This is a $400 consumer 360 action camera and this is a $6,000 pro level 3D LiDAR camera. Both of these can scan your space using Matterport to produce this awesome 3D virtual tour. It's super impressive and immersive. So, what's the big difference between the two and why might you want to go with one over the other? In this video, let's find out.
I'm Ben Schmeke from Authentic and this video is not sponsored. However, big thanks to Adorama. for supplying me with the Pro 3 camera and tripod so I can run all these tests.
All links down below. These 3D scans and virtual tours are super hot right now and Matterport is basically leading the front with unlimited potential for scanning real estate and hospitality, new construction, vacation rentals, architecture, the list goes on. It's an incredible tool for all kinds of businesses no matter what industry you're in.
So starting with the big daddy, the Matterport Pro 3 camera. Also comes with the carrying case, charger, one battery, and adapter to mount the camera on a tripod. The tripod I'm using in this video is also from Adorama. It's called the 3Pod with carbon fiber.
It's lightweight, great height for those 3D scans, and that H2 ball head, it's the nicest I've used. It's great build quality, has a quick-release ARCA Swiss, and it's super smooth dials for leveling and movement. So pairing these together, it's a super premium kit.
Next is the Insta360 X3. Now I've made a ton of videos on this camera, so you can check those videos out after this one, but in short, it's probably the world's best 360 action camera. It costs around $4-$4.50 depending where you get it. It's small and lightweight, fits in your pocket, ultra portable and easy to move around to 3D capture a space, and it also pairs with the Matterport app to follow the similar steps for capture. Which by the way, it's so easy anyone can do it.
You move the camera around your space, indoors or outdoors. The camera connects over Wi-Fi to their mobile app. You simply hide yourself or step outside the room, tap the shutter button to capture. For the Pro 3 camera, it auto spins 360 degrees on the tripod, both snapping photos and auto stitching them together into 134 megapixel HDR image and also scanning with LiDAR for 3D depth data.
On the Insta360, it's similar. You press the shutter button, no spinning necessary. It captures an HDR360 image, and then you move the camera about two to three meters.
You hide, capture, rinse, and repeat. And then you'll see the images and scans auto-populate and auto-connect together for those classy virtual tours. It's really fun and impressive to watch it auto-generate.
I shot a variety of different spaces to test, new construction, residential real estate, and then even a commercial business and post it to Google Maps. I'll simplify into three major differences between these two cameras. Number one, LIDAR. In simple terms, as the Pro 3 camera spins around capturing those high resolution photos, that spinning laser is gathering 100,000 points per second. And that's 1.5 million points per scan with an accuracy of plus or minus 20 millimeters at 10 meter length.
That's insane. And the max operating range is 100 meters or over 325 feet. This is why it's meant for those enterprise professional jobs. With those scans, you can also export as a schematic floor plan with accurate measurements and all. Also tied to that LiDAR, I scanned a new construction house for an example to show off a major difference.
On the Insta360 camera, it does an okay job in a difficult space like this. But with all the gaps, it can struggle to align the scan and imagery to the others like seen here. It's sort of messed up.
You can try to manually move and rotate the scan for alignment, but I found it looked a bit wonky. So instead, I deleted it, moved the camera back closer to the previous scan location, gave it a bit more overlap, and that fixed it for me. For the Pro 3 camera, this LiDAR is like magic.
It's able to shoot its laser through all those gaps and holes between the studs, and its scans turned out looking amazing. Plus, it did a great job of alignment as well. No problems like the 360 camera. Onto number two, I'll call it resolution and clarity difference.
While the Insta360 captures some very impressive shots, and if you walk through the tour, it's HDR, tone mapping, the color and exposure. It honestly looks really good for the price. And remember, this thing is only a few hundred bucks.
I think it could be a great option for those who are looking to get into this space or for those medium, smaller real estate shoots, the more simple VRBOs. Then when you need to step it up, let me show you the clarity on the Pro 3 camera. you should clearly be able to spot the differences. It's just next level with dynamic range.
Like in this home, it was pretty dark inside and super bright outside, and the renders of the outside are looking awesome. Plus, if we zoom in on something with tiny details, you can see just how much sharper the Pro 3 scans look. It's very professional looking. Then at number three, let's say max potential.
With the 360 consumer camera, I personally think it's amazing that you could start a virtual tour business with just a few hundred bucks on a pocket-sized camera. You can make yourself a few hundred bucks off of each scan and then work your way up in size and value of the space. It's fast, convenient, still good quality. Then when you need to step it up, you differentiate yourself from all the competition, you get into the pro level for those million dollar plus properties.
It's perfect for massive indoor or outdoor places with difficult lighting or those complex floor plans. I've even seen some people scan tens of thousands of square feet. You got shopping centers and stadiums, hospitality, and just sort of endless industries that you could sell to.
The speed of shooting is about the same, I'd say. I think that the Insta360 camera snaps the photos quicker so I can move the camera around faster. However, the spacing between the scans, they might differ depending on the complexity of the job. The Pro 3 is still pretty fast as well.
I shot a portion of a residential real estate, for an example, and it was around 1500 square feet, total 20 scans, and it took me just 10 minutes. Now, of course, that doesn't include all the prep time, like turning on all the lights, clean up the area, et cetera, but that seems pretty fast in my mind. With this 3D virtual tour business, there's plenty of upsells that you can add on to your services. One that I like is adding a space to the business listing on Google Maps for street view integration.
It takes just a few steps on the back end, but in the end, I think it's this huge step for warming up a potential customer. They get familiar with the space and it's great for converting to in-person visits. Plus, I think it helps a ton for SEO on your Google Maps listing, which goes a long way.
Either way you go, these 360 tours are super awesome and I think there's a ton of potential you should consider. I'll pin a comment for future updates and all links to the cameras and other info will be down below. I'll see you subscribers in my next video.