Git 2 Gitup Action Camera Review

I’ll be honest. Lately my passion for reviewing cheap action cameras nearly vanished. Why? Because last few cameras I reviewed, proved to be disappointing. How can one be motivated to write about a product that is not exciting and does not work well?

When I heard that Gitup released new GIT 2 camera, I secretly hoped my luck is about to change. Their previous, GIT 1 model, which I reviewed, was well built, stable and provided great low-light performance due to its small, 2 megapixel sensor.

However it was a bit pricey and had inferior image quality compared to other cameras in same price-range. Due to its stability, performance as well as customer support, it was one of the cameras I felt quite comfortable recommending.

In my review of Gitup GIT1 camera, I said :

Now that their first product is good, criteria from reviewers and consumers will certainly lift, for the upcoming Git 2, which will bring new features, but will also cost more.

Here we are few months later. I have been using GIT 2 camera for a while now, and in this article, I would like to tell you everything about it.

General information

Some of the exciting features of GIT2 are 16 megapixels IMX206 Sony Exmor image sensor (Xiaomi YI has it as well) and Novatek NTK96660 chip. Combination of the two allow camera to create true 16mp images, and more importantly video at 1080p 60 FPS together with 2K @30FPS and 2880×2160 @24fps. Camera supports external microphone and memory card up to 64gb.

Like previous model, this one is compatible with wrist controller which allows remote control of the camera via radio frequency. Additionally camera has a built in WiFi, so you can connect to it via your smartphone. Its retail price is around 159$, though some Chinese retailers sell it for a bit less.

Camera picked up quite decent reviews and I wanted to see if Git2 by Gitup is a good mid-range action camera. Honestly, it is a bit pricier compared to some other Chinese cameras but it has plenty of exciting features, so let’s get going.

GitUp GIT 2 specs

•  
•    Chipset
•    Image sensor
•    Lens
•    Weight
•    Size
•    Screen
•    Max image resolution
•     Max Video resolution
•    Video compression format
•    Image format
•    Memory
•    Battery
•    WiFi
•    Connection
•    Timer
•    Photo time-lapse
•    Video time-lapse
•    Burst
•    Webcam
•    Car camera
•    Remote controller
•    External Mic
•    Video Stabilization

• Gitup Git 2
• NTK96660
• Sony Exmor IMX206 16MP
• 7 glass
  170º
• Weight : 64 grams / 2.25 ounce
• Size : 59 x 30 x 41mm
• 1.5" LCD
• 16 megapixels
• Video Resolutions : (2880x 2160) 24fps
  2K(2560 x 1440)30fps
  1080P (1920 x 1080) 30,60fps
• H.264
• Image format : JPEG
• 64GB
• 950mAh
• USB, HDMI
• 3s/5s/10s/20s
• 1s/3s/10s/

 

$159$

Price

 

Buy it now

 

Buy on Amazon

Package

Like its predecessor, GIT2 comes in two different editions. The “standard” and a “pro“.

Difference is only in accessories that come with a camera. Obviously pro package offers more additional mounts, holders and most importantly a waterproof case. So if you are on a budget, and do not need all these extra bells and whistles, you can buy standard packing and save 20$.

If by any chance you have GIT1 and want to upgrade, you can get standard, as all accessories are 100% compatible between the two.

Of course, most of the accessories can be bought separately. But buying them from official site, won’t be cost-effective, so think twice before you decide for standard instead of a pro edition. I highly recommend a pro. Here is why.

Just as an example, if you just need a camera with a waterproof case, you can buy standard packing, and buy waterproof case for GI2 (link) which is 19.99$ when bought separately. In my opinion PRO pack offers way better value for the money, since official gear is quite pricey when purchased separately.

Accessories Standard packing

Standard pack contains :

• 1x camera
• 1x lens cover
• 1x USB cable
• 1x battery
• 1x quick start guide

Buy GIT 2 Standard on | Amazon | eBay | Gitup |

Accessories Pro packing

Pro pack contains :

• 1x camera
• 1x waterproof housing
• 1x battery
• 1x bike/handlebar mount
• 1x holder
• 1x flat adhesive mount
• 1x curved adhesive mount
• 2x connector
• 2x screw
• 1x tripod mount
• 1x adapter
• 1x usb data/charging cable
• 1x lens cover
• 1x quick start guide

Buy GIT Pro packing on | Gearbest | Amazon | eBay | Gitup |

Optional accessories

There are several accessories that can be bought separately. These do not come neither with pro or standard package.

