Cheaper alternatives to GoPro

[sandys]

Clear up

[sandys]

Apr 12, 2016 13:20:28 GMT sandys said:

It screws into the base which is solid it is not connected to the flappy bit, that just has a hole I pass the camera through where I've stuck a rubber foot between camera and windbreak mesh so it does not rattle and between camera and plastic base I use a bit of foam to stabilise and absorb movements.

It's a bit of a bodge but it works and was cheap

Messed up an edit using mobile, doh!

Sony has pretty good image stabilization which probably helps loads.

[Clem]

Yeah I want to avoid this sort of thing:



That I got with my GoPro on the Elise ...

So far my mount has seemed steady but we'll see how it goes for Abingdon. Might have to give that Sony a look if the gopro is still crap.

[Horney]

GoPro IS is normally pretty good. It certainly was on my Hero2.

[Clem]

Yeah for the most part the video is good. Its only for that rear facing mount it was producing some really wobbly results. A feature of the vibration frequency matching up with the camera update frequency....

But its something I'd like to avoid and more to the point of the thread subject (sorry for drift) its something I'd worry about with a cheap camera.

[KernowSid]

The Sony is looking good.

The main advantage Ive seen with with the GoPro copies is the range of mounts that you can buy online.

But obviouly there are disadvantages of buying a cheaper camera, but its only something I will use 4 - 6 times a year.

[sandys]

Downsides with Sony, things I never thought I would need.

Can’t charge and use, requires an open flap to charge
Can’t wire it up to auto on like some gopro, consequently I often forget to switch it on, or off and end up with flat battery
Can’t use go pro accessories, when you have a camera you find other uses for it you never thought of beyond car.
Expensive, starts at £120 up to £260.
4k mode doesn’t have IS but you can use software to reduce the res a little for IS and still better than 1080p

On the Plus side

Action cam software easy to edit videos.
Camera is easy to use, hit the red button, audible tones and recording light so you know it’s on.
Pretty good colour and IS
Excellent level of detail in the native recordings that youtube looses most of, very high bit rates and IS does not blur it out, manages to maintain detail.
You can control them wifi with your phone
You can control 5 at a time with your phone, can be mix of 4k and lower end ones.
You can view and edit on your phone of Wifi and upload clips to facebook/youtube.
Has external mic capability.
Has GPS so can do easy overlays if you want, though it is only 1hz, probably fine for cycling, Skiing, perhaps not so much track use, I have an  external 10hz GPS for my data logging.

[ghostrider]

The thing with the SJ4000/5000 is that it has been so successful, there are now cheaper chinese copies of it. Yep - a chinese copy of a chinese copy of a Go Pro. This guy has all the answers IMHO.



Failing that, the mini 0803 makes a fine cheap dashcam...

[KernowSid]

I had seen when researching the SJ400/5000 that there were guides on how to identify a "genuine" SJCAM product. Did make me smile that there were copies of a copy of a GoPro.