Lower cost go pro alternative

[imprezaworks]

I've got the older version of one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SJ4000-WI...490692?hash=item25b18b5dc4:g:JKMAAOSwnFZXUAcH

I've got one to try too. Was cheap aswell. Lots of copies around though. Google fake vs real on those.

 

[JB21]

What sort of battery life is to be expected from one of these? Tempted to get one for my trackday on the 18th

Doubt it'll be enough battery for a full track day, but I'll just have mine plugged into the ciggie lighter in the down times, or even just plug it into my ciggie lighter and hide the wires around the interior trim like I've done with my camera in the i3

 

[MarkCup]

just plug it into my ciggie lighter and hide the wires around the interior trim like I've done with my camera in the i3

Do exactly this.

Even a brand new GoPro struggles to get through a full day on track for me...I have ALL my cameras permanently powered when I'm on track.

 

[Danith]

Do exactly this.

Even a brand new GoPro struggles to get through a full day on track for me...I have ALL my cameras permanently powered when I'm on track.

Cool, so an sj4000 can be used off 'mains power' (12v) rather than just the battery?

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Better than a Hero? How so?

I've been there with cheaper cameras, never again!

Care to share mate?

If I was buying another action cam I'd probably try a cheaper one since I'm finding loads of cheap electronic gems on eBay/Amazon recently, newest addition being a set of Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones. Tried Beats in the Apple store, they were nice but not £330 nice- got mine for £45 and they're probably not quite as comfy as the Beats, but the sound quality feels similar if not the same. I would genuinely be sickened if I'd paid £330 and then tried these.

My point being, big brand vendors definitely charge a premium for the name and I've had quite a few issues with GoPro related things to the point I'd think again before buying GoPro.

Although you can't argue with the quality. I also watched the video review of the camera posted on page 1 of this topic and it makes me laugh when people review cheap cameras and use the line "If the image looks grainy or juddery, it's Youtube not the camera". I've seen Hero4 Black footage on Youtube and it looks amazing so don't tell me it's the compression.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Do exactly this.

Even a brand new GoPro struggles to get through a full day on track for me...I have ALL my cameras permanently powered when I'm on track.

Depends on the mode, but yeah- recording 1080P @ 120 FPS will rinse a standard GoPro battery in an hour. I have one of those battery BacPac's which gives you another hour, but have another 2 batteries.

That said, the last video of yours I saw, you had 4 cameras.... Perhaps better to hardwire them in that case lol. You could even get one of those rechargeable battery packs for £20 and secure it to the rear seat/headrest so you don't need cables going all over the car.

 

[MarkCup]

Depends on the mode, but yeah- recording 1080P @ 120 FPS will rinse a standard GoPro battery in an hour. I have one of those battery BacPac's which gives you another hour, but have another 2 batteries.

That said, the last video of yours I saw, you had 4 cameras.... Perhaps better to hardwire them in that case lol. You could even get one of those rechargeable battery packs for £20 and secure it to the rear seat/headrest so you don't need cables going all over the car.

I've just added a 4Black and Hero Session to my collection so will be running 7 cameras and a digital field recorder next time out LOL I can't be bothered with batteries, charging, recharging, swapping over etc. The positions I have my cameras in are pretty much fixed so I have a spider's web of USB cables running all over my car, tucked away behind trim pieces, and all ending up at a junction box/power socket bank in my glovebox.

No matter what resolution I find 2 hrs about the max you can expect from any GoPro device...and that is just enough for a trackday for me. I like to film everything, all the time the car is running so that if necessary I can attach data logs/dials and see what is going on, and that adds up to a lot more than 1hr per day!

Cheap cameras? I can't even remember, I tried a few before I got my first GoPro HD Hero2 years ago and got fed up of them dying without warning, crashing, randomly resetting...hence biting the bullet and going for the HD2.

I now have ready to strap to my car whenever needed;

HD2
Hero
Hero Session (this is the only one I will run from a battery as it will be on my helmet, front bumper, door mirror, rear bumper, roof etc.)
4Black
2x A118C dash cams (recent replacements for my G1WH which have been great for a couple of years but now, as with other cheap cameras, randomly crash and/or reset)
Sony FDR-AX33
Zoom H1

Goodwood in July cannot come soon enough!

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Nice selection you have there.