• dual battery charger (link)
• wrist remote controller (link)
• external microphone (link)
• frame
• suction mount
• FPV Cable

Manual that comes with a camera explains the basics pretty well. You will be able to do basic functions in no time. I especially liked “Using Git 2 as a dash camera” and “Wrist Remote” sections.

However the manual itself does not go deep into other features and options. Besides basics, it doesn’t cover other important things such as white balance, WDR, gyro and many others. That is why later on, I will try to give brief info on these features, and provide you with optimal settings to use. Manufacturer informed me they are working on an expanded manual.

Design and built quality

Design-wise GIT2 is the same as GIT1. Both cameras are quite well-built and rigid. Their dimensions are exactly the same. This means that a waterproof case for GIT1 can be used on GIT2. From the aesthetic point, GIT 2 is not the prettiest camera around, even though it’s minimalist and does not have plenty of buttons.

As a design freak I did not find it appealing. It’s not because it comes in single color only, but because it has 4 metallic screws on the front. I have no idea why they did not use black screws instead. Putting them on the front, displaying them proudly is already painful for me to watch. Who wants to see screws? But putting metallic-colored screws is taking ugly design to a whole new level. I know, I know, you do not care about it, but I do. Bottom line, GitUp has to work on improving the design.

One of my favorite things about GIT2 is its built quality. Camera does not feel cheap nor flimsy. When you hold it, you can feel that it is a well-crafted product you are holding.

One more thing that I did not like about camera appearance is that HDMI and USB ports together with memory card slot are wide open. There is no cover to prevent the dust from getting inside. Not many cameras on the market use covers for these ports, but in my opinion, it is something they should start doing, as it will make camera cleaning much easier.

LCD Screen

At the back of the GIT2 there is a tiny 1.5″ display. The screen can be used for previewing what you record in real time. LCD screen is not completely flattened with the back of the camera. This is good because you can leave GI2 laying on its back without worrying that screen will scratch itself.

This also means that cleaning of the screen might be tricky. Even though the display is not huge, it is quite enough for previewing footage, changing settings, etc.

Weight and size

Despite it’s tough built quality, GIT2 is quite light-weight camera. It weights only 64 grams. This is quite impressive, since the Dazzne P3 camera which is one more well-crafted action camera weights a lot more. Dimensions of GIT2 are exactly the same as GIT 1 : 59 x 30 x 40 mm.

Buttons and their functions

GIT2 does not have many buttons. Its operation is quite simple. Below is a brief descriptions of all buttons, ports and indicators and their functions.

1. Shutter / select (for start/stop recording or menu selection)
2. Video Mode indicator (red when in recording mode)
3. Photo Mode indicator (green when in photo mode)
4. Power / Mode (turning camera on or off, switching through 5 different modes)
5. Lens
6. Mini USB (for charging, AV out and microphone)
7. HDMI port (previewing on TV)
8. Internal microphone
9. Working status (red when camera is on, flashes red when camera starts recording)
10. Working status (red when camera is on, flashes red when camera starts recording)
11. Memory card slot.
12. WiFi Status
13. Settings/WiFi/Custom button (press to access settings for photo or video mode, hold to enable WiFi. Shortcut button)
14. LCD screen

Modes

Git 2 has several operating modes :

• Video
• Photo
• Playback
• System settings

[phpzon keywords=”gitup git 2″ num=”4″ country=”US” trackingid=”pevly0d-20″ templatename=”columns” columns=”4″]

Video

In this part of the review, I would like to show you a video review I made and also brief analysis of video quality.

First, take a look at my brief video.

NOTE : 2/14/2016 – Video review is coming soon. Please bookmark this page or subscribe to my YouTube channel and you’ll be notified as soon as I publish it. Additionally, I will be updating this review with more info, as I still have lots of cool plans with the camera. This is not a final review. I do plan to add more info, believe it or not.

You can download RAW video samples on this link.

Video recording

Video recording mode is a default mode which will appear when you turn the camera on. There are few ways to know that you are in a video recording mode. First one is to check the upper right corner of the screen, if you see a video camera icon there, you are in a video mode.

