How is Your Vico MF3 going?

[Moon]

I have just ordered mine from Chris at Dash Cam Central .. and purchased a Transcend 64GB Ultimate U3 SD card for $69 from Centrecom in Sunshine.

I ended up going for a more expensive option after initially having a $200 budget.

Decided to include the CPL filter .. only passed on the GPS .. which didn't appeal enough .. as I do have a Garmin GPS .. and at this stage .. doesn't add enough to justify paying the extra $45.
Early observations on YouTube Videos is that the warnings would end up being annoying and switched off.

GPS is always an option further down the track when more developed.

I want a reasonably good quality Camera that has good Day/Night Picture Quality, reliable, user friendly, and lasts at least 3 years of frequent use or 5 years of low use.
With the Vico MF3 .. I guess time will tell .. I would be interested in hearing how your VicoVation MF3 is going .. the good .. the bad .. and the Ugly?
VicoVation/MF3 owners need a current thread .. to share our experiences

 

[Moon]

C'mon MF3 owners ... don't be shy..

 

[jokiin]

C'mon MF3 owners ... don't be shy..

I don't know that there have been many MF3 owners on here at all, that could be a good thing, maybe they have nothing to complain about

 

[Moon]

Well .. yeah .. no news is good news.

Maybe everyone other than me picked up that VicoVation went back to using a Lithium battery in this model rather than the Capacitor type in the OPIA2?
It was clever of them not to mention anything in the Specs.

When questioned .. the Vico Rep reckons the updated whizbang Lithium batteries are not like the early ones that could blow up .. and have been well tested and safe.
Sounds a bit like a Nuclear Power Plant Rep assuring us that the problem was the old ones .. and that the new types are completely safe.
Yeah sure, buddy .. until they become not safe .. yeah?

 

[Moon]

Dash Cam arrived today and after the easy setup .. went for a drive on an overcast day .. some light drizzly rain and then dusk and night driving .. bit over an hour all up. Interesting to see how the CPL filter goes.

I'd normally slip out the SD card .. put it in my new card reader and insert it into my Mac desktop to see if it works in Quicktime 10.04, Dash Cam Viewer .. downloaded from here .. or VLC.

Shame that viewing all those YouTube videos used up all my peak time NBN .. and all I have left is off-peak which starts at 2.30am .. until the 20th
Bit of a drag, that. Killjoy ... c'mon .. give me a break here .. this snail pace throttling is the pits. Sometimes takes 2 minutes and longer to load a page .. sheesh ..
You can't be serious!!

Special thanks to jokiin .. for replying and providing the inspiration to keep this thread going.

next <-----

 

[jokiin]

Shame that viewing all those YouTube videos used up all my peak time NBN .. and all I have left is off-peak which starts at 2.30am .. until the 20th
Bit of a drag, that. Killjoy ... c'mon .. give me a break here .. this snail pace throttling is the pits. Sometimes takes 2 minutes and longer to load a page .. sheesh ..
You can't be serious!!

who are you with?

 

[CaptureYourAction]

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe VicoVation is phasing out the MF3. The specs were too close to the Opia2, as was the price, so most were opting for the Opia2. They now have the MF1 out, which is their budget camera.

 

[Moon]

I'm with TPG nbn .. 25GB peak .. 25GB off-peak

Checked out the footage last night using the Card Reader. Quicktime player 10.4 on my Mac worked fine (QT 7.0 didn't)

Resolution on my 2008 20" Mac desktop is 1680x 1050

I have the setting on 5 min recording segments and had to click on each manually. It has been recommended that when using a Mac .. you are best to format the card in the Camera prior to commencing recording.

First thoughts

It was an overcast day and the footage was excellent on the MF3 .. way better than most of the footage on YouTube .. although some of the Video from Thailand was also very good. PQ was also excellent at dusk and at night where there is a fair amount of lighting. PQ degrades significantly where lighting drops off to street poles and headlights only, where it turns very grainy .. due to the method used to artificially lighten the picture. Signs and licence plates are still clearly visible.
With the CPL filter .. glare from oncoming headlights and street poles caused no problem. I had adjusted the filter using a white cloth on the dash.

So far .. only a day .. but I'm really happy with the MF3. I like the size, the build quality and the 3" (diag) screen is a good size. It is on the suction cup mount so that it can be moved around the windscreen in search of perfect placement, when I will revert to the sticky mount.

I would have opted for the OPIA2 had there not been an MF3.
I also prefer the wider viewing angle of the MF3 .. although I'd rather the Super Capacitor than the Lithium battery. Hoping the newer types aren't the problem that the earlier ones were.

 

[Moon]

MF3 Owners

Anyone had a problem upgrading to the latest FirmWare v 4.2 ? .. from v 3.5

This is the first time .. so difficulty, confusion and frustration isn't unusual in these instances.
It was all going fine .. up until this .. It felt strange .. as though it was going too smoothly.
I guess .. include the OPIA2 .. as it is similar - will post over there as well if no takers in here.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

What sort of issue? I did not have any issues when I upgraded the one I have.

 

[Moon]

Once having installed the Update on your SD card .. and put it back in your Camera .. once powering on .. did yours automatically begin installing the Update where the screen went blank for 20 seconds .. or does your menu have a 'Firmware Update? option where you had to press 'Yes' to initialize the Update?

