Am I the first to order the LUKAS LK-7900 ACE?

[Al Drake]

That's probably easiest. You can always give false info on account creation.

I can do that?

 

[adamus]

pls use dropbox.com f.e.
then you can post a public link.
youtube always change a little bit quality of movies.

 

[DashCamMan]

Thanks for the video Al Drake, it looks very good. One tip is to lower the angle of the camera. You are getting a lot of sky. Also if you could share a night video, that would be great.

 

[Al Drake]

pls use dropbox.com f.e.
then you can post a public link.
youtube always change a little bit quality of movies.

I'll check it out. That other one gave me stuff I didn't want and hi-jacked my home page.

 

[Al Drake]

Thanks for the video Al Drake, it looks very good. One tip is to lower the angle of the camera. You are getting a lot of sky. Also if you could share a night video, that would be great.

I have it pointed high to avoid glare from my dash, hood and a large screen GPS and a radar detector that has a monitor screen all cluttering my video. I tried the CPL with great success and a warming filter that seems to be nice. I have to organize the different clips then I will post them. The night vision is really nice as much of it is color with low light.

Al.

 

[sundash]

Thanks for the video Al Drake, it looks very good. One tip is to lower the angle of the camera. You are getting a lot of sky. Also if you could share a night video, that would be great.

I prefer to think a little more sky than a lot of the hood, as the light reflects ugly.


@Al Drake

Thank you for the very good video, it won me over.

 

[Al Drake]

Thanks for the video Al Drake, it looks very good. One tip is to lower the angle of the camera. You are getting a lot of sky. Also if you could share a night video, that would be great.

I prefer to think a little more sky than a lot of the hood, as the light reflects ugly.


@Al Drake

Thank you for the very good video, it won me over.

Let me remind you that this camera has a failed GPS application. Maybe if everyone that is ready to purchase this unit contacted the manufacturers and all the sellers about this issue there might be something done. I wonder what Apple-CT has to say. I bought mine from him and I would hate to have to return a defective product. I hope he reads this post. I know he logs on occasionally.

 

[jamesbcd]

I can do that?

Can't see why not. When I did mine, I didn't have to verify anything. I didn't need to put emails or phone numbers in. Just a name and DOB, if your really paranoid with your personal details, just purposely make a typo or something.

I have purchased the cam from Green-Sum. Will let everyone know the shipping times, service etc. I purchased the cheapest one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121086919065? ... 1439.l2649

 

[Al Drake]

I can do that?

Can't see why not. When I did mine, I didn't have to verify anything. I didn't need to put emails or phone numbers in. Just a name and DOB, if your really paranoid with your personal details, just purposely make a typo or something.

I have purchased the cam from Green-Sum. Will let everyone know the shipping times, service etc. I purchased the cheapest one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121086919065? ... 1439.l2649

Ya, I am not really paranoid. I just like to play. I emailed Apple-CT about the GPS issue because I am waiting to buy another LK-7900 so if I don't hear from him I'll check out that seller. I was hoping to see others that are owners and not be the beta pig. About posting videos I want to make sure I post a good example so I want to have good weather and clean my windows and dress nicely. I just opened a Google account so I will be putting something together soon I hope.

 

[jamesbcd]

The CPL filter. Is it magnetic? or does it screw on

 

[Swordfish]

So nobody knows if the Korean language is for keeps?

I went on a five-hour road trip (one way) at the weekend and managed to test the camera. I got the camera with a polarizer and external battery that also acts as a power cutoff device. I'm happy. The videos were a bit grainy but I think only because I adjusted the sharpness settings a level higher than the default. The night videos also came out a bit noisy because of this.

Hopefully I can test this dash camera again with the proper settings, but as it is, I'm satisfied. The default motion detection setting was also too sensitive so I had to turn it down two notches. One problem I encountered was that I get video shake because of my subwoofer. Maybe I need to turn it down.

I don't have a problem with the GPS -- it locks within a minute as long as it's clear. My location was also accurately plotted on the Lukas Ace map all throughout. My time was also automatically adjusted after that. You need to set the correct GMT in Lukas Ace. Will try to post videos with the proper settings next time.

