Selfie stick
Also known as: extension pole, camera pole, action camera pole
A telescopic pole that holds a camera at arm's length or farther to film yourself, often paired with 360 cameras that erase the stick from the shot.
Updated
What it means
A selfie stick is a handheld extension pole with a camera thread on the end. For action cameras it does a different job than for phones: instead of a close portrait, it puts the camera a meter or more away, so the shot shows you, your board or bike and the place you are in, all at once.
Paired with a 360 camera, the stick becomes almost a trick. Because the camera sits directly in line with the pole, the stitching between its two lenses hides the stick, an effect Insta360 calls the invisible selfie stick. The result looks as if a drone or a second operator were following you.
How it works in practice
Sticks range from short grips under 30 cm for vlogging to poles of around 3 meters for snow and water. Longer poles give more dramatic third-person angles but flex and wobble, so hold them low and with both hands where you can. With a flat action camera, keep stabilization on and use a wide lens so you stay in frame.
With a 360 camera, record everything and choose the angle later. The footage has to be reframed in the Insta360 app or Insta360 Studio, where you decide where to look, keyframe camera moves and export a flat MP4. Keep the pole straight in line with the camera body, because an angled stick pokes out of the stitch line and stays visible.
What to watch out for
In crowds, on ski lifts and in surf lineups, a long pole is a hazard to other people, and some venues ban sticks outright. Collapse it when you are not filming. Twist locks on cheap poles loosen over time, so test them before you hang an expensive camera over water.
The editing trap is monotony. Footage shot at the same distance and height from the same arm gets repetitive fast, and a long vlog turns into a chain of near-identical talking-head shots. Vary the angle, mix in POV and wide shots, and use stick footage as B-roll or reaction moments rather than the whole story.
How RawClip handles it
Stick footage from flat cameras uploads to RawClip as it is. For 360 footage, reframe it to a flat MP4 or MOV in the Insta360 app or Insta360 Studio first, since RawClip does not read INSV files directly. The AI then picks faces, reactions and peak action across every clip you upload.