The good people at Everbuying and Gearbest sent me an EKEN H9 action camera to try out. I have had the EKEN H8R camera for a little while now and have already done some testing of that camera.
The H8R is the newest camera over the now older H9, so I was interested to see just how the H9 looks against the H8R camera. Has there been a great leap in the camera’s look?
Both cameras have been set up with the latest firmware versions download from the EKEN Facebook page.
The side by side look at the H9 and H8R cameras is not a scientific test by any standards, instead it is a very quick look / test that I needed to perform. Determine if the cameras are going to be used on any TV programmes that I work on.
Put simply I’m testing to see which footage looks best straight out of the camera.
So the action cameras have to be mounted to the outside of moving automobiles, and they must film in full sun, part shade, cloudy conditions, etc. Normal everyday driving situations.
It’s Winter here in Australia with a low sun. A part sunny, part cloudy mid morning was the setting for the side by side test. Using DIY magnetic car mounts, the cameras sat next to each other on a four wheel drives bonnet. The cameras recording settings are set to 1080p and 30fps, and not 4K. The footage is as is. So recorded straight to identical Sandisk 32gig cards, with no post production applied, and the audio is as is too, so you can decide for yourself if the H8R or the H9 might be a good fit for your filmmaking needs.
H9 Video Specs:
4K @ 25fps
2.7K @ 30fps
1080p @ 60fps
1080p @ 30fps
720p @ 120fps
H8R Video Specs:
4K @ 30fps
2.7K @ 30fps
1080p @ 60fps
1080p @ 30fps
720p @ 120fps
The H9 camera much like the H8R comes bundled with a stack of goodies including mounts, clips, tethers, and velcro ties. Plus the charger and waterproof housing. The GoPro Hero 3+ camera fits into the H9 waterproof housing perfectly, and that the mounts are GoPro interchangeable.
Summing up:
I liked the H8R better than the H9 camera. Both are a pretty nice bang for buck camera. Batteries are the same for both cameras, so expect the battery life to be about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. They both have handy built in screens which is good for checking set ups and playing back clips. It’s nice that the screens can go into sleep mode after you check your shot, and that helps save battery life.
Menu settings are pretty simple, on the H9 camera. However one thing to remember is you have to have the timestamp set “on” in the the off option. Don’t hover / leave it on date, or date and time as that will be in your recorded vision, even though it shows a clean screen before that.
I have grown to like the EKEN H8R camera the more I use it, and at this stage as I said, I prefer it over the H9 camera, however maybe it’s the other way round for your particular filming needs.
Please see Everbuying and Gearbest to grab a EKEN H9 camera.