10/06/2015
Swann Freestyle HD Camera. Now available at the Green Angling Equipment Website, for £125.14 - You save £31.28.
http://angling-equipment.wix.com/green-angling #!main-products/czpx
Comparisons with this product and the similarly styled GoPro are inevitable, so I had best outline the reasons I chose the Swann: I wanted a new waterproof camera to replace the old Oregon Scientific ATC5K that I have on my fishing kayak. It needed to have; 1. A fisheye lens. 2. A remote control. 3. An LCD screen for later viewing/deleting. 4. A quarter inch tripod screw fitting. 4. Be within a reasonable price.
I also felt that I didn't require very high definition footage, or slow motion, and another factor was that I didn't feel my netbook PC would cope with the additional processing capacity required.
After 2 weeks of use on my kayak I can report the following on the Swann:
1. Controls and menus are straightforward. Setup is done with the LCD screen attached, which must be removed to fit it in the waterproof case. You then only have stills or video on/off options once it is in the case.
2. The remote control worked fine at 2 metres range through the case.
3. Stills download in JPEG format, video in MPEG- if you only have Windows MovieMaker you will probably not be able to open or play the clips. In my case, I had a simple video editing software installed in my Netbook which I'd purchased last year, and that worked well. The quality of the imagery was very good, and certainly much better than the old generation camera I'd used previously. Note: You will need to purchase a highspeed microSD card of at least 4Gb when you buy this camera.
4. For me, all of the mounts are redundant, however, I note that they are interchangeable with GoPro mounts and are of similar quality and construction. Omissions, I felt, were: No headband or chest type mount, no handlebar mount.
The waterproof casing has functioned well, no ingress or steaming so far.
5. On my kayak, the battery lasts all day, having taken 10 to 30 stills, and about 30-50 mins of footage. Camera has a sleep mode which no doubt helps save power.
6. The laser is unecessary IMO, and to save me accidently zapping anyone (or me!)in the eye with it, I taped mine over. (it fires on a long press from the remote or shutter buttons)
In conclusion, I bought the Swann because it fitted my needs. I was afraid that it would turn out to be a shoddy copy of the GoPro, but in actual fact it has exceeded my expectations, hence the 5 star rating....
