Which camera? Marcum vs Aqua Vu vs Aqua Cam

[jpaulson]

I am in the market for a underwater camera. Here are the 3 I am looking at.

Marcum VS250- $159.99

Aqua View Scout 50- $149.99

Aqua Cam (menards)- $99

Just looking to get some advice on which one I should choose and why. Or what should I be looking for?

Thanks.

[WallyGator12000]

I have the scout and it works good, I am very satisfied with it. From what I understand about cameras, and someone correct me if I am wrong, is that you really get what you pay for. My Scout 50 works just fine for what I need it for, it is great during the day, when the sun sets, I put it away and use my LX3. It does what I paid for it to do, helps me to better understand my flasher readings because I can actually see the structure, and it also lets me see fish and how the react to my bait. They really are quite fun, and can be an effective tool, but like others have said on this site, a flasher is more important. Hope this helps, the Scout is a great unit for the price, and you get a $25 rebate right now on the scout!

[dkf]

I bought a Marcum VS350 a couple weeks back, got it home a put it together and didn't work. Tried it with my vex battery which I know is good. So I returned it and bought a Scout 2 from Aquaview. Aquaview has a much nicer camera and package than the marcum. Seems Marcum has a lot of problems with there stuff not working.

[Gissert]

I have been using a MarCum VS350 since first ice, and it has been flawless so far.

[ziminmn]

Cabela's has a camera for $180 that has a 7" screen that appears to be similar to the Aqua-Vu Scout 2 ($280), except the camera doesn't look like a fish. I question the benefit of the fish shaped camera. I'd think that the fish wouldn't really care what it looked like as long as you kept it stationary. And if you're waving it around down there you are probably going to scare off anything other than a big pike or muskie. There are probably other features on the Aqua-Vu for the additional money, but if the camera and display performance is comparable it would be hard for me to justify the extra $100. Anyone know who makes the Cabela's unit?

[dkf]

The scout 2 cost $230.00 and the Cabelas camera is the same as the vs350. Nice thing with the aquaview is you can downview with it right out of the box. Don't know if they make a downview bracket for the vs250 and vs350 cameras.

[tipup]

got an aqua cam from menards, very very please. Does the same as I have seen with the low end brand name cameras at half the price. Doesnt work at night but from what i here not any of the low rang cheaper cameras work all that well at night. I would say that if you just want one to have one get the aqua cam. Another thing, I broke mine a few weeks ago and got a replacement within a few days! For what it is worth, you look on the screen and see the fish and the structure and for me thats enough and at $80 I can live with it.

[Central Bassman]

I have a Marcum and LOVE IT... Its not the top of the line but it works great for what im use it for.. I think the Marcums are build alot better then the scouts, I used to sell both of them and we go got of Aqua Vus back!!! my .02

[blue_healer_guy]

Fished with a buddy last weekend and he had got a Cam for xmas. Worked great. Was inpressed for the dollars he paid.

[minnow_03]

Used a ScoutSRT. Showed fish good, but seemed to scare them when it got dark and the lights had to be turned out. Also, be careful with the conection from camera to tv. A friend of mine broke one of the prongs and we had to rig it with a piece of wire to make the connection. Tried to get a hold of aqua-view, but no reply.

[Crestliner-fever]

Don't let the name Brand make your mind up, I bought my son a Auqa cam for christmas & he used it on the The Big Pond it was WAY clearier then my Aqua vu, So I went & bought myself one for me. I still have the aqua vu --going to sell it because I like the aqua cam Way better!!!

[NELS-BELLS]

I bought the Cabelas brand (Marcum VS350) before xmas and it has worked flawlesly. I bought some plastic weeds for an aquarium and fastened them around the camera and up the cable about 2'. I also put some black tape on the chrome weight below the camera to conceal it better. The fish swim right by it, even walleyes and it doesn't seem to spook them.

As far as adjusting the up and down direction of the camera... you just slide the weight forward or backward and if you want the camera facing straight down, it has a clip on the back fin that you attach to the cable.

The larger 7" screen is really nice.

You will also want to purchase a cable holder so you can adjust the direction the camera is facing. I use the one that looks like a bucket lid with a slit in it. I think it was $13 and it works great.

Nels

[deja vu]

Quote:

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I bought a Marcum VS350 a couple weeks back...

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I purchased my MarCum VS350 this past Monday, probably for the same reasons you did... quality Sony camera, 65 feet of cable (instead of 50 feet), 7" monitor screen (instead of a 5" unit), priced online below $200...

I visited four local stores before I found a VS350 unit on the shelf, at the $220 list price. I bought it.

