I apologize for the lens holders in the AdvoCam registrars
Good time, dear readers of Geektimes! With you again, Alexander Shub, a lover of testing registrars and pestering domestic registration engineers with tricky questions about the intricacies of the development and production of these electronic products. In November, at Geektimes and Mobile-Review, my article “ How to Choose a DVR 2015: The Largest Online FAQ for the General Buyer ” was published. As it turned out later, the material contained one inaccuracy. Widespread observers, as well as authors of promotional materials, claim that AdvoCam brand models use exclusively metal, rather than plastic lens mounts - “pieces” with which the camera’s “eye” is mounted on the board on top of the matrix.
Information about AdvoCam’s metal lenses has been “walking” for a long time and, to be honest, I didn’t even think to doubt its reliability. However, thanks to the persistence of the user Neker (thank you very much for his meticulousness!), I still decided to clarify the material of the holders and first asked the brand’s general director Dmitry Savenkov, and then thoroughly talked with AdvoCam chief engineer Andrei Molokanov.
In both cases, my interlocutors expressed surprise that they write about AdvoCam registrars “on these your Internet”. In fact, all without exception, the brand’s cameras are produced with plastic holders, the use of metal has never been part of AdvoCam’s plans. Needless to say, the situation turned out to be ugly, so I decided to write a separate material and apologize to all readers of Geektimes, as well as other resources where the FAQ was posted. Incorrect information in the articles will of course be eliminated. Comrade NekerI express special gratitude for the meticulousness and scrupulousness in the study of the issue. And not only in words. At my own expense, I have already purchased and sent AdvoCam-FD8 Gold GPS to Andrei in Penza, from day to day the device should be available to the new owner. All honestly: the “cant” is mine, which means I have to pay.
I’ll venture to suggest that the false information about the holders came from the notorious article “Workshop: how I compared the“ identical ”AdvoCam and teXet recorders”. There, in particular, the following was written: "Amused what the" shell "of the lenses was made of. See the top rims of the cameras? So, the teXet DVR-603FHD has a “circle” made of plastic, while the AdvoCam-FD5 Profi-GPS is made of metal. ”
Most likely, this was subsequently distorted and turned into “metal holders”. And later, the myth was once again supported by a report from AdvoCam's own production in the city of Alexandrov, Vladimir Region. There, visitors saw metal holders, only intended for professional video surveillance systems, which are assembled at the same factory where new models of recorders are developed and run-in.
However, there is a silver lining - as it turned out, even though the holders are made of plastic, the lens cases in almost all AdvoCam recorders are metal. The only exceptions are the archived AdvoCam-FD1 and AdvoCam-FD4 Profi. Metal lenses are turned, i.e. give an ideal optical axis due to rotation processing. Plastic ones are made by molding and do not provide an almost complete absence of gaps between the lens and lenses; there is no almost perfect “grinding”. Plus, of course, the temperature coefficient of metal / glass is clearly better than plastic / glass, less likely to get deformation and undesirable "adjustment" of the position of the lenses.
Speaking of probability, of course, I asked - since AdvoCam uses plastic holders, what is the statistics of complaints about defocus complaints due to problems with plastic holders? For I know for sure that other brands have encountered this problem. AdvoCam CEO Dmitry Savenkov said bluntly that the percentage of problem holders in the total number of service calls, I quote, "tends to zero."
There are questions on lenses, but most often they are caused by the human factor. The user can drop the recorder once or twice, which can lead to damage to the optics and, as a result, unpleasant features of the video recording. Moreover, for damage to occur, it is enough to drop the recorder with the lens down on the dashboard. A slight shift of the lens - and voila, we get the defocus of the whole frame or loss of sharpness in a certain part of the picture. Although, according to Dmitry, at least two or three serious drops in lenses in brand registrars usually withstand without unpleasant consequences. AdvoCam does not seek to incriminate customers in anything and upon accepting any such cases as warranty. This despite the fact that the lens here has to be changed to a completely new one, internal repair of this unit is not provided. On the other hand, even such appeals,
Of course, using metal to release a holder is better than using plastic. But the issue can also be approached from the other side - to create conditions in order to exclude the notorious overheating as much as possible. For example, lawyers in a special way distribute elements on the board, trivially think through the ventilation of the case. And most importantly - the plastic is different. Not so long ago I talked with one of the brands that really installs metal holders. So, his representative said bluntly - do not overestimate the metal, as there is the possibility of using plastic with a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the recorders. Simply put - holders can be made from ordinary cheap plastic, which will really bring a high probability of defocus. And you can choose a relatively more expensive (but cheaper than the metal version) plastic, which will not cause the deformation of the holder when the temperature drops. Judging by the number of service calls AdvoCam has on lens problems, the brand still has no marginal savings.
