Wave Trail Action Camera

Details

An action camera that is waterproof to 10 metres without a case, takes the ordinary two-prong mount everyone already owns, and has a quarter-inch tripod thread in the base. Both lens covers unscrew by hand and are Rs 390 each, which is the part that gets scratched first. Four numbers are habitually mis-stated in this category. The first is the sensor, which is given as a megapixel count while the physical size, the figure that actually decides how a camera behaves at dusk, is left off entirely. The second is interpolation, where a sensor is read at one resolution and the file is written at a larger one. The third is 4K with no frame rate and no bitrate beside it, so 4K at 30 frames and 60 Mbps sits in the same word as 4K at 120 frames and 160 Mbps. The fourth is stabilisation claimed without saying which kind, because optical and electronic are not the same promise and only one of them costs you a crop. All four are answered here, including the one that is a limitation.

• Sensor: 1/1.3 inch CMOS, 7.84 x 5.88 mm of active area, which is 46 square millimetres. That figure is what decides low-light behaviour and it is the figure this aisle does not print
• Resolution: 48 MP native, 8000 x 6000, at a 0.98 micron pixel pitch, binned four to one to 12 MP at an effective 1.96 micron for video and for the default stills mode. There is no interpolated mode on this camera and no upscaled number on this page
• Video, each with its frame rate and bitrate: 5.3K 5312 x 2988 at 60 fps and 160 Mbps. 4K 3840 x 2160 at 120 fps and 160 Mbps. 4K at 60 fps and 100 Mbps. 1080p at 240 fps and 100 Mbps. H.265 10-bit, and an H.264 8-bit mode at 100 Mbps for older editing software. Plain MP4, no proprietary wrapper
• Stabilisation is ELECTRONIC, and there is no optical stabilisation in this camera. A 6-axis gyroscope sampled at 1,000 Hz drives it, it costs about 10 percent of the frame as crop at 4K 60, and horizon levelling holds to 45 degrees of roll. Any camera in this class claiming optical stabilisation is claiming a moving lens group behind a 10 m waterproof port, which will not fit
• The gyroscope track is written into the file as standard telemetry, so footage can be re-stabilised on a computer afterwards
• Water: IP68 and tested to IEC 60529 at 10 metres for 60 minutes with NO case. Depth and duration, because a depth alone is not a rating. With the dive housing, 60 metres for 60 minutes. Fresh water at 25 degrees C, and the door gasket is a Rs 290 wear part worth replacing yearly
• Lens: f2.8, 12.7 mm equivalent, a 155 degree diagonal field, 8 elements in 6 groups, glass. Both covers unscrew by hand at Rs 390 each
• Battery 1,800 mAh at 3.85 V, which is 6.93 Wh. 95 minutes at 4K 60 with stabilisation on and the screen off at 25 degrees C, a draw of 4.4 W. 58 minutes at 5.3K 60. 2 hours 40 minutes at 1080p 30. At 0 degrees C that same 4K 60 clip runs about 62 minutes, because lithium cells lose capacity in the cold, and that figure is here because nobody prints it
• Storage: microSD to 1 TB. 160 Mbps is 20 MB per second, so a UHS-I V30 card, rated 30 MB per second sustained, is the minimum and it is stated rather than assumed
• Mounts: standard two-prong folding fingers plus a quarter-inch tripod thread in the base. No proprietary adapter to buy
• Stabilisation, flat colour, timelapse and every capture mode are on the camera and included. No account, no subscription, no cloud upload, and files copy off over USB-C as plain files
• The honest trade is heat. Sustained 5.3K 60 in still air at 35 degrees C ambient will reach the thermal limit at about 22 minutes and step down to 4K 60. A sealed body has nowhere to put the heat, which is the price of 10 metres without a case
• There is no Shuunnya service-centre network. A warranty claim means sending the camera to us, with no turnaround time promised