Well, I bought one. I have a GoPro Hero that I bought from Woot and I'd had a blast with it, even using it as a dog cam by mounting it on one of the dog's back. I bought this one to let a friend use on her long distance kayak trip.
She is going to paddle from St Augustine Fl to Maine to raise money for abused spouses. I don't want to risk my GoPro, but I will let her use this one.

I think I am going to have to pass on this FauxPro. Too many customer complaints about the sound quality, that their customer service is not responsive to issues, and the the build quality is not fantastic.

I am thinking that if you don't mind those things and want to give it a try for the cost that it might be worth it to you.

I for one am going to hold out for a GoPro(looks like we won't be seeing anymore on here). My fiance' has two and they are awesome! They cost more, but the quality is there, the support is phenomenal, so I think it is worth the extra monies to have the real thing and not a lesser knock-off of the original.

Just my thoughts!

Patrick

micheal0484 wrote:lol GoPro is expensive but I was just letting you know the options were there.

Oh, ya thanks! Glad they are offering more accessories, but damn you can easily spend 500 on a gopro w/ accessories. For 144 this is a freaking steal, almost snagged 2, but I think 1 will be fine. I wonder if 1 remote can control 2+ freestyles?

Now that I know its WA at 720p and 720 is 60fps...almost seems perfect for the auto racing events Had a gopro hero 2 at the warrior dash, so much fun with these kinds of cameras

Randonium8 wrote:What's the best action camera to buy? For filming while riding a bike, driving, hiking etc.

If you have a mobile phone with a decent camera there's a variety of mounts you can buy or fashion yourself. I use the ones intended for GPS on my bike and car.

tiga31328 wrote:I think I am going to have to pass on this FauxPro. Too many customer complaints about the sound quality, that their customer service is not responsive to issues, and the the build quality is not fantastic.

I am thinking that if you don't mind those things and want to give it a try for the cost that it might be worth it to you.

I for one am going to hold out for a GoPro(looks like we won't be seeing anymore on here). My fiance' has two and they are awesome! They cost more, but the quality is there, the support is phenomenal, so I think it is worth the extra monies to have the real thing and not a lesser knock-off of the original.

Just my thoughts!

Patrick

When the gopro is in the case, you really can't hear anything. During racing my exhaust is muffled and all you hear are rocks hitting it. But the gopro does pick up some yelling ;)

EDIT: after watching the footage again, ya the gopro picks up audio pretty good. But you do pay for it.

northp wrote:
Also make sure to get a Class 10 micro sdhc card. HD recording can/will stutter on slow write speed cards.

Got sick of passing up the opportunity to pick up an action cam and just hit the freakin' order button...

Any idea where i can pickup a high write speed micro SD that you mention here?

bigjohnnyo wrote:Can't get it to work on mine. Customer service sucks too.

Thank you for confirming my fears!

Tweakish wrote:Got sick of passing up the opportunity to pick up an action cam and just hit the freakin' order button...

Any idea where i can pickup a high write speed micro SD that you mention here?

This is the one I am getting. Reviews say they get higher than 10mbps write speeds as well

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231577

northp wrote:When the gopro is in the case, you really can't hear anything. During racing my exhaust is muffled and all you hear are rocks hitting it. But the gopro does pick up some yelling ;)

EDIT: after watching the footage again, ya the gopro picks up audio pretty good. But you do pay for it.

I was commenting about the sound on the unit in general, reviews state that the sound is not good, period, not just in the case. But thanks.

northp wrote:Oh, ya thanks! Glad they are offering more accessories, but damn you can easily spend 500 on a gopro w/ accessories. For 144 this is a freaking steal, almost snagged 2, but I think 1 will be fine. I wonder if 1 remote can control 2+ freestyles?

Now that I know its WA at 720p and 720 is 60fps...almost seems perfect for the auto racing events Had a gopro hero 2 at the warrior dash, so much fun with these kinds of cameras

So here are 2 gopro videos, you can hear some but you will notice the audio is muffled. When making videos we usually just dub over music.

car
http://vimeo.com/24711963

warrior dash
http://vimeo.com/26821552

If this swan is 80% the picture quality I'll be extremely happy.

tiga31328 wrote:I was commenting about the sound on the unit in general, reviews state that the sound is not good, period, not just in the case. But thanks.

ya I saw some videos on the swan and the sound is worse than the gopro. But for all the recording I do, I don't need sound really. It is nice to hear car or whatever, but with the cases on any of these, its muffled so it sounds sorta distorted. But the hero 2 is a nice quality piece.

In for one. I own the Swann Bullet waterproof camera and its great for paintball and riding my motorcycle. It fits perfectly in my 1" tac light mount on the side of my marker (will use it on my real guns this summer). I have video from it on my youtube channel (Lion6015). This camera will make a great addition to my gear bag. I recently bought two Hero GoPro II HD cameras (I get them for $228.00 +tax for the motorsports edition from a hookup at a motorcycle dealership) and this is actually a very very close comparison to teh Go Pro. This one doesn't have the wi fi like the GoPro II butwho needs thatanyway. The remote control and lcd display is enough of a selling point to offset the fact that you don't get the same number of mounts that you do with the GoPro. I like that it comes with the wearable mount where as you have to buy the chesty mount for the GoPro.

