Gun Dog Forum

Bought a Virb Elite action camera which showed up today. I really want to get some dog's eye view videos.

Took it out and played a little fetch with Maddie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVx2GQqLhMM
Note - be sure to hit the little gear/sprocket button and change the quality to 1080P

It works great! It's as steady as one could hope for with the dog running. Image stabilization is turned on in the camera which is helping.

I need to trim the excess on the harness straps once I am satisfied it is adjusted correctly. The harness rolled a little with the weight of the camera, when mounting it I need to allow for that so the video is level.

I was controlling it via a TT15 collar and an Alpha. The only - minor - complaint I have is the controls are a little clunky from the alpha. To get to the camera remote you have to bail out of the tracking screen and launch the Virb remote app which takes a good 10 seconds to start and connect. Alternately you have to go into the settings on the dog to start and stop recording. Hopefully Garmin will update the firmware to include a button the tracking screens to run the camera. What I would really like to see would be the ability to map one of the physical correction buttons to "start record" so you can run it while the screen is locked.

I'm looking forward to playing with it hunting.

I'll take the dog out of suburbia tomorrow for a real field test.

I have one and have been impressed with the video quality. The setup and settings are a bit cumbersome. Am looking forward to Fall hunting with the device

Here is another video we did last night. If I want to video retriever work, the camera needs to be on the top instead of the side. Got some interesting underwater video though!

The harness is rolling to the side more than there is adjustment in the camera mount.

https://vimeo.com/129738320

Edit - there seems to be a way to level the camera electronically via the view finder. I'll play with that tonight.

Edit2: there is no way to level the camera. The level feature is just that, a visual level to use when adjusting mounts. It has no impact on the video.

One additional issue I found last night is the virb remote feature on the Alpha has limited range. Once the dog got past a about a hundred yards (and there was some heavy cover between us), the virb remote app went to disconnected. It automatically reconnected when the dog got closer. The collar was still connected up to the Alpha the entire time and working normally. That is disappointing because I was under the impression the collar was acting as a relay between the camera and the alpha.

I am opening a ticket with Garmin about that because I don't think it is correct.

did you have a waterproof case for the camera? I was under the impression the Virb could withstand wetness but was limited in its waterproof capabilities

It is rated for 1 meter for up to 30 minutes purely for accidental exposure. Huh, I thought it was more... You are correct. I see a dive case in my future.

The virb is IPX7 rated:

http://www.garmin.com/en-US/legal/waterrating