GoPro vs. Alternatives - Fall 2014 ed.

It's been about six months since the last action cam thread, so lets check in on the current best bang for the buck.

I'm looking to spend between $100-$200 for a camera w/ extra battery and a few mounts. Main use will be rallyx vids, but I'm sure I'd use it on my bike (bicycle), and probably play with one of those dogs-eye-view mounts since they look fun.

Needs to have a wifi/rf remote (no ir) for starting when outside the vehicle and I'm strapped in. A phone app could work fine for this.

I'm leaning towards the Sony AS30 currently. Seems like the vid quality is great (better than the AS10/15 first gen because of a better sensor), and has wifi and gps built in. I'm really interested in the on-board gps. Could be really useful in conjunction w/ the video for tracking and improving driving on improvised (rally/autox) courses. It's at the top end of the budget, though.

Of course then there's the used GoPro option. Seems like I'd be looking at something like an hero2 Silver or maybe hero3 silver. Would really depend on what sort of deal I can find w/ mounts/etc..

At the low end of the budget is the china option, w/ the wifi sj4000 seeming the best. If I don't go for the Sony AS30, this is probably the direction I'll take. The Sony does better videos, sound and has GPS, but the sj4000's decent video for cheap keeps it attractive.

Somewhere in the middle are the Ion Air Pro and Contour options. I could potentially find a deal on the Contour w/ GPS but seems they are fewer than the Sony and I'm less sold on video quality.

Thoughts and experiences?

Having run a Sony AS100 (similar but with more fanciness) Vs A GoPro 3 (Silver or white, can't remember) I will definitely say Sony. The built in image stabilization is awesome and the video quality was better in most lighting situations. The only thing is the availability and quantity of accessories.

I also like the build style better: long and narrow vs the GoPros short and wide. Makes side mounting or tucking it between things (headlights on a motorcycle) much better.

The GoPro is almost a one-trick pony: It's built really tough. Also lots of accessories available. But if you don't really need the toughness and can make do with less accessories/more DIYing, the GoPro is definitely not the best deal out there.

Which of the waterproof cameras do you guys like best? I'm thinking of getting one, and would use it on the car, bike, and boat-- so something that can deal with getting wet would be nice. The lack of a screen has always bugged me about the GoPro. I'd like one with a screen built in. A phone app won't work as my phone is outdated.

We'll also be doing another round-up story on these before too long-- so your feedback would be appreciated.

I won a gopro 2 in a raffle at a track day once. It was awesome. Then I bought a 3 black when it came out, and I sort of regret the decision. My computer doesn't really have the horsepower to edit the video in a timeframe that corresponds with my patience level, and top end computer hardware is expensive. Rebuild on a 13b expensive. So I sort of regret buying the high end camera, because rarely does any of my footage make it any farther than a hard drive. The one thing I've ever put on youtube is here: E46 crash Mid Ohio. I'd like to think I'd actually edit more videos for youtube if I did them in 480p instead of anything higher. Then I'd be happy with a cheap camera. Except I'd probably be pissed at the quality when everybody else seems to have gorgeous SLR video.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that you should buy whatever suits your needs and budget, but the key to enjoying it is to use it proficiently in a way that makes you happy. Hell, the Chinese hardware is pretty damn good for the money. You can get 70% of a gopro black for 20% of the money. The guy at Techmoan reviews a lot of Chinese action cams.

I spent a bunch of time on the techmoan site as, indeed, his reviews are great. Helped me narrow down the options a lot.

Joe, the Sony AS100 comes w/ a wrist strap remote/screen combo that looks nice, but it's out of my budget. It's what drove me to the AS30, though. Techmoan has a great review on it. They all come w/ waterproof housings, it's just how dive capable they are. Oh, the AS100 is "splash proof" w/out the housing too.

Nabi HD is your ticket. Once its on youtube its the same video quality as gopro. Uses go pro mounts. I have 3 of them that I bought when they were on sale for $60 on WOOT and they all turn on with a single programmed remote. Battery life is better than the go pro by a long margin.Downsides, to use the waterproof case you have to put the LCD backpack on it (nbd, that comes free) and to turn it on you have to pull it out of the case and move a slider. But they go to sleep after 5 minutes on non-use and the remote can wake it up. With my use, running 6 auto-x runs in the morning and 6 in the afternoon, I turn it on and off before and after the sets of runs and it ends up with about 60% battery left (thats with the LCD on and the wifi). That same use used to kill my gobro 2 (with nothing special running).

Once I bought them I just ordered 3 gopro suction cup mounts through amazon, go pro still makes the best sub 200 action cam suction cup mount.

Oh yeah, they come with a 4gb SD card, the lcd tumor, bunch of cables, a few sticky mounts, the water proof case, a case that just attaches to the camera body. Their quick release mounts dont match with go pro qr mounts but thats not a big deal unless you have a bunch of go pro sticky mounts already all over your car. And The mounting system attaches to the camera and/or the case with a standard 1/4-20 (28?) camera tripod mount so you have that option if you want too.

I was amazed at the picture quality my old original Hero managed......

Saturday morning bump.

Came across a great review: http://library.creativecow.net/spottedeagle_douglas/POV-Camera-Testing/1

The "Frankenlens" looks like something one of us would make..

My only beef whatsover with the original GoPro (the cheapest one now available) is that it's not capable of being remotely started by wire so I can't put a button on the steering wheel and I can't reach the camera when I'm in racing gear so if the pit helpers forget or hit the wrong button... no video.

Otherwise - it's picture is fantastic, sound is great, it's super tough and has all kinds of mounting options. So... log/short, if you don't care about remote start then buy one of those for $80.

Welp, just won an as100v on eBay. Will report back on how it goes!