Camera reliability

[Seadogdave]

Last summer I picked up a Raymarine Cam300 to put on the bow of our Dufour 405 to aid picking up moorings amongst other things. It had worked faultlessly from August to October, but when I looked at the image after storm Darrah made its mark, it was full of condensation. Not just a tad foggy either, there were droplets inside the lens which totally obscured the image as it warmed up.

These cameras are made for Raymarine by Iris and I contacted them to see how likely my warranty replacement is going to be to suffer the same fate. They acknowledged that they have an issue but inferred it only affects newer ones and hadn’t been a problem in the past. As it’s a fairly new camera model anyway I’m not convinced. Does anyone have a camera over a year old that lives outside in the elements and is still giving as new images?

At over £500 these are not cheap and I could’ve bought 20 cheap Chinese cameras for the same money. I was persuaded by the fact it has a stainless steel body under the paint and would not corrode, but if water is getting in it’s not much of a benefit. Hopefully my replacement will be better and I’ll be sure to put it through its paces before the warranty is up.

Anyone with similar or contrasting experience?
Dave

 

[Arcady]

Last summer I picked up a Raymarine Cam300 to put on the bow of our Dufour 405 to aid picking up moorings amongst other things. It had worked faultlessly from August to October, but when I looked at the image after storm Darrah made its mark, it was full of condensation. Not just a tad foggy either, there were droplets inside the lens which totally obscured the image as it warmed up.

These cameras are made for Raymarine by Iris and I contacted them to see how likely my warranty replacement is going to be to suffer the same fate. They acknowledged that they have an issue but inferred it only affects newer ones and hadn’t been a problem in the past. As it’s a fairly new camera model anyway I’m not convinced. Does anyone have a camera over a year old that lives outside in the elements and is still giving as new images?

At over £500 these are not cheap and I could’ve bought 20 cheap Chinese cameras for the same money. I was persuaded by the fact it has a stainless steel body under the paint and would not corrode, but if water is getting in it’s not much of a benefit. Hopefully my replacement will be better and I’ll be sure to put it through its paces before the warranty is up.

Anyone with similar or contrasting experience?
Dave

Interesting. I bought one of these cameras directly from Iris in late 2022. The boat was commissioned in January 2023 and initially the camera worked OK. By late 2023 it was full of condensation and by the ‘24 season it had failed completely. As you say, for nearly £500 it is very disappointing.

 

[Seadogdave]

Iris said they have invested in all manner of environmental testing systems to try and find why the cameras are failing. Despite the warranty period I’d say that due to the cost you might expect them to last several years and as they don’t they are not fit for purpose. I would ask for a replacement.
As I bought mine from a Raymarine reseller my contract is with them. I’ll be applying the same test conditions as is required by IP66 along with a period in the freezer to simulate cold which they are meant to endure. If they were £80 you could maybe understand it, but they’re far from it.

 

[ylop]

Just return it to the ratmarine dealer you bought it from with the acknowledgement from Iris that there is a latent design or manufacturing error, get your money back.

 

[Seadogdave]

Just return it to the ratmarine dealer you bought it from with the acknowledgement from Iris that there is a latent design or manufacturing error, get your money back.

Yeah don’t think I haven’t thought of that, but the thing is I want a camera up front and aside from the water ingress this unit fits the bill. I’ll give it one last shot I think then ask for refund and go back to any old cheap onvif camera and throw it away when it corrodes…

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I the camera's IP66 is failing, has failed, then giving it "one last shot" is a bit pointless, as it has failed. Send it back as not fit for purpose and not compliant with the stated specification of IP66. You are flogging a dead horse.

 

[Seadogdave]

That camera yes, but hopefully the replacement won’t have a nick in the seal or will have a better cable entry grommet. As I said one last try before I request refund but I’ll be sure to give it a good hose down and freezer to airing cupboard treatment before bothering to refit it. If there was a decent competitor then it would be an easy choice but I don’t see one. Not in a decently small package anyhow. Do you know of any?

 

[Refueler]

Apologies before I type .....

But I am trying get my head around paying 500 quid for what looks like a typical Chinese External camera ....

Given that I could get a Helmet Cam with rail clip ... WiFi with remote .... display to my phone / tablet etc ... fully weatherproof for a lot less than half that .... ???
Even a decent Runcam would do the job and be significantly less money ...

I'll get my coat ....

 

[Seadogdave]

Apologies before I type .....

But I am trying get my head around paying 500 quid for what looks like a typical Chinese External camera ....

Given that I could get a Helmet Cam with rail clip ... WiFi with remote .... display to my phone / tablet etc ... fully weatherproof for a lot less than half that .... ???
Even a decent Runcam would do the job and be significantly less money ...

I'll get my coat ....

So a couple of things…
You cannot connect a wireless camera to a Raymarine MFD. they do not support WiFi cameras.
If you connect by wire the camera needs to confirm to a certain revision of onvif protocol and if it doesn’t it won’t work. Not many sellers give this info even if asked directly prior to purchase so it’s a gamble if it will work or not.
Finally sea air and water is highly corrosive and unless it’s made of 316 stainless or titanium it’s going to fall apart in no time.
That my friend is why I don’t have a cheaper camera on the boat. There is little competition in this sector unless you go for a standard camera in a stainless enclosure but then you’re talking ugly industrial equipment.

