The 5 Best Action Cameras on the Market

More and more people today are participating in adrenaline fuelled sports and death defying feats as technology advances to make these types of sports safer. One of the major joys of doing these things is being able to share the amazing moments with our friends and family. Since the introduction of the sports camera everybody including novice mountain climbers, X-Games, athletes, intermediate mountain bike riders and paraglider pilots can share their extreme moments and insane stunts in point of view, HD glory.

The market for action cameras has risen dramatically over the past couple of years and thanks to the demand of these first person view cameras, many new makes of sports camera have arrived on the market. Everybody is familiar with the current market leader, GoPro, but there are many other alternatives out there, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. We have whittled down all the vast alternatives into 5 of what we consider to be the best action sports cameras on the market today.

 

GoPro Hero3 Black Edition

GoPro Hero 3 Black

The current market leader and benchmark for all sports cameras, the GoPro Hero 3 Black edition boasts a plethora of specs that others cameras only dream to have. With its 12MP CMOS sensor, and wide angle f/2.8 lens you can record eye popping 4K uhd footage at 12fps (frames per second) that will blow your friends away. Other video modes available are 2.7K/30 fps to 720p/120fps both of which are HD type footage. The camera comes with its own WiFi operated remote control and can be controlled with the free GoPro app for your mobile phone. It comes bundled with CineForm video editing software which had various digital filter effects and editing controls to produce eye popping, spiced up footage. This really is the best of the best at the moment but it will set you back a cool £300

 

Buy now from http://www.amazon.co.uk

 

Drift HD Ghost

Drift HD Ghost

The Drift HD Ghost is marketed towards outdoor athletes and is really an all rounder in the action camera scene. One advantage over the market leader is that it has a 2 inch LCD screen, toughened with Gorilla Glass so you can see the footage you are filming which helps you to set up the perfect shot. The lens on the Drift Hd Ghost can be rotated a whole 360 degrees which helps to level out any shots from awkward angles and the lens itself can take in a whole 170 degree wide angled spectrum. It offers a broad range of HD recording modes and has wind reducing software so the microphone records a much better sound quality than other action cameras. The built in WiFi allows you to transfer and edit clips on iOS devices (Android not currently available) and has a removable battery pack so you can change batteries to extend video recording time. It comes boxed with a handful of flat and curved mounts so you can attach it to a variety of surfaces.

 

Buy Now £250 from http://www.wexphotographic.com

 

Sony Action Camera with Wi-Fi

Sony Action Camera

This camera really is a beast and is built to last and endure the hardest treatment. It shares the majority of features with its two main rivals above, but it has been built to a much tougher standard and has been designed to outlive even its own operator. It has a super slim and aerodynamic design that lends itself to super fast, adrenaline filled, video filming moments and you won’t even feel that the camera is there. This camera boasts the longest battery life of all the cameras we have shown here with an estimated life of three to four hours.

 

This camera is also WiFi controlled and you can start it recording remotely in various modes such as 1080p 30/60fps and 720p 30/120fps. The most important factor is that the lens is a Carl Zeiss creation, renowned worldwide as one of the best lens manufacturers. All this coupled with the ability to share your videos on social media directly from the camera itself should persuaded you that its not to hefty price tag is worth it.

 

Buy Now: £198 http://www.wiggle.co.uk

 

SJ4000

SJ4000

The SJ4000 is a budget action camera that is not shy of features. At only £60 you would be forgiven for thinking that this camera is no good. Au contraire, mon ami. Don’t let its budget price fool you. It may not be as high ion specs as the others but it has 90% of the specifications at 25% of the price. Capable of filming at a maximum of 1080p 30fps on its 12MP sensor you can film some amazing footage at amazing HD quality. It does lack a little on the battery life, filming for only 1 hour at full HD, but as spare batteries only cost £3, carry a couple extra and film all day. It comes with a 1.5 inch LCD screen on the back to be able to line up and see exactly what you are filming. The tough case lets you submerge the camera in up to 30 metres of water without worrying about it breaking and it is compatible with all GoPros accessories. If you’re unsure about what you can really achieve with an action camera, you can try this one out without taking out a second mortgage for the GoPro. Most people, once they buy the SJ4000 find it is enough for their needs and prefer to spend another £60 on a second one rather than change it for a GoPro.

