How to setup Insta360 Pro2 and Mantis Sub housing to shoot underwater 360/VR video

Written by Axel Busch on 7 April 2021

Virtual reality content creation doesn’t have to be so hard. Here’s what’s involved in setting up a dive …

Pre-Dive Setup

Setting everything up is simple: Place the Mantis Sub housing in its cradle so you don’t have to worry about scratching domes or the housing rolling away. Then insert the charged camera, connect the Ethernet and charge cable from the Mantis controller, and turn the Mantis controller on. Check that the O-ring is clean and properly seated before closing the housing and lock the four latches securely.

Attach the vacuum pump to the valve and pump until the status LED turns green, usually five quick strokes, and you’re ready to dive!

We recommend a quick recording test before packing the camera away. The procedure is the same as underwater (see below).

The final step is to put the Mantis Sub housing into its protective neoprene bag to prevent domes from being scratched during transport.

We recommend setting up the camera the night before or first thing in the morning. This reduces the risk of accidents on the boat, and you can observe that the vacuum is held over a long period of time. The Mantis Controller can run off the internal batteries for over 20 hours.

Steps for setting the Insta360 Pro and Mantis Sub underwater camera housing

Place the Mantis Sub housing in its cradle.
Insert the charged camera and controller batteries.
Connect the Ethernet and charge cable from Mantis controller.
Turn Mantis controller on.
Check that the O-ring is clean and properly seated.
Close the housing and lock the four latches securely.
Turn camera on with housing plunger button.
Attach the vacuum pump to the valve and pump until the status LED turns green.
Turn camera off and place housing into protective neoprene bag.

Changing Recording Mode

Change options conveniently with the inbuilt WebApp

The Mantis Sub controller allows you to configure the shooting parameters and check all environmental parameters (battery level, vacuum pressure, temperature, humidity) with the inbuilt WebApp. It is pre-configured with the most versatile shooting parameters so that you can create a smooth and immersive VR experience.

Default settings:

Resolution: 8K
Framerate: 30fps
Exposure: Auto
White Balance: 6500 Kelvin
ISO limit: 400. Meaning, ISO will never exceed 400 to avoid visual noise.

Easily adjust shooting settings with the Mantis Sub WebApp installed in the housing

The Mantis Sub team has tested these settings over hundreds of dives, and they have worked very well in the bright shallows, in deep dark caves/wrecks, with and without lighting. The recordings can be stitched into 8K video in 2D or 3D, as well as 29 Megapixel spherical photos (7680x3840).

To adjust the recording settings, connect your Mobile to your Insta360 Pro’s WiFi network, then open your browser and navigate to http://192.168.43.2/. This opens the Mantis Sub WebApp installed on the Mantis Sub controller inside the housing – no need to download or install an extra App. Once saved, the settings will be automatically applied by the controller for every recording until changed again.

Based on a user request, the Mantis Sub controller writes the shooting parameters onto the camera SD card for every recording. This allows you to quickly look up the settings used for a certain recording during post-production.

Conclusion

Setting up the Insta360 Pro2 for shooting underwater is quick and painless. The Status LED allows you to check that everything is ready at a glance, and the Mantis Sub WebApp allows you to conveniently configure all shooting parameters before the dive. In our opinion (we’re biased we know), this is the best set up for shooting 360/VR content underwater.

Head over to our YouTube channel to view some of our test recordings. These were all shot on an Insta360 Pro2 in Mantis Sub housing and stitched in Insta360Stitcher without further post-processing.

More from the Mantis Sub Academy.

With the Mantis Sub Academy we want to provide a set of free resources to help you getting started with creating 360/VR content. Here are some more articles: