Action Cameras for Hunting

[mchughcb]

One goos feature is that you can turn it on and it starts recording. If i had that feature now i would have not missed tge stag with the 416 while trying to turn on the drift remote - doh!

[stokesrj]

The GoPro also has the turn on and start recording feature. But keen to hear how the Sony does, I think it will be good.

[stokesrj]

Have you ever looked at the ShotKam? It senses when you swing the gun and then automatically saves the recording before, during and after the shot. Of course it is barrel mounted and wouldn't work the way you use a POV camera now. But it also shows the point of aim which is regulated to your sights. I think it is pretty cool too. ShotKam

[mchughcb]

Hi Bob, I have seen shotkam advertised but haven't used it. Having it barrel mounted would not be ideal for me because many of the times I see the target way before the rifle is even shouldered. The regulation to the sights is a cool feature.

I finally managed to have a play with the Sony today and I might make a video comparison later against the GoPro 4 or 5 when I get my hands on one.

Having checked the image quality on several settings and against the drift I can make the following comments so far:

1. The Field of View (FOV) for 4K @ 30fps or 1080 @ 120fps cannot be changed. It is wide field of view (W).
2. The picture quality at 1080/60/50/M is surprisingly better than 1080/120/100/W.
3. The picture quality at 1080/60/50/M is much better than 1080/60/25/M of the drift.
4. The Narrow FOV of the sony is a bit bigger than the Narrow FOV of the drift which is meant to be 90 degrees, probably 100. I'm not sure if its quite wide enough to use as the standard setting.
5. The medium FOV for both the Sony and Drift are close around 127 degrees.
6. The attachment of the drift to the ear muffs is going to be more rigid which is what I need.
7. The genuine Sony helmet attachment appears its going to work on an earmuff on the left side will be quite rigid. The after market go pro attachments I bought cannot be even tightened enough to stop movement.

So that basically rules out 4K is too slow, and 1080/120 is not good enough resolution for some reason so we are back to 1080/60/ but with a 50Mb/s bit rate rather than 25Mb/s.

The image stabilisation also is going to help and the ability to work in changing light conditions (sun/clouds/shadow) is yet to be compared.

[stokesrj]

Sounds promising

[mchughcb]

I also found out that I'd left the zoom setting at 2.1X and this made terrible quality and gave the video a blue tinge no matter if it was 4K or 1080HD. I was really concerned I'd got a dud but my mate who's got the go pro changed the auto white setting and then worked out the zoom was on. The sony is so much better quality even at 1080HD. Its too bad I can't get a variable FOV as from experience I want about 120-130 degrees.

[mchughcb]

Had a look at the Go Pro Hero 4 Black and the Go Pro Hero Session today. The Session is close to what I want but with 1080 at 60fps it offers no benefit I can see over the Drift Ghost S except for form factor. If the session was 2K @60fps or 1080@120fps then I'd be very interested. The rotation could be handed in software and I could mount to my muffs with mounting system I saw today.

As I learn more this statement depends on bit rate, ie 100Mbs versus 25Mbs and image stabilisation. So picture quality 1080HD @ 60 still can be quite different between cameras

[mchughcb]

I made this little video last night. Hopefully I'll get the sony attached today and start practicing.

[bbvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/yYftMfOMQhg[/bbvideo]

[O4ak95]

Great footage of the fox on the tire pile. Lights out for him in a big way !

[mchughcb]

Heres a little comparison we did.

[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb0rA28tibI[/bbvideo]

[mchughcb]

Great footage of the fox on the tire pile. Lights out for him in a big way !

The force of the blast spun him a complete 180 degrees. Have shot them closer but at that range its like using a rifle.

[mchughcb]

Sounds promising

Well I managed to get some footage today. What a difference it is to the Drift. However the real test will be against the gopro Hero 5. My colleague and I might do a review later one. Some points I noticed straight away.

1. Turn on and record can save battery life.
2. Neutral picture is just far better in every respect
3. The sony seem to block wind noise much better
4. The stabilisation is just brilliant, especially for me when my head is turning non stop looking for game.

Going to see if I can film another 416 Remington shot next week hopefully I won't miss

[stokesrj]

Well, let's see it

[mchughcb]

Okay Bob, here it is.
Now another interesting thing I learnt. The gopro aftermarket copy stuff is crap. The curved Sony helmet mount is fits well and you can adjust the vertical tilt angle with a button. The movement has interlocking teeth so its not going to move unless you strip it. Which is great because either you got it right with the Drift mount or you had to pull the 3M attachment off and start again with a new one. I did mount the sony a little two low but was able to tilt up a couple of degrees. The Sony mount itself is easy to remove with some big but stable clips. You can see in this video how good the stabilisation is with my head movement and how good the picture is. The fox running in front of me at 0:40 I wouldn't have picked up on the Drift.


[bbvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/RDsQkxK0qXs[/bbvideo]

[stokesrj]

Yes I agree it is pretty stable. It's a shame that by the time it gets to YouTube it is degraded to the point it is hard to see.