and I’m curious to see how they stack up to Fuji’s film simulations.
Some more notable features are the battery of the Xplorer Grip Pro.
The Pro version doesn’t just attach to the camera, but charges it as well, which can come in handy on the field.
The screen of the Ace Pro 2 also flips up fully, making it usable for selfies, recording yourself, or waist level street photography shots.
The body itself is waterproof up to 12m, but only splashproof with the Xplorer grip as the USB-C connection exposes it a bit.
Although just looking at it, I feel like it can handle some rain and water without anything getting in.
The combination of size, portability, specs, and weather sealing makes the Ace Pro 2 a plausible option for street photography.
But we still have to test it out, because if it doesn’t hold up in the field, none of it matters.
So let’s do that.
Street Photography w/the Ace Pro 2
Although great on paper, we still need to test out the Ace Pro 2 to see how it performs in the real world.
I took it with me on a couple of photo sessions to see how it performed practically.
And when I did, I checked a few main things:
shutter lag
image quality
focal length
handling
Let’s break each of these down.
Shutter Lag
Shutter lag is a common problem when taking photos with an action camera, one I was hoping wouldn’t exist on the Ace Pro 2.
But to my disappointment, the Ace Pro 2 still exhibits shutter lag.
What is shutter lag?
Shutter lag is the pause or difference between when you press the shutter and when the camera takes/processes the image.
Most modern mirrorless or DSLRs have very minimal shutter lag.
Meaning the moment you press the shutter is the moment the picture gets taken.
What you see is what you get.
Obviously shutter speed can influence this, but we’re talking about processing speed and delay here.
Most actual cameras have minimal shutter lag, so if we want to test the Ace Pro 2 for street photography, we have to hold it to that standard.
Now action cameras are notorious for having a high shutter lag, which makes photography sort of a side feature.
It’s something you’d use to take a family portrait when everyone’s holding still and you can take a 1 second photo.
This is almost a deal breaker for street photography.
Why?
Because if taking a photo on the Ace Pro 2 means taking a photo a second later, your timing gets all out of wack.
And trying to capture candid moments, which is what street photography is, becomes that much harder than it needs to be.
Shutter lag was the first problem I noticed when I took this camera out.
I was photographing a local car meet, trying to capture both cars and people.
And when I scrolled back to check the photos, a bunch of them looked nothing like what I expected them to.
Missed frames, blurry images, and late pictures resulted in a lot of bad photos.
This is because when I pressed the photo I moved before the camera was done “taking the picture”.
Some might say this is user error, but that’s what I’m used to on Fuji cameras, which have minimal shutter lag.
So taking photos with the Ace Pro 2 requires an extra second or two of holding the camera in place.
While it might not seem like such a big deal on the surface, shutter lag can make the difference between getting the shot and not.
It doesn’t mean you can’t get good photos, but it’s harder than it needs to be.
It’s unpreferred for photography and I’m sad to say it still exists on the Ace Pro 2 even with the Xplorer Grip.
Image Quality
When it came to image quality, there were three main things I was curious about:
The Leica lens, the Leica filters, and the general quality of the images.
The general quality being determined by the combination of megapixels, sensor size, and focal length (which we’ll talk about in a bit).
To be honest, the image quality is decent, but nothing to write home about.
50MP and 1/1.3-inch sensor sounds solid on paper but honestly doesn’t look that different from a smartphone image.
The camera does shoot RAWs, which is a good thing, but I shot mainly in their “PureShot” format, which supposedly gives enhanced dynamic range, noise reduction, and vibrant colors.
And even with the PureShot format, image quality wasn’t anything crazy.
Resolution is good but sharpness is just okay when zoomed in.
So despite having a “Leica Lens”, the Ace Pro 2 is definitely not as good as it’s true Leica counterparts.
Maybe because it’s a third party outsourcing of the name or maybe it’s because of the limiting constraints of an action camera - I don’t know.
As for the Leica filters, I thought they were neat.
The Ace Pro 2 has many “Leica profiles”, similar to the Film Simulations Fuji has.
I shot mostly in a variety of Leica Natural and Leica Eternal.
