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Finally someone else is stepping into the GoPro market. Good to see competition here. I know the feature sets aren't identical but sometimes worse is better.

rexignis 12y ago
Sony has been competing with their Actioncams. It's a superior product in terms of image quality (according to reviews), and that wrist screen they offer with it is very cool.
- busterarm 12y ago
  Their waterproof case is junk and the colors are skewed heavy on the blue side. Still, they're great cameras and I think they look beautiful, but you can see lots of shots of skies and pools that are very unnaturally blue on the Sony models. If you need something submersible, it's not a good option though.
  - epaladin 12y ago
    The first-gen action camera waterproof case was rated for greater depth. I used it in water a couple of times and didn't have any issues. It does feel like you might need to replace it every year if you use it in water a lot (and you have to use a sheet of desiccant to deal with fogging) but it works.
- baddox 12y ago
  There are several solid action cams out there now. A quick search of YouTube shows countless reviews and comparisons. In my hobby of RC aircraft, the ~$80 Mobius cam is a very popular alternative to the GoPro. Most reviewers compare its video quality to that of the previous generation GoPro Hero 2, but it's smaller and much cheaper. Its firmware also supports it being used as a dashcam. http://buymobius.com/collections/mobius-cameras/products/1080p-mobius-actioncam-hd-video-camera-standard-edition http://buymobius.com/collections/mobius-cameras/products/108... http://www.amazon.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-Sports/dp/B00DP1WYD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407790258&sr=8-1&keywords=mobius+action+cam http://www.amazon.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-Sports/dp/B...
  - m_mueller 12y ago
    Panasonic is currently marketing their 4k wearable cam in Japan [1]. Pretty impressive for that size I'd say. [1] http://cdn.camyx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/panasonic-hx-a500.jpg http://cdn.camyx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/panasonic-hx...
Gracana 12y ago
I think the fact that it's tiny, cute, and inexpensive will help them carve a niche out from under GoPro. I can imagine something like this being used in places where you wouldn't really want a "hard core" action cam.
- BorisMelnik 12y ago
  agree with that. this just seems more user friendly to get started with. much more of a fun impulse buy than a GoPro IMO. I thought the video quality was extremely high, compared with a lot of the other stuff I see on YouTube. also worth noting that there are a ton of retail outlets in the USA which is an added benefit to their distribution strategy.
  - georgemcbay 12y ago
    "I thought the video quality was extremely high" Actually the video quality looks terrible. Compare the bits actually shot with the Cube (most of the promo video isn't... you can clearly see when they switch to the shots the Cube itself took at ~0:22-0:26 and ~0:42-0:44, notice how they switch away from the Cube video pretty damn quickly, probably because it is so terrible... doesn't even look actually 1080p as a source, looks like they are interpolating it up from something lower, frame rate looks bad, massive chromatic aberration). Compare Cube (switch YouTube player to 1080p if it doesn't auto select that, note that most of the promo video is not Cube footage, pay specific attention to ~0:22-0:26 and ~0:42-0:44): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePO6OKYyOec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePO6OKYyOec To, say, the Mobius (switch YouTube player to 1080p if it doesn't auto select that): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlSvoKlIaPk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlSvoKlIaPk Mobius costs less than the Cube ($80 vs $99), video quality is miles better even when capturing a much faster-moving scene. I can see reasons why people might buy the Cube... it is cute, the monkey stand is pretty cool; but in terms of price vs image quality it is a clear loser, IMO.
    - soup10 12y ago
      This is identical to the sentiment against iPod when it first came out. If the design is good, user friendly, and people still like the product, it won't matter if it's got worse specs since they can always improve them in later releases.
gcb0 12y ago
uh? gopro really only has the brand nowadays. When gopro started it was jus the cheapest digital camera that nobody would cry if it was smashed by the skateboard... it wasn't really ground breaking in any other aspect. yeah it had interchangeable lens. but everyone i know that used them had one camera for each lens (since they cost ~1 to 2x the price of a good lens anyway) nowadays there are tons of cheap digital cameras that fit the bill. most in a more convenient cylindrical body. and sometimes 1/5 the price of a gopro! win-win right? except everyone still goes for the gopro because of brand. so no, this is not "finally stepping into gopro market". the market already have plenty of alternative and they are mostly doing fine. specially in the dashboard cam niche that gopro doesn't market so heavily. this is just a product some, what... 20yrs later or something. sd card up to 32gb! wth... what is this? 2010? now they are going to say this is not readily available nationwide and that when it is, there will be a wait list?
- ghaff 12y ago
  In all fairness, the GoPro is optimized around being rugged and waterproof and it can probably get along in some environments its cheaper competitors can't. That said, the GoPro interface is awful and I have no doubt that a lot of people for whom the GoPro is overkill spend the money anyway because of the brand.
- mikeg8 12y ago