My menu doesn't have the 'Firmware Update?' option in it to initiate the Update process
According to the MF3 v 4.2 Update instructions from VicoVation .. it has a 'Firmware Update?' option in the menu to initialise the update by pressing 'Yes' Mine doesn't have the option

When I power up mine .. after 3 seconds it begins recording .. and hasn't updated the new firmware.

Did you Update yours using a PC or a Mac? I have a 2008 iMac

 

[CaptureYourAction]

The Opia2 has an update option in the menu, but the MF3 does not. You just need to copy the .bin file onto the root directory of the memory card (not in any folders), place the card in the camera and then power the camera. You should get a prompt asking if you want to update. Say yes. The red light should come one during the update process, then go out when it's done. Should take around 10 seconds or so. When the light goes out, start the camera. Be sure to default your settings in the menu after the update. Make sure your powering the camera via the supplied power cable or a USB charger (phone charger). Do not use your computer or cars USB ports to power the camera.

 

[Moon]

Thanks for the reply

I'll give it another go .. or 3 later today.
I drag and drop the .bin file onto the USB icon on the screen that shows a green + which indicates that it will accept the download.
Once putting the card back into the Camera .. there is no prompt asking me if I want to Update. After powering on from my Cig lighter input .. the Camera tells me that it is recording. The red light has been on at times .. so I will try and make sense of what is happening. It's not the first time I've been bamboozled with new Gadgets .. and won't be the last. Fun times. Love the quality of the Pictures from this Camera .. and the filter works great.
Just need to get over this hurdle and all set to Rock n Roll
Cheers

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Thanks for the reply

I'll give it another go .. or 3 later today.
I drag and drop the .bin file onto the USB icon on the screen that shows a green + which indicates that it will accept the download.
Once putting the card back into the Camera .. there is no prompt asking me if I want to Update. After powering on from my Cig lighter input .. the Camera tells me that it is recording. The red light has been on at times .. so I will try and make sense of what is happening. It's not the first time I've been bamboozled with new Gadgets .. and won't be the last. Fun times. Love the quality of the Pictures from this Camera .. and the filter works great.
Just need to get over this hurdle and all set to Rock n Roll
Cheers

Once you copy it to the card via the computer, view the contents of the card to make sure the .bin file is definitely in there. Are you using a MAC? Not sure what you mean by green +.

 

[Moon]

Yeah .. a MAC

I've opened up the icon and the .bin file is definitely in there with EVENT and NORMAL

If I can't get it worked out .. spose I can always go into a Camera or Computer place and pay them a few bucks to do it.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Yeah .. a MAC

I've opened up the icon and the .bin file is definitely in there with EVENT and NORMAL

If I can't get it worked out .. spose I can always go into a Camera or Computer place and pay them a few bucks to do it.

If you have access to a PC, I would try that. I have heard some having issues doing updates using MACs.

 

[jokiin]

make sure you are extracting any zip files first, some users previously reported issues on other cameras where a Mac will show the files and you can copy them out but the bin file hadn't been extracted correctly first

 

[Moon]

Chris from Dash Cams Central .. where I purchased it .. has been in touch and has tried to call.

Doesn't sound like he is familiar with a Mac .. so I need to try a PC first .. to eliminate the problem being due to the Mac.
It could be a number of things. Someone said the SD card needs to be empty .. but when you have 'supposedly' cleared files out and do a reboot .. it starts recording immediately .. which means there is already data on the SD card so .. according to this theory .. it won't work. To add to this .. when you check the SD card .. you find that all your recorded files are still on there and it hasn't removed them after all. All it appears to do .. is restore the settings to default.

Ok .. made the journey over to my Sisters place to try her PC .. a 35 min drive. She is over in China on a 3 week holiday. Fire her computer up and find out she has pulled the monthly subscription .. so .. no can use. No surprise when I think about it. My Sis is not one to be paying for a service she isn't using .. trust me

It is only a firmware update .. and not like there is a fault that needs urgent attention ... so maybe time for a Bex .. cup of Tea .. and a lay down.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Chris from Dash Cams Central .. where I purchased it .. has been in touch and has tried to call.

Doesn't sound like he is familiar with a Mac .. so I need to try a PC first .. to eliminate the problem being due to the Mac.
It could be a number of things. Someone said the SD card needs to be empty .. but when you have 'supposedly' cleared files out and do a reboot .. it starts recording immediately .. which means there is already data on the SD card so .. according to this theory .. it won't work. To add to this .. when you check the SD card .. you find that all your recorded files are still on there and it hasn't removed them after all. All it appears to do .. is restore the settings to default.

Ok .. made the journey over to my Sisters place to try her PC .. a 35 min drive. She is over in China on a 3 week holiday. Fire her computer up and find out she has pulled the monthly subscription .. so .. no can use. No surprise when I think about it. My Sis is not one to be paying for a service she isn't using .. trust me

It is only a firmware update .. and not like there is a fault that needs urgent attention ... so maybe time for a Bex .. cup of Tea .. and a lay down.

Card doesn't need to be empty. I actually just updated the MF3 I have to V4.2 yesterday.

 

[Moon]

Nice .. ok, I can strike a line through that one. One down .. 9 to go
I'll nick down to the library and give that a shot using their PCs.
Process of elimination
Shame there's no one around with a Mac that has one .. at least you have a MF3 .. (they've sold 2 at least .. which is good) - Can we call you CYA?
Spose .. even if someone does have a Mac .. chances are that it won't be 9 years old (2008) like mine .. so ?

How did yours respond when loading the SD card and powering up .. blank screen or prompt ''Firmware Update?"