This is a superb piece of kit. My old monocular of 30+ years, having given up the ghost, I was looking for a replacement. This Vortex 10 x 36 is, in my (experienced but not expert) opinion, about as good as it gets. I have seen no sign of chromatic abberation (fringeing) and the viewing field is sharply focused practically right across. (On cheaper models it is often only the centre of the viewing picture that stays in focus)It is not very heavy and is comparitively small, fitting snugly in the hand thanks to the rubber armour. It is actually a very solidly put together optic and although I haven't dropped it yet (!) it looks and feels like it could easily survive occasional rough handling.Unlike others here, I had no problems with the focusing ring being stiff. Perhaps that problem has been fixed?In use, the Vortex offers up a bright, clear image. 10x magnification is about all you would effectively need, since anything more powerful would be almost impossible to use because of the natural movement you encounter with one-handed operation on a narrow field of view. What's critical is the diameter of the objective lens. Most monoculars have objective lenses of around 25mm. But the bigger this number, the more light gets in and the brighter and clearer the image you will see.Of course, the bigger the lens, the bigger the device, so a balance has to be struck. And, for me, Vortex have got it bang on with a 36 mm lens in a compact, rugged and, it has to be said, quite stylish looking device with superb optical performance.If I have to be picky, it's the case it comes with. This is open at the sides which can let dirt in. Also the belt loop is fixed with a press stud. This came undone on my first outing. However a bit of swift needlework has now permanently closed the loop, so problem solved. Lens caps would also be a real advantage. But the sheer optical quality, manufacturing excellence and performance in the field, to say nothing of the lifetime guarantee, are more than enough for me to give 5 stars.If you are looking for a powerful monocular with robust performance that could easily last you a lifetime, I recommend this without hesitation.

This is an ammended review, see the original below.After returning my camera and leaving a two star review, Akaso contacted me about rectifying the situation by replacing my camera. I decided that I probably didn't give it a fair shake the first time around so I agreed to amend my review on the condition that the camera actually merits an better rating.I've played with my replacement camera now for a few days and here's the thing. It still just isn't what I want in an action camera. However, I've realized that I was expecting a lot more out of the Akaso than could actually be delivered at that price point. Producing a professional quality action camera is very expensive, and if you're expecting professional quality, well, it just isn't here.If you are expecing a decent action cam with lots of accessories to get you started, (get you started being the operative phrase here), then I think you will find what you're looking for. It comes with tons of attachments and multiple batteries, which gives you a great base to work with as you expand your camera kit. As a secondary camera, I'm pretty happy with it, so even though it won't be going on my POV mount, I'll certainly be using it to capture multiple angles of the same event.Finally, Akaso support was very good about proactively reaching out about my negative experience and were quick to rectify the problem. I appreciate that they were willing to stand by their product and make sure that my experience was positive. That alone is worth half a point on the review.By the way, I did not have any issues with recordings after filling up multiple cards, so I suspect my problems with the original purchase were user error.---Original review:This camera might work for someone who just wants a durable action camera to take on vacation, but you need to know there are some design and quality issues.The fatal flaw of this camera is that you can not tell by the sound alone if the camera has stopped or started recording. The "start" and "stop" beeps are exactly the same, unlike the brand it is competing with that has very distinct beep patterns to indicate the recording mode. It doesn't have an indicator light on the front either so if you mount it somewhere inaccessible, you have no idea if it's recording without taking it out of the mount, looking at the back, then remounting it. So when you do that once in a lifetime... whatever ...and you press the record button on the wrist remote (which IS convenient by the way), you will always be second guessing if it actually captured the event. If that isn't a deal breaker for you like it is for me, continue reading.Overall the quality of the camera is less than stellar, but that's to be expected at this price point. The one I received was defective and the case didn't fully enclose the lens so you could see the internals of the camera behind it. Not really a big deal for me since I was going to keep it in the case it came with anyway.Image quality is pretty good. Not great in low light, but not awful. I'd say this was one of the strongest points of the camera along with the touch screen. It also comes with a quick record function that lets you power on the camera and start recording all in one step (partially alleviating the fatal design flaw, but I'll get to that in a second), which is also super nice since it greatly extends battery life.Accessories and extra batteries come included in the box, also making for a pretty positive experience. They are compatible with all my other accessory kits too, so no complaints there. Quality again isn't great, but they're cheap plastic mounts, what do you really need them to be? There are plenty of pieces in there so you're bound to have the right kit for the job.Sound quality is fair, and I didn't tweak the settings much to see if there was anything I could do to improve it. But to be honest, I really am not too concerned with the sound quality for my activities, so it's not high on my priority list and is passable enough to not matter.Given everything I wrote about above, I was really on the fence about keeping the camera. It does have decent features and the price is great for what it does, but then it happened. Literally two days into owning this thing, I hit the record button, sauntered off to get some test footage before taking it out on my first real excursion and it stopped recording suddenly and without warning. It did beep, but good luck hearing that at speed while mounted to your helmet in a waterproof case. Given the fatal design flaw, my confidence was shaken.Finally, and I fully admit this may have just been my inexperience with navigating the menus on the camera, I recorded more test footage, went back using the touch screen to view it and nothing appeared in the playback menu. Later I was able to retrieve it off the SD, but my confidence was already shot and this was the last straw. The single most important feature of any camera is its reliability. If I can't be sure it will capture the events I am filming, I really don't care how good all the other features are; it could shoot in 8k and I still wouldn't buy it.TL;DR: If you need a camera that will record every time without fail and have confidence that it's recording even without looking at it, look elsewhere. Otherwise the price is right and image quality is good.