  I love how "only has the brand" is used negatively here. Having the "brand" is having everything. You can have a worse or more expensive product with "the brand". People will love/obsess over you from "the brand". It's hands down the most important thing to a business at GoPros size and way harder to develop on a global level than just manufacturing a small camera. But you have to understand consumers (people) to get that.
  - adav 12y ago
    Additionally, I'd say that Polaroid as a brand is far more known by the general population than GoPro. To someone not in the know, "GoPro" sounds intimidating whereas Polaroid is famous for being fun, easy and instant!
kin 12y ago
While it's in the same consumer market as GoPro, remember that GoPro is more than a camera company in the same way that Red Bull is more than just an energy drink. GoPro is headed in the direction of lifestyle branding. Original content, sponsored professional sports, brand collaboration, etc. So while Polaroid and Sony are welcoming competition in the space, GoPro's market IMO seems more focused elsewhere.
- coldtea 12y ago
  >GoPro is headed in the direction of lifestyle branding. Original content, sponsored professional sports, brand collaboration, etc. That's still just a camera company. All those are marketing/promotionals moves, no money makers or markets. Same for Red Bull I'd say. How much Red Bull makes for selling the drink vs any other endeavour (if it not actually loses money on them).
  - celticninja 12y ago
    they make a nice sum on their formula one team, that alone is a difficult feat so i reckon they are pretty business savvy.
    - bagels 12y ago
      Some f1 teams are profitable?
      - kcbanner 12y ago
        Are you joking?
        bendecoste 12y ago
        Sincerely curious, what kinds of profits do F1 teams make?
        CHY872 12y ago
barrkel 12y ago
GoPro is a distant second, feature-wise, to Drift Ghost as a helmet cam, IMO. There is already competition. I wouldn't get this new cube device because it lacks a rotatable camera body (essential for flexibility in helmet mounting) and the battery lifetime is too short.
stfu 12y ago
Some of you seems to know the market quite well - here is my question: I would like to have a GoPro alike Cam for mostly indoor usage (low light) with exchangeable lenses (for interviews). I have used a GoPro3+B in the past and like its size and app based control. But for low light indoor settings it delivers sub par quality. What would be a better camera for such a setting?
- MBCook 12y ago
  That doesn't sound like the GoPro's domain to me. I see them as rough-and-tumble sports or action cameras. But low light performance and interchangeable lenses are almost diametrically opposed to what what they're doing. You need a large sensor and lens to get good low light performance (which makes it bigger) and so would the mechanism on an interchangeable lens. Further the interchangeable lenses are just additional parts to fail when you're bouncing around on your kayak trip. If you just want portability, you probably want something more like a micro 4/3s camera. I assume they can capture video but would almost certainly be more fit for the job.
  - stfu 12y ago
    I saw GoPro offering a "music" edition of their cameras making me assume they would deliver some decent quality in low light, indoor, close-up situations. The concept is absolutely genius but it seems the market is all going for the same action/sports segment.
- bcohen5055 12y ago
  This isn't the right application for an action based camera. Opt for a consumer level SLR with HD video or really any handheld camcorder from the last 5 yrs to get the feature set you need.
- guelo 12y ago
  You're seriously wearing a head-mounted camera during interviews? That would creep me out. I'd probably cut the interview short.
  - 12y ago
wf 12y ago
Garmin has been competing with GoPro with the Virb action camera for a while, which in my experience has been really fun to use and produced really nice quality videos. (I work for Garmin, but not on anything related to this.)
hammock 12y ago
>Finally Contour was the original competitor to GoPro. In a lot of ways it was a superior product. The company went defunct for a while but recently has been brought back.
- fractalsea 12y ago
  I have a Contour; I bought it mainly because specs-wise it was much cheaper than gopro equivalents. There was also some driver issues with the latest gopro model at the time. In hindsight though I think I should have got a gopro. There are certain features that the Contour doesn't have that I would imagine should be easy to implement: mainly the ability to take a mixture of video and still images on the fly. I also think that the video quality is now lagging behind gopro's for equivalent models. Having said all that, I do think they are still a good, cheap, alternative.
- sundvor 12y ago
  Yeah, I had a Contour Roam 2 which I absolutely loved; the rotatable lens with laser alignment, super easy flick-start recording, slimline helmet mount were all awesome features. The Roam featured inset grooves on either side through which the mount could be attached, and combined with the rotatable lens attaching it on the side of the helmet was quite a workable solution. Unfortunately I lost it on the trails as I was too lazy to set up the tether strap and I used a fork mount and must have hit some particularly hard bumps. I now have a Virb, which has arguably superior quality video, and also features a flick switch. However due to the way the Gopro style mount insists on popping it out and away from the helmet, I've moved it to the handlebars as it just got too much for everyday wearing. I personally find that for helmet mounting the Gopro as well sticks out like an eyesore, and am looking forward to hopefully seeing a Roam 3 from the resurrected company. FWIW, I'm using the Australian Fly6 on the back of my bike and am loving that there.
jasonwatkinspdx 12y ago
GoPro's biggest missing feature is not having gps and momentum logging.

