Review of the RD32II 1080p H264 Sport Cam (2 of 2)

[drumgroovy]

Off-topic: Poor sod who got his bike blown over. That's an Africa Twin... that bike is heavy as sin.

[drumgroovy]

I think the colour flatness of the Extreme Cam makes it easier to colour correct and edit, but seeing as it's supposed to be an action type cam, I suppose colour correction is one of the last things on the list of priorities. Nice to see it goes up to 60FPS for slo-mo editing.

[practice264]

Excellent review as usual. I bought the keyfob camera following your review, will now consider this as it is waterproof for outdoor use.

[jbhebbel]

What is the weight of this camera? Can the rubber molding be removed to reduce weight? This cam really looks like a great choice for FPV arial videos!

[Techmoan]

@jbhebbelHave a look on the RC Groups forum for a thread about using this camera for FPV. The thread is titled " Cheaper alternative to a GoPro?" and it's in the FPV section.

[jbhebbel]

@Techmoan This seems to be in regards to the Extreme, I was more interested in the RD32II as it looks lighter without any mods being done.

[Techmoan]

@jbhebbel You need to start reading at post 87 onwards. The thread is about a number of different cameras. Post 87 shows the RD32II and the discussion continues from there. By the way more specs including weight are on my blog TECHMOAN.COM

[jbhebbel]

@Techmoan Very good info, also found a "uncased" version of the original RD32 weighing in at only 29g!!! if i can uncase the RD32II and get its weight down to ~35g then this is an amazing camera for FPV!!!!

[2006geralt]

Oké update here, i converded your files with "Ojosoft total Vide oconverter 2.5.0" to mp4 and than i can load the files into "Sony Vegas Pro" and the quality stayed the same as original !

Ojosoft converts very fast and 5 of your files took about 3 minutes, so acceptable !

[hmmwvj]

@Techmoan I've learnt that no 30fps camera can get registration plates off oncoming traffic, the closing speed is too great. You're usually able to get the plates off cars moving in the same direction no matter your speed and the other guy's.

[Techmoan]

@hmmwvj OK - I'll forget that idea then. it's just something people have asked me about in the past.

[hmmwvj]

@Techmoan I have a question for you. How long from date of payment does your stuff take to ship from China? Thanks. I'm waiting for something I've ordered to arrive.

[hmmwvj]

@techmoan Manchester looks good. From what I've heard from friends in the UK it's not a place you would really want to visit.

[Techmoan]

@hmmwvj I'd trust your friends.

[leighrowden70]

Great videos!!

(James may voice stunt double) :D

[287rob]

i cant find it for sale anywhere

[Techmoan]

@287rob Links on my blog TECHMOAN.COM

[grey0powerlessnesss]

Contra to part 1, the website said that night lighting whilst video shooting is possible (now) ...

[Techmoan]

@grey0powerlessnesss You can record with any camera at night, but some will just film darkness (like this one). The camera I tested only has white LEDs not IR LEDS.

[bobflyman]

The avi file from your web site opened OK in Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 and I'd assume it would in Adobe Premiere Pro cs 4 etc. Playback of 1080 was pretty choppy on my old pc though. Nice review by the way!

[dachlawine]

I just got the HD32 as a “SumikonHD82.aqua” apparently of identical construction. Amazingly good quality - as long as there isn´t any fast movement. In that case the picture loses quality by building up ugly motion artefacts. You´ll notice them when it comes to slomo playback – which I make use of quite often. You can see this even in your video when stopping it at around 02:25 as the pedestrians are passing by. I don´t think this is a matter of slow shutter speeds. That´s a bit annoying…

[heroineworshipper]

You should compare rolling shutter artifacts between cameras.

[Techmoan]

@heroineworshipper Can you suggest a suitable test for this, that I could reproduce easily.

[heroineworshipper]

@Techmoan Pan sideways very rapidly while photographing something with vertical lines.

[Techmoan]

@heroineworshipper Would it be best then to show a freeze frame of this in the youtube review?

[heroineworshipper]

@Techmoan Definitely freeze frame.

[jeremythejerm]

can you Please do the watch camera :(

Ives seen all videos of all these gadgets except for the watch. .

