SJCAM SJ8 PRO Review
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO is another successful sports cam by SJCAM after the SJCAM SJ8. SJCAM is one of the top producers in the action camera market and now they have released another high-end action. It offers 4k quality and 12MP pictures. The definition, focus, and detail is high quality. It comes with a multitude of accessories so you can use it to get better footage.
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO is a GoPro alternative from the brand of SJCAM with an affordable price and great video quality. The SJCAM SJ8 PRO lets you take photos up to 12MP with 4K and up to 60fps recording, and allows you to use other cool features as well as record underwater with the case.
The SJ8 is waterproof and comes with a battery. The protective case is waterproof and impact-resistant, which makes it possible to shoot videos underwater up to 30m. It also comes with a rechargeable 1200mAh battery to never let you miss a wonderful time and an external charger.
But before we talk about its features, what comes in the box of the SJCAM SJ8 PRO? It comes in the small white cardboard box with some information about the action camera on it, with many accessories inside such as a battery.
SJCAM was very successful with many of their models, they are all very similar in design. This model is also compatible with FPV (First Person View) drones for live transmission.
Check out the Best GoPro alternatives of 2019
Specs
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO Sports Camera 4K uses an Ambarella H22 S85 chipset with a Sony IMX377 sensor and uses an F 2.8 aperture that is able to shoot in 4K/ 60fps, 2.7K/ 60fps and 1080P/ 120/ 60fps video resolution and 12MP photos.
It has a wide-angle lens up to 170° which gives you the classic GoPro look. The SJCAM SJ8 PRO has (EIS) Electronic Image Stabilization and Gyro stabilization (Inner Six-Axis Gyroscope) for anti-shaking and image stabilization to make your video much more smooth.
It also comes with the ability to connect through WiFi to your phone, android, and IOS. This action camera supports Class 10 micro SD of up to a maximum of 128GB, you must format the SD card in settings before the first use of the camera if you are using an old SD card.
The protective case is waterproof and impact-resistant, makes it possible to shoot underwater videos 30m underwater and is suitable for all types of winter sports, such as skiing and watersports too.
This underwater camera also comes with a rechargeable 1200 mAh batteries. The SJCAM SJ8 camera allows you to record up to 120 minutes when they’re charged, it might drop some time while recording in 4K.
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO comes with Wifi and HDMI connection, the ability to pass videos or photos through WIFI up to 2.4 & 5GHZ with the SJCAM Wi-Fi application, and share them on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook easily with friends and family. SJCAM SJ8 is also equipped with many accessories for bicycles, helmet mounts, surfboard mounts, and other mounts and accessories.
If you want to learn more about which action camera accessories are universal click here.
Stabilization
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO comes with video stabilization (EIS), or electronic stabilization, it also comes with Gyro Stabilization (Inner Six-Axis Gyroscope) and slow and recording time-lapse. This really helps the shots to be seen with less movement and it helps you reduce the blurry effect caused by sudden movements.
If you want to record with a very smooth and stable recording we recommend getting a gimbal. The gimbal is the ultimate stabilizer of cameras. So when you are recording a video, it will be perfectly smooth. You can easily move and record without having to worry that the footage obtained will not be stable.
Battery
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO comes with a rechargeable Li-ion 1200mAh batteries, which can last about 160 minutes recording at 1080 Full HD and about 90 minutes at 4K/2.7K.
The battery is situated at the bottom, where there is a cover that gives access to the battery. You can also always buy separate batteries for it and change them whenever the first two run out.
Design
SJCAM SJ8 PRO has an elegant modern design, it is well built with good quality plastics and it has a black color. Its design is similar to most action cameras like its predecessor the SJCAM SJ7, it feels pretty durable and with the waterproof housing, it can go underwater up to 30m (100 feet). All attachments are sturdy and the waterproof case is made of high-quality plastic which makes its waterproof level up to 100 feet and protects the camera from damage in normal use.
The dimensions of the SJCAM SJ8 PRO are 62.5 mm, 41 mm, 28.8 mm and a weight of 85 grams, with a single button on the top, like most action cameras, which is used to take pictures and videos from it, but all the adjustments and controls will be made from the rear touch screen a 2.33” UHD-inch (5 cm) LCD touch screen.
As for its buttons, there are only 3, one on top, to start and stop recording or to take a picture, we can see 2 in its front part, one on and off button and another quick access to the settings and menus, as well as two notification LEDs, on the side we can see the micro HDMI, micro USB, and microSD connections with capacity up to 128GB and the classic up and down buttons.
Photography
The photography on the SJCAM SJ8 PRO is really good, it can capture with its Sony sensor up to 12 MP (4032×3024) pictures with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
In bright sunlight, the colors look natural with the whole picture showing similar contrast to the GoPro and good sharpness, and is also able to shoot in RAW format.
The SJCAM SJ8 also does well shooting underwater and it’s a great high-end camera to have to get some great shots when going diving or snorkeling, it doesn’t do that well-taking pictures close to an object.
Photo settings
- Video / Photo / Burst Mode / Slow Motion / FPV Mode / Countdown / Car Mode
Video
The SJCAM SJ8 can record videos at 4K/ 60fps, 2.7K/ 60fps, and 1080P/ 120fps / 60fps and some more video resolutions, it records with real native 4K. It has great image quality with good colors and sharpness, it uses a 170° wide-angle. The videos of the SJ8 4K are captured in .mp4 format and with the h.264 codec
The configuration by default is well balanced, the images are sharp enough, the sky does not have the tendency classic towards a little the too blue and has overall pretty nice colors.
Even being a good action camera it cant produce the results of higher-end sports camera such as GoPro or Yi can produce, the GoPro Hero 8 is the best action camera in the market right now, check out our review if you are interested (If you would like to check out our review click here).
Here are the video resolutions of the SJCAM SJ8 PRO:
- 4K (3840 x 2160) / 60fps
- 2K (2048 × 1080) / 60fps
- 1080P Full HD (1920 × 1080) 120fps / 60fps / 30fps
- 720P (1280 × 720) 240fps / 120fps / 60fps / 30fps
We can choose from a variety of options and video settings in the SJCAM SJ8 as:
- Video quality
- Movement detection
- Stabilizer or video stabilization (ON / OFF)
- Mute
- Exposition
- ISO
- Balance of Targets
- and more settings.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Record up to 4K 60fps | SD Card up to 32GB |
| Great quality-budget | Needs a case for underwater |
| Touchscreen screen | 4K is not stabilize |
| Has Wi-fi connection | |
| External mic compatibility | |
| Has USB-C connection |
Should you buy it?
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO is a really good action camera quality-budget, but it falls short in front of big brands such as GoPro but is also cheaper. You will get good recordings and pictures, crisp stable even shooting underwater even though 4K isn’t stabilized.
The camera also has several recording modes which gives amplitude to all the effects and quality levels you can get when using this camera and can record up to 60fps.
The SJCAM SJ8 PRO also comes with stabilization EIS stabilization and gyro stabilization, it also comes with an equipped 2-inch touch screen as well as coming with a very complete accessory kit. It is also compatible with most accessories like all of the GoPro accessories.
The SJ8 PRO uses an average Li-ion 1200mAh batteries, batteries which can last up to 160 min but go down a lot while filming in 4K resolution, this could be improved.
This sports action camera is great and we recommend it with its affordable price. We also recommend to check out GoPro and Yi and take a look at some of their sport cams If you wanna check some other action cameras, medium and high-end click here!
Check Out SJCAM SJ8 PRO (Amazon): https://amzn.to/2Tc6b5S
