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Swann FreeStyle 1080p Action Cam
$139.99 + $5 Standard OR $11 One-Day OR $8 Two-Day Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

Have I seen this before

you bet i have (that's the first time it was sold and has 180 comments)

bought this last go around and have used it for anything from recording my commute to work, to my band and I going through our set at rehearsal. the microphone is worthless when you're moving due to the noise of the wind but when the device is still it works quite well!

I guess I can't really complain... It's not a bad camera, I guess. And the buyers are receptive, since I asked for the GoPro Hero at the same price it was last Christmas. But, it's just not a GoPro....

It's not a bad camera -- I got one in a previous wooting -- but I should mention that it only really works in bright light.

At night, it'll pick up headlights and street lights and that's about it.

I also have a GoPro HD and GoPro2 and while they don't work well at night -- they both work better than this.

The waterproof case has a flat cover for the lens, as opposed to a round cover for the GoPro -- that means this will take better pictures underwater -- they won't be out of focus like the GoPro is.

GoPro has since put put a new underwater housing that fixes this (for an additional cost) but the Swann has it by default.

I can't recall ever having posted a question on any woot before and this one may seem really simple but...How goes this attach? Like a suction cup thing? :/ My husband does AutoX and, while I'm not the most supportive of the AutoX hobby wives, this might make a decent present under the tree (88 days til Christmas). Thoughts? Many thanks!

aualum10 wrote:I can't recall ever having posted a question on any woot before and this one may seem really simple but...How goes this attach? Like a suction cup thing? :/ My husband does AutoX and, while I'm not the most supportive of the AutoX hobby wives, this might make a decent present under the tree (88 days til Christmas). Thoughts? Many thanks!

The kit comes with a variety of mounts that attach to the helmet/bike/kayak/whatever with a very strong 2-sided tape. Once attached, you can consider it permanent. The camera then attaches to these mounts via a standard 1/4 inch tripod attach screw so you can easily move the camera from one mount to another.

I bought one of these last time and it's a great cam. I just uploaded a video to YouTube recorded by it:
http://youtu.be/DTJtlbvZaWI

The one thing that's not in the bag is a suction cup mount but it works with GoPro accessories so it wasn't hard to find one.

>> Laser Power: 1MW

The Mega Watt laser should be good for popping balloons.

Bonus points, even the manual has that typo.

Cool video. Looks like you were boogyin quite nicely. I hope all those tombstones in the graveyard aren't all your previous competitors? Cheers.
Also, the stabilization looks quite good on your return back to starting line.

Worst camera ever, I bought one last time the video was choppy and the sound was off by a few seconds. When i complained to Swann they told me it was "hosed dude". It took 6 months of complaining and begging to get a replacement. I just got it havent tried it yet but if i had a do over id go pro!

Got one of these a while back as well and I love it. As others have mentioned, sound isn't the greatest. Really though, how often do POV's have sound in the final video? Not often. Here's a helmet cam video taken with this while I was paintballing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me-ZcOk7I2w

Remember to bump up the quality if you wanna see it in all it's glory

This looks like the camera Jerry Seinfeld uses in his new web series.

CuzzinMerl wrote:The kit comes with a variety of mounts that attach to the helmet/bike/kayak/whatever with a very strong 2-sided tape. Once attached, you can consider it permanent. The camera then attaches to these mounts via a standard 1/4 inch tripod attach screw so you can easily move the camera from one mount to another.

The mounts are a single use peel and stick adhesive type. One has a curved surface for good helmet adhesion.

Surprisingly light weight.
Remote control clip-on is great (only works about 6 ft).
Video back is nice (doesn't fit in waterproof case of course).
Haven't been able to buy spare battery or additional curved helmet mount.
I prefer the wider angle lower res shooting mode.

I have a GoPro Hero, GoPro Hero 2 and Swann Freestyle. I guess the main question is how well does the Swann fair to the competition (GoPro).

As far as image/video quality, I would say the Swann is in between the Hero and Hero2. The quality is just a tad bit better than the Hero but no where close to Hero2's updated lens.

Some Freestyle Pros:
Ample accessories included. (Seperate purchases on GoPros)
Includes LCD screen and remote (Seperate purchase on GoPros)
Zoomable (N/A on GoPros)
Centered Lens (Not a nuisance compared to GoPro but it's more accurately aligned?)
Utilizes standard tripod mounts (Seperate purchase required for GoPro adapter)

Some Freestyle Cons:
Internal Mic
No support for additional housings

All in all, the Freestyle is the choice for budget conscious buyers. If you're willing to spend a bit more, a Hero2 is your best bet. Although this is not applicable to all Freestyle HDs, the one I had a defective mic which I had to RMA. Please advise their RMA headquarters are not located in the USA so I had to wait a bit to have it fixed.

Even though I have pretty much all the popular action cams, I find myself using the Hero2 more simply because it has more functions that support my video recording needs and better image and color quality.

Actually its a pretty good deal, especially when you add up all the accessories and clips that come with it, which are normally charged extra for by the GP folks

hysonmb wrote:I bought one of these last time and it's a great cam. I just uploaded a video to YouTube recorded by it:
http://youtu.be/DTJtlbvZaWI

The one thing that's not in the bag is a suction cup mount but it works with GoPro accessories so it wasn't hard to find one.