[Techmoan]

@jeremythejerm I haven't really got any plans for one of these, they all seem pretty poor to me.

[MrWiseinheart]

13:06 whats up with people parking on the main road. :)

Its so weird seeing you drive on left side I'd probably crash at some point if I were to visit Britain being so used to American roads.

[Techmoan]

@MrWiseinheart You get used to driving on the other side, I've driven in the US no problem. Having the gear stick on the other side though, means it a lot easier to use an automatic. As far as people parking everywhere.....tell me about it. There are a lot of people who have houses, but no drives or garages, so that's fair enough....but there are as many people who could park their car on a drive, but are too lazy/selfish to put their car(s) on it.

[wysiwyg2006]

wheres a good place in the uk to get this from, thankyou

[2006geralt]

Thats a bommer :-(

I can edit my AVI files from the old ATC3K camera into Sony Vegas Pro 10.

But not your files from the RD32II.

Shame, because i like the quality of the footage !!?

[Techmoan]

@2006geralt Thanks for letting me know and confirming this. The reason I put the files up is so people can try before they buy...and in your case it seemed like its been worthwhile. Likewise if people find that the footage works fine with their editing package of choice then they shouldnt get put off by the fact that I was having difficulty with my setup.

[2006geralt]

The software from Sony Vegas 10 does edit .AVI. I will try to edit your filles these days and tell the answer here :-)

Again very nice review !!

[locouk]

I'd like to see some underwater footage as my GoPro tends to blur the image underwater, maybe you should get a goldfish so this feature can be demonstrated.

[darkstonecastle]

Why don't you do a review of button video cameras like the one that girl used in 'The girl with the Dragon Tatoo?'

[GingeRbiker82]

Just got a drift stealth ;) v happy with it. Upgrade from md80 ;) nice to see this cam didn't get harsh emails ;)

[ArnoldSchwarznigger]

I wanted to see what t looked like underwater, but great review anyway.

[jojoroy1993]

Hi, I'm a snowboarder looking for a camera that can attach to a helmet i start snowboarding and 8.30am and finish 4 pm i was wondering if you can make a video of a few cameras that would work for me that don't brake the bank if you can that would be great and if you need any more info just ask

[UKmatt2000]

It's probably been said, but I put the sample videos into Adobe Premiere and it handled them absolutely fine. I'm tempted to get one of these, if only so I can make my own suction mount and fit it to the roof of my Land Rover.

[Normandy5]

My AVI results with Windows 7-32: Video and audio plays or imports into Media Player, KMPlayer, VirtuaDub, AviDemux, Vegas 9.0b and Windows Movie Maker. Video does not import into TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress, even if the video stream is re-wraped in an MP4.

[c40uk]

you want to sell it if you wont use it again .lol

[senv2312]

Great video...but I do have a question. Is it possible with this camera to rotate the video with 90 or even 180 degrees? Thanks in advance.

[Techmoan]

@senv2312 No.....It only has the features I demonstrated (other than the ability to record .wav audio without video) as I discovered by accident today. That's what the purple LED mode is, not video playback as I originally said in the video.

[Kernow111]

Another great video. I was hoping this might be the winner but it seems if the video format is un-editable without conversion, then it's a no. On a side note, I was wondering if it would be possible to cut out a small circle of foam and pop it in the back of the camera to reduce the wind noise?

[Techmoan]

@Kernow111 Not every piece of software will have problems editing the raw footage from this camera. iMovie is the only one I tested, but it's also the only one I use. You'll see other comments from people who tried out the sample clips I have uploaded on my blog, who advise that Sony Vegas has issues too, but Windows live movie maker is working fine.

As far as your foam idea goes...it sounds totally do-able to me.

[birdgeekguy]

Extreme cam was voted best video camera on the market on compusa.com (no joke)

[TechnikSaft]

Can I put it on my Ski-Helmet without Tape?

[Techmoan]

@TechnikSaft Hey, you can do whatever you want, I won't tell.

