INTRODUCTION

   If you happen to love extreme sports and you want to keep a visual recording of your stunts or if you just like to record your outdoor activities or even your road trips then your best and perhaps most valid course of action is to make use of a good action camera. Up until four to five years ago this market was quite smaller and thus you could only choose between the two well-known and established manufacturers namely GoPro and Contour. Today things have changed and so in the market one can find a large number of Full HD 1080p action cameras with a wide range of features from many manufacturers. Pittasoft has been manufacturing car dash cameras for many years now with great success so it was only a matter of time before they also turned their attention towards the design and manufacture of action cameras. The SC500 which we've been testing quite thoroughly for over 2 months now is their first action camera to see the light of day.

   BlackVue is well known for its sleek Full HD car dashboard cameras both in home market and abroad. Pittasoft decided to leverage its expertise and launch a new product category – BlackVue Sport action cameras. Many of us would like to shoot not only extreme sports videos, but also more quiet nonetheless exciting outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, fishing, bike riding. Normal cameras and smartphones are not suited for that. That’s where BlackVue Sport action camera shines. It’s your tiny companion for easy life-tracking or saving memorable moments and sharing them with friends.

   Although the BlackVue Sport SC500 is the very first attempt by Pittasoft to manufacture a sports/action camera i doubt anyone would think that by looking at its specifications sheet since it points to a very interesting and advanced product. For starters we have the 12MP SONY Exmor CMOS sensor which is amongst the top ones currently in the market (available for such products) and allows the SC500 to record video with resolutions up to 1080p@60/30fps (720p@120/60/30fps) and shoot 12MP stills (0.3/7.2/8.5MP). That's not all you're getting with the SC500 however and so it also comes with built-in WiFi (can be controlled via android/iOS app), 1050mAh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery (gives it up to 2 hours of recording time), 2inch removable LCD screen and a waterproof IP68 certified case. All these sound great but with other similar solutions out in the market like the Hero+ by GoPro and the S-50 WiFi by Rollei the SC500 needs to be something really special to compete and that's what we're going to find out today.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The main product features are listed at the front of the long box along with a small clear plastic window that allows you to see the front of the SC500.

Manufacturer information is available on the left side.

The box contains the BlackVue Sport SC500 inside the IP68 certified housing, a carrying case, USB to microUSB cable, 1050mAh Li-Ion Polymer battery, battery cover, user's manual, two mounts (tripod, square) and two double sided tapes.

THE BLACKVUE SPORT SC500

By default the SC500 comes inside the waterproof IP68 certified housing (both weigh 185g).

With both the rechargeable battery and the LCD screen but without the IP68 certified housing the SC500 weighs 97g.

We placed the SC500 next to the S-50 WiFi not only to see their similarities in design but also their differences in size.

The lens gives the SC500 a horizontal field of view (FOV) of 157 degrees.

Pittasoft has placed 4 activity LEDs right next to the lens.

At the top we see the speaker, on/off LED and the start/stop recording button.

The microUSB port, mini HDMI port and microSD port are placed on the right side.

On the opposite side we see the microphone hole, power on/off button and the WiFi on/off button.

To install the 1050mAh Li-Ion Polymer battery you will need to remove the rear LCD screen (just pull it outwards).

The 1050mAh Lithium Ion Polymer rechargeable battery allows the BlackVue SC500 to record FullHD video for up to 2 hours.

Using a 2inch LCD screen is not really something new but it's always a good feature to have.

We were lucky enough to receive two SC500 samples, the second arrived with the IP68 certified housing showcased in the beginning of this page and the 1st with this rubber cover (we don't know which version is available in each country however).

USING THE BLACKVUE SPORT SC500

Prior to using the camera i suggest checking for new firmware updates on the official support page.

The camera menu is not very extensive but still it allows you to set the video recording quality (1080p@60/30fps & 720p@60/30fps), adjust the still picture quality (12/8.5/7.2/0.3MP) and finally it allows you to choose one of the two available high speed modes (720@120fps/480@240fps).

If you want more available options and a more complete control over the SC500 you can download the latest BlackVue S application for android and iOS compatible devices as seen above.

AUDIO/VIDEO QUALITY

It took almost two months of testing in order to complete our test of the BlackVue Sport SC500 with very good results as you will see from the two clips above. Of course the more light available the better the CMOS sensor does its job and so in dark conditions recording was not great but still it was a lot better compared to other similar Full HD action cameras. Once again we chose to upload both clips to our server (almost 105MB in size) and not YouTube to preserve the exact same quality so to download the clips directly just click on the above images (click and save as).

CONCLUSION

   Normally the fact that this is the first action camera by Pittasoft would be cause for skepticism but since we've used and tested Dashcam models by them in the past we knew what to expect and the 12MP CMOS sensor by SONY didn't fail us since it produced very good image quality with smooth movement and vibrant colors especially during the day. Of course i personally prefer the image quality offered by the DR550GW-2CH dash camera (especially at night) more than the one of the BlackVue Sport SC500 but the lack both of a rechargeable battery and a rear LCD screen are not two things that i can ignore and obviously make the SC500 a far more versatile solution. The lack of a remote control may disappoint some of you but the android/iOS compatible app takes its place and i doubt there are many people out there without a compatible smartphone or tablet. My sole concern is the lack of a car mount especially since the ones we have here didn't really do a good job (you may hear some noise coming from the mount in the night clip). Including it in the bundle may be too much to ask for an action camera model (it would also increase the price) but Pittasoft should take steps in making one available as a separate accessory for people who'd also like to use the SC500 as a Dashcam.

   As we speak the BlackVue Sport SC500 Action Camera by Pittasoft retails for around 350Euros inside the EU and AUD450 inside Australia but unfortunately no matter how hard we looked we couldn't find it inside the USA but if that changes we will be sure to add the price. Price-wise we really think that Pittasoft should make some compromise since at around the same price range you can find the latest Hero3+ Black Edition models which although not better in terms of specifications still they can shoot video at up to 4k@15fps resolution something which will probably appeal to many potential buyers even though it's not really something they will end up using. Overall Pittasoft has designed and manufactured a very good action camera that gives you no indication that it's their very first attempt in this field and if it weren't for the price tag and availability inside the USA it would had walked away with our Platinum Award however both issues play a very significant role and thus it gets our Golden Award instead.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size
- Image Quality (Smoothness/Vibrant Colors)
- Audio Quality
- Removable 2 Inch LCD Screen
- Built-In Wi-Fi
- Waterproof IP68 Certified Housing
- Android/iOS App

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Current Availability Inside The USA