I recently bought a Dragon Touch Vision 4 action camera from Shopee SG for SG$65. This action camera cost only about 1/8 of the price of a GoPro HERO 8 but doesn't its perform only at 1/8 the quality too?
Let's find out.
Specifications
Dragon Touch Vision 4Video Resolution: 4K 30FPS, EIS 4K 30FPS (3200*1800), 2.7K 30FPS, 1080P 60FPS, 1080P 30FPS, 720P 120FPS
Image Sensor: 16MP CMOS-Sensor
Image Resolution: 16M/12M/8M/5M
LCD: 2.0" LCD
Wifi OS: Andriod and IOS
Lens: 170° HD Wide-angle lens
Memory: Micro SD card up to 64GB (I've tried with a 128GB card and it worked)
Language: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese
Battery: 1050 mAh
Waterproof: 98ft
Compatible with external mic
The Packaging and Accessories
There is nothing fanciful about the packaging actually, just a simple box with some specifications. Inside is also very simple, just a plastic mold for the camera and remote and a box with all the accessories.
Taken from Dragon Touch Manual PDF
I'm actually quite impressed with what they offered here for the price. I mean that is A LOT of accessories and Dragon Touch provided a Youtube video in their manual in case you don't know how to use them... just like me...
By the way, they included a clip-on microphone in the box too. I don't know why they didn't have that in their PDF.
The Camera
The camera is light when its without the battery. It almost feels like a toy but a well built one. The power button is right at the front, beside the lens with the shutter button at the top. One side of the camera sits 2 arrow buttons while the other sits a micro USB charging port (also use to sync with PC and if you use it as a Webcam), a micro HDMI port and a micro SD card slot.
The MSDC mode allows the PC to read and write to the memory card on the camera.
PC Cam modes allow the Vision 4 to be use as a webcam. I've tried it with Zoom, working fine but I didn't test the audio.
Charging Mode allows charging and usage at the same time. This will be good if you're outside and battery is dying halfway through.
Yes, shameless advertising for the micro SD card I'm selling on Shopee SG.
All recordings are done on that card.
You can click the Gif in the side bar if you're interested to check it out.
You can click the Gif in the side bar if you're interested to check it out.
Although the specification on the box says that it can only allow up to 64GB, I actually used a 128GB micro SD card and it still works. All you have to do is just format the card on the camera via System Settings. Micro SD cards of at least Class 10, USH-I is recommended.
Charging and Battery
I really like it that they have given 2 batteries with a 2 slots battery charger so that you do not have to wait for one battery to finish charging before charging the other one.
Both the battery charger and camera charges with a microUSB (the "older" Android cable) and charges relatively fast. Both the charger and the camera have LED indication of the charging status, red means charging and blue means charging is completed (for the charger) while the camera will turn off the LED once charging is done.
I left the camera recording mostly in a stationary position and tested how long the battery last. I only moved the camera once a while to test the EIS stability.
With 4K 30FPS setting and the battery lasted 96 minutes on a single charge.
And on EIS 2.7K 30FPS, it lasted 74 minutes.
I filmed one of my delivery trips on EIS 4K, I left it on even when I'm not recording and it still have 1/3 battery bar left at the end of 1 hour. I only did 20-30 minutes of recording in total though.
The camera gets noticeably hot when recording continuously for more than 45 minutes. The temperature can get as high as 48°C on the LCD screen, the other part of the casing gets up to 43°C.
Ease of Use
Well, I cannot say the Vision 4 is really that user friendly. I kinda hate its menu and the whole "operation process", whatever you call it!
But before we get to that, you need to know the button system of the camera.
To navigate the modes, you use the mode also the power button.
To navigate the options within the modes, you use the arrow buttons.
To Select or Enter, you use the Shutter button.
When you switch it on, the default mode is Video 4K 30FPS mode, EIS if you turned it on. To change the video setting, you need to navigate to the Setting mode. And to do that, you need to press the mode button (the power on button) till you reach the setting mode.
While I've not accidentally switched off the camera while changing modes, I don't really like the idea because the power/mode button is right at the front which means reaching it a little difficult. Or maybe it's just me, I find that position a little awkward to hold.
Also, the setting mode is right at the back (last "main" mode option in the menu), which means you've to go through all the other modes (Photo, Video Viewing and Photo Viewing) before arriving at it. It's kinda annoying.
And the worst is, the setting menu have Sub-menus and then you've to go through ALL of the sub-menus before arriving at the option to Exit the setting mode!! It's also the same for viewing videos and photos; you've to scroll to the end to get that option to go back to the Video mode!!!
OMG!! Why can't they just simplify everything say with a "back" or "home" button? Also the arrow buttons ... can't they be better positioned? I can't really operate with one hand due to the button placements.
I think it might be better if its touchscreen, but then if it reacts this slow, I don't know if it really helps.
Live DV
Edited 18 Sept 2021: You can delete videos and photos off the camera itself, but it's not straight forward. You've to hold the Arrow up button for 3 seconds and the option to delete will appear.
Video and Image Quality
I'm not a video person, which means I'm not very particular or sensitive about video quality unless its really not "viewable". My only comparison would be my iPhone 7 plus.
iPhone 7 Plus 4K 30FPS
Dragon Touch Vision 4 EIS 4K 30FPS
I did a short recording of 2 grouped order at about 19:30. So there is a combination of walking while holding the camera (not with handle) and also riding on bicycle (strapped to the handle, not using the mount). I'm not sure if its me, because that I suffer quite easily from stimulation motion sickness (so I don't really play First Person Shooting games esp on big screen), I got nauseous while editing the walking parts ... too much movements and too shaky. The cycling parts are much better for my eyes and stomach.
Cycling
Walking
(I choose the more stable part to show, hope it's ok for your eyes and stomach)
Both videos are render as 2160p 29.97FPS, as that is the highest resolution I could render. My apology if that's not what you're looking for.
Image taken with iPhone 7 plus
Image taken with Dragon Touch Vision 4
I'm pretty disappointed with the photo quality. I'm not sure why the photo quality of the Vision 4 is so bad and everything seems out of focus.
Conclusion
Pros |
Cons |
|
|---|---|---|
| + Light and portable | - Bad/Annoying menu system | |
| + Decent video quality | - EIS could be better | |
| + Lots of Accessories | - Photo quality is bad | |
| + Wifi functionality | - |
|
| + Can be use as dash cam and webcam | - Doesn't work very well in darker areas |
|
| + Battery life is quite decent | - Gets hot pretty quickly |
|
Although the Dragon Touch Vision 4 has it's flaws, I think its still quite decently as an action camera. The battery life is pretty decent and so is the video quality under the right conditions. I guess it's worth its price. But given a choice, I'd dump in a little more cash and switch to one with touchscreen and better menu system.
Rating:
3/5
Recently used mine snorkelling. Madeira sep 2021. You CAN delete from the machine rather than downloading first.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, you're right! I didn't manage to find the option to delete, didn't know have to hold the button.
DeleteThanks for clarfiying!
what is the mm of the camera lens? im trying to find a fisheye for it
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteI wish I could help you but I don't have that information. And I've returned mine, I've no way to check that.
Sorry.