[Closed] PSA - GoPro alternative (sj4000) less than 40 quid!

Just be aware that the sj4000 is so good that others are now making copies that are not so good. Seems cheap.

Techmoan.com has a review and warns about the cheaper fakes

Ooh, thanks for the heads up. Might be adding to the Christmas list..

Anyone got any real-life feedback on these?

Blimey that looks good!

Not sure I need one, but tempted to give this a go!

Just bought one a few weeks ago. Picture quality is great. Little bit of distortion with high speed movement. For the price it's a great way to have a go and see if you will use one.

As above watch out for fakes. Not sure how you tell, though. Also.it doesn't really do 60fps

As said above, it doesn't do 60fps, but apart from that, for the money it's bloody brilliant. The battery indicator lies, it'll go down to 2 bars almost immediately, but I've comfortably got a couple of hours use from mine without it dying.

Couple of clips from mine (all edited in Premiere but no effects or processing).

Sod it, you can never have too many HD action cams. Just ordered one, so will tell you what it's like in a week or so.

Does anyone know of a cheap waterproof action cam with GPS?

I missed the sony/argos one :-(, I've used the GO-pro for analysing technique on the boat but it'd be usefull to see how fast I was going as well (if only for bragging rights).

Cheap GPS tracker (if you don't already have a GPS logging device) and take a picture of a calibrated watch at the start of your video? Can't be too hard to combine the two.

That is indeed very cheap for a SJ4000, which like others makes me dubious about how genuine it is.

I ordered the WiFi version last week from a authorised resellers shop on eBay this week as too many fakes around, Bought mine for my snorkelling and diving trip to Egypt in a few weeks 🙂 .. the reviews look quite good .

So is that a proper sj4000 or a copy in the link?

Best thing about this appears to be removable batteries for £7 so you can take spares, I assume it is compatible with GoPro mounts?

I suspect that it is a fake SJ4000. If you look on Ebay there are genuine ones which tell you how to tell the difference. Probably use the same components anyway so not sure whether it makes any difference or not

Bugger, I've just bought the new cheap GoPro as well!

Yes, the mount on the bottom of the SJ4000 housing is GoPro compatible. The housing itself is (I understand) slightly different, but as I only have an SJ4000 I can't comment.

I bought mine a few weeks ago from one of the reputed "genuine" sellers (Joovuu). It seemed like a reasonable way to have a play around with the idea of a camera without having to spend loads on a GoPro + mounts. Picture quality seems OK so far although I don't have anything to compare it to. Unfortunately I can't upload any videos to YouTube at the moment as access is a bit... tricky... here in China.

Could be genuine but hard to tell: http://www.foxoffer.com/blog/2014/07/05/the-difference-between-original-and-fake-sj4000/

Worth a shot i'd say.

Checking the pics on that foxoffer page earlier, this does seem to look like a genuine one. The trouble is, how do you know they're using pics of the one they're selling rather than just generic pics of the real thing? Or that there isn't some fake which now looks more similar?

Thanks for the guide on how to tell the difference. When/if mine turns up I'll post back and let people know.

Another alternative that I keep looking at is the Mobius Action Cam.
It's a bit different (case and mounts aren't as high a priority), but footage always looks really nice imo.

Although tbh, a second hand original GoPro HD Hero is probably as good a bet as any.

Cheap GPS tracker (if you don't already have a GPS logging device) and take a picture of a calibrated watch at the start of your video? Can't be too hard to combine the two.

I could do that, but it rapidly reaches the point of faffing where IDGAS anymore and don't bother. It's mainly because STRAVA is fairly irelavent to sailing as it's a real race and the route you take is a ballance of speed Vs distance, etc. The speed on the GPS is almost entirely a vanity thing!

I've done a fair it of research into this and I'm confident it's the real thing.
Can't wait for it to turn up now after seeing the videos above!

Just remember you have to go to Iceland to get the best out of it 😉

Cheers for the PSA I've just ordered one. Payment is through amazon if that makes any difference to whether it's genuine or not???

Nice heads up, just ordered.

flyingmonkeycorps - nice wee video and introduction to Jon Hopkins. Suspect he will be today's soundtrack.

[url= http://www.dashware.net/ ]Dashware[/url] is a nice bit of software for overlaying GPS data onto videos. Set a Garmin going to record and then Dashware combines the GPX file with the video to show whatever data you want from it.

Cheers, Rich

ooooooooohhh 8) I think I might buy the dog one for her birthday 😀

Might give it a try when I'm back from my holibobs.

[quote=dhyetiman ]I've done a fair it of research into this and I'm confident it's the real thing.

What sort of research? Interested in a genuine one at that price, but not a copy.

Scruff - I love Jon Hopkins. Insides is one of my favourite albums at the moment (I'm about 5 years out of date) but it really needs to be listened to through some decent headphones.

apparently original ones have Socam on them

flyingmonkeycorps - nice vids. But, at 2:07 on the Iceland vid - did you fart? 😯

More than likely!

A racer - can't really say it's in depth research but from the few bits I've read on them and from a couple of people who have purchased it ive drawn my own conclusions. Il let you know for sure when it arrives

apparently original ones have Socam on them

Later model ones have 'SJCam' on them but this is an earlier model that predates that change anyway, I suspect it's clearance of the old stock, hence the lower price.

What editing software do you guys use ?.

I use Premiere, and After Effects when I need to do fancy stuff (not on those clips!).

from the link

This camera is totally unbelivable for the price

that's what we're worried about...

SJcam thats what I meant

what timelapse options do they have

For timelapse, I think you can set it to take a photo every minute, every 5 minutes, and every 10, but sometimes a firmware update adds extra options.

I have one of these already, I paid around 65 squid and had to wait a month for it to arrive from Hong Kong.

I think I'm going to get another, simply as a spare or to have on a 2nd bike. Once it arrived I'll see if it is genuine as I have a real one to compare it to. 🙂

EDIT:

Maybe handy if you want to be sure.

I will be using iMovie as just got an iMac! What a learning curve that is !!!!

I've got one of these cams & just getting used to it,the only downside I've found is the mounts,they don't tighten up & stay tight,so the camera flops about which is a pain,certainley the bar mount anyway !.

Does anyone know if they record with time code?

jonjones262 - Member
Does anyone know if they record with time code?

You can set-up a date & time stamp according to the reviews.

I've got one of these cams & just getting used to it,the only downside I've found is the mounts,they don't tighten up & stay tight,so the camera flops about which is a pain,certainley the bar mount anyway !.

reedspeed - on the plastic on the screw mount take some sandpaper to it to rough up the edges on both pieces. The rough edges bind perfectly and don't move (techmoan's tip not mine but will take credit 🙂