Camera Help

[dfeste]

Today I fished with my buddy that has a Marcum 380. This was my first experience with an underwater camera and I was impressed. I was told that normally this camera will not work well on the lake we were fishing. The water in this lake is stained and visibility is not great. What I'm looking for is some general advice/info on cameras. Will the higher end models be able to see in lower light conditions? I assume the camera worked today because there is little snow cover left on the lake. Would I be able to see in the middle of January with a better camera or are they all limited by the amount of light getting through?

Thanks Dave

[robert aldrich]

some cameras have infer red lights and lights on them that can see under the ice.

[eurolarva]

The better cameras will give you more options and will probably have a better daylight display. I have an aquaview scout and it is pretty much useless in the summer because the monitor is hard to read. Ice fishing in a portable it is awesome. Lakes like Lake of the Woods are heavly stained and no matter what kind of lights they will not be able to see probably much more then a foot.

[Ed Carlson]

All cameras will be limited in depth of view in stained waters. Just as our eyes would be.

Lighting will punch a hole in the stain and adjusting the contrast can also help pull out more detail, yet it's likely not going to help significantly.

Increased lighting helps in dark waters with low light, but not so much in cloudy waters due to stained water.

UV lighting is often helpful in clear to lightly stained waters. Unfortunately UV lighting has the added complication of enhancing suspended particulates so the clutter becomes worse at higher UV saturation levels.

It's a balancing act with the correct amount of UV and white light to get the best field of vision and depth of vision one can achieve in the conditions you face.

You will run into situations where a UW Camera will simply not function, it's the nature of the beast unfortunately.