SJCAM SJ10 Pro - Beta Version Review (2023)

SJCAM SJ10 Pro is the latest action camera released by SJCAM. You probably noticed that there was SJCAM SJ9 Strikewhich didn’t get a lot of attention. The camera had some flaws and was removed from the market quickly, I never got the chance to test it. But I received a beta version of SJCAM SJ10 Pro and the camera works very well for me so far. So can SJCAM regain its reputation with the new camera? Let’s find out:

SJCAM SJ10 Pro Actionvs SJ9 Strike vs SJ8 Pro

To get started, here’s a comparison of SJCAM SJ10 Pro with its predecessors SJCAM SJ9 Strike and SJCAM SJ8 Pro:

Conclusion I

SJCAM SJ10 Pro is basically an improved SJCAM SJ9 Strike. SJ9 featured a frontfacing data display and wireless charging, both of those features caused problems and were removed.

What’s different compared to SJCAM SJ8 Pro?

• SJCAM SJ10 Pro is waterproof without case, can snorkel up to 10m deep and the camera is more convenient with watersports as you don’t need to fiddle around with a case.
• Livestreaming was introduced, you can stream videos from your camera straight to Facebook or Youtube. A smartphone is just needed to enter the credentials, but not for streaming itself – more on that later.
• The battery now has 1300 mAh capacity compared to the 1200 mAh battery used in SJ8 Pro.
• Electronic image stabilization was further improved and is now called Super Smooth Stabilization.

SJCAM SJ10Pro Action – Specs

Image Sensor

SJCAM SJ10 Pro holds the 12 MP SonySONY IMX377 image sensor, that’s the same sensor also used inSJCAM SJ8 Proand SJCAM SJ9 Strike, as well asYI 4K+ Action Camera. This sensor is also used in DJI Mavic Pro. (source)

Resolutions & Frame Rates

• 4K – 3840 x 2160 – 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 4K Ultra – 3840 x 2160 – 30 / 24 fps
• 2.7K – 2720 x 1520 – 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 1440p – 2560 x 1440– 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 1080p – 1920 x 1080 – 120 / 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 1080p Ultra – 1920 x 1080 – 60 / 30 fps
• 720p – 1280 x 720– 240fps

Interestinglythere are no high frame rate options for 24fps (e.g. 48 fps).
While 4K 60fps seems comparable with other top-of-the-line action cameras likeDJI Osmo ActionandGoPro Hero8 black, the 1080p option is a bit disappointing as the competitors achieve 240fps for ultra slow motion.

Image Stabilization

Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) is available in 4K with 30fps. There are many different terms used “Rocksteady” on DJI, “Hypersmooth” on GoPro and for SJCAM it is “Supersmooth”. Basically they are all marketing terms. All of the cameras hold a 6-axis gyro sensor that records the movement of the camera to support image stabilization.
Supersmooth Stabilization is available up to 4K resolution and 30fps. GoPro Hero7 black and Hero8 black also allow stabilization in 4K 60fps.

Digital Zoom

SJCAM SJ10 Pro offers 8x digital zoom (not optical – as it has a fixed lens like most other action cameras) but it works continuous, also during recording, and not in steps. As it is a digital zoom there are some restrictions and it is not available with lens correction activated or some resolutions with EIS activated.

Recording Format

SJ10 Pro offers .h265 codec, also known as HEVC (or High Efficiency Video Coding). That’s great as it offers more details in the video recordings while using lower bitrates. GoPro also offers .h265 and has a more detailed video image compared to DJI Osmo action using a higher bit rate but only using .h264 codec.

Photo Resolution

Native photo is linked to the effective pixel size of the sensor, therefor SJCAM SJ10 Pro offers 12 MP photos. There are other options, the image is downscaled or cropped within the camera:

• 12MP – 4000×3000 – Aspect Ratio 4:3
• 10MP – 3648×2736 – Aspect Ratio 4:3
• 8MP – 3840×2160 – Aspect Ratio 16:9
• 8MP – 3624×2448 – Aspect Ratio 4:3
• 5MP – 2592×1994 – Aspect Ratio 4:3
• 3MP – 2048×1536 – Aspect Ratio 4:3
• 2MP – 1920×1080 – Aspect Ratio 16:9

Connectivity & Ports

Sincethe SJ8 Series cameras all new SJCAM cameras offer an USB-C port. In general USB-C is capable of video output and microphone input. SJCAM is selling aSJ8 series external microphonewith USB-C, I’m not aware of an 3.5mm adapter. There is an “external microphone – on” setting within the menu of SJ10 Pro.
I’m also not sure if the DJI or GoPro mic adapters work – the YI adapter doesn’t work and important to know: Phone adapters don’t work in general as they have another pin layout!

SJCAM SJ10Pro can be connected to a computer and is detected as mass storage, hence you can transfer video files. You can not use it as webcam! SJ10 offers wifi and bluetooth connection and can be remote controlled via phone or remote controller.
The camera features a microSD port for cards up to 128 GB storage. Be careful which card you choose, for 4K video U3 cards are needed, if you plan to record 60fps, choose a very fast card.
You can mount your camera either with the “Frame Mount” that features a GoPro mount system or with astandard tripodmount as a 1/4″ thread is available on the bottom of the camera.

