GoPro vs NoPro

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BrianOMahony
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I've been looking up GoPro's and things like this SJ5000 Wifi and I can't figure out are the official GoPro's justified or is it the iPhone of camera's, selling at a ridiculous price because of reputation. I know a few of ye had cheaper ones so I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.

Also on GoPro's I don't really know much about them. I presume a Hero 4 Black would be wasted on me for the use I'd give it but I wouldn't go for the Hero because of the non removable battery. So where is the best middle ground? Is a screen actually useful or does it just use up unnecessary battery life? Is there a point where the quality is good enough that you won't notice an upgrade? Are there features on any of them that are definitely worth getting it for? Or just if you're buying one which is the best for it's price these days.
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mmmm_scandalous
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I'd say a good kayak paddle would be the best bet. Some vertical elements.

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GavinSheehan
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mmmm_scandalous wrote:I'd say a good kayak paddle would be the best bet. Some vertical elements.
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mmmm_scandalous
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GavinSheehan wrote:
mmmm_scandalous wrote:I'd say a good kayak paddle would be the best bet. Some vertical elements.
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Not even

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mmmm_scandalous
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Just had a look there .

The sj4000 is coming in at under 45 yoyo delivered from Hong Kong.
You wouldn't have it before Kerry New years though.

I had the sj4000 before. Worked great. Lighter than the go pro. Video was just as good.
Put out the same file format as a DSLR camera.
The micro USB connection broke on me though. Soldering work was shite in it. Would probably get another one again and look after it this time

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BrianOMahony
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I read that SJCam never copyrighted the names SJ4000 and SJ5000 and because of that loads of people have fake ones and don't know. When the company announced the SJ5000 release people started putting up reviews even though they weren't out because they got convincing knock offs from China. I've seen it on loads of websites that you should make sure you're confident about where you're getting it from if you can't see it before paying. On the official website they don't sell just the SJ4000 anymore but they still charge about €85 for the SJ4000 Wifi so €45 might be a little suspicious even if it's the non Wifi version. Could be wrong though. .
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Eoin F
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My take on it:

The GoPro is a solid camera with solid options for the most basic of user to the professional grade. Regardless of what GoPro you get you are guaranteed a solid camera that will work everytime you want it to and will stay like that as long as you treat it well.

I've gone through a few GoPros and have had a fair amount of experience with knock off action cams also. My preference would be GoPro anyway, everytime. Reasons:

1. Reliable - being the absolute clincher for me anyway
2. Great Quality in every sense
3. Great quality footage and the ability to chop and change settings so you can have a bit of fun with what you are shooting

And yes there is of course an element of "Paying for the name" with the cameras but I think it is worth it for the great product. Given also that I very recently lost a GoPro (circa €400) partly down to my own sillyness but mostly due to bad luck, I will be going straight for a new GoPro and be avoiding any cheap knock offs.

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Go for the Hero 4 session its the best value go pro now. It cost 220 on the gopro websites now, down from 400. But if you want a better one to for the hero 4 silver jack of all trades gopro. The biuld quality of the SJ is not as good as gopro for example if a go pro gets too hot it will shut down automatically an sjcam will not. Also the waterproof housing on my Sjcam cracked but I got a full refund for it.
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StephenODea
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Ya the hero session is a steal at the moment. If you dont want that for some reason id go 3+ black. In my opinion best one for money. Class quality and perfect amount of features. I got a 3+ black about a year ago off adverts. Absolutely perfect and for 250.
I don't see a reason to buy new when there is so many ones for sale by people which have just been sitting there collecting dust.

I've looked at the sj4000 and it stutters slightly from dark to light which happens a lot in rapids. Also the battery is a good bit worse. Build quality is a lot worse.
The hero 4 black is a iPhone 6s of cameras totally unnecessary.
I think the screen on the 4 white is a waste as you get used to the gopro FOV angles very quick. Unless you are the kind of person who always shows off their great new deck :) Also mine has WiFi for the app (really handy) and comes with a remote for if you need to set it up. (Handy but again very rarely used)

Buy a solid tether or two. I've metal chicken like wire and a cord both attached to different part. Linda overkill but worth it.

Look at cathals gopro for instance it's a dinosaur and still going strong. (No offence intended.)
Buy cheap buy way more than twice - Wiser man :)
But that's just my opinion.
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Cathal
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I bought my Hero2 just as the hero 3 was announced. It's been fairly battered since, I've put two lenses on the case since new, plus a new extra battery. It does what I want it to do. (720p@60)
being able to do 1080p@60 would be nice, but I've no real need yet to get another gopro, I've different toys to purchase before that.
Otherwise, mine has been behaving correctly and just works.

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CormacRowe
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Go for a GoPro all day!!
Got the Sj5000+ last year for about €100 from the sj website. It had WiFi and a high quality camera and all the things the top end expensive gopro's had. Its downfall was it's battery life at around 30 mins to an hour max on full charge and the fact it could only record for a maximum of 5 minutes then stop which sometimes was multiples of 30s video.
I finally went for a reliable gopro hero which does the job records for ages and has a good battery life!

As the saying goes I'm too poor to buy cheap'




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