This is my first DSLR. My photography needs are just wanting to shoot quality pictures of my family in everyday life, holidays, & special events like graduation. My experience with digital photography over the past 10 years is Fuji Finepix A200, GE A730, 2 Sony Cybershots (not sure of the models), Fuji Finepix F900EXR, Fuji S8200, Samsung Galaxy S II, & Samsung Galaxy Note II (yes the latter two are not technically cameras but since many use their smartphones for point & shoots I will include them).I wish I would've made the move to dslr sooner. This is only an entry-level & the image quality compared to point & shoots is amazing.Autofocus using the viewfinder is immediate (if looking for this on a p&s check out the Fuji Finepix F900EXR). Using the LCD screen, autofocus is slower, but I am beginning to understand the benefits of the viewfinder. I can definitely see the benefits of manual focus but not very good at it yet. I'll keep practicing.Colors turn out true to what I see with my eye. There is a lot of detail in each image. Possibly the term for the images I'm getting is "true to life".Images are noise free, atleast to my untrained eye. My main problem with newer p&s cameras is the level of noise & grain in the pictures. I think it has something to do with the high megapixels crammed into a tiny sensor, b/c my first digital camera did not produce that much noise, & it was only 3 megapixels (Fuji Finepix A200). The sensor was even slightly smaller at 1/2.7" compared to the typical 1/2.3" sensor in most p&s today.I am only using full auto mode right now, but I am slowly reading through the entire manual to hopefully learn some things to take even better pictures. But if the pictures never get any better than they are in full auto mode, I will still be pleased having this level of image quality to preserve family memories.I was concerned about not taking as many pictures, b/c it would require toting a large camera around, & I am used to the convenience of p&s and smartphones. But I bought the smallest bag that would fit my dslr with lens attached. It also holds the charger & usb cord, but that's not necessary. I carry the bag on my shoulder along with my purse, so it's not a problem.I was also concerned about the issue I hear about dust on the sensor. But for now, I'm using the lens that came with the camera & don't plan on changing lenses in the near future (although the Tamron 18-270mm looks interesting & seems it would give the zoom flexibility you get w/point & shoots w/o changing lenses), so I keep the lens attached. From what I understand, this should minimize dust entry into the camera. *Experienced DSLR users, correct me if I'm wrong.*Video was not a must, but I do like having all-in-one for photo & video. It's 720p instead of 1080p. It does not have continual autofocus. I took a short test home video, & this did not seem to be a problem for home videos. I'm not sure about recording a child's school program or something like that.It looks like the Nikon D3100 might be the better entry-level option, atleast looking at specs. It has the auto sensor dust cleaning, 1080p video, & full time video autofocus. It's slightly more expensive, and this Canon was really the most I could spend on a camera.I'm sure I have a lot to learn, but coming from a point & shoot, you will not be dissapointed, if for no other reason than image quality.

