anyone here have any experience of the sjcam 5000 plus (highest spec of its brand), seems to be an alternative to the go-pro, but costs around £95 from amazon like most other snowheads on this thread I am no steven Spielberg but would like to be able to take half decent action shots of the kids first ski holiday, and would hope this would do the job at a 1/4 of the price. have looked at online reviews and they seem reasonably positive, but as usual am relying on other snowheads for an honest appraisal.
cheers
terry
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sun 27-12-15 21:39; edited 2 times in total
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I got a sj4000 wifi recently for £54 and will be trialling it in a few weeks in mayrhofen. Will let you know how it performs.
So far it's doing well set up as a dash cam in my daily driver.
@terrygasson, the highest specced SJcam is the SJ 5000X ELITE.
I was in the market for an action camera myself and took a really close look at the SJ 5000x Elite.
Eventually I rejected it as a lot of early adopters were complaining about a rather poor quality of sound as well as a white balance issue (when shooting indoors, white colours have a yellowish hue).
I also looked at GitUp Git2 which is another very highly specced camera.
After a thorough research I ordered a Firefly 6S, which seems to be capable of capturing great quality images and has decent sound quality.
It has a Gyro image stabiliser.
Read quite a few reviews and watched a lot of video footage, in the end, what chiefly swayed me towards the Firefly 6S were these two clips:
Seemingly pretty close to the GoPro Hero Black but at a 1/4 of the cost (by the time you bought all the accessories for the Gopro) and clearly produces much better quality images than either the SJcam or the Git2.
As I understand it, the sj4000 (which I have) is a close copy of the gopro and is okay for it's price. Comes with a lot of accessories, too.
The SJ5000 is nothing to do with the 4000, just another Chinese firm cashing in on it's success by cloning the clone.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
The Firefly 6S has a great image sensor coupled with the not so good Novatech chipset. It doesn't do real 4k because although the imager is capable of it the Novatech chipset isn't, it does somethink like 2.8K. The optical image stabilization is a good idea though. I couldn't much information about bitrates, it seems to push through about 25kbps in 1080p which is a bit low. The crucial things for quality are:-
1. lens
2. compression - better chipsets like the Ambarella can do better image compression
3. bit rates - more bits, more quality for the same level of compression
next up would be how good a community exists around the camera and what quality accessories are available. Here gopro and 100% compatible clones are in a league of their own.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Vitesse2l, not really.
The SJ4000 uses a completely different image sensor, lens, software etc, so no, it isn't a close copy of the gopro.
Unless by a "close copy of the gopro" you are referring to the form factor/dimensions?
The SJ4000 is more than "ok" for its price - it's great!
SJcam produces both the SJ4000 and SJ5000.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@davidof, I was aware that it doesn't shoot at true 4K, but I've no interest in shooting in 4K. I will mainly be shooting in 1080p @ 60fps.
Novatech, while not the best, isn't such a bad chip. For instance, it enables it to shoot stills @ 11fps in burst mode - nice! Time lapse, slo - mo, lots of other neat features.
Whatever the compression algorythms are, in the end the proof of the pudding is in the eating and - for me at least, in the clip I posted above the FireFly had the best image quality of its competitors (bar the gopro).
The other ones seem to be struggling with the dynamic range, not being able to resolve the detail in dark shaddows.
The FireFly seems to be dealing with this easily.
It is actually dimensionally identical to the gopro 3 & 4, so plenty of accessories for it (though it already comes with a whole bunch of them).
One of the few things that I might be getting is the gopro 60m waterproof case, as I scuba dive (it comes with a 30m one).
Gyro image stabilisation was a major deciding factor as well - perfect for skiing!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@snowglider,
Quote:
Unless by a "close copy of the gopro" you are referring to the form factor/dimensions?
Yes.
