JVC Adixxion - A Viable Alternative to the GoPro

Here is a picture of my little JVC Adixxion, replacement for my malfunctioning GoPro Black.

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As you may know I published a BLOG of my experiences and trials and tribulations with the much vaunted GoPro Hero 3 Black.

Finally after much wasted time dealing with the GoPro Company sent it back for a refund I started searching for an alternative camera. I considered both the Sony Sport Cam and this little JVC Adixxion.

The Adixxion seemed much the better camera but was $350.00.

After Christmas I found an incredibly short lived deal for $99.00 and immediately purchased the Adixxion.

The overall experience with this camera for me has been the complete opposite of the experience I had dealing with the GoPro Camera and the GoPro Company.

Namely I am very happy with it. 

Likes:

Size and form factor are better than the GoPro and even more so when the GoPro has its case on it.

Has standard mount base screw socket on side and bottom (and picture can be inverted so camera can be used upside down).

Has 1080P 30 fps and 720P 30 and 60 FPS and generally a better picture in daylight than GoPro.

Built in image stabilization definitely decreases multicopter vibration problems. Not in GoPro.

5x digital Zoom works without image degradation on 1080P due to large camera chip. Not in GoPro.

WiFi live preview actually works on IPad and with computer and with negligible delay (less than 1/2 second).

Much easier and more intuitive 6 button menu and navigation than 2 button GoPro.

Built in color LCD viewfinder.

Single battery life is better than the GoPro with the additional add on battery.

Nothing malfunctioning at all.

(You do need to do a firmware update from the JVC web site for the WiFi to work properly.

Dislikes (none major to me):

Night time video not as bright as GoPro.

Doesn't have all the fancy super high resolution video modes the Black had (of almost no interest to me anyway).

Although the IPad and PC based WiFi worked much much better than the GoPro, the Adixxion does not currently support direct connection to an Android so my Nexus 7 is not of use to me for WiFi at this time.

Basically a lot more to like than to complain about, really glad I got it.

Haven't tried the WiFi live preview while flying yet, but will report back on the results of that, live preview actually does work well enough to use it for FPV so long as the camera WiFi and the RC signals do not interfere with each other.

GoPro should take a lot of cues from this camera for their future efforts.

If they get the bugs out of the Black it will be a cool camera, but right now, this is a more useful camera to our RC community in almost every way.

Even if you have to pay full price, you won't be unhappy with this camera, but if you can find any kind of deal at all (Amazon currently $250.00) you'll make the GoPro owners envious.

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Comments

  • Hey...thanks for the heads-up on the Panasonic.... I'll have to check it out before I make a final decision.

  • @Chris: yeah, I'm liking the RX100 as well.  There's also the recently announced Panasonic DMC-TZ40 to consider.  It has some nice features.

  • What is the weight of this camera?

  • Daniel, I tried different resolutions and for my glider's RPM turned-out 60fps (I use 1080 @60fps) gives me the best results.

    I did not play with post production yet (giving I am shooting with Protune) but I have seen some good results with GoPro3.

  • Well of course you can't play it back at 2.7k, no consumer videocard can decode a video of that size.

    My point is to use the extra resolution to stabilize and crop out unwanted objects like props and skids from the video. Then scale down to 1080p with extra sharpening and grading.

  • Hmm... Think I will still go with the Sony RX100... awesome camera with live HDMI out while recording... with a HDMI to AV converter and an infrared remote for stills (activated by transmitter) I should be good go... let you know how it works soon...

  • Eman looked at your link on B&H (bought a lot of stuff from B&H over the years).

    The Drift looks a lot like the Adixxion and has good reviews and the Coleman is really cheap for a 1080P, and the not quite yet available Panasonic POV camera is very interesting at that price should have had a LCD view screen though.

    There are a ton of them and I have the feeling that by years end there are going to be a lot more.

  • Mark and Robert, I think I am beginning to see the pattern.

    We are the Quality Control team!

  • Hi Daniel,

    I agree in a 4 ounce package and $400.00 OK maybe $500.00.

    I looked at the Black Magic previously and it is basically a smaller cheaper version of the RED, both "relatively" inexpensive full on actual Pro cameras.

    However for our use, still big, heavy and prohibitively expensive.

    Still, a few studios are already using REDs on humongous Octocopters and the Black Magic is a considerably more practical option.

    Canon type Optical or the new Sony Super Optical stabilization as on a few of their newer consumer grade high end video cameras. (Their demo is mounting it on a shaker table and showing rock solid stabilization).

    And absolutely totally agree RAW output with no screwing around with the image.

    At least then we can screw it up (er fix it) ourselves.

    And Robert, good to hear another take on the Contour, that is what I thought they were supposed to be good at. Probably like the other brand that I will not name, different qualities and degrees of QC at different points in their development / release cycle.

    And I do think the HackHD could be useful, cheap and really light. Would like to know what image sensor they were using and a bit more about the optics. Not much on the tech section of their web site. Straight video out is nice and electronic record is good.

  • R Lefebvre, I have no problem with Contour but it stopped recording on three occasions for no apparent reason. Different units.

    On two occasions it damaged the video file. I guess it's my luck - I don't like taking chances.

    Similar issues have been reported by others. Sometimes video worth for people more than one can imagine, memories, money etc. 

    Not once GoPro let me down.

    I wouldn't buy Contour again, but that's me.

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