Sweet video,when you pulled up to the line my heart rate doubled!Seems like a very good camera for the money.

iissurf wrote:I guess I can't really complain... It's not a bad camera, I guess. And the buyers are receptive, since I asked for the GoPro Hero at the same price it was last Christmas. But, it's just not a GoPro....

Pass. Until it gets as good as a GoPro, GO with a GoPro.....

In almost every product line from tobacco pipes to sports jackets, there is "commercial grade" and "high grade."

Commercial grade products are made cheaply for the masses (think: Mr. Coffee) high grade for those willing to spend a bit more for quality (think: Braun, etc.).

Keep this in mind when assuming expectations about a lot of products. Sometime spending 50% more gets you a 100% better item.

This is waterproof to what depth?

Harpo wrote:Surprisingly light weight.
Remote control clip-on is great (only works about 6 ft).
Video back is nice (doesn't fit in waterproof case of course).
Haven't been able to buy spare battery or additional curved helmet mount.
I prefer the wider angle lower res shooting mode.

You can find a spare battery at B&H. Look here,
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/872608-REG/Swann_SWVID_FREE09_GL_Rechargeable_Lithium_Battery.html

Also, if you check places like Battery Plus, you may be able to find one for less.

I've used mine a few times and it's pretty close to the GoPro's quality. Here's the first video I took with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R0gwSyA3iQ

I have no personal expieriance with this camera so I did a little web searching. I am posting some of what I found as it may be helpful to others that like me, know nothing about this camera.

Price comparisons on line seem to range from $169 to $306.

A review can be found here,
http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/product/swann-freestyle-hd/

and another here,
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/helmet-cams/product/review-swann-freestyle-1080p-hd-camera-12-46282

The manual for this camera can be found here,
http://www.swann.com/webfiles/download/1635freestyle_hd_sports_v1.0.pdf

Hope this may help.

Is this a good application for a vehicle dash cam? I'm looking for an easy way to record my commutes daily.

paulpnevada wrote:This is waterproof to what depth?

Specs say it's rated to 65 ft.

Wondering if this camera would work while deer hunting?

I got this the last time it was up. If you have it perfectly still on a tripod, the video would look great. Any sort of motion, though, and it's jumpy as all get out. It jiggles constantly, goes in and out of focus, and has random horizontal distortion. That was mounted to my bike, riding up a fairly level trail.

I intend to fiddle with the mounts and see if I can get something a little more stable, but seriously, it's nothing like the ads and sample videos.

barbgelbach wrote:Wondering if this camera would work while deer hunting?

Depends,most deer would not be smart enough to operate this camera though.

aualum10 wrote:I can't recall ever having posted a question on any woot before and this one may seem really simple but...How goes this attach? Like a suction cup thing? :/ My husband does AutoX and, while I'm not the most supportive of the AutoX hobby wives, this might make a decent present under the tree (88 days til Christmas). Thoughts? Many thanks!

The kit does not come with the suction cup mount but you can buy it on the Swann website. I got this camera about a year ago on woot and its great. I can get teh Her II for $200 (includes the full motorsports package) but for the price this camera is better. The remote control is the best feature that sets this apart from the Hero cameras. Be warned that while this camera and its accessories are compatible with teh Go Pro accessories, the adhesive mounts are not the same so if you purchase the quick attachments for teh Go pro they will not work with the bases for teh Swann camer so you'll need base mounts for both.

I have two differentSwann action cameras, this one and teh bullet camera. You can see my video on youtube under the user name Lion6015. I use it for paintball, shoooting, kayaking, riding my motorcycles and even family outings. I have pics taken from it on my instagram as well (same screen name Lion6015)

djroppolo wrote:Is this a good application for a vehicle dash cam? I'm looking for an easy way to record my commutes daily.

This is where the included remote control is really helpful.

Great product and camera BUT - IT DOES NOT FLOAT - I bought the one last time, and IT DOES NOT FLOAT - make sure it is secured. I reached out to SWANN corporate and they would not refund me (just a new camera) - the 3M tape came off and it sunk.

It does not float - you have been warned.

Not a good camera. Had issues with it recording for 5-10 minutes and cutting off. Ended up not working at all. Tried formatting the SD card (a high end card), tried a different SD card also, still wouldn't work. Sent it back in July after getting an RMA. Got a response back that said it was defective and I would get a replacement. That took almost 3 months (just got the replacement Wednesday, Sept 26th. Terrible customer service and not a good camera IMO. Pay the extra and get a GoPro or use an iPhone sports cam case. This one sucks.

Would this work well as an indoor remote Skype camera mounted to the top of an HDTV? I don't see any mention of streaming video through Skype or something similar.

Oh, and the battery is good for maybe 1hr - 1.5hr on a fresh charge.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this before, but a GoPro HD Naked is only $129.99...

http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-hero-naked-camera/

Cannot charge the camera and record at the same time. I would not recommend this camera.

I bought one of these on last Woot. Had trouble with camera and their customer service. this is junk! customer service is a joke! Do yourself a favor & throw your money out the window. you'll be much happier in the long run!