Mobius Maxi Image Issues

they don't need to be adjusted, you may see some posts from people that have had to correct a poorly adjusted lens but that is not the norm, they are fixed focus, just like a security cam, just like a GoPro
 
ok, fixed focus. but still automatic focus adjustment depending on distance from objects ahead. objects aren't always at same distance from the cam. if i crop my vga webcam pic to make it look wide screen image quality will be better than post-adjustment here. very strange what ppl put up with this. i'd send it back and kept getting replacements until Mobius gets it right. Youtube video seems ok so it must be a bad batch or too many bad batches. i don't know. afraid to buy anything anymore. Can't get tied up in disputes with chinese resellers. Any reputable resellers on or outside of amazon? Cam looks interesting, would like to try.
 
Horrendous pictures look like vga-2mp.
Most dashcams are 2MP - the same resolution as the 1080p HD TV in many people's homes.
 
ok, fixed focus. but still automatic focus adjustment depending on distance from objects ahead. objects aren't always at same distance from the cam.
No, fixed focus is exactly that - fixed. Nothing automatic. No moving parts.

You're right that not all objects are the same distance from the camera, and they move around very fast relative to the camera position. The challenge is to get enough of the field of view into acceptable focus, yet maintain a fast-enough exposure so that the video is not just a blurry mess. Dashcams tend to use 'faster' lenses with apertures around F1.8, compared to action cameras that may use 'slower' lenses around F2.8. Typically the action camera will have greater depth of field (more things in acceptable focus) than a dashcam, but more motion blur due to the slower lens requiring a longer exposure time.

Maxi F1.5 lens
1541669918543.png

Action camera F2.8 lens
1541669949840.png
 
@guest2018 I think there is some misunderstanding going on here. "Autofocus" is a mechanism which changes a cam's focus for you based on it's determination of what you are aiming it at. Dashcams, action cams, your phone, and "point-and-shoot" cameras are all "Fixed-Focus", not auto-focus. With fixed-focus cams everything beyond a minimum distance will be relatively well-focused so that you clearly see both a subject up close as well as things in the background hundreds of feet away or more. Fixed-focus lenses are set at the factory to achieve the best images within the intended ranges the cam will be used in,and they normally do not need to ever be refocused.

What has been recently spoken of in this thread (the need to focus the lens of a Maxi) occurred because the factory-set focus was accidentally changed; thus a need to change it back. Sometimes a cam will not have been focused properly at the factory, sometimes focus will change slightly over time due to circuit board warping (or heat can do that temporarily), etc. If you change to a different lens, it will need to have the focus set. Mobius cams have the advantage of being user-focusable via monitoring the image in real-time on external devices, which most dashcams lack. This is because Mobius cams (except their "Mini") are designed to be used as either a dashcam or as an action cam. Most action cams have a similar ability but are not designed to be used primarily as dashcams.

This is just a basic explanation in layman's terms which I hope clears up the misunderstanding. The subject of lenses and of focusing them to achieve a given goal goes deep and takes many volumes of books to cover completely. And it's way beyond my own understanding though several members here know of these things in great depth; most of what little I do know on the subject came from them. Again, you normally do not need to focus a dashcam, as it's fixed-focus is adequate for the intended usage.

Phil
(ADDED: It seems others have said the same thing before I got my post in; sorry for any redundancies)
 
"Autofocus" is a mechanism which changes a cam's focus for you based on it's determination of what you are aiming it at. Dashcams, action cams, your phone, and "point-and-shoot" cameras are all "Fixed-Focus", not auto-focus.
I think you will find that almost all modern smartphones now have autofocus, as do most 'point and shoot' cameras.
 
I used a 8 mpix point and shoot camera on my quad, dident take many minutes before that camera was ruined.
Dont get me wrong it can still autofocus fine, but the motorized zoom have problems and for some strange reason the sound side now have a noise to it.

I don't think auto-focus will ever find a place in dashcams, what if the camera focused on the wrong thing at the wrong time.
 
SawMaster is right.

The problem here is quality control from Mobius. It should not be possible to buy the sensor as a separate unit but rather with the lens attached to it and the correct focus set from factory, they should also have locking glue for the lens or something similar to prevent accidental adjustment, problems in shipping etc. Everything to prevent a faulty product reaching the end users. This will prevent customers putting blame om Mobius for a bad product. Anyone who want to change the lens can do so but if something goes wrong the blame is on you. It would bring the price up a bit as you would have to buy sensor and lens as a unit if you want to change it for a different version, on the other hand the "sellers" could offer you different versions when you buy the dashcam so you can select the one you want.
 