If biking shorts weren't enough.. now we have bikers with cameras mounted on their helmets??

Lijames wrote:In for one. I own the Swann Bullet waterproof camera and its great for paintball and riding my motorcycle. It fits perfectly in my 1" tac light mount on the side of my marker (will use it on my real guns this summer). I have video from it on my youtube channel (Lion6015). This camera will make a great addition to my gear bag. I recently bought two Hero GoPro II HD cameras (I get them for $228.00 +tax for the motorsports edition from a hookup at a motorcycle dealership) and this is actually a very very close comparison to teh Go Pro. This one doesn't have the wi fi like the GoPro II butwho needs thatanyway. The remote control and lcd display is enough of a selling point to offset the fact that you don't get the same number of mounts that you do with the GoPro. I like that it comes with the wearable mount where as you have to buy the chesty mount for the GoPro.

Sounds like this fits in the gopro mounts as well, so plus there

The gopro 2 does not have wifi....maybe with an accessory.

You know, I think this entire discussion misses a critical feature of the camera---the awesomely powerful, built-in laser weapon. Look at those specs, it's a freakin' megawatt, which handily trounces the military specs claimed by Northrop Grumman by an order of magnitude. Granted, you'll run though that tiny battery pretty quickly as you slice through your adversary, but you don't need long with such firepower.

Of course, I can understand how everyone missed this terrific feature, since MW is so close to mW (the latter indicating milliwatts, the power of piddly toy lasers). The SI standard is very clear on the capitalization of units, so rest assured, this camera definitely lists the power megawatts. I'm in for three, and I think I'll film my conquest of a couple countries to test them out.

:-D

digitalmindy wrote:Is it compatible with a Mac?

Does the sun shine? It's MPEG4/MOV., can you say QuickTime.

Wooters gone wild sounds like...

My friend has a GoPro II and we have done some research today and he said it would be worth it. I am purchasing for taking pictures while riding my Harley and the remote will prove to be handy without having to take time lapse pictures. Take the picture I want instead of sorting through 500 to find the timer missed the one I was hoping for.
I been waiting and watching for a while, now I hope the delivery truck would hurry.

juxcallmebob wrote:Does anyone know how effective the underwater casing is?

My first concern in that he housing is only rated to 20m/65ft, that is only half of recreational dive limits. For surfers or kayakers that is fine but for divers its a big problem. It's not hard to exceed 20m on a wall or wreck dive and even on many reef dives you will be as deep as 20m. The "real" thing (GoPro) will do 55m/185 ft.

What I can't find is any discussion about the optics. Does the housing have a curved or flat lens? A curved lens causes focus problems (GoPro's achilles heel)

Well, I had to get it. I hope its as nice as what I have seen videos of it. Sound isn't such a huge deal to me.

hudsm9589 wrote:I have a few GoPros and the biggest difference is that the Go's are wide angle lens's and the Swann is not. However, for someone who doesnt feel like dropping $300 for a new HD Hero 2, and just wants something to play around with for cheaper, this is just great.

Also the video quality and build is much worse on the Swann, but good enough for a casual user

If it hasn't already been mentioned, the reviews indicate it IS wide angle in 720p mode, just not 1080p.

mjcurtis63 wrote:

What I can't find is any discussion about the optics. Does the housing have a curved or flat lens? A curved lens causes focus problems (GoPro's achilles heel)

FWIW - The first review posted mentions underwater distortion should be less because it has a flatter lense.

Price is cheap enough I'm willing to take a chance, in for one. Will be taking a roadtrip to CO, doing some hiking, and attending the GABF. Think I'll record it all!

mjcurtis63 wrote:My first concern in that he housing is only rated to 20m/65ft, that is only half of recreational dive limits. For surfers or kayakers that is fine but for divers its a big problem. It's not hard to exceed 20m on a wall or wreck dive and even on many reef dives you will be as deep as 20m. The "real" thing (GoPro) will do 55m/185 ft.

What I can't find is any discussion about the optics. Does the housing have a curved or flat lens? A curved lens causes focus problems (GoPro's achilles heel)

Flat

rcbarnes wrote:You know, I think this entire discussion misses a critical feature of the camera---the awesomely powerful, built-in laser weapon. Look at those specs, it's a freakin' megawatt, which handily trounces the military specs claimed by Northrop Grumman by an order of magnitude. Granted, you'll run though that tiny battery pretty quickly as you slice through your adversary, but you don't need long with such firepower.

