sj4000 as a dashcam...

petepete

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£47 .... the genuine article, just £7 more than the g1wh it is replacing that finally bit the dust and smoked out

annoyingly taking its 32g with it at over 8500 hours service ... Its a definite upgrade -- the 170 degree lens,

smaller and less visible with a further benefit of being able to remove it and have some battery life to play with

not to mention how useful it be on holidays etc.. etc...

( for those worried about theft, cut a hole for the lens in a used air freshener and mount it on the camera to

completely disguise it !!! )

Taking some time to arrive at "satisfied" having first tried a sj4000 clone and been appalled at its inability to

give a good quality image, especially when dealing with red colours .... The waterproof case and buttons feel

cheap and nasty as does the camera etc...etc...

Even tried the yi, and found I am not a fan of the soft focus and patience needed to operate it ...



I ve come to the conclusion, the sj 4000 is as cheep as chips with all its extras and functionality and I have no

hesitation in saying no one should be without one !!!

I m impressed !
 
Too many fake SJ4000 out on the market now so I wouldn't consider one. Could buy from SJCAM original site but then total cost not going to be that cheap.
 
Too many fake SJ4000 out on the market now so I wouldn't consider one. Could buy from SJCAM original site but then total cost not going to be that cheap.
not hard to get a real one, as long as you order from a reputable retailer. just stay away from ebay
 
petepete Im curious what you didnt like about the Xaiomi Yi?
that one is on my list to get whenever it gets auto start/stop
 
Too many fake SJ4000 out on the market now so I wouldn't consider one. Could buy from SJCAM original site but then total cost not going to be that cheap.
Nowadays it's so easy to spot a clone: since SJCAM started putting the company's name on everything related to them, the clone manufacturers stopped using the name SJ4000. Even the early models, the ones without the SJCAM name, can be easily recognized because of the typo of the word "water resistant" ("water resistabt" on the counterfeits) on the front of the box.
 
£47 .... the genuine article, (...)

I ve come to the conclusion, the sj 4000 is as cheep as chips with all its extras and functionality and I have no

hesitation in saying no one should be without one !!!

I m impressed !
It was meant to be my first camera because I wanted to use it as a helmet camera too, but the cheapest ones I could find at the time cost over €100. Today that's the price of a SJ4000 WiFi. The base model now can be bought here for as low as €72,50 (£51).
 
I tested the SJ4000 as a DVR, when I first go it I fitted it to the windscreen with a suction cup, nothing special, just to see how true it was that this action camera could also act as a DVR

I already had the mini 0806 fitted to the screen so when I examined the footage from the SJ, I also took a look at the footage captured by the mini 0806, in my opinion the SJ400 out performed the mini 0806, in colour saturation, contrast and sharpness

but as both SJ4000 and the mini 0806 have an up / down quality control, one batch may be good and the next terrible so YMMV
 
petepete Im curious what you didnt like about the Xaiomi Yi?
that one is on my list to get whenever it gets auto start/stop

Colours are nice straight out the camera, but nothing you cant do with any other camera with VLC tweaking , but the picture is out of focus in the distance and cannot be adjusted satisfactorily via the lens focus..

slow motion is a great feature... but the picture quality is poor using this feature...

As for camera, well my phone trumps it..

And that's it, I cant see or find a use for it and it was a gross disappointment after everyone raving about it.



As for the sj4000...

At £7 more than a g1wh you get a dashcam with a much more useful wide 170 degree lens and its smaller in physical size and easy to "doctor" a mount that makes it even less visible and obtrusive.

The battery can be replaced cheaply.

It gives very clear sharp images.



And when you ve parked up and wish to use the camera away from the car...

you have a battery that you can rely on or slip another in.

you have a video and still camera.

you have a time lapse camera.

you have a quality underwater case for holidays etc...

you have an action camera with all the mounts you need.


It really is a no brainer

but yet again, after ridiculous comments about the use of dashcams for security "techmoan" has single handedly heaped negativity on using this type of camera simply because of it shape and form ..... tut tut..
 
