New German cam to go head-to-head with GoPro

[Jim Cancil]

I could only wish Contax, Rollei or Leica would enter this game, but I gather this new camera comes from guys who are German game designers. The camera is the CamOne Infinity.




Like Japan of old, it looks like they bought a GoPro Hero and did a lot of things they thought would improve the GP. Like, all controls on top, view screen on back, dbl. Micro card slots, etc. From a quick scan, it looks like the video specs are similar. It's a nice little aluminum brick with a housing that appears to have been sourced from GP's supplier.

One nice detail -the 1/4-20 mount on the housing- may in fact not work on many things?! It will not fit my tripods because the GP-style mounts are in the way... Even this suction mount only has one spot it works on. Those cheaper suction mounts, like the PanaVise, work OK. I sold all my GP mounts with an early GP cam, so I was unable to confirm this will fit - but the mounts are identical in most respects.





I have not used it yet (bought it to make grips), but the video I saw on YouTube was not overly impressive. Mostly because it was that ugly, Winter afternoon light and home production. These guys need to head to the Seychelles or Alps to get some clean, aspirational light in the lens, then hire some Avid professional.

One of you guys should offer some help...

Jim

[Lynne Whelden]

I hope this makes GoPro nervous.
Two micro-SD card slots, mic on the front at 48kHz sampling, zoom capabilities, LED light, smaller and lighter...and on the list goes.
Maybe this will make them speed up the Hero 3 release! Competition can only help the rest of us.

[Ian Newland]

Originally Posted by Lynne Whelden

I hope this makes GoPro nervous.

Haha, with 95% market share i doubt it. Plus picture quality is not so good. Check it out.

[Justin Molush]

To those looking for some footage, here's a sample: CamOne Infinity 60fps - YouTube
Looks much like the GoPros. Codec info would be nice, but Im sure its not going to be anything spectacular. Hero3 I hope has cineform 4:2:2 (considering they just bought the company...). Dont care if it cuts down record time if it can do it for a bit. At least having the option is good...

[Jim Cancil]

Justin, As a kitesurfer myself - that's the first one I looked at. .where I thought - Yeech! Ugly light. There's another on a Quadcopter suffering much the same way.

THIS one has promise: Spielmacher Event Messe Hamburg Reisen2012 - YouTube I'm no video guy but there are places in here where the images look perfect.. then places where it appears the camera was panned too fast - and the camera cannot seem to keep up? (could that be endemic with little cameras - being so easy to wave around?)

The time lapse was said to be over 4 days with 3500 frames. You tell me if it's really any good .. 'just looks better to me than the others I have seen.


Ian's right - they're probably too big to take on directly.

This camera also has optional goggles where you can see what the camera sees and another sort of remote viewing gizmo. Some of the RC model guys are using goggles.

Jim

[Bernd Eller]

Originally Posted by Jim Cancil

I could only wish Contax, Rollei or Leica would enter this game

Well, there are a few Rollei actioncams already, but don't expect too much from them. They have nothing in common with the legendary German cameras from the past, but are cheap OEM cameras made in China with the Rollei label on it. Some of them are sold under other names as well.
The specs of CamOne Infinity look good indeed and the price is right, but unfortunately I haven't seen really convincing footage out of this cam. Video quality seems to be on Hero 1 level only (which isn't bad at all), but doesn't reach Hero 2 or Replay XD1080. But there is still hope that this footage has been shot with pre-production models which weren't finished yet.

[Ian Newland]

It's a poor copy of the HD1, even uses the HD1 sensor and lens.

Replay had the right idea designing from ground up, they just didn't hit the mark. I expect the next Replay model to be better providing they have more money available for R and D. PIcture IQ is uno numero.

[Jay Bloomfield]

But it does have a removable lens, so that's a small plus:

CamOneTec is a Division of ACME the game company GmbH

You aren't stuck permanently in wide-angle mode.

[Jim Cancil]

Jay, The guys who fly R/C copters and planes are really heavy into this stuff with all sorts of mods. I gather there are a number of optional lens' for the GoPro they are testing/using to remove the mandated Bug-eye. I read recently that the Hero2 lens is more difficult to replace due to some technical issues that are well beyond my understanding. Here one of the sources they use.

S-Mount Objektive M12x0.5

You have to think bayonet-type lens options are on the calendar for any of these companies. ..after all, they would only be following the market.

Jim

[Ian Newland]

The Gopro lens is quite easy to remove and replace, but just like the German one it also requires refocusing. There are many companies selling lenses for Gopro now, be sure to buy the ones with IR filers or your video will look like crap.

BTW, if you want to fix the Gopro for underwater focus WITHOUT adding an after market flat lens, just rotate the GoPro lens counterclockwise by 1/4 of turn from infinite focus and the underwater video will be sharper than a flat lens alternative. Only downside the above water focus is blurred. But for specific underwater use, it's a great option and no case mod required.

[Lynne Whelden]

I hope these guys are planning to be at NAB. They need to get their act together. They've yet to answer an email or FB post. Their site says they'd have a US distributor by February.
Seems disorganized to say the least.
GoPro needs the competition. Monopolies are never good.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Ian

Rotating the lens for underwater is a clever option. Are we talking about the lens on the underwater housing or the lens on the actual camera. I'm assuming it wouldn't hurt it to return it to the normal position once your underwater stint is complete??? Is there a special procedure to do this so there is no seal damage??

Chris

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Jim Cancil

One nice detail -the 1/4-20 mount on the housing- may in fact not work on many things?! It will not fit my tripods because the GP-style mounts are in the way... Even this suction mount only has one spot it works on. Those cheaper suction mounts, like the PanaVise, work OK. I sold all my GP mounts with an early GP cam, so I was unable to confirm this will fit - but the mounts are identical in most respects.

Easy solution to the pooly located mount... Ebay. Tons of 1/4"-20 based adapter options for a couple bucks. The easy one would be a mini-arm.


IMHO, someone should make a GoPro style cam with a bigger sensor and a touch of zoom lens. Would rock in low light and blow GoPro away.

[Ian Newland]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Ian

Rotating the lens for underwater is a clever option. Are we talking about the lens on the underwater housing or the lens on the actual camera. I'm assuming it wouldn't hurt it to return it to the normal position once your underwater stint is complete??? Is there a special procedure to do this so there is no seal damage??

Chris

The lens in the camera. BTW, i have only done this on the HD1, but i don't see any reason it won't work on the HD2. Search YouTube for ""Gopro lens change"" and you will find tutorial to remove/unscrew the lens. A smart cookie could easily make the lens rotatable between underwater and normal by DIY an indent or stop position.

[Jim Cancil]

So.. I got to play with them - the Hero2 and the CamOne Infinity. I set them up (no housings) on the trunk lid of my Ford Escape and went about fiddling with a paraglider with an outer skin of neon yellow and white inner with orange ribs. I figured a test of how these cams reproduce fluro colors could be interesting.

I simply imported them onto my iMac desktop and trimmed them to about 1 minute with Quicktime and saved. They came in as .mp4 .. exported as .mov

I hung them on one of my GoDaddy sites rather than Vimeo or YouTube .. thinking both V and YT change them ..? (I am not a video maven)

This Hero two video is 65 MB - Bite rate 15,138 - 1920x1080

http://wetstuff.com/movie/ParagliderGP.mov


The CamOne Infinity is 14 MB - Bit rate 15.108 - 1920x1080

http://wetstuff.com/movie/ParagliderINf.mov


Jim