Underwater Panning Camera

[holehopper]

As a camera owner today (aqua-vu "Z" series) I always thought that a panning camera would be nice.  Seems like a great idea to me.  No spinning the cable.  No camera compass, etc.  What seems weird to me is that I can't find anyone that makes one anymore.  Cabelas has one, but the reviews are brutal.  Marcum used to make a couple different models but none of their new ones have a panning feature.  Why aren't there more of these out there?  Is it a cost issue?  Do they break a lot?  For anyone that has owned one of these, let me know what you think.  Do you have a lot of problems with them? 

[JJK]

As a camera owner today (aqua-vu "Z" series) I always thought that a panning camera would be nice.  Seems like a great idea to me.  No spinning the cable.  No camera compass, etc.  What seems weird to me is that I can't find anyone that makes one anymore.  Cabelas has one, but the reviews are brutal.  Marcum used to make a couple different models but none of their new ones have a panning feature.  Why aren't there more of these out there?  Is it a cost issue?  Do they break a lot?  For anyone that has owned one of these, let me know what you think.  Do you have a lot of problems with them? 

I have a Aqua view and I bought a remote controll tripod for my unit.I love it! You can sit in your shack set up the camera outside and use your remote to turn the camera outside in a 360 degree turn

[royjulius]

So yours is just the motorized tripod with a regular non-panning camera? I'd like to get one if that's the case.

[JJK]

So yours is just the motorized tripod with a regular non-panning camera? I'd like to get one if that's the case.

I think they were about $139.00 from Cabelas.With the wireless remote you can set it up as far as your lenght of the camera cable is.

[JIGGIN-]

I have an Atlantis underwater camera that has held up mostly due to the casing it came in and I baby it. I believe Atlantis has gone out of business or don't sell underwater cams anymore. Their customer service sucked. My camera still works very well but once it craps out, I need a plan B.....

So I compared the Cabela's panning camera against the Cabela's non-panning camera while at Cabela's in Maine and was completely disappointed in the panning camera video quality. The picture quality looked cloudy. The non-panning camera had much better video quality, very crisp and vivid. Seems as though they used 2 different camera's. I know that the non-panning camera is a Sony ccd but not sure about the panning camera. The panning camera had some nice features such as wired and wireless remote.

The nice thing about the Cabela's underwater camera's is that it has Cabela's name on it. If you don't like it for whatever reason, you can return it. I have a friend that owned one and he used it for the entire year. The following year it didn't work (water in the camera) and Cabela's took it back and gave him a replacement for free, they even expedited shipment of the new one (which he had to pay for shipping). They sent him a label to mail the broken one back so he didn't have to pay for the return shipping.

Cabela's has the right idea selling panning cameras but I believe they need to do some more work on it.

Until then I would look at the remote motorized tri-pod with the stationary camera or wait.

JIGGIN.

[lotwfisher]

I used to own a marcum 560, and I loved it alot. Unfortunately I only got one season out of it then it self-destructed, so did the new one they sent me, so I ended up with store credit at thornes.

[gillhog]

As a camera owner today (aqua-vu "Z" series) I always thought that a panning camera would be nice.  Seems like a great idea to me.  No spinning the cable.  No camera compass, etc.  What seems weird to me is that I can't find anyone that makes one anymore.  Cabelas has one, but the reviews are brutal.  Marcum used to make a couple different models but none of their new ones have a panning feature.  Why aren't there more of these out there?  Is it a cost issue?  Do they break a lot?  For anyone that has owned one of these, let me know what you think.  Do you have a lot of problems with them? 

i have the marcum vs560 which turns in the camera head.had it three seasons now with no problem. don't think they make that one anymore either. only thing i don't like is it's only a 5" screen and you can't see it well at all without being in the dark. other than that it's great just dropping down the hole then sitting back in the easychair panning for fish. some people would say i have a fairly large belly, so it makes it hard for me to bend over and tye my boots let alone bending down there to spin a camera by hand. i'de hate to give up the panning feature but it would be nice to have one of those lcd screens so you could see it in the daylight.

[stumper]

Pretty sure Cabelas has addressed the issues with their first yr run on the Panning Cams ...Look for the Advanced Angler II panning cam to hit the shelves this yr. You either had a good one or you didnt with last yrs, no in between.

[JIGGIN-]

Thanks Stumper. I just checked the Cabela's site and they are offering the current panning camera model for $169.88 vs. $299.99 (on sale)....pretty good price for a panning camera although still not worth it.
I didn't see any mention of the Advance Angler II panning camera but will check it out once on the market. I'm sure Cabela's is listening to the people who bought them regarding their pro and cons with the existing model.
That's what makes them an awesome company to deal with. Hopefully this new camera will be my "Plan B"....

JIGGIN.

[Hardguy]

What about non panning cams? There are not so many of them anymore. I believe Aqua View is only making 3 models and Marcum maybe the same. Is there any cam out there that is proven and worth the money?