Mikhail here from Drone Supremacy. In this video, I’m going over the settings I change on the Insta360 Luna Ultra if I want the footage to look as cinematic as possible. None of this is especially complicated, but a few small changes make a very noticeable difference.
Before I even get into the menus, I like to keep a few things with the camera at all times: the carrying case, the wide-angle lens for vlogging, ND filters, and the battery extension with the built-in tripod legs. That kit keeps the camera protected, gives me a more usable field of view for handheld pieces to camera, and makes it much easier to set the Luna Ultra down for time lapses or locked-off shots.
Start With 4K, Not 8K
For most of my everyday shooting, I stay in 4K at 30 frames per second. I’ve tested 8K at 30 fps, and in practical use I just don’t see enough of a difference to make it worth the extra overhead most of the time.
If I’m shooting B-roll, I switch to 4K at 60 fps. If I know I’m filming something more dynamic and I want the option to slow it down in post, I go to 4K at 120 fps. That gives me a simple baseline:
- 4K/30 for standard footage
- 4K/60 for B-roll
- 4K/120 for action or heavier slow motion
Switch To I-Log Before Touching Exposure
If you want the best-looking footage out of the Luna Ultra, I strongly recommend shooting in I-Log. It gives you the flattest image profile available on the camera and leaves you with much more room to grade the footage later.
That does mean you need to spend at least a little time dialing things in. But if the goal is balanced, cinematic-looking footage with better color control, I-Log is where I start before I adjust anything else.
Lock ISO At 800 And Stop Letting The Camera Guess
Exposure is the most important part of the setup. Once I’m in Pro mode, I go straight to manual exposure and lock the ISO at 800, which is the Luna Ultra’s base ISO for I-Log.
That might sound high, but this is where the camera performs best in this profile. What I try not to do is let the camera float in auto ISO. In my experience, that’s where the footage starts looking plasticky and less professional than what the camera is actually capable of producing.
For shutter speed, I follow the usual rule:
- 1/60 when shooting 30 fps
- 1/120 when shooting 60 fps
- 1/240 when shooting 120 fps
Once you lock the shutter and ISO, the image will usually be too bright outdoors, which is exactly why ND filters matter so much here.
Use ND Filters To Control Light, Not Auto Settings
I usually keep an ND32 on the camera and carry an ND64 in the case, because most of my shooting happens outdoors in bright light. Those filters let me stay in manual exposure and keep the settings where I want them instead of handing control back to the camera.
I also prefer to expose log footage a little brighter than normal and then bring it back down in post. That helps retain more usable information in the image and gives me cleaner-looking results once the footage is graded.
White balance is the other setting I don’t like leaving to chance. On a bright day, I’m usually around 5600K and then adjust from there depending on the light.
Set Bitrate To High
This is one of the simplest changes you can make, and it matters. I always go into the menu and make sure video bitrate is set to High.
A lot of cameras default to a more standard bitrate, and that can leave footage looking softer or a little mushier than it should. If someone is wondering why their clips don’t look as polished as footage from the same camera on another channel, bitrate is one of the first things I’d check.
At Night, Switch To Pure Video
Low light is a different workflow entirely. For that, I use Pure Video mode instead of I-Log.
That’s where the Luna Ultra does a really good job internally. The camera applies noise reduction in a way that still looks natural, so night footage can come out looking very strong without a heavy grade. If I want to stylize it a bit more, I’ll make small color adjustments later, but most of the hard work is already being handled in-camera.
Don’t Ignore Firmware Updates
The last thing I do regularly is check firmware. Insta360 has been pretty active about fixing bugs, smoothing out annoyances, and adding features, so I make a point of connecting the Luna Ultra to the Insta360 app every couple of weeks just to make sure I’m on the latest version.
That’s especially worth doing on a camera like this, because small firmware refinements can have a real impact on day-to-day usability.
My Short Version Of The Best Setup
If I had to boil all of this down to a quick preset, it would be this:
- shoot in 4K unless you have a specific reason to use 8K
- use I-Log for daytime work you plan to grade
- lock ISO at 800 in manual exposure
- match shutter speed to frame rate
- rely on ND filters instead of auto exposure
- set bitrate to High
- use Pure Video for night shooting
- keep firmware current
None of that is flashy, but it’s the combination that gives me the best results from the Insta360 Luna Ultra.
