Cheap Action Cam – Forumite.site

This topic has 18 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 5 months ago by Tippon.

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January 6, 2018 at 2:27 am #15308
Tippon
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@tippon
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Just wondering if this is any good:

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/evodx-compact-hd-1080p-sports-and-action-camera-kit-30m-waterproof-case-and-mount-set-EV-012

There’s currently a voucher offer so that it’s 50% off. Use SAVEEVO50 at the checkout and get the discount.

If it’s no good, this one on Ebuyer seems to be better, but also looks too good to be true for the price:

https://www.ebuyer.com/799892-dveetech-wifi-4k-action-camera-with-hd-screen-eb4kactioncam

Ideally, I want two cameras to fit to the motorbike, so they’d have to be able to handle wind and rain etc., but I’ve potentially got a few trips coming up this year, including a wedding in Finland, so weather protection as well as being able to quickly clip it to something would be handy. Problem is, I know bugger all about action cameras and what I should be looking for. If anyone’s got any ideas, or can point out what I’m missing, I’d be grateful 🙂
January 6, 2018 at 11:37 am #15318
PlaneMan
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@planeman
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My SJ400 from years ago is still going strong, the batteries area little weak and the height on my helmet was becoming an issue as I was trail breaking through forests on my fat bike, it got hung up on low branches a lot. I went for a Drift Stealth 2 as it’s a lot lower and way smaller.

Lots of the cheap action cameras are ‘decent’ enough, I got an Eken job a while back for my niece and nephew to use while skiing and that was about £35 for the whole kit. It’s fine for what they do.

A ‘bullet’ camera might be better for the front of the bike or helmet, much smaller and streamline. Techmoan is the site to look at.

Edit.

The cameras linked to in your post are clones of the SJCam series of cameras, they might be OK but research is needed.
January 6, 2018 at 4:24 pm #15345
Tippon
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@tippon
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Thanks PM 🙂

I’m hoping that I won’t bump into too many trees on the bike 😛 If I do take it on the bike, I’ll probably attach it to the bike itself. I’d thought about the bullet cameras, but there seem to be a lot more options for accessories with the GoPro style, so I’m probably going to stick to that style for now.

As an aside to this thread, if I do stick with an action cam, I’ll end up with the bullet style as I can fit two behind my sidelight and try to get 3d video. The sidelight is pretty much in the centre of the front of the bike, and is unused. That’s another ‘what if’ thread though 😛

I’ve just compared the specs of the Dveetech from Ebuyer with the SJ4000, and on paper they’re better. The reviews say that it’s good, so I may give this one a try. I’ve been looking for it online though, and can’t seem to find it anywhere else, not even on eBay, so that’s a downside.
January 6, 2018 at 4:44 pm #15347
PlaneMan
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@planeman
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Make sure you can get spares for whatever one you go for, they are available for the SJ4000 and are cheap. 2 batteries and a dual charger are about £10.
January 6, 2018 at 6:13 pm #15348
The Duke
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@sgb101
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Xiaomi do great action cams. On par with go pro but well cheaper. The 1080p on is £50 on amazon, when new it bettered the current go pro in every way bar sound iirc. They sell a 4k one for about £160 witch is cheaper than go pro, but over kill unless your making proper videos.

YI Action Camera 16MP HD Sport Camera Waterproof, 1080P/60fps 720P/30fps ,155 Wide Angle Sony Sensor, WiFi and Bluetooth, Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016MAUHOK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_2eruAbJ5HQNDD
January 6, 2018 at 7:32 pm #15349
Drezha
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@drezha
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The Sena looks good on the Techmoan website. However, it doesn’t look like it would easily fit my cycle helmet so it looks like that’s out 🙁

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett
January 6, 2018 at 7:53 pm #15350
PlaneMan
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@planeman
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The Yi cams are supposed to be great, when I looked at them last the spares and accessories were hard to get, if they existed at all.

That may well have changed.

Had another look at the ebuyer one and that is as far as I can tell the same chassis as my SJ400 which means spare waterproof cases and accessories should be available cheap. I’d put a small wager on the batteries being the same as well. Luckily for Ryan I have a few spare batts and a waterproof case that isn’t being used right now so they are available for a loan to check.
January 7, 2018 at 12:17 am #15353
Tippon
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@tippon
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Thanks guys 🙂

PlaneMan wrote:

The Yi cams are supposed to be great, when I looked at them last the spares and accessories were hard to get, if they existed at all. That may well have changed. Had another look at the ebuyer one and that is as far as I can tell the same chassis as my SJ400 which means spare waterproof cases and accessories should be available cheap. I’d put a small wager on the batteries being the same as well. Luckily for Ryan I have a few spare batts and a waterproof case that isn’t being used right now so they are available for a loan to check.

This is one of the things I’m worried about. Because the brand is unknown, I’d have to rely on it being compatible. Looking at their respective sites though, the measurements for the SJ4000 and the Dveetech are pretty close. The SJ4000 is 59.2×29.8×41 mm and the Dveetech is 59×29×40 mm. I imagine that both have a small amount of wiggle room too, given the low price points.

PlaneMan wrote:

Luckily for Ryan I have a few spare batts and a waterproof case that isn’t being used right now so they are available for a loan to check.

That would be brilliant, thank you 🙂 I’ve pretty much convinced myself to get the Dveetech I think, so if you fancy it, I can pop down and meet you somewhere once it arrives, and let you have a play with it too.