I see there is a genuine SJ5000 now, as you say!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Youtube footage is heavily processed and you can not just compare the end image/video in yt and say its fine, unless that is your only output format. The source is key and as of right now the gopro is king, but at a premium in terms of price.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
snowglider wrote:
The other ones seem to be struggling with the dynamic range, not being able to resolve the detail in dark shaddows.
The FireFly seems to be dealing with this easily.
It has one of the best sensors on the market and that obviously shows. The optical stabilization is a very welcome feature for an action cam. Using the GoPro form factor is a no brainer as there are so many accessories.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@ansta1, quite.
I don't think that anybody would dispute that.
But while the GoPro Hero Black has better image quality, I don't think that it's 4x better. But the price is 4x higher (and that's before you start buying the accessories - which are included with the Firefly), further widening the gap.
But I can see why someone would pay 4x the price to have a top quality camera, if you want only the best and you're not on a budget (or, if you are on a budget but you still want the best)
Me, I think I will be happy with the FireFly.
@davidof, agreed!
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
thanks everyone for all your advice but must admit I am just as confused as before as so many options out there, but to be honest I think I will go for the sjcam5000 as I have been looking at it on and off for some time, and seems reasonable value for a entry level action cam compared to a go-pro, though if money no object am sure I would have gone for the high spec go-pro by now, will wait a couple of weeks to see if any reductions in the new year. just hope the snow starts to fall for feb to make the purchase worth it!!!!
cheers
terry
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
My wife bought me a GoPro Hero Session for Christmas and I used it for the first time on my bike yesterday. It is simple to use and half the size of a standard GoPro, they also have a deal at the moment on the GoPro website (free Sd card).
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
TAke a look at Dashcam talk for the cameras you are interested in, there is a lot of discussion, technical details, samples etc
@ansta1, quite.
I don't think that anybody would dispute that.
But while the GoPro Hero Black has better image quality, I don't think that it's 4x better. But the price is 4x higher (and that's before you start buying the accessories - which are included with the Firefly), further widening the gap.
But I can see why someone would pay 4x the price to have a top quality camera, if you want only the best and you're not on a budget (or, if you are on a budget but you still want the best)
Me, I think I will be happy with the FireFly.
@davidof, agreed!
Did you get a firefly in the end, and if so, how's it working out? Did you find the gyro useful on the snow footage? I'm looking for another cheapish camera after my sjcam went into hiding in the house (and will of course re-appear as soon as I've bought a replacement)
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Pejoli wrote:
I'm looking for another cheapish camera after my sjcam went into hiding in the house (and will of course re-appear as soon as I've bought a replacement)
That's bound to happen, isn't it?
Well, I did order it (from GearBest.com, incidently), but have never got it.
As my ski trip date loomed larger, I sent them 2 emails chasing my order up but have only got 2 auto responses from them, acknowledging my quiery.
It was not delivered on time for my trip and, shortly after my return, I received an email from them informing me that my order had been cancelled (?!) without any explanation as to why.
Seeing as I'm sidelined with an injury at the moment, I never bothered chasing it up, so I'm sorry to say that I can't help you with first - hand experience (other than perhaps advise you to stay away from GearBest).
Thanks for that, useful intel about GearBest, their prices do look too good to be true. I bought my sjcam from JooVuu last year, and had no problems (except I left it too late as well - got the jaunty 'we've just delivered your parcel' email from Royal Mail just as I was boarding the flight
anyone got any recommendations for other retailers? Lightinthebox look ok price wise.
Sorry to hear about the injury - hope you're on the mend!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Pejoli, I bought my sjcam5000 from amazon, was about £95 came after a couple of days, as I have no experience with the gopro I cannot compare the 2, but have been impressed with the quality, though the app was useless but i got an app for my phone from "linkineyes" and works perfectly.
Thanks for that, useful intel about GearBest, their prices do look too good to be true.
I've bought a lot of stuff from Gearbest without any issues but no doubt there are glitches, as with all retailers. Obviously they don't have Amazon's good customer service levels.
Note, I'm not recommending Gearbest in any way, just giving my experience.
FAQ
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