DBPOWER SJ4000 review (GoPro style camera)

UPDATE: Since this review was written in 2014, I have since come into possession of a camera for underwater photos that takes "better" pictures quality-wise. If an affordable camera for underwater photography is the only thing you're searching for, I'd recommend this one at $80. However, if you're not focusing on underwater photography, have a smaller budget, or especially if you're looking for a GoPro style camera without the GoPro price tag, I'd highly recommend the SJ4000.

Here is a link to the page where I bought mine in 2014, but since then it looks like the accessories it comes with have changed a bit, for the better. I got it in white because that's all they had at the time. At the time of this update (August 21st 2016), the SJ4000 sells for around $50-$65ish. I recommend looking around for a better deal if you come across one selling for more, and to be wary of ones much cheaper. 

Now onto the original review!

The DBPOWER SJ4000. Just like a GoPro, but a better value overall.

 I've been in the market for an affordable, good quality underwater camera for quite awhile. I was not considering buying an underwater housing for Carmen; should something go wrong and she get ruined, I'd be a model stuck without a good camera. I recently came into some funds, and good option to consider, I thought, would be a GoPro camera, for its versatility. The main problem was there were too many options. I had no idea the difference between the models themselves, let alone the black/silver/white versions. I spent a few days doing research on product features and such, but the reviews were confusing. One would say "DEFINITELY buy this one!" and the next would say "Shell out the money for the next model- it's so much better!".  I talked it over with my Dad, who was considering gifting me one for Christmas. We unofficially settled on a GoPro Hero 3, but weren't sure which version to get. Luckily, before any money was spent, I found a forum on MerNetwork warning that the Hero 3 was super buggy, and crashed a lot. One of the other mermaids there recommenced the SJ4000. A cheaper, (and in my opinion, much better) alternative to the big name GoPro brand.

 I absolutely needed a display screen so my photographers wouldn't be shooting blindly. The SJ4000 has one (yay!), and some of the other underwater cameras I looked at didn't. This should make it much easier for my first underwater mermaid shoot, which will be coming up this month.  EDIT: We didn't make it! D:  But there will be plenty of opportunity to try it out later this year!

 The same forum on MerNetwork also warned that there were a ton of non-legit, cheaply made knock-offs of the SJ4000 floating around, which was slightly concerning. I learned how to tell the difference between the fakes and the real ones, and made sure to order from inside the USA (as opposed to China) in case I had to ship its ass back because it was a rip off. Despite its generic looking packaging, I got a legitimate model. :) It came with a bunch of extra goodies, and is compatible with GoPro brand accessories. I preemptively requested a GoPro head-mount for Christmas (which I got), knowing I'd be getting some model, and I'm happy to hear this will work with it. 

Here are some unboxing pictures!

The packaging design is on the minimalist side, yet is still artistic. I like it a lot.

The back of the package.

When you open the box, this is what you see. 

It was packaged extremely nicely, and I was glad it wasn't in that awful clam shell plastic.

 All the goodies that came with it! A heck of great deal for the price.

Here is the camera outside its underwater housing.

 And from the back.

The camera does NOT come with a micro SD card, but conveniently, Mum bought me one for Christmas for it. :) Since this post was written, I have upgraded to a 32GB micro SD card, which is the maximum it takes. It's well worth it, especially if you're shooting 1080p video. That's right, the SJ4000 shoots in 1080p HD! Crazy quality for such a cheap camera! It has 12 megapixels and up to a 4000x3000 still photo resolution, which is pretty darn good for a $50-$65 camera with so much versatility.

Just so you know, it does have a fish eye effect with its lens above water (like most GoPro style cameras), however I didn't notice it in underwater photos and videos, which is what I mainly needed it for.

Here is a very short clip showing off its fabulous video abilities (and a touch of my mermaid abilities ;) ). In case the clip below doesn't work, here is a YouTube link to the same clip. If you're on YouTube, don't forget to put the video in 1080p HD by selecting the cog at the bottom!

And here are a couple pictures taken using the SJ4000 underwater showing different lighting/time of day is shown. It works best underwater with bright sunlight directly overhead, the photos turn out awesome, as seen in the examples below. 

Photo by Lindsay Warrington on a sunny day

Photo by Jimmy on a sunny day

No idea who took this one, to be honest. It's Lindsay's pool, though, not mine, on a sunny day.

However, the farther away the subject is the more they blend into the background and get more blue and noisy, especially on cloudy days, which already lowers colour clarity by itself. At least, that's what it looked like when we were doing mermaid shoots. 

Photo by Emma Wright on a cloudy day

Picture taken by Jimmy on a very grey overcast day, with the subject in the distance

Still, for around $50, I'd say it performs very well. Wait for a sunny day and you're good to go! If you're going on vacation where you'll be going snorkeling or doing shallow depth scuba somewhere it'll be sunny in the daytime, it'd work great.

✯✯✯

There's a mode for underwater photos that I highly recommend, as much as it might make professional photographers cringe. There's a setting to auto capture an image every two seconds. 1.....2....Click! over and over until you tell it to stop. Unfortunately, there's no way to speed up the shutter, but this method makes it a lot easier to catch underwater model photos, especially since some models and/or photographers can't stay underwater very long, and like all similar style cameras, the buttons can be hard to press through the underwater housing. It's worth mentioning that in this mode you CAN press the button to get it to capture an image early, in between the default clicks every 2 seconds.

So, in summary, the DBPOWER SJ400 is the best cheap GoPro style camera around, in terms of what you get VS what you pay. If you're debating on buying a brand name GoPro camera, save your money, get this. 

-Queen Werandra