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in this video thy test the sj4000 sjcam as dashcam
.
 
Form factor can be important- it was the reason I got a Mobius. Otherwise my G1Wc would have been fine outside of getting 2 bad ones. I never place much credibility on one review, rather I check many and look for 'trends' in them all.

The few 'techmoan' camera reviews I've read weren't impressive. It seems there was a lack of understanding how most folks use them and an expectation of too much from what we know are lower-priced cams. Techmoan seems out of his element with dashcams- IMHO he should stick with what he knows or learn more before commenting.

Phil
 
The few 'techmoan' camera reviews I've read weren't impressive...l

Techmoan's reviews have significantly contributed to the popularity & sales success of quite a few products, notably including Mobius & G1W.

What do you own ... Mobius & G1W. Coincidence? I doubt it ... subconscious influences direct your life ;)
 
The few 'techmoan' camera reviews I've read weren't impressive. It seems there was a lack of understanding how most folks use them and an expectation of too much from what we know are lower-priced cams. Techmoan seems out of his element with dashcams- IMHO he should stick with what he knows or learn more before commenting.
The person who did more dash/action cams reviews than anybody else and is himself a dash/action cam user has a "lack of understanding how most folks use them" and "seems out of his element with dashcams"????
Well, I think you're the one who should go and watch/read more of his reviews before commenting on his capabilities as a dash/action cam reviewer.
 
Techmoans reviews are clear, well presented and very useful to any newbie looking for information....

five stars.....:)



Because he is not technically minded, he just lacked "the vision" on the point of security and failed to present a good argument for his conclusion which became widely repeated ....
 
Unlike you, and judging by his other videos about all sorts of electronic things, I believe he knows very well his technical stuff. What I noticed he doesn't do is a user manual or an application manual of the cams he reviews and that's probably why some people criticize him. And, honestly, he doesn't have to tell people what to buy or how to use it, he just reviews the cams as they are and let people decide for themselves. Even so there's always someone criticizing him for something he said or wrote about a certain camera, even though those "faults" are very clear.
 
If some one can miss the fact that cctv is used all over the world to protect things ...

They are not technically minded, lack vision, foresight and the ability to rationalise ...on the security point made.


Its a big point as a camera can protect your car 20 hours a day while you drive it only 4 hours a day......
 
If you want a security camera why the hell would you buy a dashcam to work as one? If you want to record things while driving or riding or surfing or diving you're not going to buy a security camera, are you?
 
No vision or forethought springs to mind again..."ma"

Anything capable of capturing an image around a car 24/7 is a security camera and don't blame me if you cant get your head around that fact...

Scratch my car, glue my lock up, hit it with your car or do anything to it and I will have the footage of the incident...24/7.


"I have a certain set of skills, ones that allow me to identify you and I will find you and you will pay for the damage"
 
Anything capable of capturing an image around a car 24/7 is a security camera (...)
In that case you'll have to leave the dashcams out of that "anything". Unless you go there to change the card from time to time.
 
I now have an SJ4000. I've been trying it out as a dashcam, and I must say it works very well for the purpose.

I like that it has a Car Mode and Cyclic Recording, and that the included accessories include a camera frame with top and bottom 1/4-20 tripod sockets. (In contrast, a GoPro-branded frame for a GoPro camera retails at $40. A cheap, simple piece of plastic should not cost $40!)

It's black and is relatively discreet. In the car, I am running the camera from an external battery source and have removed the camera's own battery. That's a big plus to be able to run the camera without the camera's own battery to avert or reduce potential heat build-up. (Some people say the SJ4000 is large for a dashcam, but I don't agree with that notion.)

I use a (not-included) suction cup holder, but I need to find a suction cup model that swivels left and right to keep the horizon level. (In one of my cars, I need to use the suction cup on the far right side of the windshield, which is curved, and otherwise causes the camera to tilt.)

Haven't done any comparison shots yet. My next step is to make one of my DIY polarizing filters.
 
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one annoying lack of feature is the AV output...

if selected and used , every time the camera turns off it will reset itself and you have to manually select it again to get your AV out...
 
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