rexignis 12y ago

Sony has been competing with their Actioncams. It's a superior product in terms of image quality (according to reviews), and that wrist screen they offer with it is very cool.

busterarm 12y ago
Their waterproof case is junk and the colors are skewed heavy on the blue side. Still, they're great cameras and I think they look beautiful, but you can see lots of shots of skies and pools that are very unnaturally blue on the Sony models. If you need something submersible, it's not a good option though.
- epaladin 12y ago
  The first-gen action camera waterproof case was rated for greater depth. I used it in water a couple of times and didn't have any issues. It does feel like you might need to replace it every year if you use it in water a lot (and you have to use a sheet of desiccant to deal with fogging) but it works.
baddox 12y ago
There are several solid action cams out there now. A quick search of YouTube shows countless reviews and comparisons. In my hobby of RC aircraft, the ~$80 Mobius cam is a very popular alternative to the GoPro. Most reviewers compare its video quality to that of the previous generation GoPro Hero 2, but it's smaller and much cheaper. Its firmware also supports it being used as a dashcam. http://buymobius.com/collections/mobius-cameras/products/1080p-mobius-actioncam-hd-video-camera-standard-edition http://buymobius.com/collections/mobius-cameras/products/108... http://www.amazon.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-Sports/dp/B00DP1WYD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407790258&sr=8-1&keywords=mobius+action+cam http://www.amazon.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-Sports/dp/B...
- m_mueller 12y ago
  Panasonic is currently marketing their 4k wearable cam in Japan [1]. Pretty impressive for that size I'd say. [1] http://cdn.camyx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/panasonic-hx-a500.jpg http://cdn.camyx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/panasonic-hx...

Gracana 12y ago

I think the fact that it's tiny, cute, and inexpensive will help them carve a niche out from under GoPro. I can imagine something like this being used in places where you wouldn't really want a "hard core" action cam.