To be clear, I'm not against the current Mobius approach. They do no wrong in selling parts which might be misused, and that does make it cheaper to fix or experiment with as you have to buy only the part you need and no more. It also opens the door wider for experimenters, the results of which have shown us some great gains and adapted uses that are indeed usable and workable. This concept is one of the main ones which sets Mobius apart from all the rest and I do not want to see it changed. If you want the lens to be sold with the sensor and housing, you can buy it that way, and unless you know what you're doing with partial part replacements that's probably your best option, but others are different and shouldn't be restricted to only your own approach.

Certain things can be improved by Mobius and they have a history of doing that. Being a mass-produced item, not every example is going to be perfect but I feel Mobius does better than most. The Maxi is still in an earlier stage of development compared to the original Mobius, and I think it will get better in time. But I'm unsure whether it's a worthwhile buy yet for someone who is just looking for a dashcam they're not going to alter or work with. It has the potential for greatness but there are plenty of other cams like this which never reached their potential including many where no efforts were made in that direction. And the Maxi isn't exactly a dashcam, but also an action cam, so one's expectations of it must take that into consideration. It's different by design. It just needs a little more development, that's all.

Phil
 
Mobius should put a black paint stripe on the lens assembly after final assembly and setting the focus. If a lens is not properly tightened down and rotates while taking the lens cap off refocusing back to the factory setting would be exceptionally easy. Line the paint stripe up and it is back where it should be. Of course, each camera should go through a quality control check to ensure the focus is perfect before having the black paint stripe added. That stripe would be a true QC mark.
 
My only concern is that Mobius should have better quality control to fix the lens out of focus issue. Some sort of marking would make it more easy to at least get the focus close to what it should be if you need to refocus the lens. I also wish they would use locking glue or locking lacker for the lens, it would prevent the lens from moving because of shipping or if the screw is not tight enough. Both changes are easy to implement in current production line and would help a majority of consumer who will never change the lens. Perhaps a redesign of the lens housing to make it more easy to apply locking lacker on your own if you change the lens to make it more secure once you have the correct focus. It would also be nice with a guide on the webpage no "how" to best focus the lens if you need to do that.
 
Im getting what I consider to be extremely noisy night footage with the maxi. Quality set to FINE 2.7k latest wifi firmware.

This seems worse than sample footage others have uploaded. Is this normal or is something wrong? The only thing im impressed with is the motion blur.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i3qcqqhey7k430j/Maxi_Night_Fine_2_7k.MP4?dl=0

Even day time footage looks like it has a lot of noise but is not anywhere near as bad as night.
 
Here is a photo during day.
It looks like it is over sharpened and over compressed. But my bitrate is over 40mb/s at 2.7k resolution.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a3a1h5wvds9trzw/mobiusImageQuality.PNG?dl=0

Seems like it should be better right?

Edit. After running msetup again, it appears as though my video quality was set to fine and not super fine. I'll re test it and i dropped sharpness 1 level down.
Edit** ok so after going to extreme fine* it looks much better but those bitrates are nuts. Still cant hold up to a119 for night and with the sensor it has, i dont think it ever will. Hopefully they can figure out how to retain quality around the 45mbit bitrate mark.
 
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The Maxi uses mjpg rather than the more efficient h264 for the 2.7k resolution, which is why the bitrate is higher than you normally see on other 4MP cameras. I only use extreme fine quality (60Mbps) with the 2.7k resolution since for me the alternatives lose too much detail and appear more compressed than I like.
 
Here is a direct comparison of the A119 with oem firmware against the Maxi with 2.7k extreme fine quality latest fw. I have no doubts they will improve the night performance, not sure if it will match the a119 though.
 

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  • a119vsmaxi.png
    a119vsmaxi.png
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Are you using the default image adjustment parameters (Sharpness, Exposure, Saturation & Multi-Spot Metering?) or have you made any changes?
 
Are you using the default image adjustment parameters (Sharpness, Exposure, Saturation & Multi-Spot Metering?) or have you made any changes?
Yes, all default. I tried lowering the sharpness 1 level but it didn't help much.
 
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