The British tabloids are world-famous for their blunt cruelty, but in the case of this video they might have a point.
The video, which has already gone viral on TikTok, seems pretty unflattering of a man walking across a beach then diving into the sea, at which point he seems to turn into a sea turtle. This was definitely not lost on the same media outfit that compared Liz Truss to lettuce.
The Australian influencer claims he paid AU$900 for the camera (around US$600 or £475) for the 360-degree camera. First, you should have a watch...
So, how can anyone capture a video this bad with a 360-degree camera?
We don't know for sure whether he was using one of the best 360-degree cameras but it's fair to assume given his cavalier attitude to the water he was using something waterproof like an Insta360 X4 in an Invisible Dive Case.
As someone who has made regular use of 360-degree cameras, I can say with some authority that the poster, Seb Laz (sebbylaz), is guilty of 'user error'.
His first 'mistake' is holding the camera far too close to his face, so his nostrils take up too much of the frame, then seemingly opting for a very wide angle (all of these options are editable in the app).
His second is holding the camera exactly side on, at such an angle that the gap between the opposing lenses is in line with the key detail – his face. This achieves the odd gap that creates the 'turtle effect'.
You could achieve both of these mistakes by holding the camera in your mouth, but he wouldn't do that, surely?
In one of his other videos, he says a passerby in Italy calls him a "Stronzo" which he interprets to mean he looks strong because he is wearing a tank top. Stronzo is Italian for "asshole".
On this point I won't comment, but I will say a quick scroll through his previous postings suggests he knows exactly what he is doing with his 360 videos.
Just as this year he is getting traction by claiming to have spent AU$900 on 360 video that looks odd, about a year ago he posted very similar ones but claimed he'd spent AU$800 on a 360-degree camera. Inflation?
Rest assured that you can have a vacation and not have it ruined by a 360-degree camera – I know, I tried – and (as I think we've discovered) deliberate "incompetence" to take videos this bad!
Check our guide to the best 360-degree cameras.
