WOLFANG GA420 ACTION CAMERA

My first delve into the world of action cameras so I have no previous experience. I looked long and hard at the GoPro 11 but simply couldn't justify the price. The camera itself is tiny, feels weighty in the hand and gives the impression of being well built. I downloaded the app and paired it easily enough. I tried to download the first attempts of footage to my macbook but no matter what I tried it simply would not find the device. Trying to review the footage on the rear screen I find its just too small to give much of an idea. Just got back from a week in Cornwall so have used the camera a bit more, also fired up an old windows surface which found the device immediately.. Having now reviewed the footage I can say I'm surprised how good it actually is. I've unknowingly shot everything in in wide angle so the horizon has the annoying fisheye look. The photos are clear and vibrant but zooming in they show a slight lack of detail. The internal mic suffers from wind noise quite badly, the EIS works quite well smoothing out the bumps on a bike ride. I shot everything in 4k 30fps as other reviews claim the 60fps degrades the image. It also works pretty well underwater with no issues. There are a load of bits for attachments most of which I probably will never use but simply having them is a real bonus. I feel the cost is the biggest bonus of this camera. I purchased the camera, 128gb extreme card, extending selfie stick and a carry case for only £10 over the price of the brave 7. Be careful to look after the rubber lens cap as its very easy to loose and a nightmare to replace! Overall this is a competent little camera at a very reasonable price, the fact its waterproof without a case is a big plus. A waterproof case is supplied for the scuba divers. The interface is relatively simple to use, the image quality will be more than acceptable for the majority of users. Be aware of wind noise, the supplied external mic may be better. I didn't try it as I used above and underwater shots at the beach and with the external mic connected its no longer waterproof. It comes with lots of attachments which should get anyone started. You will need an sd card, get one fast enough to cope with the 4k recording and grab a selfie stick as its much easier to use than holding a tiny camera.

Until now, I’ve always bought GoPro cameras. Let’s be honest, you can’t beat them when it comes to quality … but what good is quality when your camera is as unreliable as a GoPro? I’ve them wipe my SD card, freeze without me realising (hard to tell when you’re on a motorbike) and have had sound issues galore due to shady adaptor connections. Sorry GoPro, but we’re through. It isn’t me, it’s you. After much research and the recommendation of a friend I trust, I decided to try the Wolfang GA420. Coming in at about a third of the price of a GoPro, I wasn’t expecting much and was quite prepared to just have it as a spare if necessary. It won’t be necessary. In terms of size, the camera itself is comparable to the GoPro, but from the get-go it feels heavier and more solidly built than the more expensive competitor. The screen on the front is an unexpected and welcome bonus at this price and is a godsend for self-footage. The number of extras that come as standard is enough to make a GoPro owner weep. Without the protective housing, the camera is waterproof enough to cope with weather, but probably not so much a snorkelling trip or more (although you can’t take a motorbike snorkelling so I wouldn’t know for sure). The protective housing to make it fully waterproof comes as part of the package. In terms of performance quality for my needs, the GA420 certainly punches above its weight. I want it as a motorbike camera, both for use on my forthcoming five-week trip across Europe and also as a dash cam n case of accident (which I am clearly confident would not be my fault!) For the latter, video alone is probably good enough but for recording the trip, I’ll need sound and that was one of my big concerns because the sound on most of the cheaper cameras I’ve investigated sounds like a wasp farting in a tin can at anything over walking speed. Not so the GA420! I’ve tried to upload some video with this review so you can see what I mean. Unfortunately the file is too big but, assuming Amazon allows this, you can also find the footage at https://youtu.be/FO-48FS5GKA It took me a while to get everything positioned for this level of quality, but I’m not quite finished yet: I want to try moving the mic a bit in the helmet to see if I can get it clearer still. In case the URL above is deleted by Amazon, I’m clearly audible up to around 40mph/65kph, acceptable for another 10mph/15kph, and it’s a slight effort beyond that, though I'm still audible at 60mph/100kph-ish. I could never get any GoPro significantly better than that, so what more can I ask for? Right about now, I can hear you wondering what issues I have with the camera. Firstly, the buttons are very small and you have to press them quite hard and with great accuracy to make them work – not easy with motorbike gloves on. Second, the only microphone it will take is Wolfang’s own. I have a couple of pretty expensive mics I’d prefer to use, but I can’t. To use the mic, you need to open the port cover on the side of the camera, which means it’s no longer weatherproof – not great on a motorbike. On the GoPro, I was able to take off the port cover completely, drill a hole in the waterproof housing to access the mic port, and then cover the gap around the lead with Blue Tac to maintain the waterproofing. Wolfang’s door isn’t removable, though I have been tempted to get a well-aimed hacksaw at it! Finally, third-party accessories (like a waterproof housing in case I mess up drilling the one I have) are difficult to find, though Wolfang are quickly responsive and will usually help. (If you’re reading this Wolfang, Can I have a spare case ... please?!) Overall though, I can’t say anything other than this is a fantastic camera; not only for the money, but just generally. It’s a real bargain and if you want most of a GoPro’s features for a fraction of the price, I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t kid yourself that you need a GoPro because the chances are you really don’t … and I’m certain you don’t need the unreliability that comes with them or the extra spend they require to buy.

