Marcum VS380

[Jamie5ltr]

Anyone have a Marcum VS 380 or a Marcum camera with there manta dark water camera I think they call it? I was usuing mine yesterday and tried it at night later on a lake up by Walker and noticed the bottom half of the screen was dark and the top half you could see really nicely. Anyone else have this happen? Is it from the battery getting weak or is there something else wrong. I noticed part of the light dosn't shine out because the camera body blocks part of the light.

[Random guy]

I have the VS820 camera and I noticed this right away.

This is what is going on...its working perfectly!

The light on the Manta camera is designed to greatly reduce the glare of particles in the water, hence Darkwater Technology. What you have to do as it gets dark and you use lights is adjust the screen brightness and contrast in the on screen menu. Once you turn up the brightness and it comes alive. On Upper Red Lake cameras after dark was a fairy tale but this design works extremely well in the Upper Red Lake stained and plankton infested waters. The very top of your screen will appear bright but your jig and the important stuff around your jig such as fish come in clear as a bell.

To practice go into a dark room and try it. The on screen menu takes a little getting used to but once you get the feel for it you can dial it in perfectly for just about any condition.

[Random guy]

to add I believe the 380 has standard or knob adjustments along side the screen and the 820/825c has on screen adjustments.

[Jamie5ltr]

Thank You for the response Jonny P. I played around with it a little more tonight downstairs. I shined it at the ceiling tiles and turned up the brightness till I see the cross supports for the tiles on the bottom of the screen. While I was trying it pointing the camera at some smooth finished concrete that would really make the bottom of the screen black. I could see my hand in the screen if I would put in in front of the camera. What I noticed is the front of the camera blocking off some of the light. That the dark spot I was seeing on the screen is from not as much light in the camera's view. I could actually see a defined line shaped like the front of the camera on the floor and that is where the dark spot is on the screen. Anyway I did this with a fully charged battery tonight sitting downstairs in the dark.