Another way is to take a look at the camera front LED light, which will show RED when camera is in movie (video) or green when it is in photo mode. Common sense already tells you that in video mode camera records …wait for it – videos!

Video Quality

Colors that IMX206 sensor provides are really natural-looking. For my taste video colors were really good. What bothered me is that video is not as sharp as I expected. It might be that my lens needs a bit of refocus, I am not 100% certain about it.

Also I did not like the lens they used. I know it provides nice colors, but also gives a distortion and smudging on the edges. While most people won’t notice it, it kinda bothered me. I hope they will use better lens in their next camera to avoid objects smudging when camera moves quite fast.

Video Settings

While in  video mode, press “Menu/WiFi button” to enter video settings. Here you can set up options and activate features exclusive to videos. Following few paragraphs describe all of the functions briefly. It might be a bit boring, but I believe it will help people who are newbies. Some of the options have been explained over and over, I am aware of that. So if you already have a decent knowledge on action cameras, you can skip the settings part.

Resolution

Compared to previous GIT, this one supports more recording options at higher resolutions and frame rates. Here is a list of resolutions which GI2 supports.

• 2880×2160 @ 24fps
• 2560×1440 @ 30fps
• 1920*1440 @ 30fps (4:3)
• 2034×1296 @ 30fps
• 1920×1080 @ 60fps
• 1920×1080 @ 30fps
• 1280×720   @ 60 fps
• 1280×720   @ 120 fps
• 1280×720   @ 30 fps
• 768×480     @ 30 fps
• 640×480    @ 240 fps

Loop recording

You should use this feature with caution. When an interval is selected (2 minutes for instance), camera will create video files in 2 minutes length. If you are recording for 20 minutes, you will have 10 video files of 2 minute each. But that’s not all. When your memory card gets full, GIT2 will start overlapping the first recorded video, deleting it, and recording new one over it. This feature should be used only if you are using GIT2 as a car/dash camera. Here are intervals available :

• off/2/3/5/10 minutes

Record Audio Level

• High
• Medium
• Low
• Mute

Date Stamp

If you want to see date and time sign on your videos, turn this on. Most people will keep it off.

Time Lapse

GIT2 has out of the box video time-lapse. If you are unsure what is a time-lapse video, you can read this article on Wiki.

• 1F/200ms
• 1F/1 sec
• 1F/5 sec
• 1F/10 sec
• 1F/30 sec
• 1F/1 min (60 sec)
• 1F/5 min (300 sec)
• 1F/10 min (600 sec)
• OFF

Video SnapShoot Timer

Snapshoot timer is not a self-timer, although it sounds like it. How it works? Well while you record camera, if snapshoot is enabled, camera will create a photograph without interrupting the recording. So if you set, 5seconds, while recording, each 5th second, GIT2 will export one video frame as a photo in 1920×1080 resolution. It is not the 16mexapixel photo, please understand that. It is an exported video frame.

• 5/10/20/30/60/off

White Balance

To determine the warmth of your video/image, you can adjust the white balance. Obviously you are not obliged to obey the rules. Since white balance setup depends on the situation you are in and the effect you are trying to achieve, it is the best to experiment with these features.

GIT2 goes a bit extreme by having blue and red together with light blue and red, which for me personally did not mean much. Good addition is custom white balance, that allows you to adjust perfect match manually by adding a bit more blue or red. Quite fun. For some normal use, I recommend auto, since camera handles auto WB quite well.

Here is an entire list of white balance options.

• Auto
• Cloudy
• Daylight
• Tungsten
• Fluorescent
• Blue
• Light Blue
• Red
• Light Red
• Custom

In the example above, there is not a huge difference between auto and vivid options. However in slightly different lighting and in portraits, vivid gives more vibrant colors. For me personally, it looks good, but gives the effect to the skin, that I did not like. I prefer auto white balance.

Menu Button Function

This lovely and useful feature is not something I expected. It shows how much Gitup listens to their customers feedback. This option will transform the menu button (one of the right hand side of the camera) into a shortcut button. This means that menu button becomes custom one or  a shortcut which allows you to quickly activate the function you use the most.

I have seen plenty of custom buttons like this in DSLR and mirorless cameras (those cameras have tons of buttons), but nothing similar in action cam so far. I am in love with this feature.

