Five of the Best Action Cameras
Whether you want a sturdy camera that you can strap on while biking or climbing, or a camera that you can attach to your car to capture the craziness of the road or protect yourself from fraud, a good action camera is a must. Long battery life, reliability, ease of use, affordable storage – this week we take a look at five cameras that have it all.
Earlier this week, we asked you which action cameras you think are the best . You put up some great nominations, and here are the top 5 in no particular order:
GoPro Hero 4 Black
It’s not cheap – in fact, the camera alone will set you back $ 500 – but the GoPro Hero 4 Black is an extremely popular action camera, and for good reason. It is almost impossible to destroy, it can go anywhere and survive all kinds of punishment. It has its own high-speed built-in processor, capable of shooting video in 4K, 1080p or 720p at 30fps or slow-motion video at 240 or 120fps. It is equally powerful camera, capable of capturing images at 12 megapixels and burst mode at 30 frames per second. Night photography modes and many manual options give you all sorts of control over the quality of your photos, and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth let you control the camera from afar on your mobile device if you need to. The camera even has excellent automatic low-light and time-lapse modes, making it easy to shoot anytime, anywhere, and even for extended periods of time.
Those of you who nominated it had several reasons to love it, in part because the GoPro is nearly ubiquitous in this category, which means it’s easy to find accessories, options, peripherals, and other devices that are compatible with it, which are easy to use. use or had a GoPro in mind when developing. Others of you have said that the market for GoPro parts is the broadest, which means you can save by buying used, selling old items and finding used peripherals and kits to save some money. You’ve also highlighted this in-depth Hero 4 review as proof of its superiority. You can view the entire nominations thread here .
Action camera SJCAM SJ4000
If you are looking to expand into the entire action camera market without wasting too much money, the SJCAM SJ4000 may be on your way. It can be bought on Amazon for under $ 100 (camera, waterproof case, and accessories), and it delivers a party of 1080p video at 30fps (along with 720p video at 60fps). It is 12MP still photography with many shooting options. manual control of image and video both on board and via remote control via an Android or iOS device connected to Wi-Fi. It’s rugged, water resistant and fully functional for immersion, and can be taken anywhere with a more expensive camera and will withstand the same punishment. It has moderate burst capability, but it has several advantages that other cameras lack, such as being able to act as a webcam permanently connected to a computer.
Those of you who have nominated the SJ4000 have praised it for being so affordable and offering incredible value for money. If you don’t want to spend hundreds and hundreds on a camera and associated equipment, this is the option for you. Plus, it’s compatible with a variety of peripherals made for GoPro cameras, so you have a variety of options for mounts, housings, and more. The video quality is excellent, with many of you praising it in particular, but you also mentioned that you’ll have to wade through some poorly translated menus and guides to make the most of them and get to those lovely controls. Most of you have pointed out that yes, this is pretty much a cheap hoax, but good for the price – not professional grade and certainly not top class, but extremely powerful. Read more in the thread of his nominations here .
Sony 4K Action Camera
The Sony FDR-X1000V 4K Action Cam is another expensive model that goes for $ 500 on Amazon and goes for a hundred more if you want Live View remote control. For your money, you get an impressively reliable shooter that you can take with you wherever you go, capable of capturing exceptionally high quality video. The camera can shoot in full 4K and 1080p HD at 30 and 120fps, respectively, but kills at 720p HD at 240fps. The video is excellent there too. It’s not really for photography in this case, but it can technically shoot 8.8MP still images if you need it, and has built-in digital image stabilization. It’s waterproof, splash-proof and extremely durable, more than capable of handling the elements and capturing beautiful videos of your travels or exploits, wherever you are. The camera also includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and more connectivity and configuration options than we can mention here, as well as remarkable sound quality, which is a big advantage over some of the others in the roundup.
Those of you who nominated a 4K Action Cam commented that Full HD video at 240fps was excellent, and image stabilization was a decent feature to consider when compared to other manufacturers. You praised the built-in stereo microphone, its noise and wind canceling features, and the overall sound quality. Our friends at Gizmodo were impressed with him for a number of reasons, the least of which was his 240fps 720p HD video, which came out incredible as you can see in their full review. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Sony HDR-AS100V
The more affordable Sony HDR-AS100V action camera will set you back $ 200 on Amazon for the base model. It combines Sony image stabilization and SteadyShot technology, designed to help you capture crystal clear images even when you are on the move and your subject is in motion, and is capable of shooting 13.5MP still images and 1080p HD video and 720p HD at 120 and 240 fps, respectively. Like the others in this review, it is exceptionally durable and has multi-sport attachments (like one of you bought your own with a surfboard mount), shock and drop resistant, waterproof and splash-proof housing, and more. all in a relatively affordable package compared to other cameras of this type. The camera even records additional information like GPS and map position along with your videos so you can overlay it later or include it in any video you end up creating. The camera is equipped with Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, etc., so you can control it remotely or transfer video easily, and also has a built-in stereo microphone for sound recording.
Those of you who have nominated the HDR-AS100V praised it for an excellent budget camera that is popular and respected for its video quality, even if it doesn’t have the cache of names that other models have. You won’t find a shortage of peripherals and attachments, despite being a Sony camera, and you’ve praised its image stabilization and sound quality as good reasons to consider it. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Mobius ActionCam
The Mobius ActionCam, available on Amazon for just $ 90 in both standard and wide-angle options (you opted for wide-angle in particular), is affordable, tiny (seriously, that’s about the same as an AA battery, and only doubles wider (2x1x1 “and weighs just 1.2 ounces) and a rugged camera that you can take wherever you go. The wide-angle lens has a 131-degree field of view and is capable of shooting 1080p HD video at 30fps or 720p HD video at 60 It has a built-in microphone, can be used as a dash cam, bicycle camera or even a fixed security camera configured to only record when motion is detected. go out into space or stay underwater for hours, you will see these cameras mounted on quadcopters and private jets to capture net travel.
Those of you who have nominated it praised its aftermarket support for both used cameras and used peripherals, and noted that it retains its value well. You also pointed out that this is one of those cameras that can be a dash cam one day and a helmet cam the other, so you can save some money and get a decent video for little money in a tiny and sturdy package that can go with you almost everywhere. You’ve even noted that it’s great for DIY projects and is easy to navigate without digging through the manual to figure out which buttons to press and in what order. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Now that you’ve seen the top five, it’s time to put them to a vote to determine the absolute favorite:
Honorable mentions
An honorable mention this week goes to a slightly older GoPro model, the GoPro Hero 3 White , which you nominated for being in the perfect spot between ease of use and durability, with great video quality and fast recordings, yet reasonably affordable. that you could buy more than one if you wanted. You can check out the nominations thread (which has its honorable mention) here .
Do you have anything to say about one of the applicants? Want to substantiate your personal favorite even if it wasn’t on the list? Remember, the Top 5 is based on your most popular nominations from the Call for Applicants thread earlier this week . Don’t just complain about the top 5, let us know which option you prefer and justify it in the discussions below.