Was looking at the SJ7000 Wi-Fi Waterproof 1080p Action Camera mad in China. Has anybody tried one. I think it is an improved SJ4000. They are about 60 bucks. At that price you can mount them all over the plane

Tim

This W9C multi-functional sports DV, high-quality element to capture clear picture and shoot full HD videos. Durable waterproof design makes it more suitable for outdoor extreme risk. It supports 32GB TF card as the saving equipment, so scenery recording all the way won't be missed. With easy to use and high performance, it is really a wonderful action camcorder for you.

Features:
WiFi APP function
2.0 inch high resolution capturing 1080P FHD video
High-definition digital motion video recording device
Ultra compact and lightweight design
Video recording while charging
Crystal clear HDMI output
Support micro SD card up to 32GB (not included)
Perfect for outdoor sports, extreme sports, home security, car DVR, etc.
High-definition video recording
It is easy to take photos and videos
Versatile functions: It can record voice, still image and video
Waterproof shell, suitable for outdoor activity
170 degrees wide angle is perfect for catching more details
Ideal companion for sports and outdoor enthusiasts

With the amount of failure Go Pro has , I assume the one from China cannot be that much worse, at cheaper price.
Go for it and tell us about it how you like it.

I dont even use my GoPro anymore, freezes , wont start, wont record, wi fi will stops working.

I think unless you're really discriminating about lens sharpness and low light performance, and also have the means to process 4K video, these SJ$000 cameras are great inexpensive options.

There are many other players in the space like Yi and ThiEYE, but none as cheap at the SJ models.

motoadve wrote:With the amount of failure Go Pro has...

I have found the opposite in my experience. I have 4 or 5 of them and use them for work with good results. Like anything, they have quirks, but all and all they are solid. GoPro also has the best codec in the biz and great out of the box color. The only other POV cameras I have experience with are the older Contours.

Tim
I got a couple very low time, older video cameras if you are interested. Both were supposed to be good in their day. 1 Drift and 1 Kodak Sport.

motoadve wrote:With the amount of failure Go Pro has

Gopro has really tarnished their reputation by shipping some bad firmware from time to time. If you haven't already done so, or even if you have but it's been a while, check and see if there is a firmware update available for your camera. I had one that shipped with a buggy version and upgrading fixed it. No problems since.

On an slight tangent: I noticed yesterday that gopro has hired a very senior design guru away from Apple. Will be interesting to see the results of that hire.

The one I have is the GoPro Hero 3.
Last Oshkosh I brought my GoPro and the guys at the booth updated it, I put a new card, and worked fine for a couple of weeks.
Then again tried to power it up, wont start, I needed to remove battery, re insert (while flying and missed the video).

Then freezes , starts but nothing works (again remove the battery etc etc.)

Im pretty happy with my Sony AX 33 , although is not an action cam and has no mountings for the outside of the plane.So its not the same.

Im looking for a new and reliable action camera , waiting to see how the GoPro Hero 5 turns out to be, or what new stuff comes out.
I do like the video editor from GoPro though.

I recently purchased a Gopro Hero 5. I am really pleased with it. There is a little learning curve, but with a good mount, it captures some outstanding flying footage. I use the iphone app to control it. There are quirks in connectivity and battery life is reduced, but once the devices are communicating, it's super slick. I don't use the Gopro software for editing.

Here is the first video that I shot with the Hero 5. I was totally impressed with the low light performance.



The accessories that I run with the camera are a significant contributor to the quality of the footage. I am about $575 in to the setup, which is pretty high, but should be good for several years yo come.

Mounting, setting, starting, stopping and monitoring an action camera takes attention away from flying matters. Multiple action cameras would likely begin to saturate the attention units available pretty quickly.

One of my big complaints with the 4 and earlier versions was its bad fisheye.
Your beautiful footage seems to have much less fisheye have they changed the FOV with this new version do you know?

Tom

I have three of the Hero 4 Session cameras, along with one of the 360Fly golfball cameras. The GoPro's have been fine so far, and the little Session cams are nice and tiny. Coupled with the NFlightCam metal case, it's rock solid on the plane and their case lets you put standard screw-in camera filters on - like an ND filter to eliminate prop blur, or a polarized filter if you want to cut glare. I did the last one in Maui this summer with one pointed straight down into the ocean and it worked pretty well.

The GoPro remote has been a piece of shit though, it always loses connection to the cameras. This isn't usually an issue for me, unless I'm flying more than a couple hours over boring stuff and just want a few interesting shots. Otherwise I just turn them on right before I crank the engine, and edit out the lame stuff later. My only real complaint with the session is the internal-only battery. Even with a massive card I'm still limited to about 2 hours until it dies. Since I typically mount them externally using a WingIt mount, or this tiedown clamp thing I got for "from the tail" shots, in-flight refueling of the camera is tricky.

