Lens for GP4

Witterings · Jan 13, 2016

Arsenal,
Cheers for that, I know you can buy the Peau production ones but in essence you're paying c£100 for something that's a £10 / 20 piece of kit, I've just ordered a 4.4mm one for $10 which they want $100 for a 4.35mm, I was trying to see if I could find one without such a premium but thanks for the info!!

erikgraham · Jan 13, 2016

Witterings said:
Arsenal,
Cheers for that, I know you can buy the Peau production ones but in essence you're paying c£100 for something that's a £10 / 20 piece of kit, I've just ordered a 4.4mm one for $10 which they want $100 for a 4.35mm, I was trying to see if I could find one without such a premium but thanks for the info!!

I'm not sure I follow, but if you are buying a GoPro H4 Black, with a lens pre-installed, then it's just a matter of how you value your time (i.e. the time saved installing it yourself) and the knowledge that it will come properly installed and in focus. Also they remove the software color profile for you. Not having to get my hands dirty and having the piece of mind that the lens was installed properly are worth it for me.

Now if I were ordering a lens and installing it myself, then I'd have to rethink the calculus. I guess they will sell for whatever price the market supports. Peau certainly seems to be pretty busy.

Witterings · Jan 14, 2016

Yes it is to install it myself, initially on a 3+ and am used to doing it / focusing them, have done it with a 5.4 which introduces quite a bit of jello that I don't get with the standard gopro lens so looking for something closer to the standard to minimise jello as much as possible but without the fish eye.

erikgraham · Jan 14, 2016

Witterings said:
Yes it is to install it myself, initially on a 3+ and am used to doing it / focusing them, have done it with a 5.4 which introduces quite a bit of jello that I don't get with the standard gopro lens so looking for something closer to the standard to minimise jello as much as possible but without the fish eye.

If your getting jello, try slowing down your GoPro's shutter speed by adding a filter. But it sounds like you are getting vibrations and the zoomed in lens is making it worse. Run your footage through image stabilization. Otherwise the 3.97 is the closest to the GOPro field of view. Also, it's a 16 mega pixel lens, so photos will look sharper and I think I also see improved sharpness in video (over the 4.35). haven't had time to really compare image quality under the same lighting conditions. The first comparisons i did were just for field of view.

Witterings · Jan 17, 2016

When you say it's a 16mp lens does that mean you'll actually be capturing 16mp or will the camera limit it to the normal 12mp????

Any idea's on good stabilization software as well for a PC ........ ideally free but realise may have to pay for something to be half decent????

erikgraham · Jan 17, 2016

Witterings said:
When you say it's a 16mp lens does that mean you'll actually be capturing 16mp or will the camera limit it to the normal 12mp????

Any idea's on good stabilization software as well for a PC ........ ideally free but realise may have to pay for something to be half decent????

You got it. The GoPro sensor itself is limited to 12 megapixel for photos. The extra 4 megapixels on the 3.97 is "wasted" in a sense because the sensor can't handle the extra 4 megapixels. The 4.35 is a 10 megapixel lens, so for photos it doesn't have the detail and clarity that the stock lens or a 3.97 has.

For video, the GoPro is limited to something around 8 megapixel (if memory serves), so in theory the 4.35 should be fine for video, but to my eye its not as sharp as the stock or the 3.97 for video.

pyrate · Jan 17, 2016

the 4.4 is just right at 12MP

erikgraham · Jan 17, 2016

pyrate said:
the 4.4 is just right at 12MP

I'm not familiar with the 4.4. I know they sell a 4.35 (10 megapixel) and a 5.4 (10 megapixel), but I've not seen a 4.4. I thought you were just rounding up and the whole time you meant the 4.35. Is your 4.4 from a different supplier? If so, a product link would be great.

pyrate · Jan 17, 2016

Yes different supplier, 90 bucks on Ebay

Witterings · Jan 25, 2016

I did just check and the one I ordered was a 4.35mm, it arrived but has a reddot right in teh middle of the frame whenever you're facing the sun so in essence it's useless, the link's here
Buy Products Online from China Wholesalers at Aliexpress.com

I found here a 4.35mm that's quoting 16mp, do you think that'd be genuine as it'd make a bit of difference for photos???

PdxSteve · Jan 25, 2016

Lenses are not just about the quality of the glass, it also has to do with the coatings they apply too. Cheap lenses probably don't even have any coatings to help keep artifacts to a minimum.

Witterings · Jan 25, 2016

PdxSteve said:
Lenses are not just about the quality of the glass, it also has to do with the coatings they apply too. Cheap lenses probably don't even have any coatings to help keep artifacts to a minimum.

I meant to put a link in for the 16mp one so here it is
New Products Looking For Distributor 1/2.3 Inch Go Pro Lens 4.35mm 16mp Lens With M12 Mount - Buy 4.35mm 16mp Lens,M12 Lens Mount,Go Pro Lens 4.35mm Product on Alibaba.com

Problem is though I wouldn't know what to look for in terms of coatings and what's good or bad

pyrate · Jan 25, 2016

erikgraham said:
I'm not familiar with the 4.4. I know they sell a 4.35 (10 megapixel) and a 5.4 (10 megapixel), but I've not seen a 4.4. I thought you were just rounding up and the whole time you meant the 4.35. Is your 4.4 from a different supplier? If so, a product link would be great.

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