Budget Action Cam for Hiking Time Lapse?

[DerektheOrange]

I've been looking into getting a budget action camera for creating a time lapse video of hiking/exploring while I'm on a vacation that my wife unfortunately won't be able to come on. We already have a decent point and shoot camera (AW120) for taking scenic photos and selfies and the such (long arms make for great selfies), and it takes alright video too. It just doesn't do time-lapse photography, and full video would be too long/too big (relatively short hikes at 2-3 hours), and honestly, who would want to watch it? It may also get used for exploring a castle or two as well (Iceland and UK trip).

Since the action camera probably won't get much use outside of once a year or so, I'm trying to keep the budget low. I see the Gitup 2 recommended a lot here, but I'd like to keep it under $100 if possible, more in the 60-$80 range. Are there any cameras at that price point that would be worth it for my intended use (mostly the time-lapse, no true need/desire for 1080p60)?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Nigel]

Git2 is now available at 104.99$ from GearBest with coupon: "gitup2". Regular price is 139$.

For the extra $4.99 it is worth it

We already have a decent point and shoot camera (AW120) for taking scenic photos and selfies and the such (long arms make for great selfies),

The Git2 is also good for scenic photos, gives you a much wider angle than any point and shoot: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/git2-photo-thread.16673/page-2

 

[DerektheOrange]

Thanks, any clue how long that promotion will last? I'll probably use it as a holiday gift idea, since the trip is in Feb.

I've seen that the battery lasts ~90 min when recording 1080p60. Does anyone have an idea of how long it would last on the time-lapse function (probably 1 photo every 2 or 5 seconds)? Finally, I'm assuming the RAW images are too large to use with a time-lapse function, and would be best saved for specific snapshots?

 

[Nigel]

I think it is a long term promotion, and if it doesn't last then there will be another. Maybe there will be a 24 hour even better one with limited numbers if you are quick on Black Friday.

You wont get much more than 2 hours battery life in any mode although if the camera is static then you can easily power it off a USB powerbank for 24 hours+.

Raw files are 30MB, so 2000 on a 64GB card. But remember that it takes a lot of processing to turn a raw file into a good image, for most purposes it is not worth the effort for a timelapse. I normally use raw+jpg for all snapshots and if I see a good jpg on the card, or a jpg that needs saving from poor exposure, then I have a play with the raw.

 

[DerektheOrange]

Thanks again! Looks like that's what I'll be getting, along with a few spare batteries. Since the batteries are fairly low capacity, do they charge quickly from a portable battery (anker brand, so should have good charging rate)?

 

[Nigel]

I've never timed them accurately but seems to take very roughly 2 hours to charge from empty, maybe a little faster in the battery charger.

It's the same for most action camera batteries, I think the simple/cheap construction means they can't be charged much faster than they can be emptied.

If you are going to use several batteries daily then get one of the dual battery chargers (SJ4000 compatible will do) so that you can charge 3 simultaneously when you get home (1 in the camera) otherwise you will never keep them all charged.

 

[DerektheOrange]

Perfect, thanks for all of your help!

 

[jbinx]

If you really want to stick to the $60-$80 range then take a look at the SJCam SJ4000. Of course it won't be as good as the Git2 but I think it's one of the better ones out there at that price point.

 

[DerektheOrange]

Thanks. Of course, now after spending time obsessively researching, I'm willing to bump my price range up to the $200/$250 range- I'll only have one chance for some of the shots (sunrise and sunset timelapse on mountains, for example).

This means I'm now looking at the Gopro Hero4 Silver (~$200 on upcoming sales) or the Yi 4k (though I hear there may be a new Gitup non 4k soon?). Any thoughts on these? Sorry for being so indecisive!

 

[gitup]

Thanks. Of course, now after spending time obsessively researching, I'm willing to bump my price range up to the $200/$250 range- I'll only have one chance for some of the shots (sunrise and sunset timelapse on mountains, for example).

This means I'm now looking at the Gopro Hero4 Silver (~$200 on upcoming sales) or the Yi 4k (though I hear there may be a new Gitup non 4k soon?). Any thoughts on these? Sorry for being so indecisive!

Yi 4K and Hero4 silver is a good choice.

I thought you prefer taking photo time-lapse, for most of cameras based on Novatek chipset, the max photo numbers is limited to 10000.
On Git2, it is limited to 20000 as we improved by someone request, in future may try to improve to max 30000.

Git3 is not a 4K camera, but photo will be close to Hero4 silver, but it have something more that Hero4 not supported.