Gadget Notes - 4K Ultra HD Action Camera from China

Date:  Dec 27, 2015

I got a new gadget.

My friend Mike bought this for me from Shenzhen.  It cost about RMB$400.  This is about SGD$86.

It is a “GoPro” look alike camera.  HaHaHa… But 15%-20% of a GoPro price.

The box.  It’s 4K.  It is also Ultra HD.  It is Wi-Fi.  It is waterproof of 30M.  It has 2-inch Screen.  And it is an Action Camera.

It also have a Super Wide Angle Lens.  170 degree.

But the battery is only 1050mAh.  I think it is a bit small.  50 mins to 1.5 hour, that’s it.

Unboxing.

The waterproof casing has 4 buttons.  Seems pretty secure.

The screen is quite decent.  Not so intuitive UI.  But after you get the hang of it, it is not so bad.

Looks very sleek.  The ON-OFF button is at the front.  The shutter button is on top.  

The right side is the up and down button.  The down button is also act as the quick switch for Wifi. 

The left side has the HDMI port, the USB port as well as the micro SD card slow.

The bottom battery compartment is not so nice design.  It has no connecting hook.  So, don’t lose it.  And the latch is not so firm.  

This is the Made in China battery.

The manual is in English, and it is very impressive.

It is quite well written.

You will be more impressive with the mounting kit they gave you.

That’s is really impressive.

Yup, here are all the contents of the kit.

There is both iPhone App and Android App to download.

The Ez iCam is quite easy to use too.  And after you connect to it, basically, you can use it to control your 4K Action Cam.  (SPCA6330/6350 based).

The down button is to connect the Wifi.

Yup, you can control almost all the items in here.

you can view the files.  And of course, you can download them to your iMac, or your iPhone.

The download takes a long time.  

OK, now, let’s put this into test.  I went to East Coast Park and mount it on my bike.  And see how the video performance.  To me, it is pretty decent.

I never had a GoPro yet, so, I cannot say how it compare to GoPro.  But except for some time the stabilising function not there, most of the time it is good.  I need to set the exposure too as it was too bright the background some time.  Need to learn how to set that.

Otherwise, it is a pretty decent cheap 4K camera.

 It looks pretty decent!  Definitely 4K quality.  The following clips are uploaded to youtube.  You got to have good Internet as Youtube is adaptive technology to play video.  

Another video clip.  As you can see the sea is too bright, so, we lost details on the sea.  But I am sure there are some exposure setting we can use.

When the environment is darker, you can feel that the video quality has a lot of noise.

I still think it is pretty decent.  But under the bright day light it is very hard to see the LCD screen.  So it will be impossible for me to adjust the exposure.

I placed the camera pointing upwards.  Wow, look at the details of me drinking the soup.

Overall, if you don’t want to spent the big bucks to buy Go Pro, may be can buy this from China and use it first.  Wait until you really need that kind of power, then, you buy GoPro.

By the way, we went cycling again.

I think Kay Kay really love cycling.

We cycle to Marina Barrage, East Coast Park, Garden by the bay and MBS today.

It is a nice feeling to cycle at MBS.

And today, both Jay and Kay broke their record and cycle about 25.39KM using 2 hours and 38 minutes.  Well done boys.

Gadgets: Muku Shuttr - A Very small Mobile Shutter for iPhone or Android Phone

Date:  Nov 2, 2013

 This is one of the latest gadget just arrived yesterday.

It is called Muku Shuttr.  It is a remote shutter for iPhone.  (of course, it also can be used on iPad or other Android phones).

It comes with a smaller carrier that just fit the Muku Shuttr.

It is connected to your iPhone using bluetooth.  And then, it takes over your iPhone Camera app shutter function.

So, why is it good?

1)  You are at the restaurant, and you do not want to keep bothering the waiter and waitress to take photo for you.  So, if you have a method to make your iPhone stand, then, you can take great photos of your family and friends by using this remote shutter.

2)  You are at the park or any Point of Interest, and you see no one in sight, as long as you have a iPhone stand, then, you can use Muku Shuttr to take photo.