[karldeanjackson]

Cool vid

[karldeanjackson]

The only reson u couldnt edit the is because u are using somthing made by apple to edit them and anything by app can only load mpeg4

[Techmoan]

@karldeanjackson iMovie on the Mac supports many different video formats, including most .avi files I've tested as well as AVCHD files from my camcorder. People are also reporting problems with Sony's Vegas software. iMovie on the iPad is more restrictive.

[XSpt]

@Techmoan Nah Vegas is like 100 times better tha iMovie, better than Vegas on Adobe Pr.

[Techmoan]

@XSpt I think you are misunderstanding. Sony Vegas might well be the dogs knees as far as editing goes.....but it too (along with iMovie) fails to edit the raw footage from this camera. That it why I said "People are also reporting problems with Sony's Vegas software".

[morkovetz]

great review, thank you !!

[SidSideslip]

Thanks Techmoan for another great, comprehensive review. I'm sure many in the R/C world will be interested in this camera (and will link to your review) as it seems better suited to mounting on a radio controlled model.

[ThatMercury49]

"My embarassement is for your pleasure" Great review as always! The sad-raindrop-bokeh was creepy.

[HANENG18]

How much ???

[Techmoan]

@HANENG18 There is a link to my blog entry for this review in the video description - click and all will be revealed.

[Desmaad]

You should be able to adjust the luminance gain on cameras' night mode. That should allow you a good balance between brightness and detail.

[Desmaad]

@Desmaad Also, they should use higher bit depth during the capture phase to better eliminate the graininess.

[MrPolymers]

Techmoan.. One more question.. Do you have to hook up the RD32II to a TV to change settings, or can it be done through the USB port on the computer?

[Techmoan]

@MrPolymers If you want to change anything, you'll need to display the menus on a TV (or HDMI compatible monitor) .

[2000piko]

At 05:55 there is a sad smily...oh, I love your vids so much, the extremcam is avarible in germay too for 80€ I think, i won't buy this creepy thing. The sound is so bad, in my case it was the other smallest hd camara, but it isn't.

Thanks for this Video!!!

[itsabomberscope]

Hi Techmoan. Whats the model of that little TV you are using? cheers.

[RichardWhelan82]

I can loan you my GoPro HD2 to review against there camera's if you want? inbox me.

[Techmoan]

@RichardWhelan82 Many thanks for the offer, but i'll be taking a bit of a break from action camera tests for a while.

[gamerplay]

you should do picture in picture when doing side by side reviews of cameras it would be better

[Techmoan]

@gamerplay The problem for me with PIP is that one of the videos either ends up being tiny in the corner...or goes so large as to obscure too much of the other image.There is a little bit of side-by-side in the review though.

[gamerplay]

@Techmoan yeah i saw that after i wrote it I was like crap lol. You could try another program for your video editing like power director 9. That one i use and it has a way you can do PIP. Just thought id say good review

[Ghlargh]

I use Ubuntu and kdenlive, i had no problems what so ever with importing that 9s video clip from your site. It's just your software that can't recognize h.264 in an AVI envelope, which shouldn't really matter since it's just an envelope.

[kb1nyd]

RD32ll is better, but if it had the tiny LCD of the Extreme, man that would be the perfect camera indeed. I have to say, this was a very good review, thanks for taking the time to bring it to us!

[evildwarf]

5:52 cheer up, sad raindrop!

[MichaelMantion]

I actually prefer working with the AVI format, so that's definitely a plus for me. Great video thanks. I don't like the larger file sizes. Thanks for the video

[Dhintheman]

at 7 minutes and 2 seconds, the buildings on the right look curved. Is that normal?

[valhar2000]

@Dhintheman: It's a fish-eye lens. Fish-eye lenses distort images that way, but they allow you to see a very wide field of view.

[yankonthis]

hi can you make a video but dont stick the camera in front of you put it some where behind you to see how many people stare at you? i always wanted to do this

[redknight802]

The footage does look better after downloading it.

[slowgold20]

who is tom daly? Im just wondering as my grandfather has that name

[kodamathedestroyed]

@slowgold20 An English Olympic high diver.

[ll1lI]

No PCSO's or cops asked you what you were filming?

[ciscokev]

Thanks for review! Looking at some sort or camera for filming my flying lessons.