• Exposure Lock (locks the exposure which means camera will not try to detect and change option automatically)
• White Balance Lock (locks the white balance which means camera will not try to detect and change option automatically besides the one you selected)
• Exposure and White Balance Lock (locks both)
• Audio Recording (turns sound on or off)
• Gyro Stabilization (turns video stabilization on)
• OFF (default, menu button remains menu button)

EV (Exposure value)

Opposite to white balance which affects the warmth, the EV (exposure value) determines the brightness/darkness of the videos or photos.

ISO

The amount of light that goes through the sensor is determined by ISO. In low light situations, ISO should be higher, as sensor needs more light. In daylight ISO should be lower, since there is already enough light. Be aware that inappropriately set ISO can cause the image noise. Just leave it on auto if you do not wish to experiment, it is perfectly fine. ISO vale ranges from 50 to 1600.

Color

Those who  prefer a bit different approach to videos and photographs can chose from different color presets.

• Normal
• Black and white
• Sepia
• Vivid

Gyro Stabilization

Lately plenty of Chinese cameras began to implement so called “gyro” video stabilization. Newly released like SJ4000+ (gyro edition), M10+ and Firefly 6S all have this feature. So what exactly is a “gyro”?

Gyro is a hardware part located inside the camera (photo) which measures the movement. Basically it’s an one-axis accelerometer. It will reduce the field of view and try to “negate” the shake. It is not only a hardware that measures the shake. Camera needs to have properly adjusted software that works in combination with accelerometer.

In short, thanks to this feature, videos will be less shaky. It is very similar to digital image stabilization. I believe this is too technical, what you should know that camera will stabilize the video when you move it up and down, but not left and right of forward or backwards. Stabilization is quite well optimized, and obviously works well for videos when you are walking or when GIT2 is attached to a bike handlebar.

WDR

Wide dynamic range should be enabled in situation when there are lots of contrast between light, (shadows). Thanks to it, camera takes multiple photos and merges them in one, creating better contrast.

Slow Motion

If you do not like to waste time in post production and video editing, but you still love slow motion videos, you can enable this setting and GIT2 will create right of of the box slow mo video.

• 2x
• 4x
• 8x
• OFF

Sharpness

• Normal
• Soft
• Strong

Metering

• Center
• Spot
• Average

FOV (Field of view / Angle)

• Wide angle (170 degrees)
• Narrow angle (120 degrees)

Motion Detection

In theory, if you want to use GIT2 as a surveillance camera that will start to record when it detects motion, you should enable “motion detection”. In practice – this is an action camera. If you need something to monitor movements around your house, go buy surveillance camera! I really do not understand the trend of having a motion detection in an action cam, especially if it works poorly. At the time of writing this review, motion detection barely detects a motion. It only works in close range, and performs extremely unreliable. Just turn this off, it useless.

G-sensor

When g-sensor is enabled, GIT2 will start to record and protect the video file when it’s sensor detects a force. You can set up sensitivity from low to high. Depending on the sensitiviry camera will activate recording mode and protect file from erasing. As an example, if you are driving a car and hit the breaks, camera will start to record. This is a car camera feature and should be used in combination with loop recording and car camera options. Unlike motion detection, in my tests g-sensor worked quite well.

Photo

While video mode servers for recording movies (clips), photography mode enables you to take still images in various resolutions. Thanks to its IMX206 image sensor GIT2 supports maximum of 16 megapixels still images.

Taking photographs

To capture an image, press “Mode button” to switch from video (default ) to photo mode. You can defer video from photo by icons in top left corner and LED indicators on front of the camera. While you are in photo mode, click top shutter button, and that’s the whole philosophy.

Image quality

Personally I was very satisfied with the quality of GIT2 images. They were sharp, though not ultra sharp. Colors are quite natural looking and there are so many options to play with to improve your images. Here are some samples below.

Image samples

Please understand that images put online have been compressed to enable faster loading of the website. You can download original, uncompressed images on this link.

Photo Settings

Understand that some of the settings appear in both photo and video mode. Repetitive features will not be described again, since it’s pointless, as they do the same thing.

Image resolution

• 16mp (4:3)
• 12mp (16:9)
• 8mp (16:9)
• 5mp (4:3)
• 3mp (4:3)

Shutter speed

Unlike most of the professional cameras (DSLR,SLR, mirorless), action cameras have digital instead of mechanical shutter. Shutter protects the image sensor from light. When you want to take a photograph, shutter opens for very short amount of time, allowing light to that travels through the lens to enter the sensor.

