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All About Video and Photo Gear This section is for your video and photography gear questions, comments, and experiences

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Old 03-21-2015, 01:06 PM   #1
Danda74
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Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

Found this gem while browsing some Italian spearfishing forums. Haven't seen anything on American forums/groups talking about this camera. Made by spearos specifically for spearos. Lots of R&D to really suit the needs of spearfishing. Inhouse construction (made in italy), no need for housing, genius mounting systems (check their quick release videos), lens optimized for underwater recording, impossible for fogging, 2 year warranty, etc.. They also make mounts for other major camera types. What do you guys think (English on the site is a bit choppy)? The video quality is pretty amazing as well
http://www.pikotech.it/Eng/intrepidadna_eng.html

Promo vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC5X4BdKXQ4

Quick release system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC5X4BdKXQ4

Video that shows no distortion at high viewing angles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-OpjfUG7Jo

From Pikotech themselves:
Hello.
Our production is very limited and our numbers are not comparable to those of GoPro which is the clear leader.
Meanwhile our housing is one-piece with the camera and is made of aluminum, with a resistance up to 100 meters against GoPro's 40m.
Everything is machine tooled and anodized.
We have an external microphone, the protruding part that you see in the rear area, which allows to have a high sensitivity in the water while still having the robustness of an aluminum dive housing.
The optics have no lateral distortion and a straight line is a straight line, also the focal length is specifically made for having a clear picture while fishing. Meanwhile, GoPro's must use medium or narrow vision, which are actually digital zoom (NOT optical) and therefore the quality is certainly not that of 1080p.
Also the battery: 4 hours of continuous shooting in 1080p with one battery, which GoPro doesn't even come close to.
The 2k or 4k cams are at the moment, for the Italian market, inaccessible or unmanageable. You need a power PC or UltraHD television to even take advantage of that quality.
We go into the water to fish, and what we need is reliability, compactness and battery life.
In short, if I have to fight a tuna, I prefer to go with something compact and robust, rather than the lightweight plastic GoPro housing.
The American market from the point of view of technology is definitely ahead of ours, even at the level of PCs and television performance.
Also, the camera is made entirely in Italy and not with a Chinese manufacturer, such as the GoPro.
Another important feature is that the front lens is made of anti-glare and anti-scratch optical glass.
If we look at just the fact of fps or super resolutions vs GoPro then there is no competition, but what is the point of having those when after 30 minutes the camera either shuts down or I have to change the battery?
Half an hour of filming and then what?
What if, within those thirty minutes, I shoot and land a big fish? Do I go back to the boat mid-fight change the camera battery?
Here are some considerations to think about.
Hello and thanks

Last edited by Danda74; 04-03-2015 at 03:56 PM.
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Old 03-27-2015, 09:32 AM   #2
Danda74
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

No replies? Thinking of pulling the trigger on one but I know next to nothing about cameras. Would love to hear the opinion of someone who has a bit more knowledge than me on this stuff. Thanks
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Old 03-28-2015, 11:04 AM   #3
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

How much is it? 1080p at 30fps is nothing. The latest go pros and sony cameras fps rate is 4x greater. Unless it can be had for under $100 I wouldn't waste my money
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Old 03-28-2015, 11:37 AM   #4
Danda74
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

Hmm shit that is a very good point. Camera is selling for 320 euros - that's about $350 US. In that price range you're talking GoPro Hero4 - top of the line. This camera also takes photos up to 3.5 MP - I know GoPro takes em at like 12.5 MP? Looking at it the camera is very inferior in terms of video quality.

Wonder if the higher is cost of the waterproof body (no need for housing) or other video quality features - lenses, anti-fog, etc. Again, I don't know if this is something that is now standard in all cameras and Pikotech is simply making a bigger deal about it, or if Pikotech truly has a unique product.

Edit : here's a video shot completely with the Pikotech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHtt...ature=youtu.be

Last edited by Danda74; 03-28-2015 at 11:50 AM.
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Old 04-03-2015, 03:56 PM   #5
Danda74
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

Sorry to keep posting in this thread, got in contact with the guys at Pikotech, here's what they had to say about the cam + video quality + pricing:

Hello.
Our production is very limited and our numbers are not comparable to those of GoPro which is the clear leader.
Meanwhile our housing is one-piece with the camera and is made of aluminum, with a resistance up to 100 meters against GoPro's 40m.
Everything is machine tooled and anodized.
We have an external microphone, the protruding part that you see in the rear area, which allows to have a high sensitivity in the water while still having the robustness of an aluminum dive housing.
The optics have no lateral distortion and a straight line is a straight line, also the focal length is specifically made for having a clear picture while fishing. Meanwhile, GoPro's must use medium or narrow vision, which are actually digital zoom (NOT optical) and therefore the quality is certainly not that of 1080p.
Also the battery: 4 hours of continuous shooting in 1080p with one battery, which GoPro doesn't even come close to.
The 2k or 4k cams are at the moment, for the Italian market, inaccessible or unmanageable. You need a power PC or UltraHD television to even take advantage of that quality.
We go into the water to fish, and what we need is reliability, compactness and battery life.
In short, if I have to fight a tuna, I prefer to go with something compact and robust, rather than the lightweight plastic GoPro housing.
The American market from the point of view of technology is definitely ahead of ours, even at the level of PCs and television performance.
Also, the camera is made entirely in Italy and not with a Chinese manufacturer, such as the GoPro.
Another important feature is that the front lens is made of anti-glare and anti-scratch optical glass.
If we look at just the fact of fps or super resolutions vs GoPro then there is no competition, but what is the point of having those when after 30 minutes the camera either shuts down or I have to change the battery?
Half an hour of filming and then what?
What if, within those thirty minutes, I shoot and land a big fish? Do I go back to the boat mid-fight change the camera battery?
Here are some considerations to think about.
Hello and thanks
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Old 04-03-2015, 05:00 PM   #6
ZBatman
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

