The SJ20 Dual-Lens Action Camera is the world’s first action cam to feature two lenses

SJCAM’s new $229 SJ20 Dual-Lens Action Camera tries a new dual-lens tactic to separate itself from its competition in an increasingly crowded field.

‘Conquer the Day, Rule the Night’ is the byline that SJCAM has chosen to launch its new dual-lens SJ20, reckoning that it can capture ‘crisp’ 4K footage regardless of lighting conditions.

Certainly, dual lenses in an action camera represents a USP at the moment. The SJ20 can capture videos in 4K30, 2K60/30, and 1080p 120/60/30, as well as photos at up to 20 megapixels. Videos are recorded in MP4 and can be encoded as either H.264 or H.265 files.

Details regarding the way the system works are frustratingly sketchy. All we can say is that the lenses supply a 135-degree field of view and that the ‘day lens’ has an aperture of f/2.0, which is balanced with the f/1.3 ‘night’ lens. It looks unlikely that you can use both at the same time.

It also has dual screens, naturally, one on the front and one on the rear, providing access to the touchscreen menu. Weight is 370g, and it comes in at a neat 70.5 x 55 x 30 mm. 

Battery life is between 60-180 minutes at 4K30, depending on whether you stick with the 800mAh built-in battery or step up to the 1050mAh external unit. Add in the rechargeable camera grip, which provides another 4800mAh, and you can get up to a claimed 8 hours in total. 

The unit also features six-axis gyro stabilization, an 8x digital zoom, and the usual plethora of video modes and assists, including motion detection, normal mode, timelapse, slow video, car mode, and pre-recording.

SJCAM makes bold claims for the quality of its night vision up against the GoPro HERO12, which has to be said, is no slouch in that department. It will be interesting to see if that is borne out in real-world usage. It will also be interesting to see if anyone else decides to head down the dual-lens path. DJI, of course, already has with some of its latest drone models. So, if this does well for SJCAM, expect imitations to follow fairly quickly.