Pocket gimbal cameras have always been at their best close up: vlogs, street walks, the dinner table. On September 21, 2026, Insta360 made a serious attempt to change that for the Luna Ultra. It released a firmware update that stretches the camera’s in-camera zoom, and a clip-on accessory called the Ultra Telephoto Lens that brings the maximum reach to a 450mm equivalent focal length.
A quick refresher on the hardware
The Luna Ultra launched on June 10, 2026 at $769.99. It is a dual-camera gimbal with Leica-branded optics. The main camera pairs a 1-inch sensor with a Summicron lens at f/1.8 and a 20mm equivalent focal length. A second telephoto camera uses a 1/1.3-inch sensor at f/2.0 and 60mm equivalent. At launch the camera offered up to 12x total zoom, 6x of it lossless. It records 8K30 and 10-bit I-Log, weighs 233 g (8.2 oz), and has a detachable 2-inch OLED touchscreen that doubles as a wireless monitor.
From 12x to 15x in firmware
The update raises the in-camera zoom to 15x, equivalent to 300mm. Insta360 says the camera’s dual imaging chips hold on to more detail than a plain digital crop, and that a feature called AI Remosaic rebuilds fine detail on people, text, buildings and landscapes that cropping would otherwise lose. The 15x setting works in Video, PureVideo, Stage Mode and Photo, and Insta360 recommends 4K30 for it.
The same update adds:
- 4K30 vertical video, produced with 6K oversampling. Zoom goes up to 6x here, but Insta360 currently recommends no more than 3x. The slimmer Luna Pro already had vertical 4K.
- Stage Mode for concerts, festivals and theaters. Insta360 says its tracking was trained on extensive concert footage so it can recognize, follow and reacquire performers under tricky stage lighting and in crowds. You can also take Live Frame photos without stopping the recording.
- Two audio options in Stage Mode: Stage Audio focuses on the stage, and Ambient Audio also picks up the room around it.
- Zoom Live, which adds dynamic zoom-in effects to Live Frame shots, and support for using Beauty Mode and cinematic filters together.
The Ultra Telephoto Lens
The hardware piece is a light attachment that snaps on magnetically and extends the optical range by 1.5x. With the lens attached, the Luna Ultra shoots from 90mm to 450mm on its telephoto camera, and the main camera is covered while the lens is in use. So this is a dedicated long-reach setup, not an all-in-one: you give up the wide Summicron view for as long as the lens is on.
The firmware is free and installs through the Insta360 app. The lens comes in the new Luna Ultra Zoom Bundle, priced at US$889.99, which adds a carry bag and the Ultra Telephoto Lens to the Standard Bundle contents. Insta360 did not publish a separate price for the lens in its announcement.
A 450mm-equivalent reach on a camera that fits in a jacket pocket is an unusual pitch, and Stage Mode shows who it is aimed at: fans filming from the back rows of a concert rather than from the barrier.
Earlier on GismoLand: DJI vs Insta360. Two camera giants drag their gimbal feud into court.
