Aqua Vu Micro

[walleye44]

The way I see it is if you have a flasher going you really don't need the camera down there all the time to see if any fish are around. If something is showing up on the flasher, but not biting dropping the Micro down to take a look is very quick and easy. That's why I angled the camera to face down at a 45 degree angle so that I could see what was down there and limit spooking the fish by needing to put it right near the bottom. With the micro you can just drop it down one of your holes very quickly to take a "peek" and then get it back up easily. Anyone who has tried to drop the large type of camera down knows that it is neither quick nor easy. Great little tool.

Good point.. But I have noticed the camera seems to attract the fish more then scare them.

[B-man715]

To any guys out there looking at buying one...........

I highly recommend that you test it in the store before walking out the door.

As many of you know, they sent out more cameras than they admit with bad diodes. They work fine when warm, but within seconds of being in cold water the picture quality goes to [PoorWordUsage], then to a blue screen.

Test it out in the cold minnow water at the store before walking out the door.

I'm on my third camera (which works perfect). The first two were [PoorWordUsage]. I know for a fact that there are other guys who had more than one bad camera......

The good thing is that Aqua Vu will take good care of you if you have any problems.

I found out from them that they don't even test the units before sending them out...........

The cameras literally come off a boat from China and go on a store shelf....

Other than testing one or two cameras out of a "batch" (A DIRECT QUOTE FROM AN AQUA VU REP), there is NO QUALITY CONTROL!

I don't know about you, but I would be willing to pay an extra dollar or two to have the peace of mind knowing it works BEFORE I'm on the lake........GGRRRRR!

I will also add that the plactic spool that holds the cable on needs to be changed. Mine lasted a whole 2 days before I leaned on it in my pocket and snapped it in half.....

To fix it, I used an old fishing line spool made of black plastic that is much tougher.

[simple1]

I'm sure there is quality control. Its just supposed to be before the units are boxed and shipped to the USA. Quality control does not necessarily mean each is tested. Even with good quality control, its not going to be perfect. It sounds like they know they had a small problem and decided it would be easier to deal with returns than fix the issue. I would call and try to get something for your troubles......Case, extra cable, whatever.

Good Luck

Simple1

[uptracker]

The way I see it is if you have a flasher going you really don't need the camera down there all the time to see if any fish are around.

I'd rather have one just to see the structure, bottom type, vegetation, etc. I'm not worried about seeing fish per se.

[MNCPRGUY]

I picked one up at GM yesterday. The sales person told me they had problems with blue screens on several of the units they received. He said they had tested them all in house and that the unit I was purchasing worked fine. Within minutes of getting home and firing it up, the screen flickered, then went blue, the back to picture, etc. There is an obvious short in the camera cable near the connection where it plugs in. The unit is on its way back to GM this morning.

It's an awesome little unit and while it lacks some of the features found in bigger units, it makes up for them in portabilitiy. I'll definately replace my faulty unit, but as stated above, try before you buy! It would be a shmae for some lucky fisherman to head out Christmas day with a new toy from Santa only to find out the elves where hittin the sauce while on the production line!

[superseal]

I played with this little camera at Cabelas yesterday....I did not use it underwater! It has some very positive qualities...like mobility, ease of use and it does have a great picture.

I did have an issue with the size of the screen/picture. I held the camera about a foot from my open hand which is about 8 inches long. My hand for the most part filled the small screen. Then I moved the camera about 3 feet from my hand. I was surprised with how small my hand was on the screen...somewhat difficult to see my hand! Now mix in some weeds and less than perfect, gin clear water....your jig and the fish could be very hard to see.

I currently have a Marcum vs820 black/white setup with an 8 inch screen... that's what I'm comparing it to. My 2 cents....this is a great camera for a quick look at what's down below...but I don't think I would like trying to fish with it.

[walleye44]

I played with this little camera at Cabelas yesterday....I did not use it underwater! It has some very positive qualities...like mobility, ease of use and it does have a great picture.