The 4 Black does produce gorgeous results IMO. You do get what you pay for to a degree, but I also have no doubts that GoPro are a bit.... Fast and loose with their pricing model. Like the Session, it was released with an RRP of circa £340... But they reduce that a few times and I ended up picking one up last month for £140 on Amazon... (Think the RRP is £160 now?)

You're going to end up with a telemetry system like Forza! I bought a few electronics bits and bobs to make a brake temperature monitoring system, I keep meaning to finish it, but it's just time. (basically IR temp sensors mounted on the back of the hub, pointing at the brake disc, then reporting the temperature to the central "brain". You could then have it displayed on the dash either as colours (red when cold or REALLY hot, yellow when just outside operating temp and green when within operating temp).

Probably a bit overkill for trackday vids, but it's a bit of fun just like everything else right?

 

[MarkCup]

Live brake temps sounds ultra cool, I WANT!

What I'd really like is a simple brake pedal pressure sensor...I can get throttle pedal position (and manifold) from the ECU no problem, but being able to see brake pressure, overlap, transition from throttle etc. fascinates me.

GoPros? Definitely agree on the pricing. I wasn't in the market for a Session at all, but saw that they'd dropped to £159 so immediately got one from JLP with a two year guarantee. As for the Sony and 4Black they're all about experimenting with 4K for me...I like that I'll be able to crop 4K down to 25% x 25% and still have a 1080p file to output...which gives the ability to more perfectly frame a shot and also get some good motion tracking and panning effects too.

The only trouble is 4K needs a larger hard drive, and more capable software, which means a new laptop...it's been an expensive few weeks.

 

[Matthew]

Are these Aldi cameras 1080 @ 60FPS?

 

[Danith]

Are these Aldi cameras 1080 @ 60FPS?

All I know is they're gone, ha. Gonna get that yi one

 

[banther]

I've been to 4 Aldis in a day.

Am I now working class?

 

[Danith]

I've been to 4 Aldi's in a day.

Am I now working class?

Ha, aldi does the best pork! Those butter biscuits are boss too. Do some random stuff though. A cabbage and a set of workmans steel toe capped boots is not something you see on everyone's shopping list

 

[Kieran527]

The Gitup Git2 seems to get good reviews, yet I havent heard anyone on here talk about them.
Are they any good as a track day camera, does anyone have any experience?
Seem good for £100 with all the features

 

[Danith]

What does the WiFi allow on the SJ4000? To operate it via your phone? Not sure what that benefits if you're outside??

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Live brake temps sounds ultra cool, I WANT!

What I'd really like is a simple brake pedal pressure sensor...I can get throttle pedal position (and manifold) from the ECU no problem, but being able to see brake pressure, overlap, transition from throttle etc. fascinates me.

GoPros? Definitely agree on the pricing. I wasn't in the market for a Session at all, but saw that they'd dropped to £159 so immediately got one from JLP with a two year guarantee. As for the Sony and 4Black they're all about experimenting with 4K for me...I like that I'll be able to crop 4K down to 25% x 25% and still have a 1080p file to output...which gives the ability to more perfectly frame a shot and also get some good motion tracking and panning effects too.

The only trouble is 4K needs a larger hard drive, and more capable software, which means a new laptop...it's been an expensive few weeks.

I'd do it for myself as an exercise I just don't do enough trackdays to warrant it (3 last year, 1 so far this year). If I'm ever stuck for something to do one weekend I'll pop something together and you can pop down the road to Hove for us to test fit it. I presume you'd be able to work with some sort of data output rather than needing a produced video ready to overlay? (I imagine there's software that can do that).

 

[Danith]

The Gitup Git2 seems to get good reviews, yet I havent heard anyone on here talk about them.
Are they any good as a track day camera, does anyone have any experience?
Seem good for £100 with all the features

Does get good reviews

 

[GrahamV182]

There is a good selection at banggood.com (Chinese). Such as .....
http://www.banggood.com/EKEN-H9-WiF...DMI-2-Inch-LCD-p-994488.html?cur_warehouse=CN
That's a 4K camera for 38 quid !!!!!
A word of warning .... shipping to the uk is free but my last 1080p camera from banggood took nearly 4 weeks to arrive.