Digital shutter does not open, instead pixels begin to “activate themselves”. The amount of time the shutter is opened or “active” is called shutter speed.

Shutter speed is also known as exposure time, since it determines the amount of time the film (in past) or image sensor (present) are exposed to light. Slow shutter speed are used when you want to capture fast-moving objects. Long shutter speed is used at night mostly. Be aware that for anything above 1/30 sec you will need a tripod or your photos will be blurry.

GIT2 has shutter speed from 1/30 to 1 minute. If you select 1min, this means camera will be in process of taking an image for 60 seconds. In that time, it gathers the light. The more light it gathers, the brighter the image.

• Auto
• 1/30 sec
• 2 sec
• 5 sec
• 10 sec
• 15 sec
• 20 sec
• 30 sec
• 1 min

I personally used GIT2 shutter speed from 10-30 seconds at night, to capture very neatly looking images. There are so many things you can do with a shutter speed. Since I am far from professional photographer, I would advise you to read a bit more about it.

There are many great resources and examples how to be creative and make great photos. I really loved this  feature. But be advised, that camera needs to be still if you are taking long exposure images.

Photo credits in this section go to Nigel Savidge. Nigel created far better images than I did.

Photo time lapse

Unlike video time-lapse which creates out of the box time-lapse movie, photo one will create image sequences. Each image represents 1 video frame. So if you select 10 seconds, each 10th second GIT2 will trigger a shutter and capture an image. If you leave a camera for 1 hour (3600 ), you will have 360 images (3600 seconds/10). If you create a 30 FPS( frames per second video) you will have 12 seconds time lapse output (360/30). Be aware that images need to be merged in post production. If you do not want to bother with editing software, just use video time lapse.

• 1/2/5/10/30/60/300/600/900 sec

Self-timer

Self-timer function will trigger a shutter button with a delay, which is good for group photos.

• 3/5/10/15/30 sec

Capture mode

Capture mode lets you select how many images should camera capture in a single shutter click. Camera can take up to 10 photos continuously.

• 1/3/10

RAW photo mode

People who want to use RAW format, already know what it is, so I will try to explain it in a easy to understand way. Each time any digital camera captures an image, that image needs to be processed. Processing happens in camera brain – processor (chip, chipset) which is then transferred to a memory card.

While”in processing” image is compressed and converted into a particular format (JPEG in most cases). JPEG images can be viewed and printed right away, they are compressed, and have smaller size. RAW image are unprocessed files that are much larger in size. They require further processing and converting, but have better quality, since they are data that comes directly from the image sensor.

In GIT2 example, if you turn RAW on, you will get a large file of 30mb compared to 4mg JPEG. That file in particular can’t be viewed right away.  You will not see an image. What you will most likely see is just black/white shadow. That is an unprocessed data. It has to be converted to another format. Gitup provides some tools on their site, so if you want to use RAW, check it out.

RAW format is something for people who want to edit their images in post production and have decent knowledge on photography. If you are a regular users, who just wants a damn photos, nothing too technical, turn RAW off, and enjoy your JPEG images.

I am aware that photographers here will freak out, but I am using simple JPEG and do not give a damn about RAW at this point, as I do not have time for all that conversion hassle. For my needs JPEG does good job. Yell, laugh, cry, type angry comments, but I really couldn’t care less.

Playback

People love to preview their footage. Sometimes we wait until we get home, but sometimes we are so excited that we want to see it right away. Like most of action cameras with an LCD screen, GIT2 has a preview (playback) mode. In this mode, you can logically, preview your footage and delete ones you do not like.

One thing I would like to point out is that during video preview, you will not be able to hear a video sound.

System Settings

System settings is mode which allows you to change most basic camera settings that will apply for both video and photo mode.

Quick Capture

In situations where you have GIT 2 mounted on a helmet, you do not wish to take it off, just so what you can start recording, don’t you? Neither do I, or anybody else. That is why quick capture is one of my favorite features. By enabling it, camera will start recording a video without having to be turned on.

This means that when this option is turned on, camera starts recording right when you press shutter button, even when it’s turned on. Very handy shortcut.
I personally have this option enabled.

Beep

Camera has pretty loud beeping sound that can be heard when browsing through the menu. Luckily, it can be turned off.

