Glass
23rd March 2015, 12:06 AM
Another installment of crap Glass bought on T'internet.
I picked up one of these small action cameras that are a Go Pro wanna be. This one is a re-engineering of the SJCAM 4000 action camera. The SJ4000 has a rectangular form factor with the lens off set to one side. This camera is a cube shape and the lens is now positioned centrally on the face, however it is not dead centre, it is a little higher than the middle but DeadCent left to right.
This is what they look like:
http://www.foxoffer.com/images/SJCAM/SJCAM%20M10_5.jpg
On the reverse is a small 1.2" LCD screen and there are two buttons on the top for Power and Menu select as well as a small LED light that flashes or not depending whether the camera is recording or not.
The camera records to a Micro SD card. Needs class 6 or above. I use class 10 x 32Gb brand name cards. For the cost of cards it's worth it to avoid the hassles of failed recordings or other issues.
There are a few fake SJ4000's out there now and if you get a fake, you cannot update the fake with the SJCAM's own firmware. A lot of reports that some buttons do not work and the functions of other buttons are swapped around.
The unit comes with a removable battery which I have not had on the other cameras I bought, dash cam and that small spy cam PoS I bought a while back. The battery looks just like a small digital camera battery. It is easy to remove via a small panel. The battery is rated for 1.5 hrs of continuous recording. I found that to be very accurate in testing. The battery lasts exactly 1.5 hours.
It has an in built mic and speaker although I have not used either. It does record sound by default.
Menu it fairly straight forward to use. Looks familar for these little cameras. You can set all sorts of things, time date stamp, length of your clips, auto delete old recordings and you also have some camera exposure settings. The camera can take snap shots and can do things like 1 shot every x minutes. Not quite time lapse, you would have to drop them into a slideshow app and compile the time lapse movie from the snap shots.
WiFi. The camera comes with WiFi and is basically a WiFi hub. You turn on WiFi, connect your phone or tablet then launch the App. I use Android. Don't know about iPhone. The WiFi can stream the live video from the camera. The App can record that stream. You can also download and view recorded footage to your phone or tablet device. Takes a while to download before viewing though.
The WiFi could be handy to view what the camera is focused on if it is mounted and you cannot see the LCD screen.
I was not able to change the WiFi SSID or the password from the default. The interface did not respond on those settings screens. Still waiting an answer from SJCAM but I am told they don't generally reply to support inquires.
A ton of accessories in the box. A water proof case, a slotted back cover for the water proof case to put a strap through - not water proof when doing this.... some one posted a video where they has changed the back cover to the slotted one, then promptly put it in a trough of water only to discover it was no longer water proof. Duh? i have not tried waterproofedness.
Bike mount - needed to get some other bolts and some spacers to get it around the seat post. Mine is thicker than regular bikes. It should work ok on a regular size bike like a road or town bike without any mods. Using the water proof case I can get this camera in just the right position for what I want. I want to video vehicles approaching from behind in case I get clipped. I get a fair few close calls.
Other brackets, various extension or extra articulation brackets. Some velcro straps for strapping to things like bike seat bars, molly webbing on packs. A couple of tripod screw adapter mounts. No suction mounts. Some back plates that are flat or slightly concave which accept side release clasps or buckles. It all looks like they are Go Pro compatible. So you could use go pro mounts.
I want to rig it up to my day pack so I can record while I am walking around. I am not doing this for sightseeing but to hopefully have something recorded, if something happens. Had some strange experiences past 6 months and now I have to watch my back a lot more. Not going to stop someone but might help to identify who or what. I have it hooked up with the bits int he box but it is a bit cumbersome. Too many brackets to make it work. I need to be able to lock 2 x bases together which will then let me connect the camera flush. As it is I have a base plate, a curved bracket locked in, a cradle and the camera in the cradle. It sticks out about 1/2" more than it needs to. Also more obvious as well.
I scored it from foxoffer. Same as the last one. Took about 12 days to get here. I ended up with a white faced camera. Options were silver or white. Black out of stock for quite a long time. I'll black out the front when I get some time.
This is a small camera. Quite handy for the money. Only had it a few days so lets see how it goes. So far I think its pretty good. Not Go Pro quality video but nothing to be sneezed at. It will run as a PC web cam if you want.
Again techmoan did a review on the SJ4000 WiFi and the non WiFi M10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMhb4t-hPE) as it's the same interface/camera.
