Lower left, yellow text. Lower right, yellow text on black. Lower right. White or yellow text. Lower left or lower right, yellow text on transparent. Lower right, transparent background, font is orange with black border.
The AVI sample I have does not have a date time stamp, but it can be enabled. Lower right, transparent background, font is orange with gray border, format like this My camera vertical. Others report horizontal. YouTube , Sample Video. PCM, 16 bit, Hz, kbps. PCM 16 bit. It is included with the webcam driver. If you play this file with square pixels it will look distorted a circle will look like a wide oval.
This non proportional distortion makes a circle look like a tall oval. After 30 minutes on the 3 camera or 50 minutes on the 4 camera the AVI file is closed, and another video recording starts. This allows the camera to avoid the 4GB file limit. Flash size and battery life limits still apply. The Car Keys Micro Camera is typically advertised as a "spy" camera. This review does not cover the suitability of this camera for spying or surveillance, and I have no expertise there.
My career background is with embedded microprocessors, software and electronics. See this comment. It is so small, light weight, cheap and functional that it has been enthusiastically adopted by the model RC radio controlled airplane and helicopter community.
In spite of a few serious flaws in some versions of this camera like poor reliability, poor image quality, poor audio quaity, and a minimal human interface , this technology is amazing, and most people gladly put up with the quirks.
This camera is for you if This camera is an amazing, inexpensive, small, light weight, piece of technology. This camera is for you if you are a geek or giz wiz that loves gadgets, are an experienced PC or Mac user, have a lot of intuition, love to solve problems, are comfortable using Google search, know the difference between a drive and a driver, can figure out how to insert a micro SD card, know what a lithium ion or lithium polymer battery is, can work without an owners manual, have experience with USB devices including flash drives and webcams, have experience with video editing and codecs, have a set of small screw drivers and your program tool chest includes gspot.
This camera is an adventure, so expect fun and disappointment. A camera reboot reset is sometimes a normal part of the user experience. This is not a consumer friendly product, particularly for people who are not technically inclined. The camera comes with a poor instruction manual, or a wrong instruction manual, no video editing software and no video encoding software. The user interface is sparse. No manufacturer or reputable brand would put their name on a camera with this variable level of reliability.
Why are these cameras so cheap? The design is based on a SOC system on a chip processor that has all the features needed for an inexpensive digital camera. Some processors can support an LCD display and composite video output, but these features have not been implemented in cameras. The firmware in some cameras has ring tones and cell phone graphics.
These tones and graphics seemed to be a cell phone design but those are probably just feature remnants that were not removed from an SOC development kit.
Because China makes millions of camera devices cell phones , there are many rejected parts. These parts sometimes have the manufacturer name or part number removed, are cheap and are sometimes sold by the pound. Some of the reject parts, like flash memory chips, are reprogrammed to fake a larger size. Many rejected parts don't pass the parametric tests but are still functional. I believe that some rejected, and cheap, parts get used in these cameras.
Why isn't there a brand or manufacturer name on the outside or inside of the camera? A brand represents a level of quality. Without a brand there is no guaranteed quality level, and no reputation to protect.
There are probably some shady goings on here, so it's probably best to lay low and not say too much, and not answer the following questions: Does the camera manufacturer have the copyright to the original camera cell phone design and software? Have all the patent royalties been paid? Have all the FCC compliance test been done? How much lead is in that plastic clam shell design? Do all the pixels in that CMOS sensor work? Why do some chips have the manufacturer part number scratched-off or missing?
Firmware can be reloaded and upgraded. OK if the firmware is upgraded with 15 FPS firmware that offers much better quality.
Can optionally remove the video date time stamp. Many cameras, including mine, died because of a fake internal defective flash memory chip. I revived my dead camera with a firmware upgrade. It has an internal micro SD flash memory card. It uses an removable micro SD flash memory card and has the best quality audio. It claims to be HD but is not. It has some unique desirable features. Available with either internal flash chip or micro SD slot. The processor is different and the audio is worse.
On eBay it is hard to distinguish it from a 3 camera. Like the 3 but more missing frames. Video date time stamp is in the lower left.
As delivered at 30 FPS the missing frame rate is terrible. The audio is terrible with low resolution and various noise artifacts. The FPS is adjustable and the video date time stamp can be disabled. Similar to the 3 and 6. Has 1GB close-and-continue and the video date time stamps is lower right, yellow on black. Variable bitrate audio.
