Orange menu worse than blue menu?

[vta1985]

I got the orange menu from aliexpress seller e-prance. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original ... 02545.html
The camera has firmware SM5F5HGB. 121013.v1.
I could tell right away the video was worse quality than my blue menu camera so I don't know if I got a fake camera?

Blue Menu:


Orange Menu:

 

[jokiin]

define fake?

I think when these first became available menu colour was possibly a guide to help with what you were getting, it has since become a lot harder though as they can be supplied with so many different combinations of hardware and any colour menu you like, not easy for the consumer at all

 

[DashCamMan]

I don't think it is fake. That firmware appears to be new (SM5F5HGB. 121013.v1) hence it is likely using slightly different hardware. Perhaps a different sensor or lens. From the pictures, the focus seems to be a bit off but it is hard to tell without video. Sometimes the lens is not set right at the factory.

 

[vta1985]

I don't think it is fake. That firmware appears to be new (SM5F5HGB. 121013.v1) hence it is likely using slightly different hardware. Perhaps a different sensor or lens. From the pictures, the focus seems to be a bit off but it is hard to tell without video. Sometimes the lens is not set right at the factory.

I took it apart but the lens is rock solid in the mount with some sort of epoxy. Even if it is a bit out of focus the problem is the video pixelation which is very blocky during motion. Very disappointed with this one.

 

[jokiin]

I don't think it is fake. That firmware appears to be new (SM5F5HGB. 121013.v1) hence it is likely using slightly different hardware. Perhaps a different sensor or lens. From the pictures, the focus seems to be a bit off but it is hard to tell without video. Sometimes the lens is not set right at the factory.

I took it apart but the lens is rock solid in the mount with some sort of epoxy. Even if it is a bit out of focus the problem is the video pixelation which is very blocky during motion. Very disappointed with this one.

did you take any photos while you had it apart?

 

[vta1985]

I don't think it is fake. That firmware appears to be new (SM5F5HGB. 121013.v1) hence it is likely using slightly different hardware. Perhaps a different sensor or lens. From the pictures, the focus seems to be a bit off but it is hard to tell without video. Sometimes the lens is not set right at the factory.

I took it apart but the lens is rock solid in the mount with some sort of epoxy. Even if it is a bit out of focus the problem is the video pixelation which is very blocky during motion. Very disappointed with this one.

did you take any photos while you had it apart?

The video gets very blurry after about 10 minutes recording:

You can't see the blocky video artifacts because of youtube compression but it looks very soft. The sound is terribly garbled.
Would e-prance take a return even though I opened this camera?

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi vta1985,

The blurry picture after 10 minutes is due to a cheap lens that distorts with the heat. The overall picture quality seems below average. I would contact ePrance to see what they can do.

 

[vta1985]

Hi vta1985,

The blurry picture after 10 minutes is due to a cheap lens that distorts with the heat. The overall picture quality seems below average. I would contact ePrance to see what they can do.

I was able to loosen the lens from the mount. I tried nail polish remover, that didn't work. What worked was heating up the lens with a heat gun after removing the lens module from the camera, and loosening with pliers. The focus is fixed, so I'll won't go through the trouble of returning the camera. But I can't recommend anyone buying this GS2000 due to the compression problem. The blue menu records at over 9000kbps, this orange menu 7000kbps.