Fortunately, when I put mine together, the infrared lighting worked fine (tested it in my kitchen, with all the lights out). I also discovered that the Sony camera can be operated in a horizontal or a vertical position, and also somewhere in between (45 degree angle?). Nothing about that in the manual... Maybe that's because MarCum doesn't put a lot of money into manuals...

I visited a local lake with stained coffee-colored water late this afternoon. Had so much fun I stayed until after dark. It was after 6 pm when I punched two 8" holes on 1 foot centers (4" of ice between them). Couldn't distinguish a chub on a black hook 12" from the camera. But when I put a small shiner on a long shank gold Aberdeen hook, the infrared picked up the hook shank over two feet away, and the shiner really showed up well when the light hit it full on its side... Wonder if a walleye will hit a minnow when the infrared camera is less than a foot away?

Looking forward to checking it out during daylight in a clear water lake, probably this weekend.

[alwaysfishin]

I bought an Aqua Vu Scout mainly because of the $25 rebate offer they had going that made it cheaper than most of the competition. Works great during the day, have had every kind of fish swim right up to it and check it out. After dark my marcum is the center of attention. I think as long as the water is clear enough they will all be satisfactory. My camera is always second to my flasher, after drilling a few holes I look around in each w/ the cam and see if one hole "looks" better than another to decide where to put the portable. From there it's jig and flasher w/ the camera as a novelty/learning device.

[JP Z]

Quote:

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Used a ScoutSRT. Showed fish good, but seemed to scare them when it got dark and the lights had to be turned out. Also, be careful with the conection from camera to tv. A friend of mine broke one of the prongs and we had to rig it with a piece of wire to make the connection. Tried to get a hold of aqua-view, but no reply.

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Minnow, Call the Aqua-Vu Customer service at 866-777-0733

It's tough to judge a problem via email.

[Kyle Sandberg]

OK, if your a cheap guy like me, here is a cheap way to make a cable/camera hoolder turner.

Take a peice of 2x6 and cut it into a foot long piece. Next, take a drill and put a hole in the middle of it. Using a jig saw, make a path approximatly 1/4 inch wide from the edge to the hole. Next, take three nails and hammer them in until they almost break through or there is about a inch sticking out. Habe two nails on one side and one on the other. Bend the nails down and feed the cable through the slit and wrap it around the nails.

Keeps the camera stationary, doesn't take up much space, and you can turn the camera.

I'll try to get a picture posted.

[ERdeerhunter]

Quote:

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got an aqua cam from menards, very very please. Does the same as I have seen with the low end brand name cameras at half the price. Doesnt work at night but from what i here not any of the low rang cheaper cameras work all that well at night. I would say that if you just want one to have one get the aqua cam. Another thing, I broke mine a few weeks ago and got a replacement within a few days! For what it is worth, you look on the screen and see the fish and the structure and for me thats enough and at $80 I can live with it.

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What Menards did you get it from? I'm not sure they are all carrying them, I tried the Menards in Coon Rapids the other day out of curiosity and they did not have them.

[tipup]

A buddy got it for me at a Menards in Iowa, But i do know that Mankato had them also. Hope it helps? They also Have a web site. Just do a search for aqua cam.

[augernaut]

Bear in mind that the AquaCam is actually made by Atlantis - the camera on that unit is identical - I mean, IDENTICAL to the Marcum. The monitor is very, I mean VERY similar to the Aqua-Vu. I have one- bought it when they were still labeled as the Atlantis Sportcam, it's performance is very, very good. No camera works well at night or in stained water. Only drawback is lack of a good sunshield, I made my own with $1.00 worth of material (black craft foam) and 10 minutes of my time. I like it better than the Aqua-Vu's sunshield, because it molds to my face when I poke my head in there - the viewing is awesome. All 3 are good, flip a three sided coin :-)

[MinnOutdoorsman]

Hey guys. I just bought a brand new Marcum VS350 cam and was wondering if I will need to charge the battery. I hooked It all up and the battery has juice but it doesnt say how much. Will this last me all of Saturday? Thanks

[Kyle Sandberg]

I would charge it. I believe somewhere in the owners manual it says to charge it for 8-12 hours or until it has a full charge. If you don't charge it the first time, you could be shortening the batteries life.

[jiggin pig]

i bought the entry level marcum and love it. I didn't need all the extra stuff that came on the higher models. even thought the auto-pan would be nice. I bought one of the plastic tripods that hold the camera which works fine. Its mostly what you prefer.

[ConnorMN]

Purchased the Cabela's Marcum VS350 clone on Friday, used it today... Love the picture and watching those fish giving the light bite... it was a spring bobber day. Unfortunately the first time I pressed the LED light, it busted through into the screen's chassis. The 2nd time I tried to turn on the unit, the power button would stay in the on position. Cripes! 7 species of fish in 6 hours on the screen though - pretty cool!