Underwater Cameras

[lunkerhunter]

I am thinking of buying an underwater camera for next year.I ve been looking at BP, cabelas, etc. Hard to say which is gonna work the best as sometimes if the user doesnt know how to employ the applications of the unit, they are going to rate it an F... So I am reaching out those on the site that may have success or recommendations with units they themselves use. Any Suggestions ? What should I stay away from? I would like to keep it as in expensive as possible. But of course you get what you pay for. First and foremost, around 300 or so would be my top end give or take some.
Thanks.

[mowbizz]

I ice fished blind my whole life until this season, never jigged, always used traps.
This season we changed things up a lot!
We got our first bob house and underwater camera.
I went to AJ's bait in Meredith and asked about them and he gave his honest opinion regarding my first camera.
He said he personally used a Marcum 825SD and at $700 its more than your initial budget, I know but the way I look at it, buy it once and you're done.
There are lesser priced models for sure but I liked the extra 25ft of camera cable this had as well as the larger screen and panning system included.
I have no others to compare to, this being my one and only, but we LOVE this thing!
Easy to use no brainer setup and in just a few minutes you're looking at the lake bottom  beneath you.
We had so much fun seeing lakers on the screen all season (catching some proved more difficult)
But having that view of your bait/jig and how fish reacted down there was priceless!
I can certainly recommend Marcum.

[perch boy]

The C-Fish camera is a good choice as well. Check them out. 

[Altonbayicefishingfool]

Don't buy the real cheap ones, the screen is much smaller and cheaper quality.
Also, get one with a planner, got my foster camera this year used on CL and it came with one, makes all the difference in the world!

[JIGGIN-]

The C-Fish camera is a good choice as well. Check them out. 

Agree but they are no longer in business.

[hardwater diehard]

What type of fishing do you do ? ...Are you looking to scout and run n gun ? Fish from a Permy house...flip over ...bucket fisherman . Do you wish an option to record ?...I suggest the Micro models if your scouting...good battery life  and small enough not to forget each and every outing and offer several models that record. The larger screen models are heavier and bulky ...great for a Permy or when not run n gunning ...Vexilar makes a DVR that attaches to their cameras for recording for around $100...not sure what you do for recording with the other makes/models. Marcum Recon seems fairly reasonably priced but their recordable model uses an older/obsolete  video playback..Quicktime I believe so there's that to contend with .  I would suggest researching the models in your price range then search IS for that same make/model for member reviews . I have two Aqua Vu units a Micro % and Micro II both with DVR ...both can be deployed with ease and are a great scouting tool . 

[3300]

my first cam was a cabelas cam. being a newbie to them i didn't know what to look for other than price. so i bought the cabelas black and white with a rather large display that was built like the old tv's were.
i took it back the next day after using it one time. i couldn't see any thing except plankton and i had to use the light i bought to go on it to see that much.

things have changed since then and the monitors have gone to lcd/led/oled and the cams have either lcd or uv or both.
some come with the sonar like the marcum lx9 and you can watch fish on your cam while using the same display to watch sonar. that's what i opted for. it is more for sit and fish because of the size and weight and how you have to carry it and deploy it. so it is large.

i watched a small group use the tiny pocket sized cams not long ago. they had one in a pocket and went to holes already made no one was using and dropped the cam in and spun it around looking for weeds and fish and found them in one hole and put the camera away and started fishing and catching them. i liked what i saw being it fit into a pocket and went right back in it fast and they didn't use any more electronics to catch fish. so this is yet another way to fish with them.

what you have to think about is how would you use one if you bought one, so you can pick the type best for your type of fishing. maybe you'll have both types after your budget allows for it.

if you only scout with one mainly then the pocket type is a great option. i think sonar is a much better option tho always as it covers the entire water column all at one time.

then if you don't plan on holding onto the cable a device is needed to do that for you and normally to spin it. there are only a few options for that and it is kind of a deal breaker for deployment. it makes it more of a hassle to use. that's why i liked the folks who used it to find what they wanted to see and put it away before fishing. that means no cables to get fish caught into also and no more equipment to break out to hold the camera.

the main thing about cameras is how poor the images will be after you deploy the cam into water that has limited natural lighting. then the price of the camera lens comes into play as to how sensitive the lens is to low light conditions and also what type(s) of artificial light comes on board. so look at lux specs and size of lens and who it's made by . sony is the most common good one.

