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Polaroid Cube - I see a lot more video in our future

A Polaroid CUBE joined this household for Christmas. So far, so good. This kids have named it 'Cubee' and talk to it like it's alive (LOL). It has been attached to kids scooters for some POV video. It's been used at New Years Eve and a birthday. It's a great selfie camera! It joined us for a trip to Six Flags to record some action on the lighter rides. I was far more comfortable pulling this out instead of my iPhone, but without a case, it is still easy to loose your grip on it. I've also noticed that since it's a perfect cube, at least 83.4 % of the time you will put your finger on the lens when pulling it out.

For the techie crowd, the camera is outputting 1920x1080 video in a H.264 AVC at 29.97fps format but under the MOV file type. The audio is listed at 2 channel, but I can't see any way that it would be in stereo. Not high quality, but perfectly acceptable for the price and size.
 
Thanks for the review @JetPowered. Are you going to edit any material together to show the quality? I am very interested if it would mesh fine with the GoPro footage?
 
Ill see what I can do. It's been mostly a dismal grey here since Christmas. I expect to have enough footage to splice together soon.
 
I can't find any specs on camera size both in and out of a case. Any info?
 
In reviewing these cameras, the biggest flaw I have seen is that in any "fast" moving action, the picture tends to blur at the slower frame rates. Picture quality in general is awesome because you have the resolution, but it will blur for any action or panning of the camera.

Great option for the price though. Same with the lower Res GoPro's too.
 
Mel, approx 1 in cubed.

image.jpg
 
Demo video is encoding. I only have a hand full of shots but pulled a dark scene from New Years Eve, and few of the cube mag-attached to a kids Razor scooter (and rotated 90 as a result of the magnet being on the bottom) and a few hand held shots from Six Flags.
 
And, the demo video in 1080p:

 
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Not bad! I forgot to add this to my XMas list. Definitely need 1 before spring.
 
@JetPowered rhanks for posting that up. Looks solid.
 
You're welcome. FWIW, that was a raw edit from iMovie with no color correction or stabilization and output to 1080p.
 
Looks as good as any gopro footage I've seen. Why is some of the output in portrait mode (thinner than full screen and bordered by black on the sides)? I'm guessing the camera was oriented on its when the footage was taken not that you set the camera to record in portrait mode.
 
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JetPowered said:
You're welcome. FWIW, that was a raw edit from iMovie with no color correction or stabilization and output to 1080p.
Click to expand...
You can compensate for stabilization in iMovie?
 
Ronnie, it has an accelerometer to sense orientation like an iPhone. So yes, it was on its side. It's not how I normally film but I wanted to try the camera on the scooter and the magnet mount is in the bottom. Giddyupjoe, to an extent, you can stabilize some motion but at expense of resolution.
 
Thanks for posting the size, that is small! If I could just download the footage and not have to do anything to it but play it, I might consider it. I sold @jawsf16 my go pro because I couldn't stomach all the editing needed to watch it.
 
4x15mph said:
This is a great option and I also forgot to put this on my xmas list. Here is another option that we may see at our stores shortly. It is a combined drone/camera

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...s-intelligent-swarming-nano-drone?ref=popular
Click to expand...
Thats a good find @4x15mph and at the price it looks like a good entry level drone for some simple arial additions to our home movies! I did not notice the batter life, I would assume its pretty short. I also wonder how it would handle in windy conditions? I am not hip to all this drone stuff but I foresee it to be my next "research" project prior to purchase. Have you seen this @Ronnie?
 
Yhea, I don't know the details but it looks like you can grab one for around $250 and it is "estimated" to be here in June. I would not bank on the delivery date

This is more of an easy and quick picture/video clip option so I don't think the battery life will be an issue for what it is marketed for. This will not replace the super cool, larger and more expensive drones as far as their purpose.
 
GiddYupJoe said:
Thats a good find @4x15mph and at the price it looks like a good entry level drone for some simple arial additions to our home movies! I did not notice the batter life, I would assume its pretty short. I also wonder how it would handle in windy conditions? I am not hip to all this drone stuff but I foresee it to be my next "research" project prior to purchase. Have you seen this @Ronnie?
Click to expand...

I hadn't seen this specific drone until I read about it here yesterday. I think its neat but what makes it unique is not its size (my local hobby town carries upwards of 10 different mini quad copters, some about the size of a golf ball, maybe smaller) but its ability to follow the user and sense and avoid obstacles. The real question is: Are these features enough to justify the increase in cost over other mini quad copters?

Here are two pics of the mini quad copter I bought for my son last year. It was originally $150 and has all of the features that my (now his) phantom one has plus it came with an integrated camera (with micro sd memory card like the gopros) that is controlled through the remote. I saw it for $120 recently. This is less than half of the cost of the kickstarter swarming nano drone / quad copter . Most of the smart phone controlled "drones" (land and air) that I have seen can be found at brookstone. If I was in the market for one I would probably go the parrot ar 2.0 since it is bigger and can handle more wind/ outdoor use. The kickstarter drone and most small quadcopters look like indoor / no wind devices too me. for pics or videos like that I would probably just use a go pro, smart phone or standard pocket camera on a pole.
I'm not putting the kickstarter drone down but it's just not for me. The mini quad pictured has been in the air less than 10 times over the last 14 months.

image.jpg image.jpg
 
I'm thinking about getting a cube for my son to mount on his rc drift car. We mounted a gopro opinion a case and with a protective rubber cover on his drift car yesterday, close the center of gravity. It ended up being heavy enough to change the drift dynamics a lot. I'm hoping the cube won't do the same since it is so small (and I'm assuming light) by comparison.

While at the hobby shop I noticed a lot of different quad copters some very small (I will add pics later) and "inexpensive", like $80 to $150. Most did not include a camera but if the cube is as light as I assume I think it would make a great camera for a dyi economical flying camera / drone system, tough enough and big enough for outdoor use in light winds.
 
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