SJCAM SJ7 Star Cam - Real 4K Ambarella A12 Sony IMX117 Touch Screen Mic Gyro

TechTronic9000 said:
So I've joined the ranks of the SJ7 users, first impression is very good, it looks like SJCam has one of the most stable A12 platforms 🙂

So here are my reviews and some tests, of course there are more coming

Hands on review, accessories overview, full menu walk-through, WiFi app testing and operation


Demo Footage Reel upscaled to 4k@60fps ! You will find why in the start of the video



SJ7 playlist, check video info for RAW files

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOXCT1uFJb10Ail3cVdxzo-6EjQGUAw_e
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Sweet! Welcome to the SJ7 community! Watched all of your footage and hopefully we can get some for our channels 🙂
 
Looking good 😎
If only i could get some of that weather up here.
 
jomor said:
My new SJ7 came with 1.13 firmware and I installed v1.15 right away. I have to report two issues that I am not sure if they are bugs or features of v1.15 (since I am a newbie on this), apologies if these have been mentioned before

1) When I take a photo, the wifi comes on!
2) I have set the date format to dd/mm/yyyy but on the pictures and videos it still appears as yyyy/mm/dd
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I just returned from vacations where I had the chance to shoot many hand-held videos (firmware v1.15). I only did 1080p recording with gyro enabled and I have to say that the stabilization could need improvement. Even though the up-down shaking is controlled well, there is a problem with image rotation on the clockwise-anticlockwise axis. Holding the camera with a water-floating stick while walking or swimming or just holding it on the sea's surface, I found out that the camera rotates slightly clockwise-anticlockwise which is not compensated by the gyro function and this is annoyingly visible while watching the videos. I think this is the point where Git2 has addressed successfully and has become a reference point for gyro stabilization. It would be really great if we see an improvement on this on a next firmware.
 
jomor said:
I just returned from vacations where I had the chance to shoot many hand-held videos (firmware v1.15). I only did 1080p recording with gyro enabled and I have to say that the stabilization could need improvement. Even though the up-down shaking is controlled well, there is a problem with image rotation on the clockwise-anticlockwise axis. Holding the camera with a water-floating stick while walking or swimming or just holding it on the sea's surface, I found out that the camera rotates slightly clockwise-anticlockwise which is not compensated by the gyro function and this is annoyingly visible while watching the videos. I think this is the point where Git2 has addressed successfully and has become a reference point for gyro stabilization. It would be really great if we see an improvement on this on a next firmware.
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Thanks, we will pass this along. For handheld videos we really recommend using a gimbal stabilizer. Please send me a download link for the footage you took at tony@sjcamhd.com.
Have you tried v1.16 beta3 firmware?
 
Thank you for your reply, I haven't got the time to upload the videos yet, I will do it soon but if you check the TechTronic's above video taken in Thassos Island ( @TechTronic: I hope you enjoyed your vacations in Greece 🙂 ) it is seen on 0:32 while he is walking with the camera (without the gimbal) that on each step the image rotates instead of going up-down (I assume up-down movement is compensated by gyro while the slight clockwise rotation is not compensated at all)


I haven't had the chance to try the v1.16 yet

I also noticed that the working temperatures stay low (I only stressed it on 1080p resolution though) but it gets really hot when I turn on the wifi and browse images or download videos to my cell phone. It also freezes sometimes (only while using the wifi) and I have to remove the battery to unfreeze it. Pressing any buttons or keeping the power button pressed for seconds does not help (v1.15). When it freezes ... its always really hot.

Also the SJcam Zone application crashes while browsing the videos (it works ok on browsing pictures) and this occurred after the latest application update. The app worked very well before the update. I cleared the app's cache (android os), I uninstalled it and installed it again but the problem remains. Thanks again for your support.
 
About the frame, i found out this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SJC...id=bcd4fe3a-74e7-455a-aab2-e8e5659a6d69&tpp=1

which says that has different dimensions for each supported model. If I am not mistaken Sj5000 has the same dimesions (without measuring the lens) as the SJ7 so I m thinking to give it a try.