 

[GrahamV182]

Sample of my 1080p 'banggood' camera...

make sure you wack it in to HD7 on youtube.
The poor noise quality is that for competition the camera has to be bolted on to something solid .... For me it's the roll cage which bolts on to the suspension - hence a lot of transmitted noise. I think something more flexible would be better.
Overall I've been very please with my cheap Chinese clone ...good battery life and lots of fun looking at you mistakes
Hope this helps,

Graham

 

[realnumber 1]

There is a good selection at banggood.com (Chinese). Such as .....
http://www.banggood.com/EKEN-H9-WiF...DMI-2-Inch-LCD-p-994488.html?cur_warehouse=CN
That's a 4K camera for 38 quid !!!!!
A word of warning .... shipping to the uk is free but my last 1080p camera from banggood took nearly 4 weeks to arrive.

Is the one you've posted the same brand as your 1080 vid one?
There's too many to choose from on there with different prices so would want one at least as good as the vid you posted....

 

[GrahamV182]

'Is it the same?'
It certainly looks the same ..... the reviews of the 4k one look good. 4300 cameras sold and over 300 good reviews. At £38 quid I think you could take a punt....
Another tip .... Make sure you get a class 10 or better memory card so that the write to storage can keep up with the camera.
G

 

[Danith]

Mate that looks spot on. How long has it lasted? 4 weeks might be a bit of a wait like.
Pretty sure I'm gonna go for the sjcam sj4000 WiFi for 50 now

 

[GrahamV182]

'How long has it lasted?'
I bought one of the first 1080p clones from banggood in early 2013 .... still going strong.

I think the best thing is do your research, compare the specs and the options ........ but there are some very good cheap clones out there. I would rather spend money on my car and my sport

 

[realnumber 1]

'How long has it lasted?'
I bought one of the first 1080p clones from banggood in early 2013 .... still going strong.

I think the best thing is do your research, compare the specs and the options ........ but there are some very good cheap clones out there. I would rather spend money on my car and my sport

Well I've just taken a punt on the one you linked above. Don't mind waiting for it and like you say it's only £38.
I've never felt I could justify the cost of a gopro and the like for the amount of use it'll get. If this looks as good as your footage I'll me more than happy!

 

[Clart]

The ones aldi are only 30fps at 1080p. Heard mixed reports about the quality
I picked up at gopro 4 silver the other day for £100. Was well chuffed!

 

[anthonymayow]

1080p waterproof to 30m loads of brackets im yet to really look as im at work lol but feels top notch tbh and there £60 on ebay

The wife was queuing at 8 this morning. She picked up two.
Better than the Hero and a third of the price.

Either of you fancy selling one of these, tried to get one from my store, and all sold out

 

[botfch]

Also taken a punt on one of those Banggood cameras.
Was looking at getting 6 Go Pro's for 360 recording so hopefully this is a cheaper alternative.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Either of you fancy selling one of these, tried to get one from my store, and all sold out 😧

Sorry can't do. We use them both for different things.
I'm going to see what the quality is like later of the video compared to my hero.

 

[cs_dave]

Either of you fancy selling one of these, tried to get one from my store, and all sold out

Same mate ive only got the 1 as i got one for a mate sorry

 

[cs_dave]

Sorry can't do. We use them both for different things.
I'm going to see what the quality is like later of the video compared to my hero.

Let us know mate this is my first one so nothing to compare 2 cheers

 

[JP83]

Ordered an SJ4000 1080p (the older one), as they're down to £15 on eBay now from uk stockists.

 

[Danith]

Ordered an SJ4000 1080p (the older one), as they're down to £15 on eBay now from uk stockists.

Got a link mate? Is it a genuine sjcam?

 

[JP83]

Got a link mate? Is it a genuine sjcam?

Yup, should be a genuine one.
Just have to make sure it's the 1080p as there's quite a few 720p versions kicking around.

They're so cheap now because of the newer 4K and wifi versions.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301967467867

 

[Danith]

Nice one cheers pal

 

[Danith]

What is the crack with the WiFi though? If you're outside you don't have WiFi so isn't it a bit pointless?

 

[Danith]

That's the fake one mate sorry. Might be OK tho but not genuine sjcam

 

[JP83]

That's the fake one mate sorry. Might be OK tho but not genuine sjcam

Is it? What's the difference?

 

[Danith]

Is it? What's the difference?

Performance wise I dont know but you can tell the fakes as they look different on the front. Have a quick Google and it shows you how to spot a fake vs genuine sjcam

 

[JP83]

Performance wise I dont know but you can tell the fakes as they look different on the front. Have a quick Google and it shows you how to spot a fake vs genuine sjcam

Cool. Will check it out.

Hopefully it's still ok, but it's only £15.

Will post up a review when I get it

 

[Danith]

Yeah 15 quid it's worth a punt