Imitation GoPro Cameras from China. Any Good?

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I shall now attempt to upload a video I took today in Costa Rica.

I'd like to see that video. I had great success with my 'El Cheapo' and at 100' had no issues with buttons, leaks, etc.

Would I have rather had a GoPro? Yes, and I'd like a Ferrari to drive too.

These cameras have a place in the economics of things.
 

I just got back from Grand Cayman and dove the DiveTech Guardian of the Reef. I believe the SJCAM SJ4000wifi does very good underwater video. My deepest was 65 feet.
 
So far I have not figured out how to upload a video but here's a Youtube link:


Unfortunately the visibility was not great and the sun was not shining but at least I got the shot.

If I can figure out how to snip out a segment of the video I took before my camera stopped working (not the camera's fault) I will post that. The trouble with that one is that I used the camera the day before and did not clean the filter so it has spots from salt deposits.
 
I'd like to see that video. I had great success with my 'El Cheapo' and at 100' had no issues with buttons, leaks, etc.

Would I have rather had a GoPro? Yes, and I'd like a Ferrari to drive too.

These cameras have a place in the economics of things.

Hmmm... I got round-trip airfare to Kona, Hi for less than the price difference between my camera and a GoPro. So far my camera seems to do just as good of a job as the comparable GoPro Videos that I've seen. Now I just need to go back to Cozumel where the water is clear so I can get some good videos and prove it :wink:
 
On my video I have the white balance set to Daylight and I'm not using a red (or any other) filter. I also have it set to 720 dpi @ 60 fps, hoping to get the smoothest video.

I recently got the similar DBPower EX5000. $50 on Amazon. 2" screen on the back and wifi- so you can pull the videos right off your camera and put them on your phone for upload/instagram and such. Just got the little red gopro filter which I'll try out this weekend. Guess you need to get really really close to stuff with the super wide angle lens. Image quality is pretty close to GoPro level. Auto White balance is lousy. Other than that- it's been a great little camera so far.

one thing that I've noticed is that the 60Hz mode- really isn't. oh, it gives you 60hz, but it does it by copying the 30hz frames. So, you get two of each of the same frame. There's really no reason to use it.
 
I recently got the similar DBPower EX5000. $50 on Amazon. 2" screen on the back and wifi- so you can pull the videos right off your camera and put them on your phone for upload/instagram and such. Just got the little red gopro filter which I'll try out this weekend. Guess you need to get really really close to stuff with the super wide angle lens. Image quality is pretty close to GoPro level. Auto White balance is lousy. Other than that- it's been a great little camera so far.

one thing that I've noticed is that the 60Hz mode- really isn't. oh, it gives you 60hz, but it does it by copying the 30hz frames. So, you get two of each of the same frame. There's really no reason to use it.

Someone mentioned that about the 60 frames per second being double-up (was that you?) but when I did some experiments with the various settings it seemed like the 720 dpi looked the best. I tried the auto white balance and it kept changing color temperature balance while panning etc. Now I have it on Daylight and that seems to be OK. As time goes on I'll play around with the settings and see which I like the best. Now that I'm more adept at changing the settings doing it underwater should be fairly easy but I'll need to write it on a slate or something so I can keep track. I bought a red filter for a GoPro and modified but it's not yet secure. I'm still hoping to find a filter set that will fit on my housing without too much modification. Plus I've been reading about the different filters and want to try orange and yellow too. At least two manufacturers have a "Dive" filter that appears to be orange. So far, at less than around 40-50 feet the red filter seems a little too red but is fine once you get deep enough. I tried a pink filter for snorkeling and it was good. I'm going to the Mexican Caribbean next month and will try to get over to Cozumel and find out for sure just how good my camera is (or is not :wink: )
When I did the Manta Ray Night Dive at Kona last March I did not use a color filter and the color balance was pretty good with the light source being dozens of LED flashlights.
 
I've got the SW (Shallow water) and BG (blue-green, for deeper water) filters from Eelvision (available on Amazon). dirt cheap- but they go on the inside of the case, so you can't change them on the fly. they both seem to work pretty well for their intended purpose, but I'm not very particular (or I wouldn't be filming with a $50 gopro knockoff).
 
I've got the SW (Shallow water) and BG (blue-green, for deeper water) filters from Eelvision (available on Amazon). dirt cheap- but they go on the inside of the case, so you can't change them on the fly. they both seem to work pretty well for their intended purpose, but I'm not very particular (or I wouldn't be filming with a $50 gopro knockoff).

For now I just want to try the "outside" filters until I have a better idea of what I want.

Hopefully I'll know for sure soon but the way I see it the GoPro would have to be tens times as good as my SJ7000 in order to justify the price. Part of my reluctance to spending the money comes from my past experience: way back when I bought the expensive Canon SLR (film camera), a very expensive macro lens, wide angle lens, the best strobe I could find etc. and spent months constructing a housing for it which included two different macro ports plus a wide-angle dome port (which I blew myself). Then it all suddenly became obsolete and Canon does not make a digital camera body that will fit my housing or utilize my lenses. In any case the SJ7000 has already proven to be much better than the Super 8 that I used to shoot underwater :wink:
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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