Edit: SJ7 dimensions are not correct on the official website. Length is 58mm, not 60mm. Depth is 21.5mm, not 24.7mm. It is 24.7mm including the lens projection lip, which is not the dimension needed to select an appropriate frame. So I found out that the Eken H3 has almost the same dimesions with SJ7, which gives a frame with tripod mount threads.
 
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jomor said:
Thank you for your reply, I haven't got the time to upload the videos yet, I will do it soon but if you check the TechTronic's above video taken in Thassos Island ( @TechTronic: I hope you enjoyed your vacations in Greece 🙂 ) it is seen on 0:32 while he is walking with the camera (without the gimbal) that on each step the image rotates instead of going up-down (I assume up-down movement is compensated by gyro while the slight clockwise rotation is not compensated at all)
Click to expand...

I always enjoy going to Greece 🙂
Yes at the beginning it's only the camera gyro, I was walking and the camera was just hand held, not even a grip, so it was subjected to a lot o shake and movement, as for the gyro indeed it seems to work on 2 axis - tilt-yaw with missing roll stabilization.
 
My SJcam Zone application keeps crashing while trying to browse the videos. I even re-installed my phone's ROM, nothing helped. App's version is 5.2.2, does anybody have a previous version to email me the .apk ? thanks
 
jomor said:
My SJcam Zone application keeps crashing while trying to browse the videos. I even re-installed my phone's ROM, nothing helped. App's version is 5.2.2, does anybody have a previous version to email me the .apk ? thanks
Click to expand...
Can you please confirm the phone model you are using?
 
sjcam_official said:
Can you please confirm the phone model you are using?
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Coolpad 7320 with android 4.2.2

A friend has a Samsung S6 phone and an SJ5000x. I connected my phone to his camera and worked perfect. His phone connected to my camera and worked perfect. My phone with my camera stopped working just after the application update. Both phones have the 5.2.2 app version.
 
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jomor said:
Coolpad 7320 with android 4.2.2

A friend has a Samsung S6 phone and an SJ5000x. I connected my phone to his camera and worked perfect. His phone connected to my camera and worked perfect. My phone with my camera stopped working just after the application update. Both phones have the 5.2.2 app version.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks for confirming. Can you please email me a video showing this issue? It will be easier to show to the programmers then.... tony@sjcamhd.com

Thx!
 
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A highly awaited test, a direct Gyro image stabilization (EIS) comparison between the Firefly 8S, SJCam Sj7, XiaoYi Yi2 and ThiEye T5 taken in 1080p@60fps. More tests coming soon.

 
I think four is too many and they are too widely spread on the monopod stick or whatever so footage is a bit different. Maybe try side by side (2) instead of a matrix of cameras.
 
Two cameras at one time give larger images and better observation of defects!
The winner of the "faceoff" moves on to the next challenger!
I'd like to see a slowmotion faceoff among the Sunco cams (Andoer,T5e,etc) and manufacturer original A12s75 cams!
 
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For this kind of test ( EIS / OIS ) i think its fair with 4 cameras, but going down in detail with the individual cameras you will need to just do 1 Vs 1

It do seem like the Yi "float" better of the 4 cameras, but i wonder if it is on the expense of general IQ, but that you can not tell unless you have the full frame video going in 2 windows on the computer and then change back and forth between 2 cameras as you go thru the frames one by one.

As i understand it then Contrast can suffer in IS footage ( both EIS and OIS i think ), but you will not see contrast changes in a little window, and you would probably have to test a camera with IS ON and another similar camera with IS OFF to determine how the contrast is performing.
Or if you can produce the same testing conditions run 1 camera thru it 2 times, one without IS and one time with IS.
But to do that you will need some form of testing rig, i have played with this idea myself and have come up with something, but the rig is large and i can not find a suitable place to put it up again and again and so generate a database of test results.
 
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I will redo the test with max 2 cameras / video, as for the YI, although seems smooth it has a lot of warp deformation that accentuate in the corners, it's really noticeable and it bends the video, this happens because the EIS does not take into consideration the variable lens curvature.

Here is a more "quality" oriented test, all cameras set to max quality / bitrate / resolution (4K).
 
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