Imitation GoPro Cameras from China. Any Good?

[JamesBon92007]

I'm looking for a video camera and the prices and features of the SJ4000, SJ5000, SJ7000 etc. are very appealing. Are they junk or are they simply cheaper imitations of the GoPro cameras?

Thanks,

James

 

[Divetech99]

I got a SJ4000. It's inexpensive and you can get 5-6 of these for the price of a GoPro. Before getting it, my initial thoughts were -- it's just for fun while diving and if it floods I wouldn't feel so bad. After trying it out underwater, I was quite impressed. Quality and clarity of the videos are very good. Surprisingly good! Wifi works. You can move videos to your iPhone via wifi. Battery life is impressive at 96 minutes. Seems well built.

Small annoyances though: Each time you replace the battery for a fresh one, the date resets to default. The manual sucks. The iOS app is plain basic. It works but doesn't have some features like "transfer all videos via wifi " - you'll have to transfer each video one at a time.

Overall, No regrets getting the SJ4000 wifi. It's a cheap action cam that takes great videos for amateur purposes. It says rated to 30 meters but I haven't taken it past 50 feet. Read some reports that it works well at 30 meters while others says it will shut down past 50 feet. I guess I'll find out soon .

 

[raftingtigger]

I got a SJ4000. It's inexpensive and you can get 5-6 of these for the price of a GoPro. Before getting it, my initial thoughts were -- it's just for fun while diving and if it floods I wouldn't feel so bad. After trying it out underwater, I was quite impressed. Quality and clarity of the videos are very good. Surprisingly good! Wifi works. You can move videos to your iPhone via wifi. Battery life is impressive at 96 minutes. Seems well built. .

Where are you diving? Water clarity and light available? Often the difference shows up in lower light situations.

 

[3D diver]

Saw this review of the SJ4000 & SJ5000 in this morning's paper:

Sound Advice: This action camera is worth your money

He liked the SJ4000, said the SJ5000 has some bugs that deserve a firmware update, and warned there are a lot of counterfeit SJ cameras out there (even on amazon) suggesting you buy directly from the manufacturer at sjcam.com or from B&H photo.

 

[Pao]

My SJ4000 shuts down at around 30 meters. The housing flexes activating the power button.

Sent from my Underwood typewriter

 

[JamesBon92007]

Where are you diving? Water clarity and light available? Often the difference shows up in lower light situations.

There are numerous versions of these cameras and several different sensors so I suspect some might be much better than others, with at least one claiming better low-light capabilities than the others. I have read several reviews and they were all positive. Online reviews are OK but there's no substitute for comments from real divers who have actually used them.

The latest version that I have seen has specifications that appear to be equal to the GoPro with these features:

"Features:4K 10fps/1920x1440p 30fps/1920x1080p 60fps/VGA 240fps 2inch high definition screen
Time Lapse/Slow motion/Diving mode
WiFi and Waterproof Wrist remote control"

I'm having difficulty imagining a situation underwater where a remote control would be of any use but slow-motion might be fun. The keyword here from what everyone said seems to be "counterfeit." But does counterfeit necessarily mean poorer quality?


As for the power button being activated at 30M, well, that's what they say they are rated for. Now we know why When making camera housings in the past what was going to push on what at depth was always a consideration. I'm guessing they made a slight improvement because the above quoted version is rated for 50M. One video I saw was taken by a now-deceased diver in the Blue Hole and, according to what I think they said, the diver and camera were recovered from 81 meters and the video was just fine. I don't remember if they specified which particular camera was used. Perhaps is was an genuine GoPro.

 

[Divetech99]

My SJ4000 shuts down at around 30 meters. The housing flexes activating the power button.

Sent from my Underwood typewriter

Did it flood? I heard that if you put a coin in, it prevents the power button from being pushed. Not sure if this has been verified or where to insert the coin.

Well, at least it made it to 30m.

---------- Post added October 20th, 2015 at 06:39 PM ----------

As an additional question, is there a better version of the iOS app to control and receive the videos from an sj4000 through wifi. As mentioned the app on the Apple Store works but is too basic. If you have 50 video files, you gotta download then to your iPhone or iPad one at a time and even with wifi, it takes a while due, I guess, to the large file sizes.

 

[Pao]

Did it flood? I heard that if you put a coin in, it prevents the power button from being pushed. Not sure if this has been verified or where to insert the coin.

Well, at least it made it to 30m.

---------- Post added October 20th, 2015 at 06:39 PM ----------

As an additional question, is there a better version of the iOS app to control and receive the videos from an sj4000 through wifi. As mentioned the app on the Apple Store works but is too basic. If you have 50 video files, you gotta download then to your iPhone or iPad one at a time and even with wifi, it takes a while due, I guess, to the large file sizes.

No flooding. It just shuts down. You can turn it back on around 20 m. Interested in the "coin trick". Can you elaborate?

 

[Divetech99]

I'll try to look for where I saw it. But something like inserting a coin between the camera and case near the on/off button. So as pressure pushes the case in, it wouldn't force the on/off button in to shut the cam off.

Does anyone know if a real GoPro will continue to function beyond 30 meters?

 

[JamesBon92007]

Does anyone know if a real GoPro will continue to function beyond 30 meters?

So far I've found 35 meters and 60 meters listed as specs for the Hero 4 housing and could not find any depth specs for the entire package.A coin should work but personally I would want to distribute the pressure on the camera more evenly--a rectangle of clear plastic, perhaps? If it's possible to have the edges of the camera support the housing under pressure that would be even better.

---------- Post added October 21st, 2015 at 01:04 PM ----------

I got a SJ4000. The iOS app is plain basic. It works but doesn't have some features like "transfer all videos via wifi " - you'll have to transfer each video one at a time. .

In your opinion is the WiFi an unnecessary feature? Have you tried doing something such as opening two Windows Explorers and dragging and dropping the files? The reason I ask is because the ones without WiFi are amazingly cheap right now. No sense in paying extra for a feature that doesn't even work all that well.How is it for still photography? I've been using my Canon SLR with film and various lenses in a huge housing that I built and having the negatives transferred to CD. It takes good pictures and the digitized images are way better than I expected but it's big and heavy. Something small would be nice. Heck, I can't even take my old camera and housing on a plane without going through a lot of trouble to do it.