like our eyes, it needs light to see. plankton and silt and algae and low light because of the snow/ice hamper this. the deeper you go the worse it becomes. so they are not ideal and are really best for shallow water and i wouldn't pick a camera first over sonar. if and when the bite is slow they are great to see what's going on. to see if the bait your using is turning them away or if the presentation is or what type(s) of fish are there but not biting. they are good to find living weed beds and structure also. and to find things dropped in if the bottom isn't too soft.

marcum recon has both types of light on board and is the top camera going because of the lights it comes with and being compact. the dvr is great if you only want to play it back on the display that came with it. the format is off for playing back on any thing else.  they offer it with a compass so you know where to move if you see some thing and want to follow it and a water temp probe like my lx9 camera has.
it also has a neck lanyard so you don't have to hold it and drop it into the hole.
aqu-vu is who they copied and are 2nd best now because they only offer one type of light source. but they should have better dvr play back on all devices.

if you spend cheap, you may end up needing to re-spend if the unit isn't much good or breaks soon after warranty or both. that's always the case while trying to save money on products tho..

5000 post reply!

[zwiggles]

Good post, and congrats on 5k

[green shack]

I have been wanting to update to a new camera as well.  I have a early cabelas camera which never really worked well.  I tried to use it this year with a larger monitor in hopes that it would help.  How do these new units work in stained water?

[3300]

at the worst light levels, say night time on snow covered ice with no moon with bright white led's turned on the camera, it can see about 2 to 4 feet depending on water clarity. also, color cams should be switched back to black and white in low light levels to enhance what it can see using contrast levels to help discriminate better. the main problem is the plankton are attracted to the light and fill in more and more. the longer the light is on, the more you can't see past them. that makes you want to switch the light off, but then you can't see at all in the dark.

for upgrading purposes, the biggest differences are sizes and lenses, the environment still is what makes them limited. even if you bought a hd camera, the stained water which lowers light levels will show at best average imaging.
the larger cameras have swim fins and added weight so you can move while using them and the pocket cams don't.

going with what i call a pocket cam brings on new ways of using one, so does the lx9 with one screen for the camera and sonar, although much larger than the pocket cams. they each have a best way to use them. pocket cams use a tiny display too. the lx9 nd i think most of marcums line up uses an 8" display.

if you have a pocket cam and also want to use sonar then you have to use two displays at least to try to watch. the lx9 allows the camera to be viewed using one display in a few ways such as full screen with nothing else showing or split screen so it's 50/50 cam/sonar or with a living background/wall paper for the cam and the sonar is an overlay on top of the camera at that point.

i think having the recon and the lx9 would cover every thing if you wanted to afford both. i thought of buying the recon, but i only use my camera when the bite is slow/nil and i want to know more information. that doesn't happen very often, but i might if it were the pocket sized where it is independent and fast to deploy. it would depend on why you want to look around with one. then again, you probably wouldn't be looking at a sonar because the bite is too slow so you could move about and scout with one at that point.

for me, it's just a nice option to be able to use it is all, but it isn't used much at all. i might try it in a kayak this summer to see what improvement it may have with more natural light, but it won't be for any thing else. i am always casting towards shore, so even a sonar is not needed for my style of fishing.

would be worth watching youtube videos of the ones you want to research more on first.

[hardwater diehard]

I made some mods for my Micro ...the bobber float works surprisingly well..as does the pool pole for open water season.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=309081.0

Cameras are going to be limited to the light penetration ... as stated above.

[green shack]

I will have to get someone with one of these cameras to come out with me to check the performance.  Like you said a good sounder does the trick.  It would be nice to  have the Camera  up on the screen in the hardside.  I already spent a bunch of money once way back and didn't get any use out of it.  Thanks for your input and experience

[lunkerhunter]

I fish in a portable house, flip up style. prefer to fish for trout, shallow water, 5 feet and in. I had a cabelas  underwater camers some years back, LOL,,, never saw a thing on it. Always dark, couldnt focus on anything. Sold it cheap, a bad investment I guess. Im looking to help myself find fish, identify sandy bottoms, aid in the catching of trout.I had an awful year, other than the thought I m doing everything wrong, Im looking to fix one issue at a time.

[hardwater diehard]

I fish in a portable house, flip up style. prefer to fish for trout, shallow water, 5 feet and in. I had a cabelas  underwater camers some years back, LOL,,, never saw a thing on it. Always dark, couldnt focus on anything. Sold it cheap, a bad investment I guess. Im looking to help myself find fish, identify sandy bottoms, aid in the catching of trout.I had an awful year, other than the thought I m doing everything wrong, Im looking to fix one issue at a time.

I am going to suggest a micro unit then ...with some mods and adapters/holders/stands you should be set .