I did have an issue with the size of the screen/picture. I held the camera about a foot from my open hand which is about 8 inches long. My hand for the most part filled the small screen. Then I moved the camera about 3 feet from my hand. I was surprised with how small my hand was on the screen...somewhat difficult to see my hand! Now mix in some weeds and less than perfect, gin clear water....your jig and the fish could be very hard to see.

I currently have a Marcum vs820 black/white setup with an 8 inch screen... that's what I'm comparing it to. My 2 cents....this is a great camera for a quick look at what's down below...but I don't think I would like trying to fish with it.

Fished with it and it works great. When you get one on put the camera on your lap and reel up the fish. I picked up the pro snake to hold the micro and the motor pod 3 to hold the camera where I want it hands free too, when I am on the fish.

[ChrisMunchow]

Guys,

Seems to be some miss-information floating around on the Micro and the diode problem. The manufacturer test one of every 10 cameras for the cold/diode problem and than every monitor/ battery / charger are tested for 24 hours. Also a sample test is done on many units that arrive prior to shipping out to the distributors and retailers for one final inspection. Everyone that I've heard of with the diode issue purchased them early and from the retailers who received the shipments with the incorrect diode. One other thing to note is if the camera is unplugged from the monitor while in use, you may get a blue screen. Simply make sure the camera is powered off then restarted with the camera already plugged in, this is not the diode problem.

If you believe you have a diode issue, contact Aqua-Vu support at 866-755-6303 and they will fix you up ASAP. Please do not return it to the store.

Thank you

Chris Munchow

[newoodhntr]

I used mine for the first time today in 25 f.o.w. in a stained lake and it worked just great. I didn't see any fish but could see the rock bottom real well.It is alot nicer to carry the micro instead of my big aqua vu.

[sjlund]

I'm pretty excited to try mine out for the first time, hopefully tomorrow!

[buzbunni]

Within minutes of getting home and firing it up, the screen flickered, then went blue, the back to picture, etc. There is an obvious short in the camera cable near the connection where it plugs in.

Not a short most likely.

This is the exact symtom of the diode problem to which others have referred.

I went thru 2 units that behaved the same way (diode issue) before getting a good unit.

Aqua-View should have all the bad units returned by now (there were about 40 bad units according to them), but there may still be a couple out there.

[seaner]

used the new micro yesterday. I have to say this changes the way i feel about underwater cameras. This unit performed awesome. The the portability of this thing is great.

We were able to set up the screen in the bag,velcroed the bag to the pole in the porty, put the camera down the hole, and watch the fish respond to our jigs.

I truly believe we caught more fish because we could see clear as day what the fish were doing beneath us.

this thing was a blast

[FishinFools]

Just got back from our first outing with the Micro. I have to say it was a very big disappointment. Flashed image/blue screen constantly. Turning the unit on/off with camera plugged in did not help. I think I may have a bad camera? The IR is on ALL THE TIME, even at home in a brightly lit room. This is not right? Right? All we could see on the camera was the small debris in the water right in front of the camera because of the IR lights.

I have never used a camera before. Maybe my expectations were set too high.

[sjlund]

Bad news. Looks like I picked up one of the units with a bad diode. Image quality wasn't awesome out of the box, and the moment I dropped the camera down the hole the image went to static and then a blue screen. I guess I'll be talking to Aqua Vu tomorrow. Hopefully they make this right quickly, I want to use this over my Christmas vacation. Like FishinFools, my IR lights are on all of the time. Hopefully the replacement is better.

[FishinFools]

I'm gong straight back to GM where I bought it. If they are gonna sell carp, they are gonna smell it. ( nothing against carp) Aqua Vu needs to get this figured out. Too many reports of faulty product.

[Ice_Ice_Baby]

Been using mine since the ice show no problems at all. You want the lights to be on to help the image remain in color. I can understand the people who have that cold diode thing as having an issue but not the IR lights. Maybe you are using it at night or something. Also rememeber you change the light intensity.

Tony

[FishinFools]

Not sure how to change the light intensity? We can control the image (brightness, contrast, saturation I think) but do you mean the brighness of the IR lights? Not sure how to change that?