HEADLINE GOOD: Video stability is very good. I'm very pleased with tests I've done so far. Front or back screen is a great benefit for me. With my previous one screen action cam it was pot luck doing selfies etc.. Comes with two batteries. Comes with silicon lens cover. Waterproof to 10m without housing (not tested), a housing and lots of fittings are included. HEADLINE COULD BE BETTER: No external charger for batteries in the kit. Each battery could take up to 5 hours to charge in the camera meaning 10 hours out of use if both batteries need charging. Chargers are available on Amazon. No pouch or carry case in the kit. IN MORE DETAIL: Clear sound and picture. The audio recording has minimal processing which I prefer. You can boost levels when editing. It is possible to record too loud but the minimal processing in this camera allows good recovery of any clipping. The UI is responsive, its a bit slow pulling up video thumbnails just a couple of seconds. The remote is responsive, pre-paired and has its internal battery already fitted. Good pressure is required for the on/off switch, it is not going to be activated accidentally. The other buttons are appropriately easier to push. With my equipment the microUSB-B needs a straight or left-angle connector because the door gets in the way of a right angle USB plug. The supplied external microphone works well but you have to select on the menu which you want to use. There is nothing to indicate that you are recoding silence if you get it wrong. I've not found an appropriate adapter to connect a generic Lavalier. The digital zoom is in 32 steps, you have to click on the screen 31 times to get from one end to the other and nothing to indicate where you are in the zoom range. Like all digital zooms the image quality quickly deteriorates. Connecting a HDMI changes the back screen to operate as a menu with a clean output to HDMI. By default the video feed goes out of the HDMI, you can use the touch screen to select video or photo for HDMI playback. You cannot take photos or videos with HDMI connected. There is an undocumented lock screen function but it is so easy to defeat I don't understand why it exists. SUMMING UP: A good buy that I'm happy with. I have a charger on the way and the camera will go into my old action camera bag since it is now dead, no it was not a Wolfang. DISCLAMER: I am not affiliated with any company and the unit was purchased by me for personal hobby use. I am not getting any reward or inducement to write this review.

In terms of still image quality I was quite impressed versus my experience with another brand. At an additional 4 megapixel (24 megapixel) over its competitors, it does seem to make a difference. Rich colours, reasonable sharpness. Images can accept a 50% zoom without degrading the image too much. Detail is a little lacking versus a good mobile phone and you are never going to read a number plate at distance (for example). But nevertheless it does produce reasonable quality snaps. When recording in 4K it gobbles up the memory. You can use 215 mb in 30 seconds. 2.7K 170 mb and 1080p 110 mb. With image stabilization, in some cases memory consumption is reduced. I found that with stabilization enabled, there was a subtle reduction in picture quality in all cases i.e. more smoothing and less detail. 4K 60 fps was just too jittery for me and vertical lines were jagged and flickering. My preference was 2.7K or 1080p 60 fps and without the image stabilization. Daylight shooting is great, but as daylight deteriorates you start to see some grain. But it works well in low light conditions, until maybe dusk. Sound recording is, in my opinion, quite good. The unit itself fits in the palm of your hand, and is of reasonable quality. It is quite heavy at 4.7 ounces or 133 grams (with battery installed) and my Hohem gimbal trembles when the camera is attached. If I remove the battery, the gimbal is fine, so there is about half an ounce excess. It only has a wide angle, not super wide and the image stabilization is only available for certain video resolutions. I would have preferred to have had a battery charger supplied as part of the accessories as it seems to be super hard finding a standalone charger that will take the GA420 battery. One of the simplest things provided by Wolfang is a simple rubber lens cap. What genius. In summary, this is never going to match high end mobile phone cameras. But for a budget action camera that produces quite good quality video footage and costs little more than £100 I don’t think I can complain.

