SJ1000 Camera Review

AlanS181824

From researching online the SJ1000 seems to be one of the most popular action cameras around for approximately €60.

I was looking to get one myself so I decided to review it!

Note: The current price as of 17/6/14 is €64.24 but if you use the code SJ1000tmt you can get 7.66% off!

I got it from Tmart.com and it took about 2-3 weeks to get here.

Link

The packaging was opened by Customs so that’s something to note.

On the camera we have power button, menu button and micro SD card slot to the right.

On the left we have the up and down buttons followed by Mini HDMI port (for connected it up to your TV) and the micro USB charging/syncing port.

On the top of the camera is the M (mode) button and the OK button.

Finally on the bottom is the user replaceable Li-ion battery which allows for up to 80 minutes of battery life.

The camera without the waterproof case measures at a height of 7cm, 4.5cm in width, and is 3cm thick.

In the box was the camera itself along with many accessories for it.
Here’s the full list of everything included:

From TMart Product Listing wrote:

1 x Waterproof HD 1080P Camera Camcorder
1 x Waterproof Case
1 x Suction Cup Mount
1 x Car Charger
1 x Power Adapter (Europe Standard)
1 x USB Cable
4 x 3M Glue
1 x Bicycle Stand
1 x Set of Connected Parts
1 x Set of Base
1 x Set of Base Accessories
1 x Rag (Cleaning Cloth)
1 x User Manual

Another thing to note is that it does not come with an Irish plug or adaptor only a European one. This will be fine for most people as it uses a standard micro USB cable to charge and sync it.

The camera can record video in 1080p and take pictures at 12Mp.

The 1080p video comes out very clear but if you’re not using a large SD card such as a 16GB or 32GB it seems to fill up very quickly.

5 minutes of footage seems to take up anywhere from 500MB to 600MB in the QuickTime .MOV format.

Pictures taken at 12Mp are around 1.50MB but I noticed if there isn’t enough light then the picture can seem slightly grainy.

Overall I would say the video quality is excellent, a lot better than I had expected and the image quality is quite good too providing there’s enough light.

As the camera comes with a waterproof case I decided to also test its ability at recording video whilst submerged underwater.

Sadly I don’t live anywhere near the beach so I had to use my kitchen sink for the testing!

It worked as described, it recorded underwater with no problems at all. Most of the buttons are accessible on the waterproof case so it is very easy to stop recording then start again when you wish.

It comes with arm straps and a little buckle so I decided to try and attach this to my Miniature Jack Russell Terrier and see what happens.

It took me a while to figure out how to get it to attach to her but eventually clipping the clip attachment to her collar seemed like the best bet.

She wasn't too pleased but after her running around with it on her for a little bit the camera fell, hitting the concrete.

I was pretty anxious at that point thinking it had broken but upon closer examination it was fine!

It’s very interesting seeing things from a dog’s perspective but as my dog is so small it didn’t work out very well, you could only see the ground and her two paws.

So if you’ve a large dog like maybe a Labrador then this would probably work very well but as the camera is quite long it won’t work with smaller dogs!

The camera can also be used as a Dash Cam using the included car mount and suction cup. The 140° wide angle lens helps to get everything into the shot.

There is a feature where once the camera starts charging i.e. it’s plugged into the car charger and the car is started then it will automatically begin to record video stopping once the engine is turned off.

This is especially useful for people who may forget to set the camera to record as soon as they get into the car.

The included car charger is quite long so I found it very easy to just set it and forget it.

You can set the camera to record in 3, 5, or 10 minute loops and the camera will automatically delete the oldest video if it starts running out of space.

There is also the option to turn the looping off and the camera will just keep recording but this is limited to 35 minutes of footage at which point it will start recording again.

Another feature of the SJ1000 is that it can be used as a webcam for your computer! Plugging it in you are greeted with an option to connect it as a mass storage device for viewing your recorded videos or as a PC camera for use as a webcam.

I have Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 machines and on both computers Windows found the necessary drivers and installed them automatically.

Note: There is no included software with the camera so if you want to use effects and filters you will have to get the software yourself. I personally use ManyCam and would recommend it.

I tested this with some friends on Skype and it worked very well, the quality was very good and there was no ghosting of the video when I moved which sometimes happens with Skype.

Although I wouldn't use this as a dedicated webcam it is a great added feature.

Finally the SJ1000 can be used as a Home Surveillance Camera, I only tested this feature quite briefly but it seems to work well. It has a motion detection feature whereby if something in shot moves it will begin to record 10 seconds of video until something in shot moves again. This means that if someone is at your door the SJ1000 will record it for 10 seconds until it sees more movement which will reset the 10 second timer. And start it recording again.

Here are my final thoughts on the SJ1000:

The included mounts, accessories and the waterproof case are all great additions to the camera and the manufacturers seem to have thought of every possible use case with this device.

The audio and video quality is great, the 1080p video is surprisingly clear and bright but the 12Mp images can be slightly grainy if there’s not enough light in the shot. If there is however, images turn out crisp and have a high level of detail.

Considering its price point of €64.24 (around €59.32 when coupon code is applied) I honestly couldn't recommend the SJ1000 enough.
This ended up being a little more in depth than I originally had planned but hopefully it helps potential buyers make up their mind

I created an Imgur Album with pictures of what the SJ1000 looks like and this can be found here.

I might also try to get some sample footage onto YouTube!