I had done a lot of research and reading about action cams for an upcoming vacation, but didn’t want to spend the $200+ for a gopro as my use will be leisurely. When the Akaso V50 Pro became available as a Lightning Deal, I took a chance, and I’m glad I did. Akaso took a real “kitchen sink” approach with this camera -- namely, it includes all of the most desirable functions of a more expensive camera.Unlike many of the budget action cams, this one actually records at native 4K (instead of interpolating up to 4K, which you’ll find in the sub-$60 price point); the resulting video is quite detailed and saturated in good light -- in low light, graininess creeps in, but that is to be expected of a small sensor. The 30fps rate allows for smooth motion. You can adjust the field of view angle, and there’s also electronic image stabilization (which makes a noticeable difference while walking around and shooting video). With any lens this wide, barrel distortion is inevitable -- but Akaso manages to offer a Distortion Calibration mode as well, which corrects the distortion and makes both photos and videos much more resembling that of what the eye sees. A interesting quirk here to note, that once Distortion Calibration is switched on, it is no longer possible to turn on/off the Image Stabilization function in video mode; but in fact, it is possible to have both switched on (and work properly) -- make sure to turn EIS on first, then turn on Distortion Calibration, and not the other way around. You need to have a Class 10 MicroSD card to record videos of any resolution, or else risk a warning from the camera; I have a SanDisk Pixtor 32gb UHS-I card in mine, and it gives me about 65min of video recording at 4K.The photo abilities of the V50 Pro seem like an afterthought, however; the pictures it produces are fine, and perfectly adequate for a downsized Facebook or Instagram post, but shows large, mottled pixels in full-size, and is certainly no match for the 12MP sensor on my Note 8 (not to mention my Sony travel zoom camera). It’s also a fixed focus lens, and I don’t believe image stabilization works in photo mode either. But to be fair, no one is really buying an action cam for taking still photos.In the box, you will find an assortment of mounts and attachments and accessories -- the most useful ones, I think, are the remote control wrist bracelet, the bicycle handlebar mount, freestanding charger (which takes microUSB) with spare battery, and the clear waterproof case (plus an extra spare back). Disappointingly, there is no clip mount (to attach to a shirt or backpack strap) or suction-cup style mount (to attach to a car window) in the package. I was also surprised that no carrying case is included, since many cheaper models do include one. Speaking of the remote controller, it works as expected, and allows for taking photos or videos with a press; you do need to have the camera switched on already to use it (as well as the RF setting toggled on), since the remote control cannot turn on the camera; long press on the power button of the remote control will turn it on and off (presumably to save battery on the wrist unit); the camera unit will turn off its display after being idle (to save power), but you will still be able to control it via the remote control, which is quite handy. The camera display features a touchscreen, which isn’t typical for the budget range; there is a slight lag to touches, and the UI is not the most intuitive, but I think it’s fine enough. To note, Akaso was nice enough to include a preinstalled screen protector on the camera screen -- so don’t go pulling off the whole clear sticker with written instructions on it like I did, as there are 2 films attached (once you do, you’ll never be able to put it back again dust-free).In all, I think the V50 Pro is a great action cam delivering unexpectedly good value -- true 4K recording at 30fps, touchscreen interface, very wide angle, barrel distortion correction, image stabilization, 20MP still picture quality, and a gamut of accessories to get you started. If you can find it at a sub-$100 price point, then I’d say it’s a very good deal indeed.