I used to have a robust camera with 5x zoom and a decent underwater mode but it stopped charging so I got one of these for a snorkelling holiday in S Egypt. It feels solid and it never let any water in past the seals, snorkelling without the casing. When it let me take still images of coral and fish the results were often quite sharp and 24MP allows for some digital cropping. I never did find the underwater mode it promises and when I tried Wolfang support, after a lengthy delay I got the fatuous response "tap the screen". NO... Luckily I'm good at post processing images and video to recover the lost red. What makes this camera worth only 1* to me is the interface. The buttons are very hard to press. In bright sunlight, underwater through a mask the tiny screen is useless for my old eyes and no attempt has been made to help. The still and movie modes look almost identical and every so often the camera resets itself from still images to movies. which I rarely want for coral. It would have been so easy for them to fix that, maybe a red blob on the screen for movie, green for still. I guess what is happening that movements of the camera underwater mistake the transit of salty water across the touch screen as a finger swipe. So my Egypt reef pics were all blue, no underwater mode, and many that should have been good still images were jerky, useless videos. If I ever bother with this camera again I'll try it on stills mode in the underwater housing. Less chance of it switching unasked to video mode. To actually use the camera underwater I had to buy a separate flotation handle which screws into the tripod mount. I don't think any of the accessories will screw into the camera's tripod mount.

Overall its not a bad camera. The field of view is not that wide so be wary of that. Its built like a tank and the footage is quite good for the price of the camera, however, because they have put waterproof grommets over the microphones, the microphone is not that good. Wolfang supply a microphone with the camera but it takes the same socket as the charging cable so if you are using a self charging selfie stick you cannot connect the mic. Only the Wolfang mic will work with the camera, it does not work with any other third party mic's neither cable ones or wifi ones so if you break your Wolfang mic you are stuffed. The design of door for the mic is poor and you must remember to open it before you put the camera on a selfie stick, Also the SD card is next to the battery underneath so to swap SD cards you have to remove from the selfie stick. Overall not a bad camera but it has some bad design flaws, the main one being lack of support for any third party mics and no wifi mic support

Great camera. Easy to use. Quality definition and as good as Go Pro. Image stabilisation is why I’ve bought this camera. Lots of kit enclosed and adaptors to fix onto bike etc

First impression is an action camera of good build quality and performance. I'm using GA420 for cycling, on Sametop Chest Harness from Amazon (great harness!). Pleased that I don't have to used the supplied 40m casing. For cycling in rain basic camera is adequate, durable, robust and small size. I'm using the tripod mount screw fixing with Sametop adapter to chest plate. I tried 2.7k resolution on first ride but vertical field of view in Wide Angle mode lacked upper distant road/sky view when riding with racing handlebars (body leaning downwards). Changing resolution to 4k the GA42 uses more of the image sensor pixels so increases vertical view and solves this problem. In Sametop reviews some users monted camera upside down and inverted image to vertical view angle. In 2.7k lasted more than 1.5h each battery. Image stabilisation is good, particularly vertical motion. Experience so far this is really good value for money and recommended. Only negatives are: 1. Limited documentation, particularly doesn't mention the remote. 2. Camera arrived set to German language - took a while to discover how to change to English 3. Remote tested by trial and error. I discovered pairing with camera by holding both buttons down for a few seconds. In use, after close pass by a car, I pressed red for still photo expecting video recording to continue, but camera later shut down after time-out, video recording stops when photo taken. Press gey to restart recording, there is a faint sound for video record/stop. However, with chest harness LED indicating video record state isn't visible so easy to get.