After unpacking we see that the camera is delivered in its waterproof case (30m to 15m after the manufacturer "confirmed" on the internet). The four control buttons (mode, up / down and OK) of the camera remain accessible once in its case by lintermédiaire with triggers rather difficult to handle must admit.
In addition to the camera, waterproof case and a small but sufficient brief guide to start of use (if you read English, German, Russian or Chinese), a dozen of accessories found in box fasteners, which need to hang the camera to a helmet and several frames equipped with no standard photo 1/4 "screw -20UNC. What already meet many applications. Lack only the" sucker "to fix the camera on a car body (in according to the User Manual option).
In itself the camera measuring 6x4x3cm. Counting 8x7x4cm with the Waterproof Case and depending on mounting accessories. The complete set weighs 160g, including sixty grams only for the camera equipped with its micro-SD card (not included). In this connection, the manufacturer advises avoid cards "NoName" and announces a maximum capacity of 32GB supported. A Class 10 card seems the minimum. For my part, I tested with Transcend 16GB Premium. It works perfectly.
Good surprise, the camera is equipped with a color LCD screen on the back, making it easier to navigate the options menu, and above, which controls the shooting or viewing the captured sequences. There is also a micro HDMI connection (cable not included) and micro USB 2.0. In the latter case, the cable is supplied - as it is also that connects the camera to its charger 5V 1A. This particular model is also equipped with a WiFi interface. Gadget I thought at first. But in fact, it proves convenient to download the videos without removing the camera from its waterproof housing. From a technical point of view, once the feature is enabled, the camera acts as a WiFi access point to the address 192.168.1.254. The camera embeds DHCP servers, HTTP (for downloading video files), RTSP (for streaming and remote control of camera functions) and "dec-notes" (untested port 3333). Was substantially the same functionality with the USB interface. But here we must open the case to connect the cable ... In streaming, on my Linux box, I noticed a significant shift 0.5s to 1s between the image and the real action. But I did not try if we could improve things by changing the settings because it is not really the main intended use of this product.
And now the most important: what about the quality of the produced videos? Well this is where the SJ4000 is most surprising. The result is not bad. It is rather the opposite.
Okay, indoors and in low light, you see compression artifacts. But it is especially outdoor that this camera shines. In terms of colors, camera set to automatic color temperature, the blue and to a lesser extent the greens are very saturated. Red is a little behind. In "normal" quality sometimes we notice that the blue sky gradient are transformed into a succession of flat areas with marked boundaries. May be due to saturation push the blue? Or compression too high? it is certain that this defect disappears when moving in image quality "fine". And there, the result is really surprising: it's hard to believe that the pictures are from the SJ4000! In terms of video formats, the maximum resolution is 1920x1080 @ 30fps. From 1280x720 at 60fps you can ride. But not beyond. It is a bit limited for replays. Conversely, there is a video-lapse mode, which does take a picture every 1/2/5/10/30 or 60 seconds. In all cases, products are files in QuickTime format (.mov). The video stream is encoded in h264 (High profile) and audio pcm_s16le 32kHz mono. No problem to read them on my Debian machine (tested with VLC, mplayer and ffmpeg). Presumably they can be replayed on any recent platform.
One caveat about the video: anti-shake really not terrible. I tend to leave it off for quite correct tremors in post processing when editing videos.
As for the audio, I'd be there to talk abstained. The microphone is quite average quality with a lot of residual electronic noise (despite an internal digital processing, it is almost certain) and above all, it has a significant wind resistance. And the sound is even worse when the camera is in the housing (rain makes it a noise "crab claws"). That said, all videographers know, to have a good sound, you have an external microphone. Here, no connections available for it. In this field, it will either settle for a poor result or consider taking its external sync in post-production (or so dubbing ... or its additional band)
If one leaves aside the last remarks, and especially if one places in the balance the price of this product, it is difficult to prove at this point demanding. Finally, the SJ4000 is a good camera both in terms of manufacturing, functionality and quality of images. Which will stream your choice it will be your budget and the use you intend to make: if you can afford to put several hundred dollars, and you are considering heavy use or professional then you know what you must buy. For a more casual use, or if your budget is much more limited, do not hesitate: the SJ4000 give you complete satisfaction.