Of course, I can understand how everyone missed this terrific feature, since MW is so close to mW (the latter indicating milliwatts, the power of piddly toy lasers). The SI standard is very clear on the capitalization of units, so rest assured, this camera definitely lists the power megawatts. I'm in for three, and I think I'll film my conquest of a couple countries to test them out.

:-D

Yep, that's the deal-maker!
How long can I blast those beams on a 1000mAh battery? And can it engrave my initials in the moon?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdZyi0BHL14&feature=related

kronickidd wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdZyi0BHL14&feature=related

full review!

waited for go pros but bought two in the mean time. will work fine on motorcycle. will wait for go pro to update to their wifi model. this will be fine for years. one for the front of the bike and one for the rear

Considering most action sports videos don't really use the ambient sound, or even the sounds during each clip, audio shouldn't be a deal breaker. I'd argue that even the GoPro's audio is pretty bad with the case on it anyway.

Personally, I love GoPro's customer service. I somehow lost the bolt to fasten the camera to a mount, and they sent it back to me for free! AND I broke a mount, and instead of telling me to buy a new pack, they sent me one free of charge. And no, I don't work for them.

I actually like the Contour better in terms of ergonomics and aesthetics. Easier to tell if it's on without looking at the camera, and it's much sleeker. But the lack of mounts killed it for me.

kronickidd wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdZyi0BHL14&feature=related

2:08 in to the video, he explains how he's put electrical tape over the red light to "keep it nice and stealthy". Yea... ok... that's not creepy.

So what about battery life? How many hours can you run with a full charge? Can you also get a larger battery pack like the GoPro?

luvencl wrote:So what about battery life? How many hours can you run with a full charge? Can you also get a larger battery pack like the GoPro?

the review and description says around 2 and 1/2 hours

and it seems there is no way to get a larger battery pack, or any additional batteries at all

UncleFroG wrote:2:08 in to the video, he explains how he's put electrical tape over the red light to "keep it nice and stealthy". Yea... ok... that's not creepy.

And bad video at night...peeping is going to be hard

jaferson wrote:I will stay with my GoPro Hero 2...

Wow. that was a totally useful comment.

Yanroy wrote:forget the camera, I'm going to buy one of these just for the 1 megawatt laser!

That's milliwatts (mW) not megawatts (MW), megawatts would be a million watts.

Is there any wrist mount like with the GoPro? That is literally the one thing keeping me from pulling the trigger. (The "wrist strap" included is just a string strap like you get with point & shoot cameras.)

Doesn't have to be included - I'd pay extra to buy a wrist mount elsewhere.

I like alot of the feature of this camera. Took my gopro hero 2 snow skiing recently and i ended up cutting out alot of the frame from bad positioning of the camera. The laser pointer is such an awesome idea.

The killer for me is free diving I can do ~40m and the swann is limited to <20m where as the gopro is 60m i believe.

Yanroy wrote:forget the camera, I'm going to buy one of these just for the 1 megawatt laser!

carsongell wrote:That's milliwatts (mW) not megawatts (MW), megawatts would be a million watts.

The woot Technical Specifications clearly state, "Laser Power: 1MW."

As Snagglepuss might have said, "Heavens to Megatroyd!"

lwang wrote:CMOS sensor, does the action videos look like jelly?

From the Youtube videos, it looks about on par with the GoPro HD 1, so maybe a little less than the HD 2. But a lot of the HD 2 'better' is just more color, which could be done after the fact for video if you really wanted it.

Here's a better comparison on Vimeo, the Swann looks clearer. Little doubt the GoPro HD 1.

Swann Freestyle vs Gopro HD comparison

In for two Swanns. Actually this video convinced me, on par or better with GP HD 1. Two of them, with cases, LCD, remote, for the price of one HD Hero 2. The 'better' video of the HD 2 is mostly from just more color, something you could do to the video after the fact for any important clips you record anyway.

And look around 1:35 on that video, where it goes into the dark under the trees. Notice the GoPro struggles with adjusting, one of the bigger complaints on the GoPro for RC FPV video. Sun to no sun and the GoPro video goes bad for a while. Also note the sun reflections in the GoPro throughout the video.


I have these:

Contour HD, picked it over the GoPro. Great, but no video out for the FPV video on RC while flying.

Two Sony Bloggies. Pretty good, with a case that has tilt built into the rotating head. Has video out for RC FPV, decent video, screen built in, and was cheap. One for $65 refurb, and one for $40 used off ebay.

Several Keychain cams, miniDV camcorders, etc.


Don't need to spend $300 on two more cams, but just did. With all the accessories included I'd be kicking myself if I only got 1, and really liked it. Not that much more off Ebay, but new from Woot is good. Maybe time to sell of some of the extra cams on ebay once these get here..

I wonder how long the battery lasts on this thing. The kayak dude said 4hrs of constant video. That's astounding, compared to the GoPro Hero. I get about 15 minutes of ON time, not even recording, before the batteries crap out.

Holy crap! I have been buying crap from woot for SIX YEARS now! Do I get a medal? :-D