IR light source is monochromatic, as far as the camera is concerned. So it has nothing to with color of the image you are seeing. I want it at night, because there is no other light source. But during the day, all the IR seems to do is brightly illuminate the junk in the water immediately in front of the camera.

[Ice_Ice_Baby]

Second button on the right side adjusts the IR light intensity. Not a camera made that works good at night.

[FishinFools]

I believe that is the screen back light intensity button.

[FishinFools]

walleye44: you seem to be having success with the Micro. Can I ask you a few questions? I just got off the phone with Aqua Vu and the info I got was kind of contradictory to the limited instructions that came with the unit.

1) IR is supposed to turn on and off automatically, per the instructions. Aqua Vu said no. The IR is ALWAYS on. When I tried my camera yesterday, it was always on, and did a great job of illuminating every tiny particle in the water 1/4" in front of the camera. Could not see much else!

2) Aqua Vu said the middle button on the right (#11) controls the IR intensity. Instructions say they control the back light (of the display, assuming). I told them that on mine, it does indeed control the back light on the display. So, there is no control of the IR intensity.

I think it would be critical to have the IR ONLY in low light situations. Yesterday, the sun was out, we had 1/4" of snow on 4-5" of ice. Won't be much brighter than that! The IR was not needed, and it made the image look like driving in a snow storm. (lake water was pretty clear)

Aqua Vu is sending me a new camera, due to the blue screen flashing issue. I hope that it also give me a better picture.

What is your experience with the above?

Thanks!

[sjlund]

I am in the same boat as you FishinFools. I just got off the phone with AquaVu and will be getting a new camera in the mail, hopefully tomorrow, to take care of my blue screen issue. I'm also hoping my image quality is better because it was not really that great when I was playing with it at home.

[walleye44]

walleye44: you seem to be having success with the Micro. Can I ask you a few questions? I just got off the phone with Aqua Vu and the info I got was kind of contradictory to the limited instructions that came with the unit.

1) IR is supposed to turn on and off automatically, per the instructions. Aqua Vu said no. The IR is ALWAYS on. When I tried my camera yesterday, it was always on, and did a great job of illuminating every tiny particle in the water 1/4" in front of the camera. Could not see much else!

2) Aqua Vu said the middle button on the right (#11) controls the IR intensity. Instructions say they control the back light (of the display, assuming). I told them that on mine, it does indeed control the back light on the display. So, there is no control of the IR intensity.

I think it would be critical to have the IR ONLY in low light situations. Yesterday, the sun was out, we had 1/4" of snow on 4-5" of ice. Won't be much brighter than that! The IR was not needed, and it made the image look like driving in a snow storm. (lake water was pretty clear)

Aqua Vu is sending me a new camera, due to the blue screen flashing issue. I hope that it also give me a better picture.

What is your experience with the above?

Thanks!

Button 11 is for the brightness of the screen which is the back lighting.

The IR lighting is automatic and does not have a manual adjustment.

I think this camera looks really good. Hard to get a good picture with a cell phone from it, but working on it. My buddy got some better video that I will post up on Facebook on Aqua Vu's page, if I can get the file size down.

[FishinFools]

Thanks. Is the IR on your camera always on? Even in a bright room? Or even while aiming the camera at a bright light?

[sjlund]

I received my new camera today (had a camera from the "bad diode" batch and just received the replacement) and decided to do some IR light testing. It turns out that my phone's camera is sensitive to very bright IR light, allowing me to see when the IR lights are on or off. Here are some demonstration pictures using a flashlight:

IR Lights On, no flashlight

IR Lights Off, flashlight

The middle component on the front of the camera that I thought was an IR light is actually the ambient light sensor - as the light shining on this sensor gets brighter, the IR lights begin to fade.

I have not yet used the new camera under water, but I am a little concerned. I was able to easily take the above pictures in my well lit office with my phone camera - surely a unit designed specifically AS a camera can handle bright indoor lighting without switching on the IR lights. Hopefully daylight proves my doubts wrong!

[FishinFools]

Please post your opinion after you see it in the water. I, for one, am taking mine back for a full refund. The IR ruins the picture with the "driving in a snow storm" affect. It's always on. Day or night. Horrible picture.