Firefly 5S action camera is a tiny machine that fits in one hand, produced to be perfectly used for aerial filming and FPV flights. The Firefly 5S sports DV camcorder, competent of connecting to Wi-fi. At first glance, the camera looks undeniably like a GoPro. To give you a very quick idea and impression, before we move on to more detailed review, the Firefly 5S carries a Sony CMOS 12 MP sensor.

To find out what the differences between this Firefly 5S cameras and other action cameras are, keep reading on.

First of all, here is the summary of the bonuses I give to this Firefly 5S

• Handy (tiny), Light, 12MP HD camera
• Compatible with most GoPro 3 Camera accessories, making it super convenient.
• Boxed with AV Cable for FPV convenience, and helps power the camera.
• Auto off: immediately after your usb or aircraft is powered off ! [this deserves 5 stars!]
• MicroSD card slot relocated to the bottom
• Sony 12MP CMOS image sensor
• Video recording up to 1080p/30fps resolution

Next, here are Firefly 5S full specs:

• Measurement: 59 x 41 x 12mm – Weight: 70g
• Battery: 1600 mAh
• Working Time: 2.5h
• Charging Time: 2-3h
• Video/ Photo Format: *.MOV / *.JPG
• Wifi: built in, great for setting FOV angle and live monitoring
• To enable Wi-fi: download Firefly app using the bar code in the manual

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Firefly 5S build and usages

The camera has almost the exact same size with GoPro 3 camera, and has a solid body that looks decent and brings a sense of high-quality. There is a tiny OLED screen on one side of the machine, to help display necessary information like operation modes and menus. To minimize the use of space on the smartphone body, there are only 4 physical buttons: up, down, OK and power (ON/OFF)

Featured to be used in aerial photography, the Firefly 5S camera is packed with a time lapse mode. With that, the machine can automatically capture images every 3, 10 or 30 seconds, depending on your setting. You can also perform many levels of sharpness, IOS adjustment, color scheme (standard or vivid) and WDR mode (Wide Dynamic Range)

Thanks to the built-in Wi-fi, this camera can be remotely controlled via a standard Android and iOS mobile device. You can download the “Firefly app” and remotely start/stop the recording using your phone or tablet.

Firefly 5S camera: some draw backs

Different light conditions can be a challenge for this camera. Although the machine record and capture very good quality shots under good lights (most ideally outdoor), it reduces when the light fades or when you perform indoor shooting. One more thing is that, since the camera does not have a display screen, its hard for you to measure your shot when you capture normal shots.

Useful tips and notice

– When we first get the camera, we tried to test with a standard 8GB micro SD card but I had a warning that reads “too slow” on performance. After some research, I switched into a bigger 32GB card and it immediately connected and started to capture.

– Firefly 5S camera has an auto start feature. When the memory cards is near to full, the machine will automatically delete the oldest files to give space for newer files to be recorded. This could be very useful when used in drone or as a fly cam, when you have limited access with the camera. However, please keep in mind that, if we don’t have enough back-up, this could lead to losing your unsaved files.

So, what do you think about this tiny camera?