And although I wouldn’t say they’re as good as Fuji’s, I didn’t find anything displeasing about the overall look.
They definitely make photography with an action camera more fun than not having them.
Focal Length
The focal length of the Ace Pro 2 is honestly not ideal.
The camera sports a 13mm f2.6 lens.
This is a great field of view for sports and action video, but is quite niche for street photography.
Because for all intents and purposes, it’s too wide for most scenarios.
Similarly, the stretched look you’d get from wide angle shots are apparent here.
Well made wide angle lenses can compensate for this but that’s too high of a bar for a camera like the Ace Pro 2.
The problem with this focal length it that you need to get really really close to get workable images.
The camera does have a 2x zoom, which is helpful, but still not great.
The focal length is still quite wide and it makes it tough to distinguish the look from a smartphone.
Now the wide angle did perform well in architecture type shots where there’s enough stuff and perspective to fill the frame.
There is a little bit of bending, but photos look better when the focal length is in the right environment.
So if you’re in these situations often, the Ace Pro 2 can be a good option.
Handling
Despite all my criticisms, there is one thing the Ace Pro 2 gets right - and that’s handling.
With the Xplorer Grip, this action camera feels like a real camera.
It’s easy to turn, swivel, and position.
The grip is solid, feels well made, and works well.
The shutter button is a great addition and a must have for photography.
The fully flipping tilt screen makes it easy to take waist level shots.
And because it’s an action camera, it’s small, light, portable, and discreet for street photography.
So despite the previously mentioned shortcomings of the Ace Pro 2, the Xplorer Grip does a great job at making this action camera feel like a real camera.
One improvement that could make the handling better is the On/Off button.
For action camera purposes, it’s fine, but for photography it’s difficult to reach and press every time you want to turn the camera on and take a picture.
Start up time is slow and most moments will be gone before the camera is on.
This means leaving the camera on during the entirety of the photo session, which will kill your battery.
If the power button could be customized to a different dial like the zoom dial under the shutter, that would be neat.
But otherwise, this is what we’re stuck with.
How Does it Stack Up to Fujifilm?
If I’m being honest, I had a lot of hopes for the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 with the Xplorer Grip Combo.
It seemed like a great move in the right direction: giving an action camera a grip that allowed it to be used for other genres of photography.
And it still could bridge the gap and bring a lot of people into the photography world.
But if I were to put my honest foot down and compare the Ace Pro 2 to an X-Mount Fujifilm camera like the x100 series or the X-T series, I’d say there’s no comparison.
The Ace Pro 2 feels like an action camera trying to be a mirrorless camera and doing so only partially.
The greatest strengths of the Ace Pro 2 are it’s portability, size, weight, maneuverability, and durability.
But besides that, it loses in nearly every category from practicality to image quality.
The Leica color profiles, while interesting, still have a generic filter look to it.
The slightly bigger sensor gives it a leg up from most smartphones, and it’s compensated for with a high 50 MP, but still won’t beat a M43s, APS-C, or full frame sensor.
If it had at least a 1-inch sensor like the Osmo Pocket 3, it’d be much more compelling.
The focal length is both challenging and limiting, and works better for action camera videography.
And the shutter lag was a big problem with action camera photography that I hoped wouldn’t exist with the Ace Pro 2, but unfortunately, it still does - and that’s probably the biggest deal breaker for me.
So even when considering my bias towards Fujifilm, and giving the Ace Pro 2 some credit for what it’s trying to do, I can’t honestly say it’s a great alternative.
I just think street photography would be much easier with a different camera.
Because ideally, you want a tool that helps your process, not slows it down.
Now I do applaud Insta360 for making this move.
I think it’s the first step in the right direction and when improved upon could make action cameras like the Ace Pro 2 legitimate options for photography.
But that’s going to come in later generations, when this camera and the Xplorer grip gets better.
Currently, the Ace Pro 2 is an action camera first, photography camera second or third.
If photography isn’t a main priority, but something you want to dabble in without having to buy another camera, the Ace Pro 2 might be a good option.
That’s where I can safely recommend this camera - otherwise, photographers should stick to whatever mirrorless they’ve got.
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