If you read the official SJCam site, you've read my take on firmware V1.20. Cutting to the chase, it has one big problem and two other problems. The following videos, I think, show th0se problems.
The biggest problem is quite significant. In the frame, there is a zone that appears to be somewhat out of focus. It remains, relative to the edges of the frame, in about the same place. In the videos, it's found on or near the right large gauge (tachometer). As the gauges move around the shot, different places will seem fuzzy. The zone, as I said, remains in about the same place - to the right and below the center of the image.
The second problem is the new version of the EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) is a step back from V1.15's EIS. Watch the trees and other objects in the distance, and watch how the upper edge of the windscreen moves.
Equipment information: Everything is shot at 1080p at 60 frames per second. The mount is a simple "chin mount" on my helmet using SJCam parts. I used an external battery, as I have in previous videos. The camera was in the "motorcycle" housing, the dive case with an adapter for external power. The mic is the internal mic and, of course, it's recording the sound that came through the case. I haven't altered the sound. The video was edited with Shotcut, but the only edits are setting a common starting and ending point for the "EIS on" runs and the one "EIS off" run. The V1.15 "EIS off" run was lost. More about that later. The video was shot midday on a partly-mostly cloudy day. All three videos were transcoded to 4K to limit the damage done by YT's compression. Transcoding to 4K does
not add anything to what's in the original footage.
The first V1.20 video:
The second V1.20 video:
It's sometimes subtle, but the zone that's out of focus should be apparent in both videos. Look at the reflection in the tach or the numbers and the needle in the tach. I don't see a great deal of image stabilization with EIS 2.0 on. While I didn't fully duplicate the "EIS on" route (partly because left turns against the traffic is a pain, partly to keep the neighbors from getting excited about seeing someone race by every five minutes), there is a great deal that is the same. Using the "EIS on" route, the first 50 seconds and the curves starting at about 2:00, followed by the two white patches in the road, show the bike and camera moving around.
It's been suggested that there's a lens defect in the camera, or the lens is dirty. I cleaned the lens very carefully with my standard optical cleaner: half 91% pure isopropyl alcohol (never, ever rubbing alcohol, which has oils in it), half disstilled water, and a couple of drops of Dawn detergent for help with dirt and oils. I cleaned the case's lens port the same way. It's been suggested that somehow EIS itself was causing the "fuzzy spot" problem. Since the fuzzy spot is present with and without EIS, I don't see that as a cause.
After the second run, I swapped SD cards. Each card had either V1.20 or V1.15 firmware already on it. Swap SD's, load the appropriate firmware, check the settings, and it's time to shoot more video.
The final video, shot after the two V1.20 runs, was shot with fimware V1.15 and EIS on. There's no fuzzy spot in the images, and the overall image is far more stable. Compare the V1.15 video with the V1.20 video in, again, the opening 50 seconds and the sequence from about 2:00 forward.
The V1.15 video:
At this point, the big problem (image corrupted by the out of focus zone) and one lesser problem (poor EIS performance) have, I hope, been demonstrated.
The remaining problem is heat. My camera, shooting 1080p@60fps video for about 30 minutes, reached 135F on the front and about 130F on the sides. That's hot, hot enough to keep from holding the camera for any length of time. By comparison, using V1.15 in the same situation, the camera reached 125-130F. While that's hot, too, it's, for me, only uncomfortably hot. Any electrical device, whether it's a simple window fan or a digital camera, is going to produce heat while it's operating. The SJ7's processing does a lot of work, and it's happening in a small place. For that reason, a hot case isn't a surprise. But too hot to handle? That, I think, is too much. (Temperatures were taken with an IR thermometer gun)
The V1.15 "EIS off" run was lost when the camera firmware crashed. There is about 600Mb of data, but it's unreadable. Another result of the crash: the camera wouldn't shut down. When I tried to pull the battery, to turn off the camera, it was stuck to the point that I needed to use forceps to pull it out. The battery had swollen and was forced against the side of the battery well. Summing up: It's my opinion that the V1.20 firmware is a step backward, with a significant image flaw, poor EIS performance, and a heat issue. Again, in my opinion, until the image, stability, and heat issues are resolved, I recommend staying with V1.15.
ADDED: Anyone interested in seeing other V1.15 video, take a look at
my channel. Any of the Alps videos and "Hawk Mountain Revisited" were shot with my SJ7 and V1.15. The rest of the vidoes were shot with another brand of camera, shooting 1080@30 fps. Subscribe or Like if you want to.
The bike in the US videos is an '03 BMW K1200RS, the Alps videos were taken on a BMW K1600GT.