Garmin Varia Camera?

[RWL2222]

Originally Posted by rice rocket

I wear one on my motorcycle. Deployed twice, saved my ass twice.

Thus the rice rocket handle?

[rice rocket]

Originally Posted by RWL2222

Thus the rice rocket handle?

Ha, weirdly, I registered for this forum in '09, didn't get on motorbikes until 2013, and didn't start being a track junkie until 2018.

I also owned only Italian bikes until two years ago.

Not sure what I was thinking 13 years ago when I picked this user handle.

[jwalther]

Now up on the Garmin website: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/721258

[mtb_frk]

4-6 hours of battery life. Pass.

That 4-6 hours is with a new battery, after a couple years, then what 2 hours? If the battery was replaceable that would be a different story also.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/05/...ra-review.html

[madsciencenow]

BTD has these available for purchase now. I had one in my cart and then a bell went off in my head and I searched for DCrainmaker's review. It was so horrible I cleared my cart and headed over here to see what others are thinking. I'm thinking I still might want one but I'm not in a huge hurry at this point.

[LJohnny]

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/05/...ra-review.html

Seems like a pass on this one, perhaps wait for the next gen or a revamp of their app. I’ll stick to the radar only model for this generation myself. Honestly, the radar has been the best Garmin item ever that I have owned, reliable, great performer. This radar/camera seems like it is not ready for prime time.

[RoosterCogset]

Any idea if you can control the control (on/off) the camera functionality from the head unit, while keeping the light/radar still working? Does battery life improve if not recording to same as the eg. the 515 model?

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

Any idea if you can control the control (on/off) the camera functionality from the head unit, while keeping the light/radar still working? Does battery life improve if not recording to same as the eg. the 515 model?

There’s some limited control built into the head unit.


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[Elefantino]

So this is predicated on my 520 head unit not being able to work the on-bike controls of the unit, because only the -30 units and above have that functionality. So, snap.

But 6 hours of recording time on flash with 1080p is great. I'll take that.

And the quality of the video is, IMNSHO, way better than my late great Fly6 Gen 2.

That said, trying to make a video of your ride just for kicks and giggles is a little daunting. Have been trying the app and it seems counterintuitive. Maybe I just need more time to figure it out; I've only had it since Monday.

It is, of course, heavier. Part of that is the new alloy tabs vs the plastic in all other head/light units. (Spoiler alert: The plastic tabs are going away in all future thingies.) And it requires a new mount; the old Varia mount doesn't work and as of now there is no bolt-on mount from Garmin, which I think was a mistake.

On balance, it seems like a good unit. It also seems very much like a v1.0 unit, or at least the app does.

[Spaghetti Legs]

I read the DCR review. Seems like the typical Garmin good hardware, crappy software issues. His biggest headache was downloading via the app but I would think you could directly connect to a computer and view files more efficiently that way (what I do with my old Fly 6/12). Hopefully if not already there , a settings option to specify clip length longer than 30 sec will be updated.

I’ve found 1080p good enough for picking up license plates.

[madsciencenow]

The more I think about this the more I’m inclined to pick one up. For me this is about protecting my 6 or at least having evidence. I don’t want ride videos and being able to get 30s clips to submit to law enforcement makes sense. In the event that I need to pull a clip I think I can deal with the ****e software.


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[Jeckel30]

I knew it was a long shot but I was hoping for live video showing up on a head unit when a car passes. If that was the case I would sell everything and head back to Garmin.

[rice rocket]

Originally Posted by Jeckel30

I knew it was a long shot but I was hoping for live video showing up on a head unit when a car passes. If that was the case I would sell everything and head back to Garmin.

I could see that happening on the Hammerhead, or the new Stages computer, but none of the Garmin units have a strong enough hardware package to make that happen, even if the software was all of a sudden able to support it.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

It is, of course, heavier. Part of that is the new alloy tabs vs the plastic in all other head/light units. (Spoiler alert: The plastic tabs are going away in all future thingies.) And it requires a new mount; the old Varia mount doesn't work and as of now there is no bolt-on mount from Garmin, which I think was a mistake.
.

The current Varia uses the standard Garmin mount that's used for head units as well. Are you saying Garmin is changing their mount standard, or for some reason(?) they're creating a new and different mount standard but only for rear-facing Varia-based models?

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

The current Varia uses the standard Garmin mount that's used for head units as well. Are you saying Garmin is changing their mount standard, or for some reason(?) they're creating a new and different mount standard but only for rear-facing Varia-based models?

They changed the mount for the new Varia; the old Varia uses the old mount.

Future products (like the rumored solar-powered head unit) will use metal tabs but head units will use the old mounts.