Chinese go-pro knock-offs

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softlips
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by softlips »

thelawnet wrote:
softlips wrote:Get the cheapest you can. Far less money wasted then when you realise the only person interested in the footage is yourself.

.....or is that just me?



.... and the guy who bought my Go Pro?


I run a tour operator and I think I need some video to post on the website.

I'm thinking durability is the priority.


Go Go Pro then, film / television companies use them for a reason
thelawnet
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by thelawnet »

softlips wrote:
thelawnet wrote:
softlips wrote:Get the cheapest you can. Far less money wasted then when you realise the only person interested in the footage is yourself.

.....or is that just me?



.... and the guy who bought my Go Pro?


I run a tour operator and I think I need some video to post on the website.

I'm thinking durability is the priority.


Go Go Pro then, film / television companies use them for a reason


Yeah I know they do, but unlike them I don't have a $300 million budget.
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Vantage
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by Vantage »

Mine survived being strapped to my staffy/jack russell cross on the park. That included Tara rolling around in the mud and running around like a lunatic.
It'll survive the nuclear holocaust after surviving that abuse.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
thelawnet
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by thelawnet »

So I had a look into it:

* you can get cameras from around £30
* some are unusably bad due to lack of QC
* 4k apparently is useful but starts at £100 - the cheaper ones are fake 4k. with 4k you can reduce to 720p or whatever and use the extra information to make a more stable image on your PC
* lots and lots of fake reviews on Amazon, so ignore their recommendations entirely
* you can get cameras with built-in stabilisation, all software-based (not optical). But you can do software stabilisation after the fact on your PC. Camera-based stabilisation may be better as they have in-built gyro.
* In-built stabilisation not really satisfactory - you actually need a gimbal which is a standalone motorized stabilizer. And here you have to figure out what kind you want, and have it fit your chosen camera. Body-mounted seems like the best option.
kwackers
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by kwackers »

thelawnet wrote:* In-built stabilisation not really satisfactory - you actually need a gimbal which is a standalone motorized stabilizer. And here you have to figure out what kind you want, and have it fit your chosen camera. Body-mounted seems like the best option.

Mechanical stabilisation built into the camera is fine particularly for the wide angle lenses these use.
Electronic stabilisation is a waste of time. In low light the exposure time is quite long so any movement 'smears' at which point post stabilising the image doesn't help because each pixel is blurred from the surrounding area. Mechanical systems don't suffer from that.

You can get some "good" Chinese stuff, but ime it's not as good as the stuff it copies. If I wanted quality I'd buy a Go-Pro, if I just want a camera to glue to the handlebars I'd probably get a knock off - preferably with a replaceable battery. The Chinese batteries are getting better but their quality still seems random at best.
thelawnet
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by thelawnet »

kwackers wrote:
thelawnet wrote:* In-built stabilisation not really satisfactory - you actually need a gimbal which is a standalone motorized stabilizer. And here you have to figure out what kind you want, and have it fit your chosen camera. Body-mounted seems like the best option.

Mechanical stabilisation built into the camera is fine particularly for the wide angle lenses these use.

Electronic stabilisation is a waste of time. In low light the exposure time is quite long so any movement 'smears' at which point post stabilising the image doesn't help because each pixel is blurred from the surrounding area. Mechanical systems don't suffer from that.


Mechanical stabilisation is rare in action cams - gopro don't do it, they only have EIS.

Sony have it on their X3000 (4k - £400+) and AS300 (1080p - £300+), and there is the Revl Arc ($400). Otherwise, nothing.

It's notable that Sony still recommend that you buy their stabilizer accessory.
kwackers
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by kwackers »

thelawnet wrote:Mechanical stabilisation is rare in action cams - gopro don't do it, they only have EIS.

Sony have it on their X3000 (4k - £400+) and AS300 (1080p - £300+), and there is the Revl Arc ($400). Otherwise, nothing.

It's notable that Sony still recommend that you buy their stabilizer accessory.

I suspect action cameras aren't a good platform for something as intricate as mechanical stabilisation. TBH I hadn't given it that much thought, but if you can't mechanically stabilise the image in poor light then I'm not sure what the point is. Probably better post processing it.
thelawnet
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by thelawnet »

kwackers wrote:
thelawnet wrote:Mechanical stabilisation is rare in action cams - gopro don't do it, they only have EIS.

