For my last diving trip, I used an Insta360 X5 to capture some behind-the-scenes footage while I was shooting underwater.

I had the X5 mounted on a selfie stick, which was attached directly to my Nauticam housing. For protection, I used the Insta360 Dive Case Pro.

I have to say, though: the Dive Case Pro is a seriously bulky piece of equipment. 😄 When you are already diving with a Canon R5 in a Nauticam housing, strobes, arms and all the other accessories, every additional piece of gear makes a noticeable difference.

So I was wondering if anyone here has had the chance to directly compare the Dive Case Pro with the regular Insta360 X5 Dive Case.

How noticeable is the difference in actual image quality between the two, especially underwater?

I understand that the Dive Case Pro is designed to provide better stitching and overall image quality, but I am mainly using the X5 for casual behind-the-scenes clips, short reels and Instagram content rather than professional underwater 360° productions.

For that kind of use, is the improvement from the Dive Case Pro really significant enough to justify carrying such a substantially larger housing?

Or would you say that the regular Dive Case delivers more than sufficient quality for social media and occasional BTS footage?

I’d especially appreciate feedback from people who have actually used both housings under similar diving conditions. If the difference is only noticeable when closely inspecting the footage, I might prefer the much more compact setup.

My R5 in the Nauticam housing already keeps me busy enough underwater. 😄

Edited September 8Sep 8 by Landvogt1893

I have used both and in similar conditions. They are not comparable. I think the normal X5 case should not have been released. The Pro is bigger and still barely usable in many conditions but doesn't look anywhere near as bad as the normal X5 case. I like having the pro for what you describe, but now I just bring it on dives when I don't bring the normal camera rig. Or I bring it and then set it down and do stuff around it and then move it again.

I'm trying to think if I have side to side comparisons, but don't think I do.

I had high hopes for it, but they were not met for either one but the Pro is significantly better.

Thanks for the feedback. To be fair, that’s pretty much what I expected to hear, although I was hoping the reality would be a little different. 🙂

The X6 housing appears to be slightly more compact than the one for the X5, so I’m curious whether that translates into better usability and image quality in real-world conditions. It would be great to see some direct comparisons between the two.

My biggest concern is still the enormous glass dome. It adds a lot of bulk to the setup and makes the camera less appealing from a handling perspective. If they could reduce the size without compromising optical performance, it would make the whole system far more attractive to me.

The big difference is not so much in the housing as in the camera lenses. You must have all seen that you have to replace them, and they even give you a kit with a glove.

They are two different technologies.

The videos I saw are actually perfect.

I would sell the whole X5 kit right away...

These shillfluencers are priceless 😄

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcz5LRWhIK0/?stkn=bWowZG82MzVkdDA=

yeah... swallow the X5 pill, get X6 and dont look back.