MarCum PanCam reviews

[Princeton]

Hi. Anyone have experience yet using the new PanCam??

[JoeMX1825]

I ordered mine a few days ago, should get it soon....

I'm gonna use a Gen1 iPad with it that I got for free from a friend, so for $350 I got a cordless/color/pancam/DVR camera system with a 10" screen, show me another setup even close to that for $350...you can't do it...

My 1st mod for it will be an adjustable stand/mount for the iPad that hooks upto my Otter frame support bar, that way I can articulate it perfectly...

[JSK76]

I looked at them a few weeks back, I didn't realize their not HD. At first I didn't even know the newer regular Marcum cameras were HD until a rep told me. I was able to compare the picture quality from both the pancam and a camera running off the lx9 and I would say it's like comparing HD to to standard definition.

I'm not saying the lx9 was as clear as HD tv more like standard def and the pancam like the non hd over the air signal. I would put the picture quality on par with Marcums competitors cameras.

[drscholl14]

I like this concept except for battery life on whatever phone/tablet being used. I guess you could get one of those battery boosters, but without it I can't imagine my iPhone battery lasting more than an hour or two running all that through it. Any knowledge on this is?

[elkoholic]

I bought the pan cam at the Blaine ice show. I did lots of research on it and decided I wanted one. I took it out fishin and the panner would pan a little than it would make a sounds like it was slipping or gears that were stripped out. I called Marcum and explained what was goin on and I had a new camera at my door in 2 days!! I've heard that Marcums customer service was good and it was great! Got the new camera and tried it, works great!! I use it with my tablet and it goes pretty hard on battery but I put the tablet on air plane mode and that helps allot! I'm very happy with the camera so far, with the little that I have used it I think there stretching with a 300'range. I walked probably 150' away and it was staying to get choppy.

[Princeton]

I did go ahead and purchase a PanCam. Here are my initial thoughts.

Pros

- The internal battery on the camera lasts pretty long, I have not run out of battery after 4 hours of fishing.

- I like that it acts like a tip up and it seals the hole real nice. You do not have to worry about dropping the camera down the hole.

- The app is pretty easy to use.

- The cable reel works good and keeps the cable organized, it took me a few tries to figure it out.

- The bag is well built and has extra space to store other items.

- It is really nice to be able to put the cam outside of the fish house and view all your lines without using a hole inside the fish house.

Cons

- Low definition video, the output is low def and really only looks good on a I Phone sized device. I tried it on my I Pad and it was really not viewable. I was really hoping that I would be able to use Apple TV to broadcast it to my TV in my fish house but the resolution is so low that I don't think it would be viewable.

- There is no video out on the PanCam so you can not hook it up to your TV in an off chance that you would want to view the camera on the big screen.

- The panner seems underpowered.

- A few times I needed to close my app because the camera was unresponsive. Once I went back into the app it worked just fine. I assume there will be an update to the app.

- It really eats your battery on your device. I can charge my phone in my fish house but I doubt you would get move than 2 hours out of your phone outdoors in the cold.

They really need to up the resolution on this cam, it could be really a cool tool. From what I can tell this is there standard camera and could broadcast at a higher resolution. Also, put an AV out on it, likely would only add a dollar to the cost and increase the usability inside a permanent house. I would recommend using an old phone or I pod as you end up laying your phone on the ice when you are setting the depth.

[JoeMX1825]

I returned mine a few days after purchasing, the Panner motor sucks, couldn't spin close to 360 degrees in either direction. I also ran into the other problems you mentioned...

I was told my a Marcum itself that the video port on the Panner is both an In/Out port, fyi

PanCam - great idea, just terrible execution...

[Princeton]

Thanks, just tried the AV port. It does work to send to TV in fish house. You would think they would mark it as an input/output and not as an "AV input". Seems like a rushed product launch.