[Joseph9536]

Great review! I downloaded one of the sample clips from your website and the video edited without a problem in Windows live movie maker.

[MrNeskio]

Vegas Pro 10 on windows 7 didn't manage to do anything either.

[jaTVarchiv]

This gadget seems to be usable as a car camera. Is it possible to use the suction cup from the DVR DC011 dash car camera?

[mungabba]

Hey Techmoan, great video once again. Keep up the good work! Your combination of clear, unbiased and detailed reviews are a rare thing these days on YouTube. If I could I would like to see more car tech reviews, perhaps some HUD apps for smartphones like this: watch?v=_eUhGKHKUZ0&feature=re­lated

[NobbysPcHelp]

Great review as always. Also sony vegas opens the files fine cant try final cut though as i dont have my mac here at the moment but i guess it will be the same as imovie.

[tsukasa2k6]

well i tried the footage in sony vegas 11 pro didn't want to import it but windows live movie maker 2011 could import it XD

[danthelambboy]

Gloomy sad looking raindrop :)



[metalfist616]

you got so many cool review locations! its awesome. is that in london, or where are you at? i wanna go there on day :)

[Techmoan]

@metalfist616 It's all Manchester (filmed on my lunch hours). I've worked there for 25 years, so know my way around the place. I'll be honest, I try and make it look interesting - you should see the stuff I don't film.

[metalfist616]

@Techmoan lol, okay, thanks for the warning :)

[Aigor1234]

I loved this camera! But you forgot to say that when you stop recording it makes the ''clicking'' sound, not that big of a deal, but it might bother someone.

[Techmoan]

@Aigor1234 Yes I only noticed that after editing. Pressing that button will always produce a bit of wobble too - so it's probably best to only use the middle section of each clip.

[OleVanDole]

Loved the video, thanks for the effort.

My choice is the RD32II - I cant deal with murky colorless video, still i think the Extreme cam was better in the dark, looked almost movielike apart from the framerate.

[Terrorist939]

sad looking raindrop on the lens laughed my ass of keep it up :D

[policechaser]

As always, thanks for your expertise.

[ThatsTechtastic]

Record a video with ALL the cameras you have and put them together! :-)

[Techmoan]

@ThatsTechtastic That idea makes me cry

[diiebane]

I can see it coming: the police stopping you because of the camera mount on top of your car to see what the heck you are doing :D

Wonderful review once again

[Techmoan]

@diiebane It crossed my mind that I might be accused of impersonating a police car...given that the RD32II has a nice flashing blue light on the top of it.

[nuthouseproductz]

Extreme cam mic is really bad.

[MaurizioM89]

@360lolz I actually bought the 808#11 microcamer thanks to Techmoan review and i'm really happy with it! I would buy the RD32II eyes closed if i needed one, thanks to his review. Is really a good job helping other people know that some cheap chinese cameras and gadgets can be worth the money (and at the same time help you avoid some others that are just crap).

[Techmoan]

@MaurizioM8 Don't mind the troll...he puts a negative comment on every video I make before he watches them. I'm glad that you and most people are capable of understanding that I'm here mostly to review cheaper Chinese alternative cameras to see if they are worth buying. You won't get CNet, The Verge, Engadget, DP Review or Photography Blog spending any time with cameras like this. I'll let them have the GoPros, Contour HDs and the like.They'll have guaranteed quality but at a premium price.

[valhar2000]

@Techmoan: He wouldn't use these cameras, therefore no-one else can. Another run of the mill social dominator who in unable to actually dominate anybody.

[wilkas222]

OMG ANOTHER REVIEW!!! THANKS

[360lolz]

For God's sake man! You have probably spent £1000 on this junk! Buy a normal camera from a know brand. Done!

[Techmoan]

@360lolz I spent exactly £0 on this camera.

[360lolz]

@Techmoan Well, I wonder how many of your viewers would actually buy this.

[FFVoyager]

@360lolz Is that the point of the review?

I think he does a great job reviewing these things honestly and, I think, his work will encourage the manufacturers to make things better and saves us the money some of us would otherwise waste on poorly considered tat.

[donspew]

First :D

[robert0joe]

First!