Total - healthy skepticism, as always, was very helpful and helped to identify inaccurate information. AdvoCam registrars really do not use metal holders, which, due to the high cost, are installed only in the most expensive flagship models. For example, in August at a Datakam parsing of metal holders I saw in the Neoline X-COP 9700 for 18,900 rubles and the Datakam G5 Real MAX-BF for 16,600 rubles. Although even the price cannot be a guarantor - say, in Street Storm CVR-A7810-G PRO for 15,500 rubles and Garmin Dash Cam 20 for 15,700 rubles, ordinary plastic was discovered. Alas, manufacturers almost in exceptional cases report the material of the lens holder. Be that as it may, we finally figured out AdvoCam. Once again, I apologize to the readers for the incorrect information. And again my thanks Neker for meticulous importunity with the right message. I got my “positive” experience from this story, having forked out for “hard-earned” 10,000 rubles. So the training turned out, alas, not cheap :)
Information about AdvoCam’s metal lenses has been “walking” for a long time and, to be honest, I didn’t even think to doubt its reliability. However, thanks to the persistence of the user Neker (thank you very much for his meticulousness!), I still decided to clarify the material of the holders and first asked the brand’s general director Dmitry Savenkov, and then thoroughly talked with AdvoCam chief engineer Andrei Molokanov.
In both cases, my interlocutors expressed surprise that they write about AdvoCam registrars “on these your Internet”. In fact, all without exception, the brand’s cameras are produced with plastic holders, the use of metal has never been part of AdvoCam’s plans. Needless to say, the situation turned out to be ugly, so I decided to write a separate material and apologize to all readers of Geektimes, as well as other resources where the FAQ was posted. Incorrect information in the articles will of course be eliminated. Comrade NekerI express special gratitude for the meticulousness and scrupulousness in the study of the issue. And not only in words. At my own expense, I have already purchased and sent AdvoCam-FD8 Gold GPS to Andrei in Penza, from day to day the device should be available to the new owner. All honestly: the “cant” is mine, which means I have to pay.
I’ll venture to suggest that the false information about the holders came from the notorious article “Workshop: how I compared the“ identical ”AdvoCam and teXet recorders”. There, in particular, the following was written: "Amused what the" shell "of the lenses was made of. See the top rims of the cameras? So, the teXet DVR-603FHD has a “circle” made of plastic, while the AdvoCam-FD5 Profi-GPS is made of metal. ”
Most likely, this was subsequently distorted and turned into “metal holders”. And later, the myth was once again supported by a report from AdvoCam's own production in the city of Alexandrov, Vladimir Region. There, visitors saw metal holders, only intended for professional video surveillance systems, which are assembled at the same factory where new models of recorders are developed and run-in.
However, there is a silver lining - as it turned out, even though the holders are made of plastic, the lens cases in almost all AdvoCam recorders are metal. The only exceptions are the archived AdvoCam-FD1 and AdvoCam-FD4 Profi. Metal lenses are turned, i.e. give an ideal optical axis due to rotation processing. Plastic ones are made by molding and do not provide an almost complete absence of gaps between the lens and lenses; there is no almost perfect “grinding”. Plus, of course, the temperature coefficient of metal / glass is clearly better than plastic / glass, less likely to get deformation and undesirable "adjustment" of the position of the lenses.
Speaking of probability, of course, I asked - since AdvoCam uses plastic holders, what is the statistics of complaints about defocus complaints due to problems with plastic holders? For I know for sure that other brands have encountered this problem. AdvoCam CEO Dmitry Savenkov said bluntly that the percentage of problem holders in the total number of service calls, I quote, "tends to zero."
There are questions on lenses, but most often they are caused by the human factor. The user can drop the recorder once or twice, which can lead to damage to the optics and, as a result, unpleasant features of the video recording. Moreover, for damage to occur, it is enough to drop the recorder with the lens down on the dashboard. A slight shift of the lens - and voila, we get the defocus of the whole frame or loss of sharpness in a certain part of the picture. Although, according to Dmitry, at least two or three serious drops in lenses in brand registrars usually withstand without unpleasant consequences. AdvoCam does not seek to incriminate customers in anything and upon accepting any such cases as warranty. This despite the fact that the lens here has to be changed to a completely new one, internal repair of this unit is not provided. On the other hand, even such appeals,
Of course, using metal to release a holder is better than using plastic. But the issue can also be approached from the other side - to create conditions in order to exclude the notorious overheating as much as possible. For example, lawyers in a special way distribute elements on the board, trivially think through the ventilation of the case. And most importantly - the plastic is different. Not so long ago I talked with one of the brands that really installs metal holders. So, his representative said bluntly - do not overestimate the metal, as there is the possibility of using plastic with a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion in the recorders. Simply put - holders can be made from ordinary cheap plastic, which will really bring a high probability of defocus. And you can choose a relatively more expensive (but cheaper than the metal version) plastic, which will not cause the deformation of the holder when the temperature drops. Judging by the number of service calls AdvoCam has on lens problems, the brand still has no marginal savings.
Total - healthy skepticism, as always, was very helpful and helped to identify inaccurate information. AdvoCam registrars really do not use metal holders, which, due to the high cost, are installed only in the most expensive flagship models. For example, in August at a Datakam parsing of metal holders I saw in the Neoline X-COP 9700 for 18,900 rubles and the Datakam G5 Real MAX-BF for 16,600 rubles. Although even the price cannot be a guarantor - say, in Street Storm CVR-A7810-G PRO for 15,500 rubles and Garmin Dash Cam 20 for 15,700 rubles, ordinary plastic was discovered. Alas, manufacturers almost in exceptional cases report the material of the lens holder. Be that as it may, we finally figured out AdvoCam. Once again, I apologize to the readers for the incorrect information. And again my thanks Neker for meticulous importunity with the right message. I got my “positive” experience from this story, having forked out for “hard-earned” 10,000 rubles. So the training turned out, alas, not cheap :)