Field Evaluation - Roscoby Riser Cam By Dave Conrad - Senior Field Evaluator
Oct 21, 2009 - 5:11:50 AM
Today's society is all about convenience and that shouldn't have to stop in the woods while hunting. Thanks to the folks at Roscoby Riser Cam hunters can take to the woods without the bulky weight of a camera, camera arm and not to mention the setup noise.
Weighing in at a less than a pound the Roscoby Riser Cam is packed with a ton of features. I like the fact that the unit comes with oversized push buttons for power, record and functions. Mounted on the rubberized top housing, the on/off and record buttons are labeled and raised so there is no confusion when the moment of truth comes to begin recording. These are coupled with a red power and green record LEDs to quickly verify the camera is on and recording. In addition there is a large visible LCD that indicates how much available recording time is remaining on the SD Card.
On the front of the camera you will find a high quality lens producing a quality of 640x480 pixels and a recording rate of 30 frames per second. The 5 lux rating will allow for fairly good early morning and late evening recording but much will depend on your surrounding environment.
The Riser Cams lens is effective out to about 40 yards. A 3.5mm microphone jack is located below the lens and includes a miniature angled microphone capable of picking up sounds in all directions. The sound is recorded in mono from the compact microphone. When in storage the microphone port is covered by a flexible mount which is part of the housing so you do not have to worry about debris.
The Riser Cam comes with 64 MB of internal memory but I suggest getting an expansion SD card in the 2 to 4 GB range. This will allow for recording times over 3 hours which is more than adequate for any type of hunting.
The rubber housing will protect the internals from everyday shock and bumps from regular field use. The water resistant rating will also protect the internals from everyday moisture from dew but not from a hard rain. If you would consider taking your camcorder out then the Riser Cam should have no problems dealing with the elements.
Easy to mount stabilizer Riser Cam makes getting the hunt as simple as point and shoot.
The Riser Cam housing mounts easily to your bow's stabilizer mount but also incorporates a tripod mount. This makes it nice when videoing from the ground when concealed within the brush. Just mount the Riser Cam to a tripod and elevate it slightly above the underbrush. The easy 'point and shoot' characteristics of the camera will enable you to capture all the action from the ground.
When finished recording there are a number of ways to relive your hunt. Unscrew the back part of the housing to reveal an A/V port, USB and SD Card. By utilizing the A/V port you can connect the Riser Cam directly to your TV for playback. For downloading to your computer simply plug into the USB cable port. If you have an external SD card reader then plug and play is a very simple procedure for copying onto or viewing from your computer. I have multiple SD cards which makes it very easy when you are on the go. When the Riser Cam LED displays a card memory getting low I simply pop in one of my spares.
Two AA batteries are all that is required to operate the Riser Cam. This attributes to the lightweight and during turkey season this spring I only used a four pack of batteries. I only use the Riser Cam for hunting and not viewing. For viewing I pull out the SD card and transfer to my computer which may add to battery life rather than playback from the camera itself.
Simple, easy to find, easy to see, easy to operate.
Features that I really like are the fact that a three second delay is required when turning off the unit. This way if I accidentally hit the power instead of the record I don't have to worry about turning off the device. The 'point and shoot' feature of the camera is very reliable. Since there is no viewfinder the Riser Cam's fairly wide range of view can pretty much guarantee your subject will always be centered. In my few hunts and practice clips as long as the subject is centered in my bow sight window I have never had a problem capturing video. For sample video: Conrad Video
The Riser Cams weight is no problem when attached to your bow. I like the fact that when I see any animals coming I can quickly turn it on and begin recording. It may take a little getting use to bringing your bow up earlier, but for far away recording I rest my lower cam on my leg/hip joint and simply point and shoot. As the subject gets closer then I can easily draw my bow while still recording.
For a double video capture event, I plan on utilizing the Riser Cam this fall in addition to a cameraman. I believe this will add to the effect of the hunt from the hunters perspective, making for an even more detailed hunt.
Design 8.5 out of 10
The Roscoby Riser Cam scores very high for a camera that is compact. The VGA quality video is very good for a camera specifically designed for capturing memories. The only drawback is if you are in dense woods the early morning and dusk filming will appear grainy based on the 5 lux rating. The armor rubberized coating should have no problem taking the daily grind of bowhunting. The easy to use operation combined with the oversized buttons makes operation simple even while using gloves during colder weather. The buttons tend to be a little stiff, but is okay based on the fact that they are raised and you do not want them to turn on accidentally.
You will witness a slight jump in the video upon release but as long as you keep the subject in the sight window you will have a lifetime of memories that you may not have captured on a solo hunt. This makes filming your own hunt quite a bit easier then if you would have brought along the extra equipment necessary with a camcorder.
I tested the playback on both a Windows XP/Vista machine as well as an iMac running Mac OS X version 10.6.1 with no problems.
Price 8.0 out of 10
Seeing that there are some fairly good camcorders out there with comparable prices and a few more features gives the Riser Cam still a respectable score.
Fun Quotient 9.0 out of 10
With the ease of operation, good quality video and compact size you should never again have a complaint on capturing videos in the field.
NOTE: Dave took the doe and the Roscoby caught it: Conrad Doe
