PSA – GoPro alternative (sj4000) less than 40 quid!

dickbarton – theres no mention of wi-fi anywhere on the unit nor in the menus

i can see why the packager has sent it as the barcode says wi-fi on the label

but the box/unit doesnt have it at all 🙁

was kinda looking forward to the wi-fi to see if it was actually lined up right for mounting on the chest

You need a spacing arm/extender to move camera away from mount so you can tilt it further back so it fits when holding the bars…

Or mount it upside down so that it hangs from the top – that way if it loosens it tends towards bending forwards, rather than bending downwards.

doohhh! yep it came with a extender mount so ive got it at what seems the perfect angle

just done a few tests in and outdoors and it seems pretty good tbf, quite impressed for the money, ill see what they say about the Wi-Fi version but if its a load of hassle ill just keep this one

seems pretty good though, and all working fine at the moment

the cheap chest mount seems good too, got it setup and the angle looks pretty good although wont really know till its on a bike

right new to all this, If I directly upload to youtube I can get it as 1080p by changing it accordingly on the video playback

however if I edit the video in moviemaker on windows, and save it as a 1080p movie then upload it to youtube I can only get it to upload as 320max which is obviously shite quality

any ideas what im doing wrong?

You need a spacing arm/extender to move camera away from mount so you can tilt it further back so it fits when holding the bars…

which makes it more vulnerable to flex/wobbling or being knocked, or

mount it upside down so that it hangs from the top – that way if it loosens it tends towards bending forwards, rather than bending downwards.

which I said (and did) a couple of pages back. Use “rotate” in camera menu to correct the footage.

I did notice that the screen times-out which probably saves battery life too

you can change that too in settings, I have mine timing out quickly to save battery.

Just FYI, there is no camera rotate option in the non-Wifi SJ4000 version that I have (20140818V01). But it is trivial in windows MM to flip a scene anyway, doesn’t cause the file to need re-encoding.

anyone help then ref windows MM?

got two short clips that are 1080p recorded, and If upload straight to youtube they are still 1080p

but if I put some effects on windows MM and save the file? (not entirely sure what to save it as?!) and then upload to you tube it only takes 320 max resolution nowhere near the 1080p it recorded in?

EDIT : think ive sorted it, It seems to only play 320 straight away, if you leave it a few mins the 1080p option comes up later on 😳

When I put my video up on YT it was only in 360p but went to 1080 after a while. Apparently it takes a while for YT to decode(?) it into the frame rate you upload.

I have a rotate option in the menu section of the SJ4000 non wifi version with V1 software…

I know this as I made some upside down films before I worked out what teh sessting should be….

Stevied- yep exactly that budd

impressed if im honest, cant be arsed send it back for the Wi-Fi version as it seems pretty good anyways

ive got the mounts sitting fine the correct way up and the cameras pretty much rocksolid with just a tshirt on (will be even tigther with jacket on etc

Same here, wifi one ordered, barcode sticker on the top says wifi but its clearly not.

And its silver and not blue. **** idiots.

I feel bad now 🙁

Hope you guys get sorted out.

On a brighter note, I took it skiing at Cairngorm today. Visibility was pretty poor, but I did take some average footage of me mincing down the slopes. If there’s anything worth watching (unlikely), I’ll post it up later.

The only thing of note is that the cold isn’t great for battery life – no shit sherlock 8)

Oh and I tried to load a 1080 video on both YouTube and Vimeo without any success. I’ve not got time to piss about trying to find out why at the moment, but rest assured that the 1080 footage looks good on a monitor.

philwarren11 – Member

Same here, wifi one ordered, barcode sticker on the top says wifi but its clearly not.

And its silver and not blue. **** idiots.

ive emailed the seller direct, is annoying, mine is blue like I ordered but not bothered on the colour, am still a bit miffed its not wifi though, will report back if I hear from them, if not ill leave negative feedback on them

ive done a couple of messing around 1080p ones and they have worked fine I must say, only 1minute long but 1080p video’d and 1080p uploaded

pretty sure if you uploaded it to youtube direct, you just have to wait for it to process the 1080p version, check back on the video a few minutes later once its uploaded to youtube

Is that £5 chest strap made of elastic or non stretch material? My elastic one bobs about a bit on the rough stuff.

Just FYI, there is no camera rotate option in the non-Wifi SJ4000 version that I have (20140818V01)

interesting, not sure which firmware mine (which does) is but it was one of the unboxed versions so I’m sceptical about its authenticity (but very happy with it).

that £5 chest strap made of elastic or non stretch material? My elastic one bobs about a bit on the rough stuff.

its webbing/strapping like rucksack straps, not elastic. In my vid the only time it moves its when I compress on a landing and clout the camera against my toptube/stem.

I got sent a non-wifi silver one as well. Not sure I’m that bothered really so I’ll probably keep it. Presumably the battery life would be better without wifi anyway?

Warning! I got from AccMart one with 20140818V01 firmware (I posted a photo of it earlier in the thread).

Started to fiddle with it, and tried to put on the latest firmware. Goosed it completely. After trawling the net a fair few times, the only thing that has sort of worked so far is putting firmware V01 from the SD28 from Acmell.com on it. But I can’t get the screen to come on at all. Video recording is OK, and from what I can tell from pressing the buttons the firmare is all there, it just doesn’t boot the screen at all. I’ve tried about 10 other different firmwares, all with the same result – either nothing working at all (official SJ4000 firmwares) or recording working but no screen.

