SJ5000+ night video quality - sux

SJ5000+ night video quality comparing to other dashcams is


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fakej

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Hi,

I have just recently bought SJ5000+ based on what is stated in dashcam comparision dashboard which says: "Night: good" - at the moment best possible rate for the night quality (if I'm correct no dashcam got very good rating for the night video). I'm aware of the fact that the article says

"The SJ5000 Plus has very good picture quality during the day and good picture quality at night, but in some lighting conditions the video can be grainy."

but I think grainy video is not emphasized enough and should affect the overall night video rating. I compared SJ5000+ video with the video captured on mini 806 I have in the other car and I have to say the difference is significant (mini 806 night video quality is much better). I guess the main reason for this problem is the lens F no 2.8 in SJ5000+ vs 2.0 in Mini 806 so even the Panasonic CMOS sensor in SJCAM can not mitigate that difference. I would probably consider changing the rating on the dashboard for the night video quality from good to average.

Videos for comparision:
 
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Yes, you are right, average is correct. The only action cam good for low ligh from all my tests is the GitUp Git1, even better than Git2.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
I can't help but notice but the two results from SJ5000+ seems blurry and obstructed.
It seems that u used the underwater cased when u were using it in your car?
And since both of the video is brighter, have you tried set the ISO to 100?
Lastly, 60fps is never a good idea for night video.

Just my 2 cents here.
 
I didn't use the underwater case. I also didn't touch the iso setting so I would assume it must have been set to automatic. Why do you think I should use the ISO 100 for night video? For low light conditions usually much higher iso values are used. And with regards to 60fps I understand that it means exposure time is at most 1/60s which might be not enough for night video. However I tried to browse it frame by frame in registration viewer as well as in VLC and I noticed that every two frames next to each other look exactly the same when there were low light conditions. On the other hand in the same video in the garage with electric lights turned on every frame in the video differs. That was quite surprising to me and I thought there might be some logic in the camera that can somehow extend exposure time when the light is low so effectively you will get 30fps video even though technically it is 60fps.
 
It is normal for many cameras that in low light conditions the videos to have duplicate frames when FPS is more than 30FPS.
As general rule, a 2MP CMOS will do a better job in low light compared to a 12MP CMOS.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
I didn't use the underwater case. I also didn't touch the iso setting so I would assume it must have been set to automatic. Why do you think I should use the ISO 100 for night video? For low light conditions usually much higher iso values are used. And with regards to 60fps I understand that it means exposure time is at most 1/60s which might be not enough for night video. However I tried to browse it frame by frame in registration viewer as well as in VLC and I noticed that every two frames next to each other look exactly the same when there were low light conditions. On the other hand in the same video in the garage with electric lights turned on every frame in the video differs. That was quite surprising to me and I thought there might be some logic in the camera that can somehow extend exposure time when the light is low so effectively you will get 30fps video even though technically it is 60fps.
Ah, then I agree that it sucks for night video.
Sorry I questioned about lowering your ISO since I saw that the result is much brighter than the 0806.
I actually did a night video with my SJ5000+ back then on my bike and it was better. I'll try to find it and upload to YT as comparison.
It is normal for many cameras that in low light conditions the videos to have duplicate frames when FPS is more than 30FPS.
As general rule, a 2MP CMOS will do a better job in low light compared to a 12MP CMOS.

enjoy,
Mtz
New info from you as always. Thanks.
 
@fakej here is my test on the night video using the latest FW.
The result is similar if not better. A lot of shaking and jitter since I forgot where I put my chest strap, so I had to use the wrist strap instead. Also, I used the wp case with this.
It's just a short clip though.
 
@tgrdrgss
Thank you for the video. I'll have to compare it with the video from my dashcam in similar light conditions. I agree your one looks better but I guess there was also little bit more light.
By the way I'm struggling with another problem with my SJ5000+. Recently there is quite low temperature in Poland (-15 c) and the battery in my SJ is often discharged. I have a setup that it should record 30s after car stops. So the battery sometimes dos not last these 30 seconds and it does not shut down properly. In such case next time camera is turned on it starts with the popup questioning me if I want to recover the previous video. This is annoying enough because in a dashcam I would not expect any input that prevents from automatic recording. Anyway I have to choose "yes" because if I choose no video recovery option it simply hangs up. I also experienced it hanging in some other situations and I had to remove the battery in order to bring it back to life. I'm considering returning it back to the seller. Do you have similar issues?
 
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@fakej
Regarding the battery, from my experience, SJ5000+ is quite picky.
It means, the camera always need a good battery.
I have 7 batteries and only 4 of them can be used on my SJ5000+, while the rest is ok to be used on my SJ4000 or even SJ5000Xe.
My suggestion, try to get another battery first, and see if that helps fix the issue.
 
It is normal for many cameras that in low light conditions the videos to have duplicate frames when FPS is more than 30FPS.
As general rule, a 2MP CMOS will do a better job in low light compared to a 12MP CMOS.

enjoy,
Mtz
1. Does "duplicate frames" means that it is more grainy/blurer?

2. So is it that in low light conditions, 1920x1080 30fps is better/clearer than 1920x1080 60fps?

3. Which of these produce clearer videos > 2560x1440 30fps, 1920x1080 60fps, 1080x720 120fps ?

Thanks
 
The best video is with a camera with good CMOS and lens. Resolution and framerates are not important.
Read the main review about GitUp Git1 from the main site.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
The best video is with a camera with good CMOS and lens. Resolution and framerates are not important.
Read the main review about GitUp Git1 from the main site.

enjoy,
Mtz

Resolution and framerates are important too. After buying a cam with good CMOS and lens, if you adjust the resolution and framerates you can still get a clearer/blurer video.
 
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