Vexilar Fishphone

[Wolffy]

Thank you for the video.

[FishinFools]

Any word on the iOS app? Was supposed to be out this week.

Thx.

[brhaugen]

Any word on the iOS app? Was supposed to be out this week.

Thx.

Saw it showed up in the App Store yesterday. It's for iOS 6.0 or greater though, not 4.3 like advertised. I'm a little disappointed as my 1st gen IPad doesn't run 6.0.

[FishinFools]

Saw it showed up in the App Store yesterday. It's for iOS 6.0 or greater though, not 4.3 like advertised. I'm a little disappointed as my 1st gen IPad doesn't run 6.0.

[chris_gillespie]

Would someone post a few pics of the unit? Like the the back showing video out.

[brhaugen]

Trying to do this from my phone so forgive me if it doesn't work, but here is a picture of the video out. It's just a standard yellow video out plug.

[FishinFools]

Any feedback on this camera set up on an actual lake?

(been a week since I sent Vexilar an email on their contact page asking about a iOS 5 or earlier version...no response. Not typical at all of the service I am used to from Vexilar. Anyone had any luck getting an answer for us first gen iPad owners?)

[Corey Bechtold]

I have a buddy that works for Vexilar and he's so darn busy that he can't even answer my calls right now! Be patient and they'll get back to you.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[bakwardbob]

http://youtu.be/3y_9mG1iiMQ

Video in action.

[DTro]

Looks good bwb thanks for sharing

[FishinFools]

Kid got a Fishphone for Christmas. Of course, we had to get out and try it ASAP! All I can say is: this thing is awesome! Picture is great. Control of the camera light intensity is great. Stills and video are great. We already have a few mods in mind for cord management, etc, but those are simple tweaks. And having my phone connected, via wifi, while the kid is using his iPad for a monitor is really nice. When he says, "dad! Look at this fish" I don't have to stop fishing and turn around or get on his side of our house. All I have to do is glance up at my phone sitting right in front of me. Very happy that this camera performs beyond our expectations!

[trebormorgan]

I just bought the FishPhone and love it. Check out my field test - http://youtu.be/_nK6cwte1Ks

[Ben626]

I just bought the FishPhone and love it. Check out my field test - http://youtu.be/_nK6cwte1Ks

Thank you for the video. I'm kinda liking the fishphone again. I was losing faith in it with it never being in stores for one reason or another.

[BartmanMN]

Great test. Looks pretty cool.

[Chad Holst]

If you look back at this thread, i think the original concerns have been answered, lag is good, how long they run is good, overall performance is good.

This really is a game changer. Even if you DONT like the fish phone, thank them anyway, as your particular brand of camera just got a whole lot cheaper. Sit back and watch the price fall on all the competition now. Thank you vexilar.

lets compair price:

Marcum (great performance and products) the vs825 is around $699.00

JUST black and white marcum is $350

Aqua View AV760 is $599 and the micro and lite models are $300I think you can still pick up the low end black and white for $190 at fleet.

The Fish phone: $180 plus the price of the "viewing device". So lets say you didnt get to use the viewing device for anything except this use(which is silly, but lets just say) You can pick up a 7 inch high res tablet for $75. It wont be a great tablet for playing games, etc...but for $75 you can find one that will run this application with zero issues. You get full color, you can record on your device, and you can share with everyone else with a smart phone, ipad, tablet, laptop, smart TV...

Why in the world would someone not go with this product over a $599 unit?

For $600 i could buy a Fish phone, A tablet for each of my 3 fishing partners and myself, an extra $20 battery for EACH of their tablets and still have enough left over to buy 40 bucks worth of adult beverages.

I dont like my fishing partners that much, so lets look at it this way...I can buy a fish phone, a 32" LED for the perm, 1 tablet with extra battery and an inverter to charge that extra battery and STILL be cheaper than the other companies offerings.

Game..changer.

[DTro]

I totally agree.

[Ice_Ice_Baby]

Overall good thread guys, lots of information. Unfortunately as per

usual on these threads, much of the information is posted by guys who

have no idea what they are talking about and by bought and paid for guys

blindly endorsing a product no matter what it's pros or cons might be.

So after reading though it and catching up, here's what I/we know.

After seeing images and Bakwardbob's video it's completely obvious which

camera company developed the technology and passed on it. Hint look at

the base of the system. Why would they pass on a game changer?

The lag time at close range is much less than what some had indicated it

might be. That's a plus but still too much lag for fishing in my opinion

and does the lag increase with distance?

The system is big and balky. The camera is large and ugly. Really can't

see why something like this would be preferable to a dedicated small

camera system like a micro at a fraction of the weight and size plus you

have a monitor designed for cold temps included. With a dedicated system

you don't have to use your phone or tablet out in the elements and near

the holes. Watching trebormorgan's video I was nervous he was going to

dump his phone down the hole as was he.

How much battery will get eaten by running the video through your phone?

Tablets will be better but still like the idea of the run time of units

with dedicated batteries.

That idea of sharing the signal to multiple devices is cool but again I

don't want my very expensive phone or a tablet not designed for cold

temps exposed to the elements or open holes.

Also someone stated that the technology is such a huge advancement in

this system? Yes WiFi is an advancement but the camera used in the

system is the basic Color CMOS camera that comes with the bottom level

color cameras in everyone's inventories so this isn't a huge step up for

image quality and optics.

Finally it looks like you need to have the iOS 6.0 or greater for the

app. Not sure how many people this will effect?