 

Buy now £60 http://www.chinaelectronics.co.uk

 

GoTop HD

GoTop

This other budget camera also boasts some impressive features at a not so high price. Its 16MP CMOS sensor (better than the GoPro) is capable of filming 1080p footage at 120fps. This make for some awesome footage that rivals anything the GoPro can kick out. Submersible at up to 30 metres you really can take this camera anywhere. It comes bundled with 5 mounting accessories allowing you to place it anywhere you want to record any kind of adrenaline fuelled footage.

 

Buy Now £130 http://www.chinaelectronics.co.uk

The SJ4000 Action Camera Review

The SJ4000 is the current action camera making waves in the sports/action camera world. A no brand, GoPro copy, this little camera will surprise you with its simplicity and above all the quality of the image that it can record and capture. The SJ4000 currently sell on ChinaElectronics for 70 pounds with free delivery.

Offering full HD recording you can film your favourite moments in the following definitions. 1920*1080 at 30 frames per second, 1280*720 at 60 frames per second, 848*480 at 60 frames per second or 640*480 at 60 frames per second. I have yet to try it on any other setting than the default one which is 1920*1080 and as yet haven’t found any need to lower the resolution. I suppose if you are wanting to use this as a dash camera on a long journey or have a small memory card the lower resolutions would be acceptable options.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCZ837-yeOw

 

One of the major things that people seem to be concerned about is if the camera is really waterproof. I haven’t tested it to its full potential, which is 30 metres but I have dived down to 10 metres with no incurrent problems. The camera worked perfectly and didn’t get wet at all. One of my friends who is a diving instructor owns the very same camera and tells me he has gone as low as 35 metres and the camera didn’t get wet at all.

The only time I have found that the SJ4000 didn’t record very well was when I went out on the motorbike and attatched the camera to the handlebars of the motorbike. The vibrations from the bike caused a lot of rolling shutter effect (wobbly video), but from what i have read, this is a problem on all action cameras, not just the SJ400. The next time I went out I attatched the camera to my helmet and there were no recording problems whatsoever.

When it comes to sound the SJ4000 has a built in microphone that works reall quite well. The only drawback is when the SJ4000 is in its waterproof case. This tends to muffle the sound quite a lot but is onlt to be expected, as with all waterproof cameras.

The camera comes boxed with various mounts already included like two 3M stick pad bases to attach to your helmet, bike handlebar mount, two velcro belt mounts and waterproof case. The great thing is that the SJ4000 is compatible with all commercial GoPro mounts on the market.

The SJ4000 action camera only has two main buttons and volume buttons and is extremely easy to use. The front button is for turning the camera on and off and cycling through the various options. Once you press the button to turn the camera on it boots in less than 2 seconds and opens directly in the record video mode. To start recording video you can press the top button once and it will start to record. To stop recording press the top button once more. If you press the front button again it will take you to the stills camer mode for taking photos. The top button is used to take the picture. Press the front button once more and it will take you to the review mode where you can see all the videos and photos you have taken. You can use the volume buttons on the side to scroll through your videos and images. You use the top button to play the selected videos. Press the front button once more to go to the settings menu. One more press of the front button will return you to the record video mode. One long press of the front button will turn the camera off.

If I could place one drawback on this camera it would be the fact that it doesn’t have WiFi control so photos taken from a monopod extendible arm aren’t possible. At the moment most camera that have WiFi function are much more expensive.

All in all this is a great value action/sports camera and for the price of one GoPro you can buy three of these little beasts. If you are new to the sports camera world the SJ4000 is a great camer to start with. You can try your hand at filming your extreme action moments without breaking the bank. You will probably find that the SJ4000 will be more than enough for you.

I will be uploading sample clips as soon as I have had time to edit them so please keep checking back or leave me a comment with your email to send you information when they are ready. I will also leave links to the files in my dropbox account so you can download the videos to be able to appreciate them in their full uncompresed glory. The videos on YouTube are so compressed that you can’t see how well this camer records.