PROS:
* Really sharp videos (focus is spot on)
* Excellent build quality
* Relatively small
* Threaded lens for filters
* External battery that acts as a power cutoff device (11.9v-12.4v)

CONS:
* Korean language (can be turned off)
* Frame rate for parking videos can't be customized (defaults to 30 fps)
* Slight vibration with subwoofer (maybe not their fault)

Suggested features for future firmware:
* Separately customizable resolutions for driving and parking modes (i.e., full HD for driving, 720p for parking, selectable)
* Customizable frame rates (i.e, 5-30 fps) for parking/motion detection videos
* English language

Cheers,
Swordfish

 

[sundash]

Where can you buy the polarizer filter, in Lukas or in photo shop?

 

[Swordfish]

Where can you buy the polarizer filter, in Lukas or in photo shop?

Not sure if you can buy the polarizer separately but mine came with the dash camera. It's a standard 37mm filter, although in my part of the world, a filter this size is hard to come by.

 

[Mtz]

Let me remind you that this camera has a failed GPS application.

Where was your problem regarding GPS, in camera or in the PC viewer?
Today Lukas released a new firmware and viewer.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[cobhom]

I purchased a 7900 from Greensum as well, UPC, and CPL filter. Very fast shipping, really surprised... I have the same experience/report as Swordfish (thks). When I first installed the camera English was spoken. After a reformat and reset its now Korean. The seller Greensum has been very responsive to emails, the manufacturer less so. Greensum has responded the same day to questions and its been several days since I emailed the Lukas, still waiting.

I see there's new firmware (thks Mtz), hopefully this fixes issues with this camera. The new firmware wasn't there yesterday AM, new is right.

I'll have to reduce my sharpness setting and see if it improves the image as Swordfish suggested (thks). Speaking just from memory, I do not believe the image is better (maybe worse) than my F500LHD. To be fair, I am still trying to figure out the settings... I'm new to this...

One thing I noticed is how warm (hot?) the camera gets. Its 70F/21C right now in CA and when I pulled the SD card it was REALLY warm. I just hope this camera doesn't shut down when the outside temps hit 80F. That will mean this camera will only function 6mths of the year. At least it has an auto shutdown feature in case it gets too hot.

Thanks all

 

[Mtz]

Will be very nice if you will upload some videos recorded at the same time with DOD and Lukas.
Not needed to make some editing, just upload as separate videos on Youtube and we can compare them viewing each of them in another window. Will be nice if you can provide the original.
Anyone who can post a comparison (even with separate videos) is welcomed.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Swordfish]

Installed the latest firmware -- better!

Turned off the security LED and removed the electrical tape on the LED that I no longer need. I also managed to get the English voice by selecting it in Lukas Ace viewer (new feature). The accent sounds decent and I have yet to spot some grammatical lapses. :lol:

I reset the sharpness setting to default. There's also a new setting called EVR, which probably has to do with exposure compensation value but I'm not sure. Please tell me it's the same as WDR. :mrgreen: Will record some videos tomorrow.

Cheers,
Swordfish

 

[Mtz]

Will record some videos tomorrow.

Why not tonight to have also a night time recording? :lol:
Can you upload somewhere the contents of the SD Card? Only excluding the video recordings.

EVR I think is only about viewer, on PC.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Al Drake]

The CPL filter. Is it magnetic? or does it screw on

It screws on like all 37mm filters which can be purchased online. There is a large selection of CPL online also. They are interchangeable with my Sony Hand cam and other video cameras and still cameras.

 

[Al Drake]

Let me remind you that this camera has a failed GPS application.

Where was your problem regarding GPS, in camera or in the PC viewer?
Today Lukas released a new firmware and viewer.

enjoy,
Mtz

I just got an email from Apple-CT so I will be upgrading and purchasing another ACE. I also can say that the video out is much better than the ITB-100HD SP. I have a 7" TFT mounted and view as I drive.