South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

So, due to the upcoming adventure to Portimao I thought I would treat myself to a little action-camera. I liked the GoPro but wasn’t really prepared to pay that much for something I probably wouldn’t use that much. The hunt was on…..
A little hunting about lead me to this….


Found on Hobbyking.com, look under FPV, if memory serves. Was around £53ish but I bought some extra screws/bolts and another battery since if you buy it all together it’s a bit cheaper ;)
Well, what do you get for your money??


(sorry, I know it’s a bit blurry. The ship was rolling about a bit. Better one to follow)
What’s in the box! The instructions are typically useless but I have a link to a better one

http://actioncamfaq.com/2014/01/11/sj40 ... u-options/ ;)

Quite a few different mounts. 2 sticky mounts (3M adhesive) one of which has a screw mounting, handlebar grip, pocket clip and a couple of different length/height pieces to link it all to the waterproof case. Yes, waterproof! Apparently so to 30 metres…….
According to the box a few bits are missing…..but we are talking about a few cable ties and a wire sling type thing.




So first impressions are quite good. How does the video look I hear you cry!
Patience, patience! The spiel says it records in:
1920*1080@30fps, 1280*720@60fps, 1280*720@30fps and VGA.
It will also do 12meg still shots, but haven’t tried that yet. For viewing there is a 1.5” colour screen on the back which is adequate but that’s it. You can review both video and still images via the screen which also has 8x forward and reverse playback speeds.
And now to the crunch.
It failed miserably in 720. Both at 30 and 60fps. The video was blocky and had a 3 second “pulse” of grey screen.
1080hd however turned out loverly! Battery life is supposedly 70mins in 1080 and it pretty much was, including having the rear screen on. You can set this to go off after a short period to save battery.
Left to its own devices it recorded 3 consecutive clips. The first 2 were 35min52s long and the last 6min48s before the batt died. The 35min clips are so because the max file size is 4Gb. From what I’ve read the consecutive recordings overlap by 1 second.
It has miniUSB and miniHDMI ports on the side and can be used as a webcam. The latest firmware allows for HDMI output but again I haven’t used this.
The “antishake” is very good and the camera is also quite quick to adjust to changing light, as in going indoors to out and vice versa.

Anyways, so there it is. If you’ve any questions or comments, fire away!
And finally a little video to show you life at sea ;)
Well I was going to add a video but ive got nothing to crop a 4Gb file down small enough to post anywhere online

same thingy


this is what i bought

Interestingly, I see GoPro have now introduced a "budget" model Hero which Halfords are selling for £99

The Turnigy is essentially a re-branded version of the SJ4000. It doesnt mean its any worse, just re-branded.

You can get the original SJ4000 here: http://www.banggood.com/SJ4000-Waterpro ... 17037.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; £51 from China but they also have a UK warehouse thats sent really quickly and doesnt have any potential customs charges. They currently have $10 off.

Theres also the Wifi version: http://www.banggood.com/SJcam-SJ4000-Wi ... 39976.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for about £10 more. Also has some in the UK warehouse. I've used Banggood a few times and they're really good.

They are good cameras for the cash. I'm sure someone will do a real good video to compare the new GoPro Hero (£99) vs the SJ4000. I've heard the GoPro does have very good battery life (3hrs or so) but its needed as you cannot remove the battery. Also I wouldnt put much faith in the 12MP pictures, it only has a 3MP CMOS so it'll just be upscaled, probably alright for some timelapse, but probably not great for some action pictures.

Engybengy: do you want this case: http://www.dx.com/p/protective-pvc-came ... EFdqFXF9dc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ? I won it in a competition but have no need for it. It should fit yours perfectly.

I would please. What would you like for it?

Nothing, I got it for free.

Just to say thanks for the mini review. I have been looking at this and was wanting to get for Christmas as after lots of buggering about with crap cameras and no videos I want one thay works for next year's track days. Have been looking at this as cant afford another morgage to get a gopro or a drift. Good to know its worth the purchase.

Nice wee review...

Having spoken to a few folks, i reckon i am going with the GoPro White Hero 3 thingy, and will post my own review later in the year...