Display

The backside touch display is a large 2.33” IPS Touch Screen, similar to all SJ8 series cameras and SJ9 Strike.That’s actually the largest touchscreen among action cameras. GoPro Hero8still uses just a 2″ touchscreen and DJI Osmo Action uses a 2,25″ touchscreen.
While SJ9 Strike offered a front facing screen showing recording data, this item was dropped on SJCAM SJ10 Pro. What I heard was that this item caused trouble making the camera waterproof.

Battery

Compared to the SJCAM SJ8 series cameras, the batteries now offer a larger capacity: 1300 mAh and allow 4K30 recording for up to 100 min. One new feature introduced with SJ9 Strike was wireless charging, but apparently this feature also caused troubles and was removed with SJ10 Pro.

Accessories

SJCAM SJ10 Pro comes with frame mount (to use the GoPro mount system – the camera itself has a 1/4″ thread on the body), 2 adhesive mounts (curved and flat), 2 extra 3M stickers for the mount, base plate & screw as well as USB-C cable and lens cloth. No additional mounts.
The camera is 10m waterproof without case, a 30m dive case can be purchased separately.

SJCAM SJ10Pro Action –Livestreaming

One main new feature introduced with SJCAM SJ10 Pro(and SJ9 Strike) is live streaming. A smartphone is needed to establish the internet connection, but later on not needed for the live stream itself. There is an advantage that the livestreamdoes not require a smartphone: the phone’s wifi is not needed to connect to the camera. Therefore you can either stream via WiFi or via a hotspot created with your phone.

There are a lot of options where you can publish your live stream:

• Facebook (Private Profile, Facebook Page or even Group!)
• YouTube

How to setup a livestream with SJCAM SJ10 Pro

1. At first go to the App SJCAM Zone and press Live (top right of the screen). You can set the basics for your live stream:

• Select a thumbnail image
• Text of your post (Facebook) / Video Description (YouTube)
• Video quality (1080p / 720p / 420p) – Consider your internet connection speed!
• Bitrate – Consider your internet connection speed!
• Internet Connection: WiFi or Hotspot and enter name & password.

2. When you are done you press go live and a QR Code is displayed.

3. Now select Live Mode on your camera and scan the QR code on your phone

4. The camera is connecting to the wifi and once connection is established the video is broadcasted

What’s very convenient, you can click “watch livestream” on your phone and it opens up the platform automatically so you can monitor your stream!

SJCAM SJ10 Pro – Settings

I want to give an overview of the new home screen, available camera modes and settings.

Homescreen

The home screen, the one you see when turning on the camera, shows the following settings (from top left – clockwise): Current Mode (video in the image above) the available recording duration (no SD card was inserted in the image). On the top right a mic to indicate that sound is recording and the battery status. The +/- magnifier is for the 8x digital zoom you can use while recording. When you press the rotary you can access the device settings, the icon next to it is for video/photo settings. When pressing the current mode, in this case “video”, you get to the modes menu. When pressing the current resolution & frame rate you get to the resolution selection menu and the play button indicates photo library. Date and time are displayed, even when timestamp is not active.

Modes

When you press the current mode in the bottom, middle of the screen, you access the modes menu with the following 9 options:

• Video – for video recording.
• Video Lapse – to create a time-lapse with a video file as result. (interval from 1s to 30 min)
• SlowMotion – for slow motion recording. The camera is recording a higher frame rate and it is already stored within the file to play it at a lower frame rate to show that effect.
• Photo– for single photos.
• Photo Lapse – to create a time-lapse with several individual photos as result.(interval from 3s to 30 min)
• Photo Burst – forconsecutive photos (up to 30 photos)
• Video + Photo – to take photos within an interval while a video is recording.
• Car Mode – the camera powers on/off automatically when connected to a power source and loop recording is enabled (when used as dash camera).
• Live – to start a livestream

Video Resolutions & Settings

When pressing the current resolution (left of the mode) you can change resolution and frame rate. When pressing the wand, icon right side of the mode, you can change thesettings of the mode you are in:

Video Resolution & Frame Rates

• 4K – 3840 x 2160 – 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 4K Ultra – 3840 x 2160 – 30 / 24 fps
• 2.7K – 2720 x 1520 – 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 1440p – 2560 x 1440– 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 1080p – 1920 x 1080 – 120 / 60 / 50 / 30 / 25 / 24 fps
• 1080p Ultra – 1920 x 1080 – 60 / 30 fps
• 720p – 1280 x 720– 240fps

VideoSettings

EV (Exposure Value)
is the exposure compensation. You can adjust exposure by setting up / down EV +/- 2.0.

White Balance
You can selectpredefined settings for color correction based on the given light situation: Auto / Sunny / Cloudy / Fluorescent / Underwater.

Power-On Recording
When turned on the camera starts recording immediately when turned on – ideal for car mode when the camera powers on automatically when connected to a power source.

Metering Mode
To define the area where the camera is measuring exposure: Center, Spot or Average.

