GJC
Contributor
Have you considered an Intova camera? Similar to Gopro in features but I find that the battery lasts a lot longer on a charge. Less expensive than Gopro. Leisurepro carries them as well as a lot of other dive stores.
Video on a budget - Brand vs specs: Old reliable GoPro tech or new knock-off tech?
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Katie L
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GJC
Contributor
I use a filter made by Intova to fit the camera and I've been happy with the results. I think it cost about $30, but it might have been a little more. Look on Amazon for Intova filters. The camera has a Dive Mode that adds some red, but I find the filter does a better job and it's easier for me to take off the filter than change the camera setting if I want to use it out of the water. If you want the best colors, you're going to have to get a really powerful video light.
My son has a Gopro, and I like the Intova better than the Gopro because it has a screen on the back and his Gopro doesn't, and the Intova battery lasts a lot longer on a charge. My son is lucky if the Gopro lasts 1 dive.
I don't have any experience with the Chinese Gopro clones. I suspect you probably are not going to get great customer service from China. But if you just consider the camera disposable if anything goes wrong, that may be the way to go if you want the lowest initial cost.
My son has a Gopro, and I like the Intova better than the Gopro because it has a screen on the back and his Gopro doesn't, and the Intova battery lasts a lot longer on a charge. My son is lucky if the Gopro lasts 1 dive.
I don't have any experience with the Chinese Gopro clones. I suspect you probably are not going to get great customer service from China. But if you just consider the camera disposable if anything goes wrong, that may be the way to go if you want the lowest initial cost.
KDAD
Contributor
For $80 I got the SJCAM 4000. Works great and comes with all of the accessories. Bought a spare battery and SD card. The only other thing I bought for it was a mask with GoPro mount from DRIS. No red filter needed. Lot of threads here on them and lots of videos posted that were taken on them.
For the mask mount slow movements are needed so you don't get choppy video. I struggle because I like to look all over the place so I don't miss anything but I am working on it. I like having the cam on the mask. Keeps it out of the way and the video is unobstructed.
I do want to get a red filter but being that I only spent $80 on the camera I don't want to spend more than $5 on the filter and there is too much junk at that price point. Waiting to make my own. I will only be using it for green water.
Here is a thread on the Chinese cameras. Just make sure you get SJCAM and not a knockoff. Knockoffs of knockoffs are no good!
For the mask mount slow movements are needed so you don't get choppy video. I struggle because I like to look all over the place so I don't miss anything but I am working on it. I like having the cam on the mask. Keeps it out of the way and the video is unobstructed.
I do want to get a red filter but being that I only spent $80 on the camera I don't want to spend more than $5 on the filter and there is too much junk at that price point. Waiting to make my own. I will only be using it for green water.
Here is a thread on the Chinese cameras. Just make sure you get SJCAM and not a knockoff. Knockoffs of knockoffs are no good!
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Katie L
Contributor
Hooooly crap, I've been watching diving videos taken with the XiamiYi 4K (shot @1080p) and it is actually incredible! Absolutely comparable to the Hero 4 Black, and surprisingly good in low light. Also, unlike a lot of the Chinese cams, it seems to be well regarded by tech writers from sites I'm familiar with.
$200 before the case & accessories (booo) so it would probably put me at least $50 over budget, but I'd be hard pressed to find a decent used GoPro Hero 4 Silver at that price anyway.
Seriously thinking about it....They have a $99 one but I haven't seen any budget camera produce diving video as good as this one. (Though I'm sure I'll still have a great time diving if I just spend $80...priorities).
So after all this I'm leaning toward spending more and getting the knockoff! Oops.
$200 before the case & accessories (booo) so it would probably put me at least $50 over budget, but I'd be hard pressed to find a decent used GoPro Hero 4 Silver at that price anyway.
Seriously thinking about it....They have a $99 one but I haven't seen any budget camera produce diving video as good as this one. (Though I'm sure I'll still have a great time diving if I just spend $80...priorities).
So after all this I'm leaning toward spending more and getting the knockoff! Oops.
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remember that a lot of these cameras are going to be made in the same factory, so while you may not get the support of the big gopro company, that doesn't mean the guts of them aren't the same....
Intova has been blown out of the water by recent developments and have unfortunately left themselves behind. Several years ago I would have agreed that they were an option worth looking at, but not anymore unfortunately
Intova has been blown out of the water by recent developments and have unfortunately left themselves behind. Several years ago I would have agreed that they were an option worth looking at, but not anymore unfortunately
I don't use a red filter as white balancing on the pc after gives good results and a few people warned me off red filters as it apparently reduces the overall quantity of light getting to the small lens aperture on action cams. If you really want to see the reds pop you need video lights but I haven't got as far as experimenting with them yet.
It's worth carrying a small white slate with a black and a mid grey strip on to capture reference tones on camera whenever the light changes or you change depth if not using lights. I use NCH Videopad for post production and it has an automatic white balance feature that allows you to pick the reference tones from the footage.
It's worth carrying a small white slate with a black and a mid grey strip on to capture reference tones on camera whenever the light changes or you change depth if not using lights. I use NCH Videopad for post production and it has an automatic white balance feature that allows you to pick the reference tones from the footage.
jfe
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Where has Intova fallen behind? They seem to have new products with good features. Where does GoPro surpass Intova in the current product offerings?
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The new X2 is what I'm using for reference. Lack of external battery bacpac is a huge one for me in cave diving. They claim up to 2 hours, but in reality at 1080 it's usually around 1. I couldn't care less about 4k at this point, but others do, and the user interface is not quite as easy.
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