BorisMelnik 12y ago
agree with that. this just seems more user friendly to get started with. much more of a fun impulse buy than a GoPro IMO. I thought the video quality was extremely high, compared with a lot of the other stuff I see on YouTube. also worth noting that there are a ton of retail outlets in the USA which is an added benefit to their distribution strategy.
- georgemcbay 12y ago
  "I thought the video quality was extremely high" Actually the video quality looks terrible. Compare the bits actually shot with the Cube (most of the promo video isn't... you can clearly see when they switch to the shots the Cube itself took at ~0:22-0:26 and ~0:42-0:44, notice how they switch away from the Cube video pretty damn quickly, probably because it is so terrible... doesn't even look actually 1080p as a source, looks like they are interpolating it up from something lower, frame rate looks bad, massive chromatic aberration). Compare Cube (switch YouTube player to 1080p if it doesn't auto select that, note that most of the promo video is not Cube footage, pay specific attention to ~0:22-0:26 and ~0:42-0:44): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePO6OKYyOec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePO6OKYyOec To, say, the Mobius (switch YouTube player to 1080p if it doesn't auto select that): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlSvoKlIaPk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlSvoKlIaPk Mobius costs less than the Cube ($80 vs $99), video quality is miles better even when capturing a much faster-moving scene. I can see reasons why people might buy the Cube... it is cute, the monkey stand is pretty cool; but in terms of price vs image quality it is a clear loser, IMO.
  - soup10 12y ago
    This is identical to the sentiment against iPod when it first came out. If the design is good, user friendly, and people still like the product, it won't matter if it's got worse specs since they can always improve them in later releases.

gcb0 12y ago

uh? gopro really only has the brand nowadays. When gopro started it was jus the cheapest digital camera that nobody would cry if it was smashed by the skateboard... it wasn't really ground breaking in any other aspect. yeah it had interchangeable lens. but everyone i know that used them had one camera for each lens (since they cost ~1 to 2x the price of a good lens anyway) nowadays there are tons of cheap digital cameras that fit the bill. most in a more convenient cylindrical body. and sometimes 1/5 the price of a gopro! win-win right? except everyone still goes for the gopro because of brand. so no, this is not "finally stepping into gopro market". the market already have plenty of alternative and they are mostly doing fine. specially in the dashboard cam niche that gopro doesn't market so heavily. this is just a product some, what... 20yrs later or something. sd card up to 32gb! wth... what is this? 2010? now they are going to say this is not readily available nationwide and that when it is, there will be a wait list?

ghaff 12y ago
In all fairness, the GoPro is optimized around being rugged and waterproof and it can probably get along in some environments its cheaper competitors can't. That said, the GoPro interface is awful and I have no doubt that a lot of people for whom the GoPro is overkill spend the money anyway because of the brand.
mikeg8 12y ago
I love how "only has the brand" is used negatively here. Having the "brand" is having everything. You can have a worse or more expensive product with "the brand". People will love/obsess over you from "the brand". It's hands down the most important thing to a business at GoPros size and way harder to develop on a global level than just manufacturing a small camera. But you have to understand consumers (people) to get that.
- adav 12y ago
  Additionally, I'd say that Polaroid as a brand is far more known by the general population than GoPro. To someone not in the know, "GoPro" sounds intimidating whereas Polaroid is famous for being fun, easy and instant!

kin 12y ago

While it's in the same consumer market as GoPro, remember that GoPro is more than a camera company in the same way that Red Bull is more than just an energy drink. GoPro is headed in the direction of lifestyle branding. Original content, sponsored professional sports, brand collaboration, etc. So while Polaroid and Sony are welcoming competition in the space, GoPro's market IMO seems more focused elsewhere.

