[Prime] Fixing.DIY Black 12MP Full HD 1080P Bicycle Motorcycle Ski Helmet Sports DV Action Waterproof Car Video Camera SJ4000

I purchased this camera to record my scuba diving adventures and other high motion events. My buddy had a GoPro, but had limited success. When he almost lost his camera, I went searching and found this one. One thing I will say is that the firmware on this camera (June 2015) was awesome; this model unlike others allowed you take a picture while shooting video with the bottom button as well as digital zoom. The clear case was fine at 100ft plus depths. Despite loosing the camera due to using an aftermarket wrist mount on a boat dive, the price to replace the unit and microSD card was still less than the price of the cheapest GoPro camera by about 66%.
(Use the steel mini cables and/or lanyard as backup)*
The pictures and video were awesome. Note: some of the other reviews mention picture issues – the camera cannot make-up for poor lighting or photography techniques. I would recommend an extra light fixture that uses the same kind of batteries.
Finally, format your card after you transfer your media. This will help with if you use your cards in multiple items like a phone or mp3 player.
Great firmware, HD 1080P, and 170 degree, and picture/video format make this camera a very good alternative.

 Note: I have no idea what Amazon is doing to the uploaded videos but the uploaded sample is NOT representative of what this camera records and I have deleted it from my review.

I purchased this camera for use on a quadcopter as a cheap alternative to using an expensive GoPro Hero3. I can not confirm that this is a genuine SJ4000 camera because there is no SJCAM labels or logo on the box or camera but with that said my first impressions are good, this camera comes with all sorts of attachments that are compatible with GoPro mounting brackets. The housing of course is not cross compatible as the buttons are in different places.

This camera is much lighter than a GoPro but it is also a little bit thicker so it may not fit in open or closed frame camera mounts made for the GoPro. It comes with a small but usable 1.5″ built in screen and internal speaker for viewing back videos and photos. There are a number of settings in the camera menu such as resolution, quality, exposure, HDR and manual ISO to fine tune the image to your needs. The recorded video is of good quality with sharp detail while providing a Field of View close to what the GoPro has and playback is seamless with no dropped frames at 1080P, the color rendering and exposure are not as good as the GoPro but acceptable for a $51 camera.

Where this camera shows its weakness is when it is pointed towards the sun, the lens makeup is obviously of poor quality as it washes out with sun flare but once again it is still acceptable but nowhere near the pro quality of the GoPro lens. Still images are decent but the exposure timing is low when used indoors so it can be expected that this camera will only perform well in brightly lit settings. The camera has settings for a dash cam where when plugged into a key controlled power outlet the camera will turn on and off when the car is used and record video files at 3, 5 and 10 minute blocks and once the internal (32GB max) card is full it will cycle back over the oldest recordings. There is also a motion setting to trigger recording when the camera senses motion within its FoV.

This camera while it looks and pretends to be a GoPro replacement will do a fine job if you are looking for a “No frills” low priced camera but if you are looking for pro quality color and exposure then you would be better looking elsewhere.

I did have an issue with the waterproof case where the C-clip washer holding one of the buttons in place came off while I was using it under water and it started to leak as the air inside wanted to push the button out. I had to hold the button in place until I was able to get out of the water. The camera did not get damaged but it did get wet. Applying some type of retaining compound on the clip should keep it from coming off so keep that in mind.

Pros:

Clear sharp video
Built in screen and speaker
Light weight (60 grams vs 74 grams for GoPro Hero3)
Comes with lots of mounting accessories that are compatible with GoPro mounts
Easy to understand menus
Can be used as a dedicated dash cam

Cons:

Poor quality lens has very strong lens flare when pointed towards sun causing color washout
Thicker than GoPro so it may not fit in open or closed mounts made for the GoPro
Low sensor sensitivity so it will not perform as well as GoPro in low light conditions
Color and Exposure control not as good as the GoPro
Waterproof case can leak if retaining c-clip comes off any of the buttons.

First two uploaded pictures are from video frame grabs, the third is from the still camera setting.

Hmm…. I bought a Hero3 when they first came out for 400. This thing is as good of resolution, better menus, more buttons for settings, has a screen, charges quickly, works great underwater… for 50!?? amazing price to performance here 🙂

Must have for the GoPro replica, comes with 900mah battery which lasts maybe 1&1/2 hours, these 1100mah batteries last like 2 hours or more & you have 2 & a charger & the original battery, that basically covers the entire 6&1/2 hours of memory on the 32gb card. I tried a 64gb card it said it would give me over 9 hours of video at 1080p, but when I recorded it was a little jumpy so I guess 64gb don’t really work, but it doesn’t matter because 32gb is more then enough.