On my camera, beeping has been turned off.

OSD

When in video or photography mode, camera will show lots of information on the screen such as (mode icon, resolution, remaining time, date, battery, etc). If you find this distracting, you can turn on screen display off.

Since I change resolutions quite frequently when testing a camera, I keep this OSD enabled.

Car Mode Auto Start

If you want to use Gitup GIT 2 camera as a car camera that when connected to a car charger starts recording when you turn the engine on, or stops when you turn the car off, enable this option.

Custom Text Stamp

Custom text stamp is basically a watermark for your video. If you want to show your name or anything else in the corner of your photos or videos, turn custom text stamp on, otherwise, keep it disabled.

LED Status

Git 2 has 4 indicators or lamps that will blink to indicate different things. If for any reason, you do not want these lights, you can turn one of them or all of them off. Turning indicators you do not use, can save your battery life slightly.

• All LED on
• All LED off
• Front LED off
• Side LED off
• Back LED on

Screen Auto Sleep

Besides LED indicators, battery life can be saved by turning sleep option on. This means that after certain time of inactivity, camera screen will go to sleep, but will wake up when you press any button. I keep mine at 1 minute, and battery life improves quite a lot when you have this option to 1 minute.

Unless you need to monitor what you are recording constantly, my recommendation is to enable it.

• 1/3/5min or off

Auto Power OFF

Sometimes people forget to turn their cameras off. If you are one of those oblivious guys like I am, it might be good idea to enable Auto Power OFF. By enabling this feature, camera will turn off only if you are not recording or pressing anything after specified time interval.

If you choose 3 minutes, camera will turn off completely after 3 minutes, unless you are not recording or pressing any buttons.

• 3/5/10/15/30/60 min or off

Date and Time

Select date and time here.

System language

Like most of Chinese cameras, this one has tons of language option. Camera supports 11 different languages, and selecting any of them will translate the entire camera interface.

TV Mode

• PAL
• NTSC

Unfortunately, at the time of writing changing from NTSC and PAL has no influence on frame rates.

RC Pairing

If you have a remote control wrist watch for your GIT2, you need to pair it with the camera. That’s what this feature does. For more details see “Remote control watch headline”.

RC operation mode

With 1.3 firmware upgrade camera allows two different options when using camera with a RC watch.

• standard
• quick shoot

With quick shoot enabled, GIT2 will start taking photo/video as soon as you enter photo/video mode. For instance in standard, you have to change mode, and then click one more time in order to capture movie/photo.

USB Mode

USB mode allows you to choose what GIT2 will do when it’s plugged into a PC.

• prompt (camera gives you a choice for mass storage / pc camera when you plug it into a PC)
• mass storage (goes to mass storage right away, when camera is plugged into a  PC)
• web camera (goes to web cam mode right away, when camera is plugged into a  PC)

This means, that if you use GIT2 as a web camera, chose web camera, if you plug it into a PC just to transfer file, choose “mass storage”. If you use both regularly, juts use “prompt”.

Format

Formatting memory card deletes all videos and photos. It is recommended that when you first use a card on a camera, to format it. Also formatting is highly recommended before a firmware upgrade. Memory card can be formatted in your PC as well.

Default Setting

Playing with settings is fun, but if at any point you realize you messed too much, just preform a default reset, and all options will be returned to factory set settings. Your files on memory card will not be deleted like with format.

Version

This option shows what software is your GIT 2 running on. It is good idea to check this before doing a firmware upgrade, since you might already have the latest firmware running.

Sound

GIT2 sound is quite decent. Camera has mono internal built-in microphone, but also supports external mics. I have this external mic.

It’s the one that is the best value for the money according to manufacturer, since its quite cheap. There are many others you can use, but I have not tested them.

Since I am not a sound guru, you can check the video below and hear how internal vs external microphone comparison.

Please understand that camera has 3 different volume levels (High, Medium, Low). Volume level has a huge influence on your audio. While I found high way to loud for normal talking, it worked OK for music in the distance for instance. External mic quality is obviously better than the internal one, so if you want slightly better audio, you can get external mic here.

Like the GIT1, internal mic gives a bit of hiss when set up on high, where as external one does not give any sort of hiss.

It would be dumb for me to talk about audio, when you can hear it in the video below. Just listen to it.

