One should be mentioned in this review in advance: The tests and practical tests I have rarely made in a device in such detail - and in this action cam has even a lot of fun!
The device itself comes in a fancy gem box and accessories. Accessories list that corresponds to the jew. Chosen equipment package. The startup itself is not a problem, the first tests was unusual in that it has no color screen. In practice, one perceives this but far less than deficiency than one might initially assume.
Overall, the Cam is smaller, delicate and particularly fortunately also lighter than one would expect based on the product photos.
Micro SDHC cards up to 32GB easily processed, for the "pro-mode" with 50 MB / sec but is necessarily an SDXC 64GB required.
I used the following test scenarios:
- Mounting at the helm (sunshine, outside) while cycling, climbing
- Mounting on the shoulder (sunshine, outside) while climbing and hiking
- Mounting on the wrist (sunshine, outside) shooting from bow and handgun
- Bicycle handlebars, bicycle frame (sunshine, outside)
- On FatGecko inside / outside the car (sun, night)
- Ropeway carriage (sunshine, outside)
- Under DSLR for Video parallel to photos (Kunstllicht, interior)
- On the tripod for time-lapse photography (Tungsten inside, outside sunlight)
Among the findings:
Pro:
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- Mounting plates very massive, lock safe
- Splash-proof without housing
- Mounting accessories such as the rotary / lifting drive is thoughtfully
- Design more practical than Garmin Virb, eg for flat mounting side of the helmet / framework / wrist etc.
- Focus (also on the edge at 170 ° angle of view)
- Color reproduction is very natural
- Dynamic Range / contrast very well
- Low Light capability (mE better than Garmin Virb and GoPro)
- White balance much better resolved and precise than the Garmin Virb
- Stabilizer extremely strong and counteracts any vibration and partly rotation
- Very good wide angle without stabilizer (both are confined not due to the operating principle ... it is equal to the stability of things that could not be an optical)
- Pro mode provides excellent image quality (uses 64 GB SDXC Kate ahead!)
- Stereo microphone with excellent sound outside the underwater housing.
- Wifi control with surprisingly little delay
- Coupling via NFC problems (test with Android devices: Z1 Compact, Nexus 7 and Nexus 5)
Neutral:
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- Device is quite warm during the recording
- 13 MP photos are about to phone level, but it is sufficient for clean images at lower pressures (Pixelpeeping a la DSRL is not appropriate).
- No preview display (for another model, so not a real negative point)
- Lapse recordings only as single images that Virb automatically renders a video ... but it may be better, because you are so flexible.
- Battery life as usual relatively low, about 2 hours recording are the limit. Change batteries on offer.
- When you turn on once the Pro mode, you no longer goes back to more compressed formats :)
- In the underwater case no usable sound, but this is normal.
Con:
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- With strong side light flair formation with loss of contrast across the entire image (in practice less relevant, because it does not occur only at a few degrees)
- No 720p (30/60/120) in Pro mode
- Biggest gripe: Do not load during recording via USB (! Bulky AC adapters needed, no Powerbank possible) (. S to update but from 15:08:14!)
Urgent Tip: Order now a 64GB SDXC with and use, since then is one of the "pro-mode" is available, and its Qualitär is beyond any doubt. "Save" and instead only use an SDHC card is therefore no good idea.
Conclusion: Great Action-Cam, which runs on top form with an SDXC card, and plays in the big leagues this product category.
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Update 15:08:14:
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The new firmware 2.0 is veröffentlucht and I installed it.
New features of the firmware 2.0:
Self-timer 2s / 10s: Top, with one beep and flashing down
Burst Photo: Automatic continuous shooting (10 pieces): Works and is virtually
Motion Photo: also consists of 10 images and is mated to a short "wait" in the display and stored as an image.
The most important change, although not available in the changelog (!!!!):
USB charging while recording is now possible. Yesterday I made 4 hours video at a time, while the cam was on the cell phone power supply :)