Riding today isn’t just about riding anymore. It’s about capturing the moment, too. A simple solo Sunday ride turns into a reel. A quick coffee run becomes Instagram content. And for those of us who do this for work, documenting the ride is part of the job, whether we like it or not.
That’s why drones became such a big deal in the first place. DJI didn’t just dominate because its drones flew well. They dominated because they made aerial footage accessible. Solo riders could suddenly pull off shots that used to require a chase vehicle, a camera car, or a full crew. For years, if you wanted clean, cinematic motorcycle footage, DJI was the obvious answer.
And now, the folks at Insta360 want to make it even better with the Antigravity A1, a drone that brings an entirely new level of capability to the table.
Instead of asking riders to think like camera operators while flying, the A1 assumes you’d rather just ride and sort things out later. At the heart of it is a 360-degree camera that captures everything around the drone at once. You fly the shot, not the frame. The framing happens afterward, in post, where you can pan, tilt, and reframe as if you had multiple cameras in the air.
That alone changes the workflow, but Antigravity leans into it even further with how you actually fly the thing. Pair the A1 with its goggles and you’re dropped into a so-called "virtual cockpit." You’re not locked into a fixed forward view. You can look around freely, track the rider, check your surroundings, and stay oriented without constantly fighting the controls.
And the controller reinforces that idea. Instead of traditional twin sticks and endless inputs, Antigravity uses a motion-based setup that’s supposedly intuitive enough to pick up quickly but still precise when you want it to be. Point where you want to go, adjust speed and altitude, and let the drone do the rest. Combined with the 360 capture, it takes a lot of pressure off the pilot. You don’t need to nail the angle mid-corner or skim dangerously close to a bike just to get something usable.
For powersports content, that’s a pretty big deal. One flight can yield multiple shots. One pass through a road can turn into a chase angle, a wide establishing shot, and a dramatic pull-away, all without reflying the route. It’s safer, faster, and far more forgiving for solo creators.
Now, for the elephant in the room. All of this lands at an interesting time. At present, DJI still owns the global drone market, but in the US, foreign-made drones are under increasing scrutiny, with DJI squarely in the spotlight. Existing drones aren’t being grounded, but future models face serious hurdles when it comes to approval and sale.
That naturally raises questions about Antigravity. It comes from the same part of the world. It plays in the same space. And while it isn’t being singled out, it’s hard not to wonder whether drones like the A1 are part of a shrinking window. So is this a get-it-while-you-still-can situation? Possibly.
What it isn’t is a reason to panic. If you buy an A1 today for around $1,500 USD, and regulations tighten later, you’re not suddenly banned from flying it. These rules don’t work retroactively for private owners. You’ll still be able to fly, shoot, and create under existing FAA regulations. What changes is what manufacturers can sell next, not what you’re allowed to enjoy now.
For riders who already see documenting the ride as part of the experience, the Antigravity A1 might be a smart bet. It doesn’t try to out-DJI DJI. It sidesteps the whole formula, offering a different way to think about aerial footage at a time when the market itself is in flux.
Source: Antigravity