If you can invest cca 10-20$ more, my recommendation is to get external mic.

Remote control watch

Git 2 is compatible with the same remote control watch as its predecessor GIT1. Remote controller (GIT1RC101) allows you to control camera via a tiny plastic  and silicon made wrist watch with 4 basic commands.

Range of controller is around 7m. Even though on the the official site there is no information that the watch is waterproof, one of the Gitup technicians told me it is splash-proof and can go only up to 3m underwater. This remote controller is an additional accessory and can be bought separately.

It is quite handy when you have a camera attached to a helmet, chesty or handlebar. With watch, you can turn on WiFi, turn off the camera, switch between photo and video mode and start/stop recording a video or take a photograph. Camera needs to be paired with a watch, and the process is described in the manual.

RC watch uses CR2032 battery. The one inside is some non-brand, so it might be a good idea to get few spare ones. I bought (eBay link) CR2032 Varta, they are reliable and quite cheap. You can get 5-6 for 3$ or so.

Retail price of the RF Wrist Remote Control Watch is around 30$. You can buy RF Watch on |Amazon|, |GearBest| or Gitup|

Waterproof housing

GIT2 waterproof case allows camera to go up to 30m underwater. It is exactly the same and compatible with GIT1 housing. Buttons are a bit tiny and if you have huge fingers, you might be annoyed. On the bright side, unlike some other cameras, buttons on the case are soft and easy to press, which is important underwater. Camera has an interesting locking mechanism on the side, while most cameras have it at the back.

Case seems to be quite quality and well built.

The issue I had is more camera-related, but happens when the camera is in a housing. When a camera is in a waterproof case and creates photos in 16 megapixels (4:3), there is a visible black spot (from waterproof housing) in upper left corner of an image. When I tried another GIT2 in same housing, it did not have such issue. If you bought GIT 2 and your unit has a black spot when camera is in waterproof case, the only workaround is to set image resolution to 12 mp (16:9). (Thanks to Nigel for the idea on how to solve the problem)

One more complain is that the side mechanism is pain to open until you get used to it. After that it’s smooth. For biking vlogers who would like to use external microphone and waterproof case by drilling a hole in the plastic case, this will not be possible, since the locking mechanism goes directly onto a external mic port.

I have not tested camera underwater, since at the time of writing it is winter here, plus we do not have ocean or sea. But if you want to see how it performs underwater, there are lots of videos on YouTube, so take a look.

How to pair GIT2 with a watch?

1. Turn on your camera and go to system settings by pressing power button.
2. Inside system settings find RF Pairing and press shutter button to confirm.
3. Pairing process has started.
4. On a RC watch, hold video and photo buttons for 2-3 seconds)
5. When you see a “RF Pairing success” on your screen, you are good to go.

Battery life

Even though there has been some controversy regarding battery capacity of GIT2, official camera uses 950mah Li-ion GITLB101 3.5Wh , 3.7V replaceable battery.

There were some reports that battery life is not that good, but my results were satisfactory. As the matter a fact, camera performed better in the mode I use the most 1980×1920 @ 60 fps compared to two cameras I quite like : Dazzne P3 or Firefly 6S.

Here is how much recording time you can get in different resolutions with gyro stabilization turned off, and screen saver on.

• 2880×2160 @ 24fps – 104 minutes
• 2560×1440 @ 30fps – 117 minutes
• 2034×1296 @ 30fps – 103.5 minutes
• 1920×1080 @ 60fps – 104 minutes
• 1920×1080 @ 30fps – 127 minutes
• 1280×720   @ 60 fps – 135 minutes

Camera is compatible with SJCAM 900mah batteries as well. It can record while being attached to a power bank, and in that case, you can remove the battery and record without it. I personally tested it with this power bank, but I am quite sure plenty others will be fine.

Charging the camera

Plug in the camera into your PC by using the USB cable that came in a box. Once connected, you will see on the screen Mass Storage or PC Camera. Choose Mass Storage and camera will start charging.

As for charging via other chargers, such as wall charger, car charger and power bank, you just need to plug the camera, and charging will automatically start.  The top recording LED will flash while the camera is charging, once its 100% completed it will turn off and the front green LED will indicate that charging process is finished.

User interface and navigation

Overall user experience with Gitup GIT2 action camera in great. Camera is easy to operate and navigate. It is well-built and feature-rich. Even though its operation is completely different compared to some other action cameras and takes a day or two to get used to, I found it quite good.