Overall the unit has some positives but as a game changer that will

bring down the cost of the competition, very doubtful. I also can't get

by the fact that another camera company passed on this game changer.

They must have seen something that they didn't like? Still strongly feel

waiting to see what MarCum and Aqua-vu come out with is the best plan

here especially since Aqua developed and then passed on this system. To

me, the micro of a few years ago was a game changer as it's sales

numbers are incredible compared to all other full size underwater cameras.

[bakwardbob]

Aqua is still developing their's for release next year with same concept. I really enjoy mine. We all have our phones outside with us fishing. They handle the cold just fine.

$600 for $50 of electronics is a crime. I agree, you will start to see cameras drop in price. If it is not from this, it was on its way already...

[Kyle]

I'm getting one of these tomorrow. I love it that it's under $200, allows me to use my ipad which is a tough screen to beat, and being able to walk away from the system and still watch video is so cool. I don't care one bit that the camera doesn't really look like a fish, or that it might be slightly bulky. I'm my experience sometimes fish spook from cameras that look a lot like a fish, and sometimes they don't. This looks like a really fun system! Can't wait to start sending friends pics of big crappies and gills!

[DTro]

Unfortunately as per

usual on these threads, much of the information is posted by guys who

have no idea what they are talking about and by bought and paid for guys

blindly endorsing a product no matter what it's pros or cons might be.

[Kyle]

I haven't been this excited about an electronic in a long time! Just JACKED! I'll be posting some pics on sunday night!

[Acemac]

DTRO why are you being such a negative nancy on this?

[DTro]

Are you kidding?

You need to reread what I've posted...

[Acemac]

your early posts just seem really negative about the tech. just suprised me.

[Chad Holst]

Ice_Ice_Baby,

Quote:

Unfortunately as per

usual on these threads, much of the information is posted by guys who

have no idea what they are talking about and by bought and paid for guys

blindly endorsing a product no matter what it's pros or cons might be.

First, if your going to accuse a site "as usual on these threads" YOU should know what your talking about. In fact if im not mistaken, i see a big grey, white and red MARCUM advertisement right next to where you accuse this site of being biased. Silly kids.

Also, i think most of the posts on this thread have been done very well at looking at this product and any possible concerns.

Quote:

After seeing images and Bakwardbob's video it's completely obvious which

camera company developed the technology and passed on it. Hint look at

the base of the system. Why would they pass on a game changer?

Why? because they are now developing their own system like this. why buy someone elses idea, if you already have one in the works? But unlike you i dont have "inside knowledge" on these companies. Wonder how you do.

Rather than quote your entire post, lets just do the cliff notes version.

The camera works just as good as anyone else, you say.

The ability to view it on an exsisting device is good, you say.

Being able to use wifi to share with others around you is good, you say.

The lag time at close range is much less than what some had indicated it might be, you say.

Well, so far you sound like you love this product...per your "pro's and con's".

SO..now lets look at the real objections you came up with...

Battery life on the device you view it with.

You dont like how the camera, that will be down the hole, that you dont have to look at, LOOKS.

Your concerned about lag time, even though others have stated the lag time is even LESS than they expected.

Um, you dont want to drop your phone down the hole.

So lets look at these issues.

I can not remember the last time i saw a camera being used outside a portable or perm house. Seriously, i dont know the last time... i would guess when we set up a perm on leech...6-7 years ago and wanted to find the weed line before we set up. So the camera was outside? 30 minutes, tops. I doubt even that long, as you usually cant see anything when its brite, so you end up doing the jacket over the head/screen trick.

So the objection about the battery life or cold weather use is nill...for MOST people. Im sure you think that the 10% that use it outside will keep the other camera companies going, but i dont think thats the case. I think we will see a price drop on regular cameras.(you should be thanking Vex)Also, Since your in a house, you can just plug in your device OR with all the money you saved from not buying a $600 unit you could buy 4-5-6-7-8 extra batteries for your device.

About your concern about dropping your phone down the hole. Guess some of us are more careful/responsible than others. I use my phone now and have never dropped it down the hole. If i did, its not the fishcam companies fault. Plus, if you need help with this i suppose you could get a small tether or one of those arm bands that joggers use. Im pretty sure my 32" flat screen wont fall off the wall and down the hole when i use that to watch the fishies. (thats the 32" flat screen LED TV you bought with the money you saved from not spending $600 on a camera system)

So that leaves us with looks. You go ahead and buy the $600 "good looking" unit, ill buy the $160 "ugly" unit, that i dont have to look at anyway because its down an ice hole, and then with the money i saved ill buy myself some new clothes to make up for the estetic value in the house. LOL, sorry for being snotty, but seriously...you are down on this product that cost 1/3 as much because its "ugly"? yikers. Im not taking it on a date, im using it to look at fish.

Sorry for being a jerk when i replied, but seriously bud, you talk about how bad this product is and how bad of an idea this type of product is, then you turn around and say:

Quote:

Still strongly feel

waiting to see what MarCum and Aqua-vu come out with is the best plan

here

What is there to wait for, if you DONT LIKE this type of "use your own viewing device" system? And why do they need to come out with something new, like this, if what they are using now is soo much better? So much better in fact, that you think its worth $420 MORE than this product. Sounds like you dont think they need to change anything, its already worth 3x the money now. Finally it sounds like auqa View, per your super secret source, alrady tried to make this, and failed..er.."passed" on it. Opps.