Hi everyone.
That's my first post here.
Recently I bought an SJ4000 wifi from an UK ebay seller ( 10 000+ positive feedbacks ). Back than I knew that there were fakes, but if the camera had SJCAM print, then everything should be fine. After that, I found a video from an ukrainian/russian guy about the fakes. He is saying that the fakes nowadays were visually absolutely the same. The differences were ( if I remember properly ):
1 - serial number label inside the battery's bunker/hole
2 - serial number on the battery
3 - stamped "SJCAM" on the inner side of the plastic front panel
4 - the lens plastic surrounding is placed on the front panel, instead of the camera's body
5 - the power button's pcb has thin paths ( I'm not sure if "path" is the correct english word for the PCB's copper conductors
)
6 - production stamp on the front panel instead of a production sticker on the camera's body
Both sjcam.com and sjcamhd.com state that there should be a verification code on the box and that the official firmwares will not work on fakes.
So.. what I got:
- no verification code on the box.
- no serial numbers at all
- no sjcam stamped on inner side of the panel
- the lens plastics are on the camera's body
- the pwr button's pcb paths are thick ( but has a nice "SJ4000" print
)
- production sticker ( 2016, so the camera can't be from an old batch )
OK, now I have a fake camera.. what should I do...
contact ebay? ( ebay states that the sellers are not allowed to sell counterfits )
Contact paypal?
Nope ( at least for now
).. I contacted both sjcam.com and sjcamhd.com. I sent them some pics and asked to tell me if the camera is authentic.
And here comes the funny part.. or should I say the ridiculous one
.
sjcam.com replied the standard thing - check the code, if no code - it is fake. -> So bad news, it is fake.
sjcamhd replied - don't worry it is authentic, someone in the factory screwed up and forgot to put the scratch sticker, feel free to update to the newest firmware. -> OK.. now I have a problem... everything screams FAKE.. only the official seller says original. So I decided to try the newer firmwares ( v1.x ) and all of them seem to be working fine ( all buttons function fine, only the top LED does not flash, but to be honest, I'm not sure if it was working even with the original firmware )
So now I'm totally confused.
I'm starting to think that even the trademark owner and the factory do not know what they produce/sell! Another option is that there is someone there who is making better fakes than the original product ( with serial numbers and stuff ).
Here is the video I'm talking above
Here are the pics of my camera
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/47t2ulme06088sp/AADUnEz-ENzZdJcBa4RYTYo0a
So I just want to hear your thoughts.
Also, can you tell from where I can buy a good battery ( international shipping is a must )?