Wondering what to try now…

I didn’t know you could get higher capacity batteries for these. I may pick up a couple.

It’s a shame the time gets reset whenever the battery is changed however, as I have a script which automatically renames the video files based on the time and date.

I’ve decided to keep my wrong colour non wifi wrong order. Camera itself seems to be spot on and for 35 quid I was going to get this model anyway.

Rampworld tonight and BPW tomorrow to try it out.

So which is the one to buy at the moment?

samehere phil, for the price you can only get a sj4000 anyways, yes the Wi-Fi would have been a bonus but hey ho

if its shite quality ill just get a go pro entry

the only downside I can see at the mo over the go pro is the low light, it doesn’t adjust/like the low light very much, but once back in light the picture seems better (as per most youtube reviews I guess)

Big kudos to mau00149 for giving me a copy of firmware 20141122V02 which brought back to life my AccMart purchased model which previously had 20140818V01 allegedly on it.

I doubt this is a “real” SJ4000 but given that the chipset is the same, the HD recording is OK and it only cost me £33, I’m not quibbling – especially now as the device is back working again with some updated features (e.g. rotate is now included in the firmware).

Here’s a link in case anyone needs it.

Download firmware 20141122V02 for SJ4000 clone

Just missed Geoff’s deal on the SJ4000, does anyone have a view on the Amkov AMK5000?

It has wifi and similar specs to the SJ4000, although no screen, reviews are thin on the ground but quality looks ok.

I quite like the look of the M10 Cube, anyone have any experience of one?

Link

I reckon in the UK with the number of accessories which are dedicated (currently) to the SJ4000, I’d go with one of those irrespective of whether it is a cloned model or not.

At their hearts, they have all just bought an off-the-shelf chip from Novatech (N96550A I think) and put other fairly standard parts with them. They all do 1080 in some form, but none of them are quite up there with a GoPro. But for less than £40….

Got mine today, it is blue and it says wifi on the camera itself and on the top button too. So I assume it is wifi. Came with lots of mounts too.

I don’t know what YouTube has done to my video, but it looks more mangled than the raw footage.

typical, order was placed and just been informed they are out of stock….time to look for another source

Finally got the chance in daylight to try out the AccMart clone SJ4000 on a chest mount with my son as the rider. No comments on the excitement of the video, but here for a sample of the recording quality etc…

Used mine today

Quality wise it’s absolutely spot on and I mean seriously good for the money as good as any go pro footage I’ve seen in hd anyways mtb wise

Sadly the chest mount as expected pointed down on all the descents which is logical wish I’d have read up on it before as it’s simply remedied by flipping the camera and attachment upside down and having it pointing 45 degrees in the air 🙁

Gutted as the descents I recorded looked really clear and pretty fast with no slo dodgy recording on a great ride sadly it’s all footage mostly of my top tube etc

Have fitted it upside down now and Locked it in at the correct angle so will test on a night ride next week now

All in all it’s bloody fantastic for the money

I’ve got one it’s very good it only cost me £34.50 from amazon.co.uk
The only problem was the battery was losing contact on bumpy sections and turning itself off. When it does this the video gets corrupted. The solution I found was to glue the battery in and now it’s working fine.

The solution I found was to glue the battery in and now it’s working fine.

Could you not pack the battery with some card or blue tack behind the door for a better fit? Glueing it in seems a bit drastic.

so forgive me for asking but where is the best place to get one. cant see any for £38 and all are in hong kong!

Help!

havent tried mine yet .but tried to set up the wifi .

was hoping the android app would work on my blackberry but it doesnt seem to .

working fine on a chinese tablet and a samsung phone .

dOES THE APP TELL YOU IF A FIRMWARE UPDATE IS AVAILABLE? aPPARENTLY THGE LATEST VERSION OF THE aNDROID APP IS MEANT TO DO THAT – DOESN’T ON MINE…

Dammit…caps lock was stuck on…sorry…I’m too lazy to retype that!

Had my first go with it on Saturday on BPW uplift. Im impressed. Run it with the 10 quid chest mount, pretty easy to set up and use, wish the light could be seen better in the bright light tho.

Heres my first vid taken with it.

Sixtapod.

phil what chest mount did you use and how exactly did you set it up to film straight on the trail?

as above mine was pointing down the whole way once I started to descend, be interested to hear how you set yours up to run directly down the trails

strangely in 1080p yours hasn’t come out quite as clear as mine did (although mines is useless pointing at the ground)

This is the chest mount I bought. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KU70D4Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01

I turned the camera upside down on the chest mount to get the angle correct then flipped recording it in the settings in camera. To get the correct angle i found was easy, standing on the bike in the riding position and looking at it.

My settings were default apart from changing quality to fine. I did add some contrast and saturday to the footage in iMovie, but only a little, which i might not do on the next upload.

Youtube and/or iMovie has dropped the quality a little, i might try to export then upload using youtube instead of share through iMovie. I was using a Samsung 8gb Class 2 card as i couldn’t find my 32gb Sandisk Class 10 card, which is what I use in my Contour camera, ive now found it, typical.

Hope that helps.