coldtea 12y ago
>GoPro is headed in the direction of lifestyle branding. Original content, sponsored professional sports, brand collaboration, etc. That's still just a camera company. All those are marketing/promotionals moves, no money makers or markets. Same for Red Bull I'd say. How much Red Bull makes for selling the drink vs any other endeavour (if it not actually loses money on them).
- celticninja 12y ago
  they make a nice sum on their formula one team, that alone is a difficult feat so i reckon they are pretty business savvy.
  - bagels 12y ago
    Some f1 teams are profitable?
    - kcbanner 12y ago
      Are you joking?
      - bendecoste 12y ago
        Sincerely curious, what kinds of profits do F1 teams make?
        CHY872 12y ago

barrkel 12y ago

GoPro is a distant second, feature-wise, to Drift Ghost as a helmet cam, IMO. There is already competition. I wouldn't get this new cube device because it lacks a rotatable camera body (essential for flexibility in helmet mounting) and the battery lifetime is too short.

stfu 12y ago

Some of you seems to know the market quite well - here is my question: I would like to have a GoPro alike Cam for mostly indoor usage (low light) with exchangeable lenses (for interviews). I have used a GoPro3+B in the past and like its size and app based control. But for low light indoor settings it delivers sub par quality. What would be a better camera for such a setting?

MBCook 12y ago
That doesn't sound like the GoPro's domain to me. I see them as rough-and-tumble sports or action cameras. But low light performance and interchangeable lenses are almost diametrically opposed to what what they're doing. You need a large sensor and lens to get good low light performance (which makes it bigger) and so would the mechanism on an interchangeable lens. Further the interchangeable lenses are just additional parts to fail when you're bouncing around on your kayak trip. If you just want portability, you probably want something more like a micro 4/3s camera. I assume they can capture video but would almost certainly be more fit for the job.
- stfu 12y ago
  I saw GoPro offering a "music" edition of their cameras making me assume they would deliver some decent quality in low light, indoor, close-up situations. The concept is absolutely genius but it seems the market is all going for the same action/sports segment.
bcohen5055 12y ago
This isn't the right application for an action based camera. Opt for a consumer level SLR with HD video or really any handheld camcorder from the last 5 yrs to get the feature set you need.
guelo 12y ago
You're seriously wearing a head-mounted camera during interviews? That would creep me out. I'd probably cut the interview short.
- 12y ago

wf 12y ago

Garmin has been competing with GoPro with the Virb action camera for a while, which in my experience has been really fun to use and produced really nice quality videos. (I work for Garmin, but not on anything related to this.)

hammock 12y ago

>Finally Contour was the original competitor to GoPro. In a lot of ways it was a superior product. The company went defunct for a while but recently has been brought back.

fractalsea 12y ago
I have a Contour; I bought it mainly because specs-wise it was much cheaper than gopro equivalents. There was also some driver issues with the latest gopro model at the time. In hindsight though I think I should have got a gopro. There are certain features that the Contour doesn't have that I would imagine should be easy to implement: mainly the ability to take a mixture of video and still images on the fly. I also think that the video quality is now lagging behind gopro's for equivalent models. Having said all that, I do think they are still a good, cheap, alternative.
sundvor 12y ago
Yeah, I had a Contour Roam 2 which I absolutely loved; the rotatable lens with laser alignment, super easy flick-start recording, slimline helmet mount were all awesome features. The Roam featured inset grooves on either side through which the mount could be attached, and combined with the rotatable lens attaching it on the side of the helmet was quite a workable solution. Unfortunately I lost it on the trails as I was too lazy to set up the tether strap and I used a fork mount and must have hit some particularly hard bumps. I now have a Virb, which has arguably superior quality video, and also features a flick switch. However due to the way the Gopro style mount insists on popping it out and away from the helmet, I've moved it to the handlebars as it just got too much for everyday wearing. I personally find that for helmet mounting the Gopro as well sticks out like an eyesore, and am looking forward to hopefully seeing a Roam 3 from the resurrected company. FWIW, I'm using the Australian Fly6 on the back of my bike and am loving that there.

jasonwatkinspdx 12y ago

GoPro's biggest missing feature is not having gps and momentum logging.