I picked up one of these small action cameras that are a Go Pro wanna be. This one is a re-engineering of the SJCAM 4000 action camera. The SJ4000 has a rectangular form factor with the lens off set to one side. This camera is a cube shape and the lens is now positioned centrally on the face, however it is not dead centre, it is a little higher than the middle but DeadCent left to right.
This is what they look like:
http://www.foxoffer.com/images/SJCAM/SJCAM%20M10_5.jpg
On the reverse is a small 1.2" LCD screen and there are two buttons on the top for Power and Menu select as well as a small LED light that flashes or not depending whether the camera is recording or not.
The camera records to a Micro SD card. Needs class 6 or above. I use class 10 x 32Gb brand name cards. For the cost of cards it's worth it to avoid the hassles of failed recordings or other issues.
There are a few fake SJ4000's out there now and if you get a fake, you cannot update the fake with the SJCAM's own firmware. A lot of reports that some buttons do not work and the functions of other buttons are swapped around.
The unit comes with a removable battery which I have not had on the other cameras I bought, dash cam and that small spy cam PoS I bought a while back. The battery looks just like a small digital camera battery. It is easy to remove via a small panel. The battery is rated for 1.5 hrs of continuous recording. I found that to be very accurate in testing. The battery lasts exactly 1.5 hours.
It has an in built mic and speaker although I have not used either. It does record sound by default.
Menu it fairly straight forward to use. Looks familar for these little cameras. You can set all sorts of things, time date stamp, length of your clips, auto delete old recordings and you also have some camera exposure settings. The camera can take snap shots and can do things like 1 shot every x minutes. Not quite time lapse, you would have to drop them into a slideshow app and compile the time lapse movie from the snap shots.
WiFi. The camera comes with WiFi and is basically a WiFi hub. You turn on WiFi, connect your phone or tablet then launch the App. I use Android. Don't know about iPhone. The WiFi can stream the live video from the camera. The App can record that stream. You can also download and view recorded footage to your phone or tablet device. Takes a while to download before viewing though.
The WiFi could be handy to view what the camera is focused on if it is mounted and you cannot see the LCD screen.
I was not able to change the WiFi SSID or the password from the default. The interface did not respond on those settings screens. Still waiting an answer from SJCAM but I am told they don't generally reply to support inquires.
A ton of accessories in the box. A water proof case, a slotted back cover for the water proof case to put a strap through - not water proof when doing this.... some one posted a video where they has changed the back cover to the slotted one, then promptly put it in a trough of water only to discover it was no longer water proof. Duh? i have not tried waterproofedness.
Bike mount - needed to get some other bolts and some spacers to get it around the seat post. Mine is thicker than regular bikes. It should work ok on a regular size bike like a road or town bike without any mods. Using the water proof case I can get this camera in just the right position for what I want. I want to video vehicles approaching from behind in case I get clipped. I get a fair few close calls.
Other brackets, various extension or extra articulation brackets. Some velcro straps for strapping to things like bike seat bars, molly webbing on packs. A couple of tripod screw adapter mounts. No suction mounts. Some back plates that are flat or slightly concave which accept side release clasps or buckles. It all looks like they are Go Pro compatible. So you could use go pro mounts.
I want to rig it up to my day pack so I can record while I am walking around. I am not doing this for sightseeing but to hopefully have something recorded, if something happens. Had some strange experiences past 6 months and now I have to watch my back a lot more. Not going to stop someone but might help to identify who or what. I have it hooked up with the bits int he box but it is a bit cumbersome. Too many brackets to make it work. I need to be able to lock 2 x bases together which will then let me connect the camera flush. As it is I have a base plate, a curved bracket locked in, a cradle and the camera in the cradle. It sticks out about 1/2" more than it needs to. Also more obvious as well.
I scored it from foxoffer. Same as the last one. Took about 12 days to get here. I ended up with a white faced camera. Options were silver or white. Black out of stock for quite a long time. I'll black out the front when I get some time.
This is a small camera. Quite handy for the money. Only had it a few days so lets see how it goes. So far I think its pretty good. Not Go Pro quality video but nothing to be sneezed at. It will run as a PC web cam if you want.
Again techmoan did a review on the SJ4000 WiFi and the non WiFi M10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMhb4t-hPE) as it's the same interface/camera.