I really like the profile of the Intrepida and looks like it would track better than a GoPro underwater, wherever it's mounted. Looks like they have a pretty comprehensive set of mounting systems for just about every gun. I'm guessing that the increased price vs GoPro video quality is just due to production scale, but their promotional videos look pretty nice regardless, whatever that's worth. I'd be interested in hearing from some spearos who have actually used it...
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Old 04-04-2015, 09:35 AM   #7
Danda74
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

Emailed them yesterday about their "team" and what athletes use it. Was pretty impressed by the response, seems most of the top spearos in Italy are switching over to using the Intrepidas (these guys are all pretty famous over there, if you YouTube them you'll find they have over 100,000 - 1million views on their channels, especially ciconat). Anyways, will likely be ordering one next week:

"Hello.
To date the only athlete sponsored by us is Raffaele Seiello, while all the other videos posted on our page are by our customers.
Among these users are ciconat (Cico Natale on facebook), mattodoc (Pierfrancesco Salvatori on fb), Fabio Dessi, Lello Gadau, Leonardo Guida, all spearos who are in the waterevery day and who have chosen our own cam for the extreme performances they are subject to.
The camera also has been tested and will be used in his documentary on Sky TV by Fabrizio D'Agnano, a professional underwater filmer and owner of Totem Sub.
Whoever wants to can contact them directly on their YouTube channels without problems.
Our policy has been not to sponsor many team members because we want it to be up to our paying customers to sincerely comment on their experiences with our cam.
Always available.

Filippo and Alessandro"
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Old 04-04-2015, 01:04 PM   #8
grouperdude
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Re: Pikotech Intrepida HD 1080p - for spearos by spearos?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danda74 View Post
Sorry to keep posting in this thread, got in contact with the guys at Pikotech, here's what they had to say about the cam + video quality + pricing:

Hello.
Our production is very limited and our numbers are not comparable to those of GoPro which is the clear leader.
Meanwhile our housing is one-piece with the camera and is made of aluminum, with a resistance up to 100 meters against GoPro's 40m.
Everything is machine tooled and anodized.
We have an external microphone, the protruding part that you see in the rear area, which allows to have a high sensitivity in the water while still having the robustness of an aluminum dive housing.
The optics have no lateral distortion and a straight line is a straight line, also the focal length is specifically made for having a clear picture while fishing. Meanwhile, GoPro's must use medium or narrow vision, which are actually digital zoom (NOT optical) and therefore the quality is certainly not that of 1080p.
Also the battery: 4 hours of continuous shooting in 1080p with one battery, which GoPro doesn't even come close to.
The 2k or 4k cams are at the moment, for the Italian market, inaccessible or unmanageable. You need a power PC or UltraHD television to even take advantage of that quality.
We go into the water to fish, and what we need is reliability, compactness and battery life.
In short, if I have to fight a tuna, I prefer to go with something compact and robust, rather than the lightweight plastic GoPro housing.
The American market from the point of view of technology is definitely ahead of ours, even at the level of PCs and television performance.
Also, the camera is made entirely in Italy and not with a Chinese manufacturer, such as the GoPro.
Another important feature is that the front lens is made of anti-glare and anti-scratch optical glass.
If we look at just the fact of fps or super resolutions vs GoPro then there is no competition, but what is the point of having those when after 30 minutes the camera either shuts down or I have to change the battery?
Half an hour of filming and then what?
What if, within those thirty minutes, I shoot and land a big fish? Do I go back to the boat mid-fight change the camera battery?
Here are some considerations to think about.
Hello and thanks
Ill bite,
I free dive so 40m is plenty of depth for me also at 100m there is so little light, I doubt that you'll be able to see that much with either camera.

Aluminum is heavy compared to plastic. you'll feel it on your head after a while.

external microphone: Useless, I don't need to hear the bubbles any more clearly, I always mute the video and put music over it anyways.

4 hours of continuous shooting @ 1080p means you'll need at $100 memory card. We film in bursts 6 or 7 min MAX. One button mode on the go pro greatly improves battery life. I doubt you'll be wishing you had the entire 30 minute fight on camera unedited, it would get boring to watch.

There lens is superior I'll give them that, however if your mindful of your camera the lens won't scratch that badly.

Accessories : GoPro I have a pole so when I go on a trip I can film both above and below the water, and take some pretty freaking clear pictures also. Heres one I took, the picture is incredibly clear on a HD screen and uncompressed. My camera automatically formats time laps into videos.

Yes going to narrow or medium format is "digital zoom" but i can jump up to 2.7k or 4k to make up for the analog to digital conversion gaps and still have enough of a frame rate to have slow motion better than that camera..


The sony action camera is go pros biggest competition in this market.
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