Sony have it on their X3000 (4k - £400+) and AS300 (1080p - £300+), and there is the Revl Arc ($400). Otherwise, nothing.

It's notable that Sony still recommend that you buy their stabilizer accessory.

I suspect action cameras aren't a good platform for something as intricate as mechanical stabilisation. TBH I hadn't given it that much thought, but if you can't mechanically stabilise the image in poor light then I'm not sure what the point is. Probably better post processing it.


Hmm.

According to this

https://photo.stackexchange.com/questio ... bilization

the gimbal works on a moving camera, whereas in-camera stabilization is about stopping shake on a stationary camera.

I am not sure exactly how shake works with video, as an action cam is around 20mm equivalent, so at 30fps (1/60 shutter speed), shake wouldn't be issue, standing still. But on a moving bike maybe different?
thelawnet
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by thelawnet »

I looked at the actual cameras, I already own a Xiaomi phone, and it's excellent - 1/3 of the price of Samsung.

Anyway, their cameras seem to be a good way to go as they are a bit of a 'brand' as far as Chinese companies go, and they use the same mount as Go Pro so the accessories should all be cross-compatible

Yi £39 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016MAUHOK
Yi Lite £65 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0742B56ND/ Same camera performance as above but with a screen, EIS, bundled waterpoof case (£7.99 otherwise). Bicycle mount is £5.60 with silly voucher
Yi 4K £120 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01I40DE6Y/ Better camera sensor + 4k. EIS at 1080p but not 4k. Waterproof case bundle + free handlebar mount is extra £5
Yi 4k+ Same as above but with EIS at 4k thanks upgraded CPU apparently sells for around £207 sometimes but currently more than that.

Their Gimbal is ~£75 depending on which silly voucher you get.

Various reviews suggest that the Yis' EIS compares poorly to GoPro, etc., which isn't such a surprise really. The 4k+ seems to be completely pointless therefore.

The current best selling brand on Amazon - Akaso - is more expensive & inferior, just goes to show how effective review manipulation is.

Xiaomi have cut their prices on the Yi 4k quite a bit since launch (as they tend to do) so it seems to be fairly good value atm - £125 compared with £70.60 for the Yi Lite with bike mount

edit: apparently bike mounts are more-or-less useless unless your surface is super-smooth - you want a chest mount.
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mjr
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by mjr »

Chest mounts are pretty useless unless you sit at pretty much at the same lean the whole time, which I sure don't.
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MarcusT
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by MarcusT »

I purchased from Amazon. Most of the economical models are the same, it's only the brand name that changes. 40 bought the whole set, camera, waterproof case, batteries, all the mounting hardware (head, handlebar, etc). Not the best video quality, but not bad either. The only downside is the batteries. Not the longest lasting and quality control is spotty.
For what I use it for, it's more than enough, if you plan on using the videos for commercial purposes, I would consider something more expensive. Even a smartphone would yield better results and it's simple, enough to buy the mounting hardware you need.
I wish it were as easy as riding a bike
thelawnet
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by thelawnet »

MarcusT wrote:I purchased from Amazon. Most of the economical models are the same, it's only the brand name that changes. 40 bought the whole set, camera, waterproof case, batteries, all the mounting hardware (head, handlebar, etc). Not the best video quality, but not bad either. The only downside is the batteries. Not the longest lasting and quality control is spotty.
For what I use it for, it's more than enough, if you plan on using the videos for commercial purposes, I would consider something more expensive. Even a smartphone would yield better results and it's simple, enough to buy the mounting hardware you need.


smartphones and action cameras use the same sensors, etc., so basically the same thing really. Probably an £800 smartphone will have a better lens than a £100 action camera, but the sensor is likely the same.

The action camera is just a specialised version of another sector which is increasingly obsolete - the cheap digital camera.

my last half-decent smartphone (£300) got destroyed when I used it on a cycling trip to a waterfall. But presumably I could have got a waterproof case or what not. You get more camera for your money if you buy JUST a camera rather than a better smartphone - you probably need to add on £150 to your smartphone price to get £50 extra worth of camera, as they upgrade everything else as well.

It's the same with GPS - now also largely obsolete due to phones.
gregoryoftours
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Re: Chinese go-pro knock-offs

Post by gregoryoftours »

I think this guy's reviews of gopro alternatives are pretty decent and he doesn't seem to be on the take as far as I can tell-

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLPFDS ... oNWQjoaTMk
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