The only thing that is a bit slower is changing options and settings. I did one test for instance, and it takes me more time to change something in GIT2 than in SJ5000X Elite for instance.

PC Camera

Ever since the 1.3 update, GIT2 can be used as a web-camera. I tested it on Windows 10 and works great. Previously I used Eken H9 and SJ4000 as web-cameras, but I prefer the quality of GIT2. I used it only for video, as I already have external microphone, so not sure about sound quality. But Skype recognized that device has external mic.

WiFi and App

GIT2 is a wireless camera, which means you can control it via your smartphone. However, at the time of writing this review, Gitup hasn’t released an official app yet. Instead, inside the box, there is a little card where they apologize for a delay in app development and tell us to use alternative app in the meanwhile.

Reviewing third party apps would be useless, so I will update this part of the review when manufacturer launches the app. I would however like to point out that it has been months since they promised that app will be ready, ever since GIT 1 was launched. So nobody knows with certainty when Gitup GIT 2 WiFi app will be finished. You can use Final Cam app in the meanwhile. (Android and iOS)

Do not be surprised if alternative apps do not work as expected, after all they are not made for 1 specific model, hence some options might be unavailable.

Frequently asked questions (Gitup GIT 2  FAQ)

1. Can Git 2 camera record in 4K? – No, it’s maximum resolution is 2880×2160 @24fps (UHD 4K is 3840 pixels × 2160)
2. Can you record and charge GIT2 at the same time? – Yes you can.
3. GIT2 battery life? – Check battery section of this article.
4. Can you use GIT2 in a car? – Yes.
5. Which external microphone do you recommend? – I do not recommend any in particular, I only tested this one.
6. Which camera is better GIT2 or SJ5000X Elite? – Still testing 5000x Elite, so please do not ask me these kind of questions.
7. Which camera is better GIT1 or GIT2? – Erm, obviously GIT2, except in low-light. I will soon do some side by side.
8. Git 2 vs Xiaomi YI? – It depends. GIT2 offers external mic, has LCD screen and comes with lots of accessories. Costs around 150$. Xiaomi YI is 70$ and comes bare-boned. In the end if you do not need accessories, just a camera for travels, etc Xiaomi YI is better choice. For those who need true action camera with an LCD screen and all accessories as well as external microphone, GIT2 is better choice.
9. I have a problem with my GIT2? – You can contact their support here.
10. Is there a non-fish-eye lens for GIT2? – They are working on 94° lens. (source)
11. Where can I find latest firmware for GIT2? – Here.

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Summary

It’s summary time. To sum up, Git 2 by Gitup is one of those action cameras I had a blast reviewing. I really enjoyed playing with it and testing it’s options.

Camera is well-built, has an LCD,WiFi, supports external microphone and remote controller. It is compatible with all GoPro and similar accessories. Colors and video quality are quite good, though I personally am not a huge fan of lens they are using. It is sometimes causing a weird smudging, distorted effect, which I hate. Sharpness of the video is not perfect either. My recommendation is that if you want to see license plates in the distance, make sure to use highest possible resolution. Audio quality is good. It gets even better with external microphone.

Customer support is great. They replied to all my queries promptly. What I like about guys at Gitup is that they listen to their customers. They are always willing to listen to all suggestions and implement them. They regularly do software updates, so I really can’t complain about it. Obviously, they are still a small company, but let’s hope that as they grow, their relationship with consumers will not change.

The best thing about GIT2 are it’s features. There are so many things you can use it for – and the best part they keep adding new things with each update.

Overall, for around 160$ GIT2 provides excellent value for the money. I feel comfortable recommending it to advanced action camera users as well as newbies.

Your questions

Thank you for taking your time to read the article. You reached till the end. I hope it was informative and helpful. As always, if you have this camera, do not hesitate to leave your own opinion on it by leaving a comment below.

As always, if you have any troubles or questions, post a comment, I gladly reply to each and every one.

Where to buy GIT2 camera?

Here are some stores and websites where you can get GIT2.

• Buy it on GearBest (cheapest price, delivery takes longer)
• Buy it on Amazon (for fastest delivery)
• But it on eBay (for auctions if you are a deal seeker)
• But it on BangGood
• Buy it from Gitup

Pros

Cons