I am trying something new for my videos on Youtube. They started with my Canon SX50 recording my pottery work but I found length was limited to 30 minutes due to the camera battery life. My Galaxy s21+ cellphone solved the battery life problem and had storage for longer videos. The touch screen functions of the cell phone worked but sometimes I would push the wrong icon and lost the moment. After accidently dropping my cellphone on concrete it was time for an affordable alternative. I was looking for a video recorder that was affordable that I could see what I was capturing and simple to start and stop.
The Akaso Brave 8 lite was ordered on April 11. 2024. It has been shipped and estimated arrival date of April 20th.
Video
Video 1080 - 30 frames
Stabilization normal
grid on
Wind noise reduction off
Hind sight off
Remote on
Vivid color off. When on there was some blue flaring in lens when pointed towards sun.
Sharpness 5
Gyroscope on
EV set to -0.5 to try to darken greens and prevent over exposure of some light areas when in full sun. A setting of EV=-1.0 produced black shadows in shaded areas on youtube.
Wireless connect off.
Off saves battery
On allows cellphone link
Photo
photo resolution 20mp
Arrived on April 20, 2024 and unboxed. Charged batteries overnight. Red light on charger means charging and blue is fully charged. Installed battery and memory card and turned on. Hold power button 3 seconds to turn on and off. Setup camera to Initial spec listed above. Everything seems to work. I put the tripod mount on and used a clamp tripod. To switch between rear screen to front press M on the side when not recording.
Needs a windscreen. After enduring 23 mph winds on the April 28, 2024 video, I finally made a windscreen out of thin synthetic quilt batting and attached it with rubber band.
The ideal distance for the microphone is less than 12 feet. Sound intensity decreased 20 db every 10 feet.
Reduce the EV to -0.5 to reduce saturation of sensor in full sunlight. An EV=-1.0 was too dark in shadows and indoors.
Add a piece of tape to cage to stop vibration caused by a loose fit.
Microphone seems to record 1 second before it appears on video. Bazar when the sound is before the picture. May be related to slow frames per second (30) or stereo sound generated by a single microphone. Only noticeable when object being imaged makes a noise so finding a workaround.
Battery life is longest (+110 minutes) when the video is 1080p and 30 frames per sec.
Expect gaps in recording images when temperatures are hot. Consider shading camera.
Plan on using at least 2 batteries. I usually have 1 in camera and carry 2 for a morning shoot.
Purchase an OP/TECH USA Media Holster (Pack of 2) to hold the extra batteries. Going to try to attach it to the remote strap.
I equate the Brave 8 lite to a Harbor freight drill. Both are not professional grade but will get the job done for less money. The camera needs a wind screen. A solution comes from Antique Roadshow where they just used gauze held or quilt batting over the microphone and held in place with a rubber band. I can not hear camera beeps outdoors so increased volume of beeper to maximum. Still can not hear if background noise is high so glad there is a red flashing light. The color seems washed out so I increased sharpness setting from 3 to 5, reduced EV to -0.5. Stabilization worked, not perfect, but equal to my cell phone. No problems with plastic cage holding camera but increased hold by adding a piece of heavy tape to the cage. The camera is a good investment but needs some tweaking and workarounds to customize to my likes. I recommended the Akaso Brave 8 Lite for having fun and not for chasing money.
See my first video on youtube at https://youtu.be/jGL-nqE8CXo.