Under Water Camera Wish List

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey everyone, this is sort of a request for Techies and tinkerers of the electrical type... Alan contacted me last night asking for my thoughts on underwater cameras and I think to be fair I need to qualify my comments... I have a Marcum Recon 5 and it's a great little camera, but it has some limitations that I'd like to see made better and if I was a good entrepreneur  I'd go to work with these thoughts and make me a living off the product, but seems I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, I'll see if one of you are...   My camera has a very small viewing window and under the water you can't ever see very far due to water clarity,(thus there's no need to see far, only a wide view) so what I think needs to be done is a wide angle lens on the camera so you can see like up to 180 degrees , so maybe a fisheye lens would work as well.  Now I know there are a lot of water proof cameras out on the market for such things as back up cameras on cars and etc... Many of these can be bought really economically from chinese companies... What we need is a cheap camera like this that allows real time video transmission, with the wide angle lens so you can actually see what is around you... Then we need to put this into a package that you can actually use without taking a half hour to set up... Joe at the gorge has a high end aquaview camera the other day and it was way more convenient to pull out and use than mine is...(had a really clear picture as well) We need a package that you can set over the hole and lower the camera and rotate the field of view and hook to the monitor (that you can actually see without a tent to shield the light)..  Anyway this all needs to be simple and fast to use... I really like the camera, but when it takes all my fishing time to set it up and tear it down, its not a good tool to use...  So my call to you, is who amoung you knows how to put these components together so we can make a good functional camera?  Let me know your thoughts...  PS... I don't have the wifi camera, but that would be really cool if it broadcast the signal and you could get some glasses that displayed the camera feed...   Know it's possible, just not sure how affordable...  Later Jeff

[Bow-Dude]

Add to that a reel so the ccamera could be reeled up or down quickly.  I too seldom use my camera because of the "hastle" to set it up, figure out the direction it is facing and be able to turn it side to side.  I have a camera platform I set up and I have a remote controlled platform that will allow me to turn the camera.  It works okay.

[fast_randy]

I got a lesson on how important it is sometimes,  to be able to see the fish, on my last trip to Rire. I have a Humminbird helix 5. And I had all five poles out, two on jigging jaw jackers. And I was fishing next to two guys in a two man pull over tent. They both had just one pole and one ten inch hole in front of them. But they could see clear to the bottom. And they could see the fish and could entice them to bite. I never had a nibble. But these two hooked 4 trout and a few perch while I was there. And I had one pole right by there tent. They invited me to. We never seen any kokanee though. They must be deeper.

[SkunkedAgain]

Add to that a reel so the ccamera could be reeled up or down quickly.  I too seldom use my camera because of the "hastle" to set it up, figure out the direction it is facing and be able to turn it side to side.  I have a camera platform I set up and I have a remote controlled platform that will allow me to turn the camera.  It works okay.

I'm right there with you, I had to get the rotator and all to make the camera useful so it is positioned where you want it, but that all adds to the time to set things up... They are great once they are set up, but they do limit your mobility and cut into fishing time... I'm sure it can be much better than what it is now, so hope we can figure out how to make them better.... Thanks for comments... Jeff

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I got a lesson on how important it is sometimes,  to be able to see the fish, on my last trip to Rire. I have a Humminbird helix 5. And I had all five poles out, two on jigging jaw jackers. And I was fishing next to two guys in a two man pull over tent. They both had just one pole and one ten inch hole in front of them. But they could see clear to the bottom. And they could see the fish and could entice them to bite. I never had a nibble. But these two hooked 4 trout and a few perch while I was there. And I had one pole right by there tent. They invited me to. We never seen any kokanee though. They must be deeper.

Hey Randy you probably read my Cascade post, and I know what you are saying, I was shut out pretty much up there, until I used my camera to see what the fish were doing... Now I didn't have my fish finder then, so the camera was my only idea of what was going on and I think I'm becoming more converted to electronics in fishing... I used to not think they were that big of deal, but after this winter, I'm thinking that without them my numbers go way down... So I'm giving a big thumbs up to electronics this year... Cameras could be the best of the electronics with some tweaks so they are more user friendly... Now that is for close up fishing, they can't replace the side finding features or GPS so you need more than just seeing what is there at the moment, but they sure help you figure out what to do better so the fish will take your offering... Thanks for the comments... Jeff