Gyro Stabilizer
EIS (electronic image stabilization) is active when you activate the gyro sensor. EIS is available up to 4K with 30fps or 1080p with 60fps.

Encoding
You can choose between h264 or h265 encoding. .h265 is not available in 4K 50/60 fps, 1080o 120fps or 720p 240fps and also not available in 4K when gyro stabilization is turned on.

Sharpness
You can set sharpness to strong /standard / soft.

Distortion Correction
You can switch on distortion correction if you don’t like the fisheye effect of the wide angle lens. This selection is not available in 4K with 60/50fps.

Loop Recording
When loop recording is switched on the oldest files are overwritten once the SD card is full.

File Size
You can set the max. length of a clip to 1 min. / 2 min. / 3 min. / 5min. / 10 min. / 15 min. / 20min.

Video Quality
can be set to Fine /Standard / Economy and this setting influences the video bitrate! Attention thebest optionis not set by default

ISO
You can either set MAX ISO so the camera only goes up to a defined ISO value or set the value itself. Really great that you now get this many options to choose from. Higher ISO gives you a brighter image but also increases noise in low light situations.

Audio
You can turn on/off audio recording.

Time Stamp
You can choose to display date/time in your video recordings.

Conclusion

I really like that many options for ISO settings – that’s great. On the downside I don’t understand the .h265 codec limitation when image stabilization is activated!? Also the option to record a flat image for color grading is missing. You also have to be aware that the standard for Video Quality is not set to the highest level!

PhotoSettings

Some of the photo settings are similar to video. Resolution can be selected in an extra menu straight from the home screen:

Resolution

• 12 MP – 4000 x 3000 – 4:3 (native sensor resolution)
• 10 MP – 3648 x 2736 – 4:3
• 8 MP – 3840 x 2160 – 16:9
• 8 MP – 3264 x 2448 – 4:3
• 5 MP – 2592 x 1944 – 4:3
• 3 MP – 20148 x 1536 – 4:3
• 2 MP – 1920 x 1080 – 16:9

EV (Exposure Value)
is the exposure compensation. You can adjust exposure by setting up / down EV +/- 2.0.

White Balance
You can selectpredefined settings for color correction based on the given light situation: Auto / Sunny / Cloudy / Fluorescent / Underwater.

Metering Mode
To define the area where the camera is measuring exposure: Center, Spot or Average.

ISO
You can set ISO to Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 6400.

Shutter Time
This option is especially needed for long exposure photos. The available options are: auto, 1/500s, 1/240s, 1/120s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/20s, 1/10s, 1/5s, 1/2s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 60s.

Sharpness
You can set sharpness to strong / standard/ soft.

Time Stamp
You can turn on/off the time/date being displayed in photos.

Distortion Correction
You can switch on distortion correction if you don’t like the fisheye effect of the wide angle lens.

RAW
When you switch on RAW the camera will take a .RAW photo anda .jpg photo.

Photo Quality
You can select Fine /Standard / Economy. Depending on your selection the quality of the picture (not resolution) will vary,resulting in different file sizes.Attentionnot the highest quality is set by default!

Conclusion

Again it is great to see that many ISO and shutter options for photo settings. You can really fine tune your photos. Also I don’t understand why Fine Quality is not set by default – pay attention.

DeviceSettings

Among the most important device settings are the following. You can expand the full list below if you need further infos. You can access device settings by clicking the rotary icon on the bottom right of the camera.

External Microphone
SJCAM SJ10 Pro offers the use of an external microphone which has to be enabled with this menu item.

Frequency
You can choose between 50Hz and 60Hz, depending on the frequency the power lines are using in your country. Choosing the wrong frequency artificial light can be flickering in your video.

Display ISO Info
When turned on ISO and Shutter Info is displayed within the home screen – Very useful to finetune your shots!

UI (User Interface)
You can switch between classic and new user interface. The classic one is shown in the photos above. With the new menu you can see icons, similar to the mode menu, instead of the list of items. I prefer the classic view.

App – SJCAM Zone

You can connect SJACM SJ10 Pro with your smartphone using wifi, either 2.4GHz or 5Ghz. The app for iOS and Android is called SJCAM Zone.

How to connect to your Smartphone
Turn on the camera’s wifi, you can use the quick menu when swiping down on the screen. Look for the camera’s wifi on your phone which is displayed as “SJ10PRO” followed by numbers. Thestandard password is 12345678. Open up the app and connect both devices.

SJCAM Zone
The App is pretty straight forward with all the settings you can select on your camera as well. SJCAM recently introduced a social media platform where you can post your photos and videos. You can also collect coins for posting which you can exchange for coupons to get discounts in the SJCAM Store!

When opening up the app you see a live preview image of the camera. It is also possible to turn the smartphone into landscape mode for a larger image. Pressing the mode button (bottom left) you can access the mode menu which looks similar as on SJ8 Pro. Pressing the rotary on the top right gets you to the video, photo and device settings. Interestingly there are no other selections for photo other than the resolution. RAW option andshutter times would be necessary.

More Infos

Find the latest news on theSJCAM User Groupon Facebook!