 

[Refueler]

So a couple of things…
You cannot connect a wireless camera to a Raymarine MFD. they do not support WiFi cameras.
If you connect by wire the camera needs to confirm to a certain revision of onvif protocol and if it doesn’t it won’t work. Not many sellers give this info even if asked directly prior to purchase so it’s a gamble if it will work or not.
Finally sea air and water is highly corrosive and unless it’s made of 316 stainless or titanium it’s going to fall apart in no time.
That my friend is why I don’t have a cheaper camera on the boat. There is little competition in this sector unless you go for a standard camera in a stainless enclosure but then you’re talking ugly industrial equipment.

So you paid 500 quid and have a camera already you are complaining about ??

FYI - I use a GoPro on my boat ... it sits inside a special case designed for FULL immersion ...... its been deluged in SW ... it suffers SW spray ... its years old and still no sign of any corrosion / falling apart as you claim.
OK - so it doesn't connect to a Raymarine MFD .. Whoopee !! How Dee Do Do ... but I have full display on my phone wherever I am within WiFi distance .. with full ON / OFF via as well ...
Its size is a lot less than your 500 quid failure ...

As I said - I apologised before posting ... just find it another Marine labelled rip off ...

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

That camera yes, but hopefully the replacement won’t have a nick in the seal or will have a better cable entry grommet. As I said one last try before I request refund but I’ll be sure to give it a good hose down and freezer to airing cupboard treatment before bothering to refit it. If there was a decent competitor then it would be an easy choice but I don’t see one. Not in a decently small package anyhow. Do you know of any?

Why stick it in a freezer? Does your local ambient get to around -20 deg? They used to, so it is said, do that with, stolen, car radios when they wanted to wipe the code If you really must go through all that palaver, give it a hose down and leave it lying around outside overnight.
Tend agree with Refueler.

 

[Seadogdave]

So you paid 500 quid and have a camera already you are complaining about ??

FYI - I use a GoPro on my boat ... it sits inside a special case designed for FULL immersion ...... its been deluged in SW ... it suffers SW spray ... its years old and still no sign of any corrosion / falling apart as you claim.
OK - so it doesn't connect to a Raymarine MFD .. Whoopee !! How Dee Do Do ... but I have full display on my phone wherever I am within WiFi distance .. with full ON / OFF via as well ...
Its size is a lot less than your 500 quid failure ...

As I said - I apologised before posting ... just find it another Marine labelled rip off ...

I already have a GoPro 5 and a 6 that I could use and had considered it. Neither even needs a case. But, want the image on the mfd, I don’t want to be messing with batteries or removing it every time I leave the boat. Horses for courses, but the GoPro horse doesn’t meet my needs else I’d be using it. I’m sure the iris/Raymarine one will get a fix. Too lucrative not to.

 

[Seadogdave]

Why stick it in a freezer? Does your local ambient get to around -20 deg? They used to, so it is said, do that with, stolen, car radios when they wanted to wipe the code If you really must go through all that palaver, give it a hose down and leave it lying around outside overnight.
Tend agree with Refueler.

I would do that as I want to stress it whilst it’s still in warranty. When it gets cold things will shrink and may reveal an issue. It didn’t appear to have an issue until we saw 1 degree recently. If it withstands a few cycles from -20 to +30 and a good soaking with a hose it will give me a degree of confidence going forward.

 

[GunfleetSand]

What temp variation does the manufacturer state the warranty covers? You want to be following that I would have thought.

 

[Seadogdave]

What temp variation does the manufacturer state the warranty covers? You want to be following that I would have thought.

Goes without saying. Operation -20 to +65 and storage -70 to +70. All degrees Celsius. I’ll never see beyond -10 or less, so -20 in the freezer should be a decent test.

 

[GunfleetSand]

Goes without saying. Operation -20 to +65 and storage -70 to +70. All degrees Celsius. I’ll never see beyond -10 or less, so -20 in the freezer should be a decent test.

Doesn’t go without saying for me. Search results seem to agree with you on temp differences but the IP information is related to solids and dust not temps. Have you spoken to the company and asked directly or is it written with instructions? I would only test a £500+ camera against the manufacturer benchmark.

 

[Seadogdave]

Doesn’t go without saying for me. Search results seem to agree with you on temp differences but the IP information is related to solids and dust not temps. Have you spoken to the company and asked directly or is it written with instructions? I would only test a £500+ camera against the manufacturer benchmark.

I’m well aware of how the Ingress Protection rating system works but when the manufacturer also gives environmental criteria then the device should maintain that IP rating over that range of temperatures and humidities. As this only occurred as we hit colder conditions I don’t think it unrealistic to consider that the temperature may have been a contributing factor as things like seals harden and contract.
Manufacturer has already stated that the device is not nitrogen purged on assembly so it is highly likely that an amount of moisture in the air inside will condense as the temperature difference inside and out change, but the amount of water inside my lens was, I feel way more than there ought to have been and this is supported by the responses I’m getting from the oem who are actively trying to resolve the issue.

 

[Arcady]

Interesting. I bought one of these cameras directly from Iris in late 2022. The boat was commissioned in January 2023 and initially the camera worked OK. By late 2023 it was full of condensation and by the ‘24 season it had failed completely. As you say, for nearly £500 it is very disappointing.

By way of an update and somewhat promoted by this thread, I went back to Iris to remind them that my camera failed within the warranty period and they have immediately offered to replace it, subject to returning the original for inspection. I’m assuming the problem will have been fixed in the interim. Here’s hoping those that bought via Raymarine get an equally positive result.

 

[matt1]

I’ve just bought an inst360 Go 3 and amongst other uses, planned to use that as a docking cam, albeit linked to either a tablet or its docking station screen. The detachable camera is highly magnetic so could be used on lots of parts of the boat.

Insta360 GO 3S kaufen - Neue 4K Mini-Kamera