Same video date time stamp as the 6. Also first to have MOV H. Usually has no missing video frames. About 4 time the cost of the p cameras. Plastic case is slightly different. Terrible missing frame rate. The manufacturer of the camera is unknown but the processors and the webcam drivers have these names on them: Anyka, SunPlus Technology and Syntek Semiconductors.
The battery is not removable. The camera has two power modes: on and standby. When the camera seems off it is actually in standby, powering the circuit board and maintaining the date time clock. The battery will slowly lose charge in standby mode. There is no switch to completely disconnect the battery some other micro cameras have a disconnect switch, but then the date time stamp is lost. Some batteries stop taking a charge. A charge lasts about 50 minutes at room temperature.
If your computer will not install your camera as a mass storage device, then there is something wrong with the camera, the USB cable or the computer. This mode requires a webcam driver. In webcam mode, if the camera uses a flash memory card the card must be iinstalled even though the camera does not write to it. Some video capture programs will support the webcam driver.
As a webcam, in most cameras the microphone is disabled. The user can set it using the instruction below. Only a dead battery will unset it. The date time is applied to each created file. Video images and some photos are date time stamped.
The video stamp can be disabled on some cameras. It can be blanked with a firmware modification on some cameras. The stamp can be " removed " in post processing. Always run H2testw at least once on all flash memory especially if it is generic. Reformatting can sometimes reduce these problems: lockups, duplicate frames, aborted video.
The flash memory is FAT32 file system. NTFS can not be used. No single file can exceed 4GB about 50 minutes on a 3 camera. If the firmware gets corrupted, the camera will not work until the firmware is re-installed. You need to disassemble the camera to remove or replace the flash card. See external flash card. It is important to use a micro SD flash card that has fast random write speed.
Manufacturers don't publish the random write speed but it can be measured with Crystal Disk Mark. SanDisk usually performs great, and the generic brands can perform poor. Class 4 or faster is recommended. Some class 2 cards are too slow resulting in a high missing frame rate and a video date time stamp flicker. You might have to install a codec to play or edit the AVI file.
For better playback performance, move the AVI file to a hard disk. The 3 and 4 have the best audio. The 1, 2, 5 and 7 have fair to poor audio with Hz sampling that sounds like you are talking into a big tin can. Some cameras also have a audio recorder mode. Most ads are full of misinformation and broken English. For faster delivery and often a better tested camera there are sellers in the USA but you will usually pay more.
Many Versions - There are many versions of this camera: 1, Externally they all look very similar. All have a lens, microphone, USB connector, hole for the reset switch, two working buttons, two fake buttons, and an LED. Some have a slot for a micro SD card. They all have a similar plastic clam shell case, held together with two screws, and weigh about 15 grams without the key chain, or 10 grams without the plastic clam shell.
The video quality is fair to poor 4 Jan update - With new software bin files this camera works much better. The playback stutters because about half the frames are duplicates the new software bin files fix this problem.
The flash memory chip has three partitions: two small partitions for system files and one large partition for user files AVI, JPG. If the system files are deleted or corrupted the camera will fail. This is a common failure because many of the 1 cameras have fake defective flash chips.
The failure rate is high YMMV and if a 1 camera dies many do you can try this. Many people have reported that their camera stopped working after a few weeks, and so did mine.
I have been able to fix the problem. There are some tricks to maybe access the flash and offload your files by using system mode. The date time stamp is white and in the upper left corner.
With the latest software files this date time stamp can be optionally removed. Camera 1, Date time stamp, upper left.
The card is not user accessible. The video quality is good. The camera and the AVI file are both x so there is no aspect ratio distortion. The frame rate is about 29 FPS. There is a burst of duplicate frames in the first second, then it depends on which CPU the camera has. The Toshiba CPU camera measured no duplicate frames. The Mtec CPU camera measured 5 duplicates per second. The USB interface is slow. The date time stamp is in the lower right corner and the font is either orange or white.
The video quality is very good. The best audio kbps. The failure rate is low YMMV. The duplicate frame rate is low.
The x video is AR aspect ratio distorted camera AR 1. The various lens coating colors none, red, green and blue do not seem to correlate to anything. The date time stamp is yellow and in the lower right corner. The video quality is like the 2 camera but with a very high bad duplicate frame rate. The 4 claims to be HD but seems to have a native resolution of x and upconverts it to x in the AVI file.
