A119S V2 (Version 3 Lens) Impressive but Comical Fisheye!

[Caerus]

Settings:
Resolution: 1080p @ 60fps
WDR: on
Exposure: 0
Firmware: Modified 2.6
CPL: no (I definitely need it, but current A119S CPL has issues with this new lens)
Lens: Version 3/A129, F1.6, 7 Element, 140° Wide Angle

(Edit: Didn't clip the video. I start driving around 40 seconds or so.)

Using the modified 2.6 firmware the clarity is pretty good even with youtube compression, and the picture isn't crazy overexposed, despite exposure left at 0. I personally don't have a problem with wide angle lenses as I like being able to see more of the surroundings, but it can skew determining distances, and the amount of fisheye this one makes is high. You might not want this newest version of the A119S if any of that bothers you.

You notice right away though, the comical amount of fisheye. The pillar on the left while I'm parked is already bent, and once I start turning you can see the world bending around the fatness of my tiny car. The fisheye is more noticeable on the left side than on the right. I'm not sure if that's because I have my camera mounted on the right side of the rear view mirror arm slightly pointed towards the centre, or if my lens isn't perfectly aligned. The vehicles on the left in the parking lot begin to turn into paper cutouts as you drive by them, more noticeable as I turn past the vehicles parked along the back and the trees. The vehicles on the right aren't affected as much.

As soon as I leave the parking lot you can see why a CPL filter is needed here (they need to release the updated one supporting this lens quickly). The sun is at the perfect angle to cause a ton of reflection from the dash and windshield. You can also notice how much fisheye this camera has by looking at the vents reflected in the windshield. Those are flat and straight in the car. Some curvature because of the curved glass sure, but the lens makes it even more pronounced. The camera did cope with the constant changing of lighting conditions really well though. I chose this video because the time of day and angle of the sun can mess with a lot of cameras (my old A118 comes to mind). As the sun shines over the building and between the trees/leaves, the quick switching between light and dark, and the shadows, the camera didn't struggle with the changes at all. It didn't become a pixelated mess, the exposure didn't flip out, and the trees/leaves remained in focus. This is also aided most likely because of the modified 2.6 firmware. In the last bit once I drive past the stadium and the sun is constantly flashing through the trees, the camera still didn't struggle much.

Overall I'm impressed. The picture quality is really good. It adapts to lighting well. I don't have problems seeing most license plates. When reviewing my other videos they might not be visible in motion, but if I pause the video they're usually readable. And night video is surprisingly good. Just the cartoonish amount of fisheye is a bit much sometimes.

 

[Caerus]

Here's a night drive video I spliced together from a couple of days ago. I tried to go in different types of lighting conditions. Some are well lit streets, others lit on one side only, etc. The settings and firmware are the same as above. I took out the sound as it's all copyrighted stuff.

Headlights are standard halogen on low beam. I didn't try to drive slowly to give the camera the best chance at getting a better picture. I just drove how I normally would to see if it could handle it.

For night video it's quite good. I was surprised at how clearly you could see the stadium in the distance with structural details. Areas where there was low street lighting, like the mall parking lot, the headlights were enough to light up a good portion of the picture clearly. When I was stopped at the intersection behind the white van, there was still enough detail to watch cars pass by through their rear window and front windshield.

I might see what the day and night videos are like with WDR off. I have a feeling that night video might be a little less crisp, but be a bit brighter?

 

[Caerus]

I just wanted to leave this here. I paused the video and hit print screen. The time of day, colours, picture quality, and clarity for a dash cam are just great right here!

The more this camera gets tweaked by the members here, the more I'm impressed by what it can accomplish. I also re-positioned the lens 1 tick up, and instantly the lighting got better.

Here's the clip I took the image from.

 

[Dadi_T]

What settings do you have here? The same as above?

 

[Caerus]

What settings do you have here? The same as above?

Yes, the settings are the same as in my first post. I installed the official FW2.61 just to have a baseline with stock settings, and I can't believe how trash can it looks in comparison. It's grainy and washed out, with painful brightness. It's actually sometimes difficult to make out license plates during the day.

I decided to try out @BCHobbyist FW 2.61 27Mbit mod. The one I used in the first post was FW2.6 27.5Mbit that @gse posted in the firmware thread. I think the picture quality in the 27.5Mbit is ever so slightly better, but not substantially so. And I like the idea of not running the camera at max, even if it's only by an extra 0.5Mbit. It also probably helps with heat reduction and longevity by a tiny margin. I tried the 24Mbit version, and while it's leagues better than the official FW, there was too much of a picture clarity drop for me compared to the 27/27.5. Maybe a 25 or 26 might be a happy medium.

