Mobius Super Low Light (SLL1)

Augustus said:
It's one thing having e.g. four or five different dashcams on the windscreen of different brands.

Then it's another with Tony looking like he's running a police operation with three of the same rugged brutal looking Mobius cameras haha. He may as well get the police decals for the sides of his car bwahaha
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I've had a few drivers slow down as they overtake me, and the occasional glare through the rear view mirror

Just wait until I modify all of them with telephoto lenses!!
 
TonyM said:
I've had a few drivers slow down as they overtake me, and the occasional glare through the rear view mirror

Just wait until I modify all of them with telephoto lenses!!
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This is exactly the words that make me and @Julian23 very happy to hear !
 
Mobius SLL1 - Long Exposure Mode - Northern Lights

Going off-topic for a bit, the SLL1 does rather well at recording the northern lights when using its Long Exposure option that allows the metering to select an exposure duration of up to 1 second. I can capture a better-looking video with my $2000 camera and $1500 lens, but for a $120 camera that fits into a pocket I think it's a decent result.

1080p 30fps, Long Exposure mode. Unedited straight from camera.

If you move the camera while recording you can see the effect of 1-second exposures (30 duplicate frames per second). But it's better than the alternative of 1/30s exposures and nothing but darkness. This was my first time seeing the auroral corona directly overhead and I'm glad I had the SLL1 to capture it with live video. It captured more colour and detail than I could see by eye.

1080p 30fps, Long Exposure mode. Unedited straight from camera.
 
TonyM said:
I've had a few drivers slow down as they overtake me, and the occasional glare through the rear view mirror

Just wait until I modify all of them with telephoto lenses!!
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It's funny when other drivers are doing or starting to do dumb stuff and I point towards the camera. Makes them behave normal very quick haha
 
TonyM said:
Going off-topic for a bit, the SLL1 does rather well at recording the northern lights when using its Long Exposure option that allows the metering to select an exposure duration of up to 1 second. I can capture a better-looking video with my $2000 camera and $1500 lens, but for a $120 camera that fits into a pocket I think it's a decent result.

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That's very impressive for such a small unit.
Wasn't able to see these lights here in Germany unfortunately.
 
Well at these latitudes what you see, though technically northern lights, it is a completely different and humbling experience when you see it a few 1000 km further north and curtains of light flutter directly above your head.

Most of the other stuff i experienced on Greenland is forgotten, but the northern lights i saw there will forever be with me.
Also while in port i enjoyed that on the poop deck of Arina Arctica with a very nice Scottish single malt in my hand.

Also freaky, the color of some of the icebergs you sail past, i was like Duuuuude come on that’s not ice.
 
Night Parking - Test No1 - Low Light

Comparing various settings for recording whilst parked on a dark street.


1. Normal 1080p30 video
Noise is acceptable, however the video is a bit soft due to noise reduction.
It is possible to identify a person walking in front of the car although there is some blur at 1/30s.
Shadow brightness is similar to what I experienced by eye.

2. 1080p30 with Long Exposure enabled
Exposure is identical to the normal video.
Exposure time varies 1/5s to 1/10s (6 to 3 duplicate frames at 30fps)
Noticeable improvement in image clarity and detail with reduced noise.
Increased motion blur makes it difficult to identify a person walking in front of the car.

3. 1080p30 with Wide Dynamic Range enabled
WDR has increased brightness in shadow areas - appears brighter than what I saw by eye
It is possible to identify a person walking in front of the car although there is some blur at 1/30s, and additional noise from the WDR enhancement.

Additional Notes
- I did not test WDR in combination with Long Exposure
- The focus on the WDR camera is not perfect. It is close-focused and noticeably soft at distance, even on the silver car in this test. The difference between good and bad copies with an F1.0 lens is a potential issue for this camera.
- The SLL1 does not have a 'parking mode', although the user can select between two video modes. Bitrate and WDR on/off can be changed between modes, but the Long Exposure option is a global setting
- I hope I can compare the SLL1 with Super Night Vision on a dashcam at some point in the future
 
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Night Parking - Test No2 - Very Low Light

Comparing various settings for recording whilst parked in an area with no street lights.


Long Exposure is able to reveal details in the foreground that are too dark to see in the 30fps video either with or without WDR. However the Long Exposure mode has far too much blur to capture any motion such as a person walking past the car.
 
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Battery / Capacitor

At the moment, the SLL1 is only available to purchase with an internal battery. However it is compatible with the capacitors of previous Mobius cameras, with some modifications.

The 4-piece capacitor module of the Maxi range has the correct connector, but the module itself is too large to fit inside the SLL1 case.