The photo mode seems to upconvert a x image to a ridiculous x in the JPG file. In spite of this fakery, the camera has some desirable features. The date time stamp can be disabled. Long videos can be recorded because the camera does close-and-continue at 50 minutes to avoid the 4GB file limit.
There is an audio recorder. The aspect ratio is not distorted. There is a webcam driver. Like a 3 camera it takes x video and has a slot for a micro SD card. This makes it difficult to know what camera you will get from a seller on eBay.
Unlike the 3 the 5 video is not aspect ratio distorted. Unlike a 3 camera it has worse audio 8 bit Hz 64kbps, a blue or red LED, a white or orange video date time stamp, an AVI file that is exactly The claim that the video date time stamp can be disabled has not been verified. Video date time stamp is yellow in the lower left.
The FPS is configurable and the video date time stamp can be disabled. The video quality is very good and similar to the 3 and 6. The video will close-and-continue at 1GB. The webcam driver is different from the other webcam drivers. Date time stamp is lower right and is white or yellow or cyan. The hardware ID is unique so this camera can't use any other webcam driver. It is an improved version of the The video quality of 2 and 3 seem to be similar, and better than 1.
If you buy this camera online which version will you get? Some online sellers show sample videos that help you to make a better decision. See the comparison table. My first camera was a version 1 8GB camera. This camera creates a 25 fps AVI video file, but half of the frames are duplicates. This camera worked for about a month then it failed due to a defective fake flash memory chip. It has been partially revived. Click here for more info.
My second camera is a version 3 camera. I ordered it from eBay seller joymyzone.. This camera creates a 30 fps AVI video file with only a few duplicate frames per second.
The video quality is much better than my 1 camera. Here is a preliminary 3 camera report. Links You might need Google Translate for some of these links. Some of these files are in the vault. And that battery is too thick to fit in most cameras. Any replacement battery module must have a protection circuit. The circuit disconnects the battery when fully charged.
Make sure it will fit your camera. Length includes the protection circuit. My 2 camera 3. My 3 camera 4. Any battery module over 4. Smaller than a You must reuse your protection circuit. Recycle the little circuit under the tape. This report says that the mAh battery at 5. These batteries are 4. It can remove shake from AVI video. To see hundreds of examples go to YouTube and search for deshaker. It can capture, edit and convert AVI files. It writes check-summed records t hroughout the flash and then reads them back.
It can detect fake flash memory. Source code is available at the website. Also displays the properties of a video file. It should be used to edit date time files so insure the required format is preserved.
It can compare two files, byte by byte. It can calculate the CRC32 of a file. Usually Microsoft Word format and each is less than 1 MB. Don't expect these manuals to be of much use. Expect broken English and some misinformation. Sunplus makes the processor for the 3 and 6 cameras. Like the , other camera shapes come with many different electronic versions. Don't expect one manual to cover all versions.
It is used in some of the cameras. The MD80 is very similar to the 3 camera. The SPCA is similar. I have copied some of the readerme. Anyka firmware is available at the Anyka Chinese website www. You might need Google Translate. This website is often down. Wait a day and try again. Reid m, Shenzhen Technology Co. Click on "Download", the fifth horizontal menu item. Some cameras might use the CXs or CX firmware. If you download firmware, you use it or install it at your own risk.
The firmware might fix your camera or brick it, making it never work again. Good luck. Where the 1 firmware is. The burntool is included with the firmware. The lower FPS has a lower missing frame rate. The s sometimes also works in the 1 camera.
Chinese - readerme. The 1 camera is also called the How to disable the video date time stamp - The 1 installable firmware consists of a number of files. One file is the date time stamp font. This is not an empty file. In the vault C1 folder. The blank font file is bytes and it holds a font that is blank. If you can't download i t , email me a request see email address above for the 1 camera blank font file. Reset the camera and try it. See the 3 camera page. These are only for the 7. Your camera probably only works with one version: 1 or 2 or 3.
Use at your own risk. See the vault. This code has not been targeted for the camera, but is a valuable read. Ltd - Shenzhen Union Technology Co.
It changes often. Syntek STK02N 2. EXE - Windows 32 bit webcam driver for 8 camera. I have two confirmations that it does not work with Windows EXE - Sets the 8 date time. Doesn't work with Vista Works with XP and Win AK Webcam driver for 1 and 7. The AK and AK webcam driver are the same. Hardware ID 04D6 E. Anyka changes their links without notice.
