Brinno TLC200 Pro HDR Time Lapse Video Camera

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Hello all, after reading the few available reviews and a few youtube videos I ordered the camera (PRO HDR) as soon as it was available. It arrived on time and well packed. The first thing I noticed was that it seamed smaller than what I expected. The package contained the camera with the 19mm kit lens, 4 regular AA batteries, a little screw and a screwdriver and the manual... read the manual, sufficiently informative.



Tested the cam and the true benefit was the battery life, it truly does wonders, I had it shooting a timelapse for 16hrs and the battery meter still shows fully charged. The build of the cam is nice, the only thing about the build was the kit lens is just way to wide, it seams wider than the one on my DRIFT GHOST and the GOPRO HERO3, I find it almost unusable for the timelapses I wanted to do. I wanted to order an additional lens but they are just overpriced at $400 for 18-55.



What bothered me the most was the manual focus with the built-in screen is just complementary useless, it is pretty much trial and error when it comes to focus. The camera has the ability to zoom in for focus purposes but the image shown on the vertically oriented screen is just as poor as it gets.



Another thing that I found strange was the GUI, it seams to me that it was made for people that do not use any other cameras, the settings of white balance and the other manual settings are deep in the GUI. Another thing about the GUI is, no matter what setting you change, one you hit OK you are back in the root menu, then you need to click your self back in to the are you were at to change the next thing in line or if you mistakenly changed something... I just find the keys and the GUI very fiddly at the least.



Honestly, I am giving this camera another go and then I will most probably send it back.



P.S.

I bought the WATERPROOF HOUSING for $60, I expected something that will last for at least a few shoots, this is the worst type of waterproof enclosure I ever got. The plastic it was made from is the most fragile plastic on the market. The hinges are made of thin plastic with metal loops, one cracked the first day. The enclosure only fits the camera with the KIT lens. And this was for sure the worst part of my buy, basically I burned $60. I have 5 different underwater housings for different cameras/camcorders, the one from Drift GHOST I got for $35 is a TANK compared to this.



On another note, I went to the BRINNO website to see if there is a Firmware upgrade for this cam., no luck, then I noticed that tlc200 firmwares is still at v1.0, and it has been on the market for a while now, it seams that they are happy withthe GUI and all and there is no plan to fix or improve things up... :(



via Amazon Best Seller V2 copy copy http://www.amazon.com/Brinno-TLC200-Lapse-Video-Camera/dp/B00CBNZC2K/ref=pd_zg_rss_ts_p_photo_4