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 This iZeeker Trailcam is actually our second model. The first one I left outside 24X7 to capture wild animals walking through our yard. Many of our neighbors have picked up bobcats, coyotes, foxes, and other critters of the night. We mostly had a wild boar problem, and that's pretty much all our old camera ever captured, with the exception of occasional rabbits and an armadillo one time. I was able to keep it up all the time because I had a solar panel that kept it powered up during the day, so the batteries only needed to come online at night. Finally, however, it succumbed to the harsh Florida weather and became completely inoperable.We were without a trailcam for a while, since we ended up finally installing a fence to keep the wild boars away, so I figured there wouldn't be much to capture in terms of wildlife anyway. But when I saw this iZeeker on Amazon it looked like a really good camera, so I decided to take the plunge into wild animal surveying (or attempted surveying) again to see what visitors we get at night. One of the features that drew me to this model was the two-lens, two-camera design. One of the cameras is optimized for daytime use, and the other for night duty. The night camera in particular works extremely well! Our old camera didn't IR illuminate the area particularly well, so the pictures we DID get were pretty dark and poor quality. But this one produces MUCH better images at night.The first night I set it up inside my house to see what kind of activity it would pick up from our cats. I included one of the photos from that night to demonstrate the clarity of the images. A few nights later I set it up on a tree outside. Although no animals came to call that night, it was kind of windy so it did trigger on some debris blowing by its field of view. Even being outside the IR light source shone MUCH further than our old camera, and it also was able to pick up a fair amount of ambient light which was surprising as the old one never really did - everything beyond the IR illumination was just black.The night camera is capable of up to 1080P HD resolution, but the daytime one goes up to 4K. The 4K is very smooth and clear, which is a huge step forward from our old camera. Although that one was supposedly 4K, it was almost unusable as it dropped a ton of frames from the videos, essentially forcing me to use the 1080P resolution anyway. The final big improvement over our old camera that I'll mention is in the download time of photos and videos. The old one took two minutes or more to download a single 1080P video from the camera to my cell phone (using the free app), while the iZeeker does the same job in just a few seconds. This is a huge leap in usability! There are other improvements also, but suffice it to say that the new camera is better than the old in just about every way!I mentioned some features of this trailcam, such as the twin camera setup, the wifi, and the very good night illumination. In addition to those, the feature set includes 3 motion sensors to cover a wide area, a very flexible ability to configure the cameras to shoot photos, videos, or both, as well as the duration of video to shoot and the number of photos it will capture when the motion sensors are triggered. There is also a time-lapse mode which records videos composed of individual frames taken a user-selectable interval apart. This gives you really cool shots of sunrises, sunsets, the clouds whizzing by overhead, etc.In the box is included a 32GB memory card for storing photos and videos, a durable woven nylon strap for mounting the camera to a tree or fence post, and even 4AA alkaline batteries to power the unit. Please note that the camera will accept either 4 or 8 batteries. 4 is the minimum, but using 8 gives a much longer runtime for the camera. I personally only use 4, since I've got the solar panel which I was very pleased to learn that it is 100% compatible with this new camera: same voltage, same size connector, same polarity on the input jack as the old one.This is definitely a five-star - plus product. Highly recommended!

After researching a number of helmet mounted action cameras I decided on the Drift Ghost XL Snow Edition. The features I wanted were high video quality, ease of use, helmet mounting and other mounting options and long battery life (which is what the GoPro sorely lacks).The phone app is simple to use, though it could use some tweaking, being able to lock in the which camera variant instead of having to choose each time the app is opened and blue tooth instead of wifi - which doesn't stay connected. That's the biggest drawback and maybe there is some trick I haven't figured out yet. But being able to access all the menus for the camera and settings using the phone is much more convenient that trying to use the 1/4 of a postage stamp size screen.The camera itself is solid and well built. The adhesive holding the base to the helmet is very strong (I still rigged up a tether because I'd rather not lose the camera should the adhesive fail). I shot about 90 minutes of video and the battery indicator only went down one bar. I am hopeful that the 8 hour battery life is true. I set the video to the highest capture settings and even then I only used just over 9 GB of a 32GB card. I imagine a 128GB card would capture an entire days worth of riding without using the overwrite/loop recording feature.The video itself turned out very well, clear and sharp, the color is good and the field of view (which is adjustable in the settings) is excellent for capturing the rider's POV.Some of the reviewers complained of low video quality or blurred images - perhaps they didn't remove the clear plastic film that covers the lens prior to use. So far I am very happy with the Ghost XL and I look forward to testing it further during some longer rides.

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 So far, I'm loving it! The camera lens goes up & down, as well as 360° horizontally. I love being able to navigate it through my phone. There is a couple second delay when controlling it remotely, but it still works. You can talk through the cam using your phone, as well as set off an alarm to scare any potential burglars.My only issues right now is since I set my cam by my window, once the IR (Night Vision) mode sets in, the IR lights reflect off from my window, blinding the vision. That and even though I'm close to the street, the picture quality can't see clear enough for license plates if your car ever gets hit.All in all, it was a good purchase. Please enjoy my trimmed & sped up video of this guy trying to parallel park behind me. Surprisingly, he did not hit my car.

While the company/store was no help; I did have better luck with the manufacturer, Vanguard. After sending them photos of the problem, they sent me replacement parts. It has now worked as intended for over a year. Kudos to Vanguard.-----Defective -- doesn't work the second time out of the box. This was supposed to be an upgrade to my $30 tripod that I have used without problems for years. I tried it out shortly after it arrived and it looked like it was going to be everything I wanted -- sturdier, more features, and better for my larger camera and zoom lens. It has been in the box waiting for time off from work. Finally, that happened this week. The second time that I went to use it -- one of the pistol grips does not lock in place which makes it useless. And the company that shipped it states that it is too late to return it - by 10 days. The tripod is fine but the PH-32 head is junk at this point and to replace it costs $99. Very disappointing. I do NOT recommend this product to anyone.