Another Anyka webcam driver location and installation instuctions.. There are hundreds of samples and reviews. Some, possibly from one lot or manufacturer, have been known to fail. It is used because it has a small forward voltage drop, not for its Schottky high speed. Also power supply mod. Tic Tac box. Maybe it could be used for RC use. Looks like they have responded with a mobius like clone or maybe a contracted Mobius design?
Lens unit pivots which is a big plus for us RC guys. Marc-Alexandre from France made these comments about using webcam mode with the 3 and 8, with Linux. But I suspect a device failure. A camera seller in Thailand sent me information about a new p camera. It is version I don't plan to review it or assign it a number because it is not an size or in an case. Tom Frank started a forum about the p jumbo.
Jumbo p Button Side. Jumbo p Battery Side. Summary of the HD versions and variation of the camera. These create a HD video file, p, x or x Fake means that the image sensor dimension is less than the dimension of the video frame. Real or Fake Video File.
Native Resolution. MOV H. High performance CPU and graphics encoder. Good quality video. No missing frames. Upscaled to HD. Caution : There is no switch that disconnects the battery on an camera.
If you solder the battery module remember that you are soldering a live voltage to the circuit board and any short mishap can destroy the camera. Sellers on eBay are selling the exact LiPo battery module. Claudio in France sent me this great information about his 3 battery protection circuit. The battery module has a LiPo battery cell and a protection circuit. All cameras have something similar. Very interesting. Not all protection circuits are the same.
I had a problem with the battery in that when I left the camera recording until the battery was completely discharged I was not able to recharge it again; as described on your site, " Aug 19 - Dead 3 Camera Revived with Hard Reset", I had to disconnect the battery terminal i. The protection schematic is exactly as the "Typical application circuit" shown on the datasheet. Typical application circuit - DW This comment from aeronca11AC explains that many cameras from China are being export blocked.
Kits are sold with or without a camera. PED Products sent me a sample mounting kit without camera and I am reviewing it. Photos will be posted. A kit with a camera and flash card is available. I don't know what version PED Products is delivering. Contact PED Products about that. ActionCam seems to be an p camera with a mounting kit.
Luis of Spain sent me this information about an that seems to have a syntek processor. Date and time is green on transparent background in lower-right corner. Mark says "it definitely seems that the camera doesn't match the advertised spec at all 8GB, x video, x , but hey I'm not really surprised!
The package it arrived in is labelled na-chuan. The circuit board is not marked with a model number. There is a system mode that lets you access the flash memory partitions like the 1. Sound quality is poor. All cameras have a RAM chip. That is 8Gb 8 gigabits , so maybe the seller didn't understand bits and bytes, or maybe they just lie. Anyka AKQ - Processor. This processor was used in the CXS camera. This camera might use the CXs firmware. Not sure. Cyan date time stamp in the lower right.
The 8-pin chip labeled Q80 is probably a SPI flash chip, where the firmware is stored. Luke photo of his CX If you are mounting an camera or making an enclosure, you care about the plastic case dimensions. Not all cameras have exactly the same plastic case dimensions. I speculate the height difference is to accomodate a thicker battery in some cameras. Case Dimensions Here are the empirical dimensions of two 3 camera cases in popular use, and there might be other case sizes.
When you buy an camera, you usually don't know which one you will get. Case Dimensions, mm 11 12 13 dimensions by www. Lens Centered or Offset This issue will probably only interest people who are creating an camera enclosure. Disconnect the camera from the PC and turn it off. Press and Hold Down the Shutter button. This will take about 1 second. Release the Power button. Wait until the Yellow LED turns off.
This will take about seconds. Release the Shutter button. Using Software to configure the camera Nr16Setup. All firmware versions from v0. Bootloader Update The bootloader is responsible for correctly loading and updating the firmware.
Bootloader V3 and above makes it a little easier to update the firmware, but there are no other advantages. Installing the bootloader requires the exact same procedure as installing the firmware, which is described below. The bootloader is installed within a second or two as opposed to up to 12 seconds required to install the firmware. Firmware Update Normally, there is no need to update the firmware.
You should only update the firmware if you are having problems with the current firmware or the new firmware provides functionality you require that are not available in your current version. Updating the firmware is an easy and safe process. If your camera was purchased before November and has not been updated with bootloader V3 or greater you will normally need an external card reader not another 16! Since all the parameters can be set programmatically using parameters, it is not necessary to load different firmware versions for different configurations.
The only exception is for the video output format. The AVI format produces non-standard. The MOV format produces videos which have a second gap between clips. Manual Firmware Update Note: Unless the camera is running bootloader V3 or above, the firmware file will NOT be automatically deleted from the flash card when the camera is turned on.