WARNING:  For visiting to those notorious countries of stealing, try to check your surrounding and see if there are suspicious people trying to snatch your unattended iPhone or not.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Here is the video to show how it works.  Very easy.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/v/kYdp5HaKRDI

I happened to have a iPhone stand.  It works perfectly.

Let’s check out the video of this.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/v/z8_mFxImOtM

I also got this simple iPhone stand.  It is handy and you can bring it with you at all time.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/v/c1lxl3iZghI

This is Muku Shuttr’s kickstarter website.  I am not sure where you can get it now, but read the kickstarter may give you some clues.  I pledged to the project and get quite a good discounts for that.

This is their kickstarted video.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/68008805/muku-shuttr-slimmest-remote-camera-control-for-sma

Pairing is easy.  And taking photo is easy too.

If your hand is very shaky when you touch the phone, this is perfect.

Unboxing Sony Cyber-shot DSC QX10 & QX100

Date:  Sep 30, 2013

[UPDATED NOV 3, 2013]

Ok, I take it back.  I have said sometimes ago that Sony’s Camera App (a.k.a. Play Memories) is sucks!  

That is because I run the App on my iPhone 5.  It hangs a lot, and sometimes crash.

But yesterday, was the first time I run the "Play Memories” (Sony App) on my iPhone 5S, and to my surprise, it never hang on me at all.  After taking the photos, the photos are quickly processed and transferred to my Camera Roll, and I can even do all the sharing very smoothly.  

 

So, as a conclusion, If you want to own a Sony Cyber-shot DSC QX10 or QX100, better run it on a iPhone 5S.  (of course, you got a choice to run it on Android or the Sony phone.)

Here are some of the gorgeous photos taken using either the QX100.

荷花.

Kay Kay with his funny V-finger smile.

Musical Instruments by QX100.

Building cards by QX100.

A sleeping prince (QX100).

It is easy to carry.  It is not bulky.  It is easy to attach on a tripod.  And it runs perfectly on iPhone 5S.

This shall be my camera for my upcoming Taiwan trip.  Instead of brining my Super Zoom HX200.

[END OF UPDATE NOV 3, 2013]

I like to blog about a lot of things.  

Especially blogging about the growing funs and pains of my two sons.

Usually, I like to use my Sony Super Zoom DSC HX-200.  

Although strictly speaking, it is not a DSLR (my wife says cannot change lenses), but I like the way how it can Super Zoom to shoot very nice photos.

However, it is too big to carry around most of the time.  

So, when Sony announced the QX10 & QX100.  I like it!  And almost immediately, I pre-ordered it from Amazon.

What is it?

It is a smart camera lens that has WiFi & NFC capability so that your iPhone or Android phone can connect to it and act like a ViewFinder.  The smart lens can attached to your smart phones, and you can either use the soft shuttle or hard button shuttle to take photos.

The most amazing thing is, it is SMALL.

Well, today, I received both of them via DHL.

I am not going to write a full review, but rather would like to share my experience and comments. 

The books looks like this.  Feel a bit like recycle hard board material.

The lens are placed in this plastic like bag.  The feeling of the bag is also feel like recycle material kind of feeling.

The black cup that place the lens.  Underneath are the manuals and cables with some additional card boards.

Everything looks pretty "cheap".  But I am guessing those packaging are using recycle materials.

Contents of the box.  Nothing much.  That black round thingy is the holder to hold the lens that clip onto your iPhone.

I am very sure this is a proprietary battery.  Only fits into the QX series of smart lenses.

The model is Sony Lithium ION N Type Model: NP-BN.

This is the QX-100.  This is the hard button, so, you can detach this lens from iPhone, and then, start pressing this shuttle to take photos.  And thru WiFi, it will transmit the photos (2M) and save it on your iPhones.  If you save as 18M files, then, the photos are stored on the MicroSD  or the Sony Micro Memory Stick.

So, I bought the SanDisk Extreme MicroSDHC UHS-I Card for it.  You need these to take movies/videos and high quality photos.

The one I bought can transfer the images at 80MB/s (533X).  

OK.  Made in China.

This is the ON-OFF button.  And the NFC logo there too.

