Vexilar FP100 Camera - Review and Footage

[MrSimon]

I recently bought a Vexilar FP100 Fishphone underwater camera ... mostly just to fiddle around with and use as a toy.

 

I tested it out on the St. Lawrence last weekend.

 

It was easy to use and connected to my iPhone easily. You just drop the camera down and fire up the free app on your phone. You can see everything right there on your phone and snap still pictures or capture video footage by just touching a button on your phone. It stores the content on your phone.

 

The picture resolution seems to be 240p, which is a lot lower than we are all used to seeing in this HD world we live in .... but it's certainly more than adequate to see what's down there.

 

I was in a fairly fast current so I'd imagine the quality would be sharper if I were in still water and the camera wasn't moving so fast.

 

It's not very easy to direct the camera just by spinning the cord ... I will most definitely be mounting it to a long pole. That will allow me to actually follow fish as they are brought in or released.

 

Overall I'm pretty happy with the camera ... and it cost a LOT less than other options like Aqua Vu and MarCum.

 

Edited May 8, 2015 by MrSimon

[Raycaster]

Awesome video, would it be possible to mount the gopro with the vexilar to compare?

With the real time feedback on the phone I assume there is a transmitter on the boat relaying the video from underwater?

 

Thanks for the review.

[MrSimon]

Awesome video, would it be possible to mount the gopro with the vexilar to compare?

With the real time feedback on the phone I assume there is a transmitter on the boat relaying the video from underwater?

 

Thanks for the review.

 

The video quality of the GoPro will blow the Vexilar out of the water. 1080p HD (or more) on the GoPro vs. 240p SD on the Vexilar.

 

Where the Vexilar shines is it's ability to link with your smartphone for real-time viewing and recording - and it's simple and easy. Getting real-time viewing with the GoPro is possible, but it's a pain in the butt and is laggy.

 

If I could only buy one camera, it would be the GoPro without a doubt. It can easily be mounted to a pole and used for underwater filming with great results - just without real-time viewing. The Vexilar is a great secondary camera with some neat tricks. It's especially useful for ice fishing and other static underwater viewing situations.

 

The wifi transmitter is built into a little box that doubles as the cord holder for the Vexilar. You just push a little button and it creates a wifi hotspot that your phone connects to. It works great.

[Raycaster]

So you could use the vexilar almost as a real time viewer for the go-pro if it was mounted right beside the vexilar camera?

I thought the video would be a lot darker without lights, were you deep? Very Sunny day?

BTW, did you use normal coaxial cable in your go-pro underwater hack or special coaxial cable?

Sorry for the onslaught of questions but REALLY interested.

 

Thx for the info

Edited May 8, 2015 by Raycaster

[Jon]

A couple of fixes for the lack of GoPro signal to smartphone when underwater:

 

http://www.cam-do.com/GoProUnderwaterSolutions.html

 

https://youtu.be/49K2hjV9OOY

 

I have played around a little bit with fix #2 and haven't had any success. Will continue to try and make this work.

 

Jon

[MrSimon]

So you could use the vexilar almost as a real time viewer for the go-pro if it was mounted right beside the vexilar camera?

I thought the video would be a lot darker without lights, were you deep? Very Sunny day?

BTW, did you use normal coaxial cable in your go-pro underwater hack or special coaxial cable?

Sorry for the onslaught of questions but REALLY interested.

 

Thx for the info

 

It was a bright sunny day on the St. Lawrence, which has absolutely crystal clear water. The camera was about 20' down.

 

I suppose you could use the two cameras in tandem .... I might even try that. The GoPro is smaller than the Vexilar camera and might fit right on top of it. Interesting.

 

I used regular ol coax that I found in the basement. I followed the YT video that Jon posted. After fiddling with the wire and connection locations, I was able to get it to work with acceptable results.