This can be done with the card in the camera connected to the computer as a Removable Drive, or externally in a card reader. The name must not be changed. Do not keep it pressed any longer. The Yellow LED will continue to flash very quickly for a second or two and then will remain on for up to 12 seconds. It may also blink a few times. This indicates that the firmware is being written into the camera. The firmware update is complete. BIN from the disk. Recording using an external power supply With this camera, it is possible to charge the battery and record at the same time using a standard external USB 5V DC power supply.
The power supply may be mains driven normal household wall plug , or run off batteries, including the car charger USB plug optional accessory and cable supplied with the camera. The 2 data wires are normally not used. However, some USB power supplies designed for a specific USB device may use different wiring schemes and thus may not work with this camera. To avoid possible problems, always use a generic power supply. When turned on, the camera checks for an electric signal on the two Data wires.
For recording video or taking pictures using a standard external power supply connection, the USB power supply can be connected at any time, i. Recording when directly connected to a PC With this camera, it is possible to charge the battery and record at the same time while connected to a PC.
In order to record video while the camera is connected to a PC, the video recording must be started before the camera is connected to the PC. It is not possible to record if the camera is turned on while connected to a PC. Likewise it is not possible to take pictures while the camera is connected to the PC.
These cards are formatted in FAT32, which is the format the camera requires. Microsoft has imposed an artificial limit on the maximum capacity of the FAT32 file system of 32GB even though, theoretically, a limit of 2 Terabytes is possible. SDXC cards placed in a normal SD HC reader may be recognized by the operating system, but will be found to be unformatted, which is not correct.
If formatted using Windows, they will probably be formatted with 16GB total capacity! The maximum capacity of exFAT is 2 Terabytes. The Manufacturer takes no responsibility for incorrectly formatted cards and the consequences that may arise for example destroyed cards. Doing so will turn the cards into out-of-specification SDHC cards. However, you will have the advantage of much higher card capacities.
After formatting with FAT32 these cards will be recognized by Windows using normal SD HC card readers, which includes this camera, to their full capacity. Note that the max. Special functions The following functions need additional explanation: Power-on Delay This parameter was added in v0. Note that the system requires about 2 seconds after power-on until the buttons become active.
Audio Volume As of v0. Prior to this version a sound track was attached to the video but with the volume turned off. Motion detection Motion detection was introduced in v0. Motion detection starts automatically after a 5 sec. The camera will revert back to normal Motion Detect mode when normal video is stopped with Shutter Button. Recording will continue as long as there is movement detected. If no more movement is detected, the camera will enter a timeout loop and check for more motion.
If no new motion is detected during the timeout loop the camera will stop recording and wait for further movement when it will start recording again. This procedure will be repeated ad infinitum. Once motion is detected, it will take a second or two until the firmware starts recording. Time Lapse Time Lapse was introduced in v0. Photo delay settings also include 0. The Auto-shutdown setting can remain active with Time lapse turned on because it will only function when the camera is toggled out of photo mode back into standby mode.
The 0. Video Frame Rate This parameter was added in v0. When a fix id released it will be added. If this value is set, 30fps will be used instead. Trouble shooting Q. The camera is not recognized as a removable disk or as a Webcam. The operating system must be XP or greater. The camera must be connected using a standard USB cable. Confirm that the cable is not defective by attaching another USB device using the same cable.
Do not use a USB hub. Try using another USB port. Defective cables are the most common problems when the camera is not correctly recognized by the PC.
The yellow LED flashes once per second 15 times and then turns off. There is no micro SD card inserted, the card is not properly inserted, the card is full or the card is defective. The card must be inserted with the gold contacts facing upwards, towards the buttons. There should be a distinct spring action when inserting the last 5 mm and there should be no friction whatsoever.
When the card is pushed 1 mm inside the body the card should latch with a distinctive click. Never force the card, and never push the card more than max. Sometimes the card holder metal frame is not positioned properly in the body and is clearly visible in the card slot.
Inside the Note Pad you have created enter in the following:. The time is represented as military time hou r:minute:seconds.
Make sure you sa ve the file as TAG. Connect your camera to your computer using the provided USB cord. The red light on your camera should be on. Be sure to have your micro SD or TF card inserted into the camera. A file should open when you connect your camera to your computer. Open the file to where you see a folder that says DCIM. Place the TAG.
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