This is where you slot in your battery.

Wait now.  The SSID.  So, all you need to do, is to make your iPhone to connect to this WiFi SSID.  With the given password.

Seems very easy to setup.

Then, you have to download the PlayMemories Mobile Apps for iPhones (or Android) in order to launch the ViewFinder.

Let's turn it on!

The QX-100 comes with Carl Zeiss lenses.

Wow!  The Quality of the photo is amazing.  The focus is on Kay Kay.  Look at the hair on his hand.  and Jay Jay sitting at the background with no focus. 

(Full Size Photo Above) https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sTlc5QUxRNXk1U28/edit?usp=sharing

Here is another photo.  Look at the Count Dooku.  It is sharp.  And the background is not focus.  Very nice photo taken from QX-100.

(Full Size Photo Above) https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sWUdQRmR2S21tcUk/edit?usp=sharing

The View Finder is great.  Not a whole lot of features yet, but I am sure Sony is working on it.  This photos I taken using iPhone Camera, and you can see a lot of pixels and noise.

This is another photos taken using QX100.

It is very sweet to see the face color so warm and nice and natural.  

(Full Size Photo Above) https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sc1hjTVRkMDJOSXc/edit?usp=sharing

Now, let's turn on my QX-10.

It is much lighter than the QX-100.

It is using Sony Lens G.  Don't know what is that.  But since it is cheeper than the QX100, this should be a cheaper Sony own developed lens gua.

This photo is taken using iPhone 5 Camera.  

As you can see, I tis Jay Jay.  And there is a lot of noise.  Because the background is brighter, and the lunch table light is yellow and dim.

There is a lot of noise and you can tell from the pixels from the photo below.

(Full Size Photo Above) https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8semVoN0Z3U0s2c2M/edit?usp=sharing

Now, you take a look at the photo taken from the same lighting, same bright background, and same dim and yellow lunch table light.

Did you see the different.  See the skin color, the tone, it is much nicer.  No noise.  And this is shot from QX10.  (Not even QX100, which I have used up the battery just now, have not charged yet.).

(Full Size Photo Above)  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sMXh1UzlfdzFXMW8/edit?usp=sharing

And if you put the iPhone 5 photo (top), and compare it to the QX10 photo (bottom), immediately you can spot the difference at low light situation.

I AM TOTALLY SOLD.  :)

(Full Size Photo Above)  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sVnRXNExRRzVOX1E/edit?usp=sharing

With QX-10.  The fishes in the tank is moving.  And this is what I got.

(Full Size Photo Above)  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sZ2pDakF3NEFVa1U/edit?usp=sharing

And with the Intelligent shooting, it knows only the hand is moving.  So, take a look at this shot.  I am very sure that iPhone 5 will give you a blur face.

This is another shot of Master Yoda saving it into higher "original" quality.  The file size is 4.1MB instead of 300K+. 

(Full Size Photo Above) https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_2LIa_dWu8sTy0zOExFMlNaVVE/edit?usp=sharing

WOW!  You click on the above file (Master Yoda) and then, you can zoom further.  And this is the details of the image you are taking using the QX100.

 Of course, you can take video too.  

But the videos file is save on the Micro SDHC card.  Not to worry, as you can copy it over to your iPhone 5 easily.

After you taken the great photos, you can share it out immediately.  By pressing the Share button.

You can share it in a lot of ways.  

Once again, a last look at the shooting options.  It is a pretty neat camera.

OK.  It is time to charge you guys.  Good night!  (Takes less than an hour to fully charge them).

And IDA sure approve this.  Because it has NFC and WiFi component in it.

So if you blog and you need to have a lighter and easy to carry camera, this can be the great camera that you are looking for.

I bought it from Amazon.  

One last thing.  You can attached a tripod to it too.  

I think Sony has figure a few things out and slowly come back to focus on great products.  They almost lost the battle.  But then, they came back.  The 4K TV is nice.  The waterproof phone is nice.  And now this, the NFC/WiFi Smart Lens is great!  Hope they do well on their PSP and PS3 game console.  That one, they loosing the battle even faster.  HaHaHa.