The 2-piece capacitor module of the Mobius 1 and 1S has the wrong connector, but the module does fit inside the case.

So, with a bit of wire snipping and DIY crimping, I now have a capacitor inside one of my test SLL cameras - the one that I use in a car with a USB-C power source. I will keep a battery in the others since I use them on my bike or on a tripod for non-dashcam applications.

If there is enough interest, Mobius may consider offering the SLL1 with a capacitor as an option.

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SLL1 Power Consumption

I did a quick power consumption test before and after the battery-to-capacitor conversion, at 1080p 30fps and the maximum bitrate of 32Mbps.

Battery : 1.9W
Capacitor : 1.5W

I did two further tests on the capacitor model at the default bitrate:

Capacitor (1080p30 H264 12Mbps) : 1.4W
Capacitor (1080p30 H265 8Mbps) : 1.35W

If card size is not an issue, I don't see a reason to run the SLL1 at the default bitrate. In testing, a high bitrate of 24Mbps or above has been much better for preserving video detail in detailed scenes.
 
Last night I went for a bike ride in the rain - just to get test footage of using the SLL1 at night in the rain ☔ I've been waiting weeks for that opportunity!
 
Front and rear-mounted SLL1 cameras on my bike at night in the rain.

Both cameras set to 1080p 60fps with WDR enabled. Maximum bitrate 32Mbps.
Audio from the front camera set to Low, with the foam bung in the MIC hole.


The front camera maintains good quality at 60fps under streetlights and with illumination from my headlight.

Some number plates are readable with illumination from my bike lights, both front and rear.

The rear camera shows some noise and loss of detail in darker areas away from streetlights - the red rear light is not as bright as the front light.
 
Quite impressive material. @TonyM great job, very detailed. I am thinking of building a microwave radar sensor that will turn on the dashcam when movement detected (used in parking mode). I already have the mobius mini 2, which only takes 4s from power on till start recording (i have activated auto recording upon usb power). Does sll 1 have the option of auto recording upon usb power supply? Has anyone measure the time needed from power on till first frame recorded?
 
geopoulos said:
Does sll 1 have the option of auto recording upon usb power supply? Has anyone measure the time needed from power on till first frame recorded?
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Yes it does. I think it's around 5 seconds but i would need to check.
 
The Mobius SLL1 continues to perform well in dull lighting conditions, capturing sharper frames than some of the best dashcams I have tested.

100% crops from the best frame on each camera, vehicle speeds approx 50+50mph:
(Viofo A329S, no CPL, EV-0.3 // Viofo A329T Telephoto, CPL, EV-0.6 // Vueroid S1 4K 'Normal' // SLL1)

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Despite its low 1080p resolution and lack of HDR, the little SLL1 remains my best camera for plate capture in these overcast conditions that I often find myself driving in. I'm undecided whether this is enough of an improvement over the A329T for the SLL1 to earn a permanent place on my windscreen.
 
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My next test will be night time parking, to compare the SLL1 with its 'Low Frame Rate' option against 'Super Night Vision' on the Viofo A329S, 'Premium Night Vision' on the Vueroid S1 4K and 'Low Light Night Vision' on the Vantrue E1 Pro.
 
Mobius SLL1 doesn't seem to have any kind of Video Image Stabilization? At least I have not found this option in settings. Also Recorded Image Auto Rotate does not work. SLL1 have the latest v0.24 software and mSetup 7.1.00.
 
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pureview said:
Mobius SLL1 doesn't seem to have any kind of Video Image Stabilization? At least I have not found this option in settings. Also Recorded Image Auto Rotate does not work. SLL1 have the latest v0.24 software and mSetup 7.1.00.
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There is no image stabilisation on the SLL1. I see you have posted the same question on RCG. Tom should be able to answer regarding the auto rotate function. I seem to remember that auto rotate does not work in photo mode, but it's been a long time since I tested that.
 
TonyM said:
There is no image stabilisation on the SLL1. I see you have posted the same question on RCG. Tom should be able to answer regarding the auto rotate function. I seem to remember that auto rotate does not work in photo mode, but it's been a long time since I tested that.
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Thank you for your answer. Seller eletoponline365 on eBay claims image stabilization feature. Too bad if there is no stabilization as it really limits use as an action cam. Not very good when biking in forest or uneven surfaces.

One thing I noticed is that the lens gets really foggy when going outside from normal room temperatures. This happens really often after 15-20 minutes. It is so bad that you cannot see practically anything. When going back inside it goes away after 5-10 minutes. It feels strange if this really is supposed to be waterproof.
 
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