JPeel Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 I first saw a Tachyon camera when Jeremy Moore brought one to a match last summer. I liked it so I picked one out for myself for Christmas. On the website there are several packages to purchase for shooting sports ranging from the basic to the full blown kit with several mounting options/brackets. Since I am a gun gear addict there was no way I was going to pass up getting more so I went with the full deal http://www.tachyoninc.com/guncam.htmlfor $249.99. I put it to use yesterday and here's what I learned. 1. The camera is light, approx 2 oz, super easy to operate and takes good quality video, wide angle with no fish-eye distortion. 2. The clip on mount on the bill of your cap is a little awkward because it is nearly 3 oz of extra weight on the very tip of your cap which makes the bill fall over your face unless the cap is really cinched down tight. 3. The clip on mount used on your ear-muffs works well but puts the POV even higher on your head, in case you're trying for that eye-level view. 4. The hat mount is solid and doesn't pull the bill of your cap down as bad as the clip on. 5. The scope attachment rail is for 1" tubes and therefore won't even start to fit a 30mm tube. I didn't check that detail when I bought the kit just assumed that since they are marketing this kit to competition shooters the attachment would be made to fit the most common scope size. I've emailed Tachyon and asked if they make a 30mm attachment. 6. The shotgun magazine attachment rail will fit my Nordic MXT tube only in the clamp groove where the diameter is 27mm. If your tube OD is greater than 27mm you're out of luck. 7. The picatinny rail mount is robust and holds the camera very securely and I'm sure will protect from shock/recoil damage. However it also weighs approx 6 oz so with the camera inserted is approx 8 oz. If this was mounted on the shotgun magazine tube that's a lot of dead mass just hanging out 6" beyond the barrel nut. Same thing if it was mounted on your rifle handguard or pistol rail. A lot of dead mass just hanging there. I might mount it that way a time or two for practice sessions or if I use my guns in my strength training regimen, but I can't see having that extra weight on the guns during a match. So overall I'm pleased with the camera and the initial quality but I wish I'd realized the limitations of the attachments that came in the gun cam kit and just bought one of the lower priced kits that just have the hat mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HI5-O Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Did you order the kit from their website? I wanted to buy also but was concerned about their order site was not a secure site. Do you have any videos up anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPeel Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Did you order the kit from their website? I wanted to buy also but was concerned about their order site was not a secure site. Do you have any videos up anywhere? Yes, ordered from website. It shows as a secure site on my pc and laptops. I haven't posted any videos yet and deleted off the card the few that I took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanb Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I've got it as well but haven't had a chance to get out with it more than once. I need to tweak it so I get a better field of view but I think I've got that figured out. Once the weather breaks I'll have some videos for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPeel Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 here's a quick vid of my son shooting a steel stage on a cold gray day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v1911 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Looks like a damn cold day out at Cresson. Video looked grainy at first but then seemed to clear up. That could be a loss of resolution through youtube. Otherwise the video looked good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPeel Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Looks like a damn cold day out at Cresson. Video looked grainy at first but then seemed to clear up. That could be a loss of resolution through youtube. Otherwise the video looked good. Yes, the conversion to YouTube left it grainy. The hd video is extremely clear, even when I played it back at 5 frames/sec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szhttm Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 I suggest you all follow "tachyon guncam" on Facebook. They offer software upgrades via this media. One example of a recent upgrade available is to auto shutoff the camera after 2 minutes. * https://www.facebook.com/search/str/tachyon%2bguncam/keywords_top Good Luck And Be Safe!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJW Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 here's a quick vid of my son shooting a steel stage on a cold gray day. Is that video 30fps or 60fps? The "graininess" kind of looks like motion/compression artifacts from a lower frame rate, given that the relatively static portions of the video are so clear. I run my Contour at 720p@60fps rather than 1080p@30fps for just this reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPeel Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 here's a quick vid of my son shooting a steel stage on a cold gray day. Is that video 30fps or 60fps? The "graininess" kind of looks like motion/compression artifacts from a lower frame rate, given that the relatively static portions of the video are so clear. I run my Contour at 720p@60fps rather than 1080p@30fps for just this reason. It was 1080p. The video quality went way down when I converted to YouTube format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJW Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Sure, it was recorded in 1080p format, but the YouTube version of it I watched is also in 1080p. It is also at about 9 Megabits per second (Mbps) bandwidth, which is more than enough for good streaming quality. (I actually upload my own YouTube videos at about 8Mbps.) The framerate, though, is only 30 frames per second (fps). When you compress a video with a lot of motion at all, the framerate makes a huge difference. So, if you'd care for the suggestion, you will get better looking results on YouTube if you can set the camera to record at 60 frames per second rather than 30fps—and yes, this will be true even if you have to lower your resolution to 720p to get a 60fps option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPeel Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 the tachyon doesn't have the option to change framerate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledoc Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Thanks OP for the review....I recently purchased a Tachyon HD camera and was pleasantly surprised! My computer is old, so I could not get Windows Movie Maker to accept the MOV files; therefore, I purchased a video editing tool to facilitate faster uploading to YouTube. I have included a sample.... The weight and ease of use of the camera influenced my purchasing decision. I forgot that I had it mounted to my cap (included with order) at times. Looking into a way to mount it on my earmuffs instead...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHMSA15151 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the great review. I have been thinking about getting a camera but there are many to choose from with lots of options. I think you've narrowed my search for me. Just saw Amazon has the Eric Grauffel Signature model for $230. I'll obviously shoot much faster with that one! Edited February 18, 2015 by IHMSA15151 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad5md Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) I just got mine about a month ago and have used it in our weekly indoor USPSA shoots and a Carbine match using the cap mounted holder and extremely pleased with it. The video and sound quality is just amazing. I have several videos and will try uploading one here when I get the chance to do it at home. Regarding the video quality degrading when uploaded to YouTube, that is one thing I will have to try and see. I will post a link here. Here is one video I uploaded on YouTube......I noticed that when posted here there is flicker on the video. The original does not. Edited March 7, 2015 by ad5md Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HurtLocker Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Has anyone done a side-by-side with a GoPro? It is bigger, but if you put it one of those mounts that doesn't use the underwater housing, I bet it would be great. Nothing against the GunCam, I just already have a GoPro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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