Imitation GoPro Cameras from China. Any Good?

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I have the SJ4000 by SJcam. That is the one you want. I have taken it to 40fsw and it has had time when it mysteriously didn't record. It is not as good in low light as the Gopro. It does have some nice features that the gopro doesn't. it automatically chunks video into 5 minute segments, which I like for editing. the 60 fps is fake, it just ads a second copy of each frame. The SJcam 5000 is supposed to have the same sensor as the Gopro 3 or 4 (not sure which). I used mine on about a dozen dives and made a half dozen or so videos. Low light effects the video much more than it did the gopro 3+ I was using last year. A coin of plastic spacer would not be hard to make. I am looking into seeing if I can find an adaptable macro lens attachment for next year. For the cost, $85US, it is a pretty good deal, and if it dies, I won't feel as bad as I felt when my gopros were lost (one to a flood and the other to a broken lanyard. Here is one of the videos I shot with an SJ4000 by SJCam [video=youtube;gBhsxqyH2rs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBhsxqyH2rs[/video]

---------- Post added October 25th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ----------

WiFi only works out of the water. I consider unnecessary for diving. it might be nice if you are trying to do something like a camera on your porch or something but I imagine it will drain the battery pretty quickly, as will the back screen. I have my back screen set to turn off after 1 minute.
 
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One feature that I was looking for is image stabilization which they seem to refer to as "anti-shake" on some of the knock-off cameras. Does the SJCam 400 have that feature, and is it necessary? My old Sony 8mm video camera did not have it and it never seemed to be a problem. Another feature I like about the sj4000 is the 140 degree lens as opposed to the fisheye 170 degrees. Fisheye is fun once-in-a-while but I don't think I want it all the time. The sj5000x, from what I have read, is about the same as the sj4000 but has "Gyro Anti-shake Stabilization function." What do you think? Supposedly the "X" model was a limited edition so I guess I need to act fast :wink:
 
One feature that I was looking for is image stabilization which they seem to refer to as "anti-shake" on some of the knock-off cameras. Does the SJCam 400 have that feature, and is it necessary? My old Sony 8mm video camera did not have it and it never seemed to be a problem. Another feature I like about the sj4000 is the 140 degree lens as opposed to the fisheye 170 degrees. Fisheye is fun once-in-a-while but I don't think I want it all the time. The sj5000x, from what I have read, is about the same as the sj4000 but has "Gyro Anti-shake Stabilization function." What do you think? Supposedly the "X" model was a limited edition so I guess I need to act fast :wink:

The anti-shake is only for still pictures. Like the gopro it doesn't have that feature. I bought editing software to do the image stabilizing. I have looked at the software to do the calculations to stabilize the image. It take quite a bit of processing power (my laptop slow to a painful crawl while fixing the image). To see what it does you can watch what happened in the lower left corner of the screen on the video below. On this dive accidentally had the date stamp on the camera running. Essentially the image gets moved around to keep it centered and then the border is cropped so you don't see the edge of the image shaking. It works pretty well on the software, but it isn't perfect. The most important thing for any of these cameras is to move it SLOWLY and STEADILY while filming. The reason they have such wide angles is that the center of the image is stable, because it appears relatively far away. A regular middle distance lens would have to much trouble getting a stable image. Software will improve it, but if you are sloppy, the software isn't going to save it. What gets cropped off isn't much of a loss because it is pretty distorted anyway. But you need to have tight control of the camera movement. I bought an older edition of Corel Video Studio Pro for $25 on Amazon primarily for the image stabilizer.
[video=youtube;ZGoz0PyUEbA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoz0PyUEbA[/video]
 
if you want a great camera , get the SJ5000 + for $160 .. I use it all the time and it captures stunning video ... If you want a cheaper option get the ENKEN H9 ultra .. $60.00 its shoots 60 FPS with the Amberalla A7 Chip .... Another great camera is the Xiaomi Yi...
all can be found at Gearbest.. or other china websites.. banggood .etc..etc..
 
I'll let you know how the SJ500X Elite (different from the 5000X, and which is a 'limited' edition in the sense that they'll stop making them when the supply of older, lower-quality sensors, is finished) works when I get mine...hopefully before Cozumel in Dec.

The stabilization is for video. As far as I can tell, it's mainly intended for the drone crowd, where high-frequency low-amplitude movement (propeller blade vibration) is an issue...we'll see how it works at a walking pace, or with the camera movement found during diving.
 
If you want a cheaper option get the ENKEN H9 ultra .. $60.00 its shoots 60 FPS with the Amberalla A7 Chip ....
Does it really shoot true 60fps, or do they just double the frames as most of the other cheaper ones do. I looked quickly and could not find out.The SJCAM says 60 FPS but then state that it is not true 60 FPS, just double frames
 
as of A true 60 frames per second .... Im not sure ? , I produce all my video In sony Vegas Pro , And i can say that the Slow Mo is very impressive, both cameras shoot better resolution than a GoPro 3 Black ... Here is a clip Using the SJ5000 +... shot at 30 frames per second... the camera was just being Held in my hand during the whole dive ... the Slow Mo is great

https://youtu.be/AnezcEVFK6s

[video=youtube;AnezcEVFK6s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnezcEVFK6s[/video]
 
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I'll let you know how the SJ500X Elite (different from the 5000X, and which is a 'limited' edition in the sense that they'll stop making them when the supply of older, lower-quality sensors, is finished) works when I get mine...hopefully before Cozumel in Dec.

Where are you staying in Cozumel? I plan to be there the first or second week of December and so far the Scuba Club looks pretty good. I can get a free flight to Cancun but can't seem to find a flight from Cancun to San Miguel.

Perhaps I'll wait until they run out of the old image sensors :wink: The trouble is that it's difficult to use my phone underwater inside the blue plastic bag thing so I was hoping for something a little better before Cozumel.
 

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