Procured the
SJ 4000 HD DV Sports Camera (a substitute for
Go Pro HERO camera costing 25K) from DX.com. Buying details posted here -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/produc...ml#post3405341 Costed me 6,466/- landed. No customs charged as the seller had marked the packet value @15$. Landed yesterday i.e. in 25 days.
Here is the camera packaging with the optional Car windshield suction mount that I had purchased separately
This suction mount works very well with any helmet too, though the camera becomes a little high on the helmet and you look like a Mohawk... lolz. Normal flat helmet mounts x2 are also included but they are to be pasted with 3M tape and hence the interchangeability of the camera amongst all Club members becomes restricted.
Here it is mounted on the handlebar of my Superlow. This is inside the 30m waterproof and shatter resistant case. The case is fully compatible with the GoPro Hero camera too and alone must be worth more than 6K going by the build quality if the same were to be procured from GoPro.
The top view of the camera and the case
The back view with the 1.5" screen (not there in the Hero camera as far as I remember)
Using it with a 16GB card for now. Will upgrade to 32GB soon.
All the accessories that came with the Camera. Plus there is also a charger and usb cable (not visible), plus of course the actual camera. All the accessroies are of very high quality unlike what I was expecting.
The actual camera in hand
Close up of the rear. Very good rubberised build quality. With a micro sd slot, micro usb slot, and a micro hdmi port. The camera can be charged by PC also. It can also be used as a webcam and also works directly as a mass storage device.
The camera inside the waterproof case, a closeup
Size comparo
Actual footage of a small tennis ride that I did today morning
Pros:
- Excellent quality comparable to Hero as you can see from the footage
- At an excellent 1/4th price
- Optical stabilisation is available (though not used in the above video)
- Can be set to automatically make videos of designated time intervals
- Car mode is available to start/stop recording when charging/not charging
- Upto 12MP stills. and 1920*1080 30fps videos. In 1280*720 it shoots at 60fps
- No major shake even at triple digit speeds and that too without optical stabilisation. More to be tested.
Cons -
- Low Speaker volume when watching video directly on camera. No ways to increase the volume
- Build quality of actual camera of Hero is a notch higher. But very satisfactory at this price
- No video editing software included
- 70 minute battery recording time
- No chest harness supplied as default. Is a optional accessory
Verdict - Highly Satisfied