Just got to convince Ellen that it’s an early birthday present to myself now ?
January 7, 2018 at 2:33 am #15354
wasbit
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@wasbit
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Another vote for the SJCam & the Techmoan site.

Although they can be used as a dashcam, I bought mine for use on the bike. It came with about 10 different fittings in the box, including an under water housing.

I mount mine on the handlebars or take it off & clip it to my top shirt pocket with a piece of plastic as a stiffener. Just keep forgetting to turn it off when shopping.

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wasbit

Rig 1: Optiplex 3050 SFF
Rig 2: Asus ROG G20CB (rebuilt wreck)
Rig 3: HP Elitebook 8440P

Dear Starfleet, hate you, hate the Federation, taking Voyager. - Janeway
January 7, 2018 at 10:17 am #15360
PlaneMan
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Tippon wrote:

That would be brilliant, thank you I’ve pretty much convinced myself to get the Dveetech I think, so if you fancy it, I can pop down and meet you somewhere once it arrives, and let you have a play with it too.

No problem, we can meet halfway or something.
January 8, 2018 at 12:19 am #15456
Tippon
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@tippon
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I’ve just noticed a potential problem with the Dveetech – It wants up to a Class 10 card, and not higher. My guess is that the specs were written a while back, but according to this:

https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/speed_class/

Class 10 isn’t fast enough for Full HD, never mind 4K.

Is this something worth worrying about, or am I just overthinking it?
January 8, 2018 at 10:19 am #15465
PlaneMan
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@planeman
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I’ve always used class 10 marked cards for 4k recording in my LG G4 and G5, never had an issue. The cards themselves are quicker than class 10, usually around 20-30 MB/s.

Use similar cards in both the SJ400 and Drift Stealth 2, again no issues. I have a U1 (class 10) rated card in my LG 360 Cam, the card itself is way quicker than that, it’s needed for 360 video.

As long as the cards you use are actually class 10 or faster you should be fine.
January 8, 2018 at 10:15 pm #15487
Tippon
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@tippon
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Cool. Thanks 🙂
January 9, 2018 at 1:43 am #15493
wasbit
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@wasbit
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In case anyone is interested, Aldi have a Reka HD Action Camera on special from Thursday (11th Jan) – £29.99

– https://www.aldi.co.uk/reka-hd-action-camera/p/082026192824300

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wasbit

Rig 1: Optiplex 3050 SFF
Rig 2: Asus ROG G20CB (rebuilt wreck)
Rig 3: HP Elitebook 8440P

Dear Starfleet, hate you, hate the Federation, taking Voyager. - Janeway
January 9, 2018 at 4:02 am #15494
Tippon
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@tippon
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Thanks Wasbit, but I bought the Dveetech earlier tonight 🙂
January 16, 2018 at 3:04 pm #15744
Tippon
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@tippon
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The cameras arrived on Saturday, but other than a quick play with one, I hadn’t had a chance to look at them properly yet, until today.

From the quick play on the weekend, I’m underwhelmed by the low light quality. I need to have a proper look at them, but in a room with the lights on and light shades, it was difficult to make out details.

I’m pretty annoyed with the case. I managed to drop one of the cameras earlier, about three feet onto wood flooring, and it’s compressed the foam studs that hold the camera in place, meaning the buttons on the case can’t reach, so don’t work. It did save the camera, so did its job, but surely an action cam should be able to take a bit of a beating?

On the bright side, the camera seems decent enough in good light, and has plenty of options. The slow motion setting is fun, and the fact that it can be controlled through a phone is very handy. I’ll give it a proper test in the next few days and report back.
January 16, 2018 at 4:45 pm #15747
PlaneMan
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@planeman
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That sucks about the case, I managed to crack the mounting points on my original SJ4000 case but that was a high speed run into a low branch. The case was still useable but I got a new one from ebay.

I never bothered with the app on my phone for the Drift Stealth 2 after playing around with it, it was hit and miss at best for control but downloading footage worked fine.
September 28, 2019 at 4:52 pm #37078
PlaneMan
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@planeman
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I’ve just bagged a Action Camera from Argos for £15. It’s a clone of my SJ4000 but with WiFi.

The battery’s are identical as is the waterproof case. The battery release isn’t as good on the £15 one, you need a blade or small screwdriver to release the hatch, on the SJ400 it’s a sliding catch.

The accessories are fine, nothing special but should do the job if called upon.

None of my SJ400 battery’s are charged so I’m waiting for the new camera to charge before I can have a play with it.
September 30, 2019 at 11:31 pm #37129
Tippon
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@tippon
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Sorry, I thought I’d posted here too. The Dveetech is £15 now on Ebuyer. Here’s a Facebook post I put up about it:

There’s a decent 4K action cam for £15 on Ebuyer at the minute. It’s an SJ4000 clone, so a clone of a clone, but it’s compatible with GoPro accessories. I’ve got one and it’s pretty good. If you can cope with my dodgy riding, there’s a video here shot on a helmet mount in the rain:

https://youtu.be/XXL6n9_pn4c

The wind noise is pretty bad, but that was the first time I used it, so I haven’t looked into muffling it yet.

https://www.ebuyer.com/799892-dveetech-wifi-4k-action-camera-with-hd-screen-eb4kactioncam
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