I think the biggest difference was actually moving the lens 1 tick up. The official FW couldn't handle the extra sky and just destroyed the picture even with WDR on so I had to have the lens lower to include more dash and hood which made things darker, but also added more glare. With the modded FW I was able to have the lens ticked up, add in the extra light and WDR was able to balance things out. That picture I posted was on a super bright day.

The reason I wanted to have the lens up one notch was because it was affecting night video too much. The camera was relying on my headlights as the primary light source and wasn't getting much assistance from street lights, etc. unless I was in a well illuminated area.

See this for example. While this is an extreme case, as my car is slightly angled down, it does show what I mean. The camera would rely too much on my headlights and would ignore using street lamps, houses, etc. to help light the picture. You can see how everything is black except for where my headlights were shining. Watch what happens when the headlights go off. You'll even notice that there's a street lamp right near me, and it's those really bright white LED ones.

 

[Dadi_T]

Omg! Superb view with the headlights off.

 

[BCHobbyist]

Yes, the settings are the same as in my first post. I installed the official FW2.61 just to have a baseline with stock settings, and I can't believe how trash can it looks in comparison. It's grainy and washed out, with painful brightness. It's actually sometimes difficult to make out license plates during the day.

I decided to try out @BCHobbyist FW 2.61 27Mbit mod. The one I used in the first post was FW2.6 27.5Mbit that @gse posted in the firmware thread. I think the picture quality in the 27.5Mbit is ever so slightly better, but not substantially so. And I like the idea of not running the camera at max, even if it's only by an extra 0.5Mbit. It also probably helps with heat reduction and longevity by a tiny margin. I tried the 24Mbit version, and while it's leagues better than the official FW, there was too much of a picture clarity drop for me compared to the 27/27.5. Maybe a 25 or 26 might be a happy medium.

I think the biggest difference was actually moving the lens 1 tick up. The official FW couldn't handle the extra sky and just destroyed the picture even with WDR on so I had to have the lens lower to include more dash and hood which made things darker, but also added more glare. With the modded FW I was able to have the lens ticked up, add in the extra light and WDR was able to balance things out. That picture I posted was on a super bright day.

The reason I wanted to have the lens up one notch was because it was affecting night video too much. The camera was relying on my headlights as the primary light source and wasn't getting much assistance from street lights, etc. unless I was in a well illuminated area.

See this for example. While this is an extreme case, as my car is slightly angled down, it does show what I mean. The camera would rely too much on my headlights and would ignore using street lamps, houses, etc. to help light the picture. You can see how everything is black except for where my headlights were shining. Watch what happens when the headlights go off. You'll even notice that there's a street lamp right near me, and it's those really bright white LED ones.

Good work making comparisons, check my Modified Firmware download link for tweaked Bit Rate, currently adjusting Sharpness tables to improve quality without over-sharpening. VIOFO said they are adding option to Menu, when I have no idea.

 

[Caerus]

Omg! Superb view with the headlights off.

Absolutely, and now that I can have the lens up more, it uses the combination of my headlights and other sources much better. Night video almost seems like day video at times.

Good work making comparisons, check my Modified Firmware download link for tweaked Bit Rate, currently adjusting Sharpness tables to improve quality without over-sharpening. VIOFO said they are adding option to Menu, when I have no idea.

I will keep an eye on your mods. Even if viofo does add options to tweak sharpness, etc. I will probably still use the mods here. Unless viofo adds in options to choose higher bitrates as well.

 

[defender02]

Are you able to let me know which seller you went with? I am unable to find a seller with this new lens
Either that or they haven't updated their listings

 

[Caerus]

Are you able to let me know which seller you went with? I am unable to find a seller with this new lens
Either that or they haven't updated their listings

They don't really advertise the change in lens. I'm pretty sure all new releases of the A119S have the version 3 lens now. It's just a matter of if retailers have sold out of their older stock of cams with version 1 and 2. I bought mine off of amazon.ca from @spytec as they were the cheapest at the time. @OCD Tronic and @BlackboxMyCar also sell on amazon. You can always shoot them a message and ask. All 3 of those sellers are here on the forum.

 

[OCD Tronic]

The Amazon fulfillment system has all our stock mixed together so no way to know which production unit will be shipped. Stock is sent directly to Amazon from the factory.