I've debated just strapping a small juice pack to the wing and wiring them up to it to get a bunch more battery life, but my gut is just telling me that can go badly unless I plan it carefully. Wires, lithium batteries, no more waterproofing, etc can all cause problems. I also saw a little battery extender for them a company is doing on kickstarter, but I don't think it will be compatible with the NFlightCam cases, and those are non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned.

Scolopax wrote:I recently purchased a Gopro Hero 5. I am really pleased with it. There is a little learning curve, but with a good mount, it captures some outstanding flying footage. I use the iphone app to control it. There are quirks in connectivity and battery life is reduced, but once the devices are communicating, it's super slick. I don't use the Gopro software for editing.

Here is the first video that I shot with the Hero 5. I was totally impressed with the low light performance.

The accessories that I run with the camera are a significant contributor to the quality of the footage. I am about $575 in to the setup, which is pretty high, but should be good for several years yo come.

Mounting, setting, starting, stopping and monitoring an action camera takes attention away from flying matters. Multiple action cameras would likely begin to saturate the attention units available pretty quickly.

What are you using for filter (so prop looks fine)

motoadve wrote:

Scolopax wrote:I recently purchased a Gopro Hero 5. I am really pleased with it. There is a little learning curve, but with a good mount, it captures some outstanding flying footage. I use the iphone app to control it. There are quirks in connectivity and battery life is reduced, but once the devices are communicating, it's super slick. I don't use the Gopro software for editing.

Here is the first video that I shot with the Hero 5. I was totally impressed with the low light performance.

The accessories that I run with the camera are a significant contributor to the quality of the footage. I am about $575 in to the setup, which is pretty high, but should be good for several years yo come.

Mounting, setting, starting, stopping and monitoring an action camera takes attention away from flying matters. Multiple action cameras would likely begin to saturate the attention units available pretty quickly.

What are you using for filter (so prop looks fine)

This is the rest of my setup:

Strut Mount: https://everythingaviationcameras.com/p ... rut-mount/

Ball Mount Adapter: https://everythingaviationcameras.com/p ... let-mount/

Camera Case: https://everythingaviationcameras.com/p ... ase-mount/

Filter Kit: https://everythingaviationcameras.com/p ... low-light/

The mounting equipment is all very high quality machined/anodized aluminum. The systems looks slick and well thought out. It wasn't super cheap, but actually pretty inexpensive considering what I received. The video was shot at 30 fps, which I think is a big contributor to the minimal prop artifacting.

a3holerman wrote:One of my big complaints with the 4 and earlier versions was its bad fisheye.
Your beautiful footage seems to have much less fisheye have they changed the FOV with this new version do you know?

Tom

You can change the FOV, which I'm sure is just digital. This was shot on "wide".

It doesn't fisheye as much as previous Gopros.

Thanks for the info, considering a new Go Pro 5 in the future.

I had a Go Pro 4 black. When mounted externally, you had to turn on the camera prior to takeoff, and lave it in standby mode. Then you could turn it on with the remote from inside the plane. BUT, after a few minutes of idling, the camera would power down, and when you tried to record with the remote, no go...pro.

So only way I could see to use it was to record from the got to, which meant filling up cards and a lot of editing. Maybe there was a way around that, but the camera just required a lot of fiddling, and I'm not that interested in fiddling with gadgets like these.

On the other hand, my old Drift camera works great, and is super simple to use.

Thinking about buying one of the newest Garmin or Drift cameras.

It's also really nice to be able to mount the camera on a short mount, and be able to "level" the image, regardless of camera angle.

Clearly, the Go Pros have a lot of fans, but they arent very user friendly, and clearly not designed to use on the outside of a plane.

MTV

So has anybody tried the cheap china models?

Tim

That go pro 5 footage looks nice!...

I have a Sony as100v action cam.. they have a new 4k model out that beat the gopro in quality on most of the vs. tests I looked at... plus longer battery life.. decent amount of mounts out for these (not as good as go pro selection). But pretty pricey at maybe just a little cheaper than the gopro.... not experience with the china stuff so I can't comment there.

Scolopax wrote:Here is the first video that I shot with the Hero 5. I was totally impressed with the low light performance.

The accessories that I run with the camera are a significant contributor to the quality of the footage. I am about $575 in to the setup, which is pretty high, but should be good for several years yo come.

There's a some vignetting in that video.... is that from that aluminum case, or the filters screwed on to the front?

Chris

airChris wrote:There's a some vignetting in that video.... is that from that aluminum case, or the filters screwed on to the front?

Chris

I was using a low light prop filter. You can only see that effect while the airplane is rolling. At a constant bank angle, it goes away. It's nothing that I did intentionally.