Review on Brinno BCC200 Construction & Outdoor Security Time Lapse Camera Trio Bundle Pack - TLC200 Pro Camera, Clamp, Water-Resistant Case - 42-Day Battery Life, 720P by Lamar Vanderburg

Just bought this camera set to do time lapses at our lake cottage. I was a little wary of some reviews as I'm a bit of a techno snob when it comes to quality and user experience. I tried exploring other options with GoPro camera setups etc but was short on time and was drawn not only by the price but also by the fact that it was practical for outdoor use. use. The stated battery life was also a big plus. While I could theoretically power the camera, this was another aspect I didn't have time to evaluate. At $300 for the kit and case, and given my limitations, this seemed like the best option. I ordered it on Saturday and luckily it arrived on Monday as part of my 2 day free basic option. We left the lake on Monday so I had to rush to get everything working. The packaging was excellent, two smaller boxes in a larger retail box containing the camera in a weatherproof case in one and all the accessories in the other. There are some comments here on how to understand how it works. I had absolutely no problems. I took it out of the box while my 9 year old opened up the accessory box and I would say within 2 minutes had batteries and a memory card (one included but I bought a larger capacity SanDisk) and thing on our kitchen Table doing 2 second intervals while my daughter makes funny faces as a test. There are only 3 buttons on all of this. The only part that might need an adaptation to this non-touchscreen in this "touchscreen world" we live in is that the menu navigation uses those 3 buttons in a cluttered way, similar to old flip phones , in which we live, where two buttons perform the main functions, but also served to navigate through menu items and settings. But it wasn't difficult to find out. Starting a recording is insanely easy. If you accepted the default settings, literally turn on the device, press the OK button twice and it starts. Of course, if you want to change the setting, as most people would, you have to go through the menu and setup process mentioned above, but I don't find it confusing. There is a button that says "Menu" and another one that says "Time". It's very easy to understand what to do. Again, I installed it within 2-3 minutes and recorded it on our kitchen table. Watching the video was easy. All you have to do to stop the burning process is hold down the OK button. Recording stops. , displays a processing message, and that's it. Then pull out the card and I was able to pop it into my MacBook, go to Finder/Explorer and see it as a drive with a folder containing an .avi file. Click on it, my MacBook opens it as a .mov file and that's it! The video quality was good, maybe even very good. It was very similar to 720p. If you're looking for the latest in ultra-high definition insane 4k, you'll probably find it here. But he was far from pixelated. It was clear enough, every reasonable detail was perfectly clear. It was a long time that my daughter was fooling around at the kitchen table. After this test I took it to install. It comes with a pair of thin elastic cords that stretch well and are perfect for wrapping around a tree. The elastic cords have hooks that attach to the eye holes in the weatherproof case. I tried to see the view from the intended mounting point and based on the on-screen preview I got a rough idea of what I was seeing. The display on the device itself is small, so don't expect much clarity. But that's enough to give you an idea of what you're framing. But you really can't say anything concrete about how well the details in your frame appear in an image. There is a "Focus" mode, but I haven't tried it (yet). What I did was take a test shot at an angle. Then I took out the card and watched the video on my MacBook. I was happy with the focus set, so I didn't touch it. But I know others have complained about having to use a small screwdriver to adjust the focus. I suspect they set focus by assuming the target is some distance away (20ft+), so that's probably the default focus. Maybe I could type it in a little more, but to be honest, given the nature of the time-lapse video, I'm not sure it would matter. I would recommend just taking some time to set up and position the camera, take a test video, film it and test it out on your laptop/PC how it turned out and adjust from there. For me it was a pretty quick process. The ergonomics of the setup will be a bit unwieldy. So he's actually very easily attached to things. The bungee system worked for me and it took me less than a minute to tie it to a tree branch. However, when it's strapped on, accessing the display and buttons is a bit tricky. But the bungee has enough room for me to pull it a few inches away from the tree to see the display and press the buttons. I didn't think it was a big deal. In addition, you can of course design the entry individually and then buckle up. I didn't use the bracket that came with it, but it looks decent. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the thing worked. There are some rubber contact buttons on the case that allow you to interact with the 3 buttons of the device while the camera is in the case. It just occurred to me after reading some other feedback from people who set it up and didn't get the video they wanted, I'm wondering if it's possible to use it in a script like I did ( barking tree). the bungee on irregular services when you can hit a button and ruin the record. To be clear, I have NOT observed this at all, and I think it's far away, but I think it's possible. I'd say it would require pretty unfortunate surface conditions and the right amount of pressure in the right spot, but I think it's possible, although I'd say unlikely. Overall I think this is a great option for $300. If there are other options for a different weatherproof time-lapse camera setup that will allow me to shoot over 30 days without a battery, I'd love to hear about them. Nothing showed up for me. Even in the reviews here, people complained and said they would return it for another option, but no one wrote what that option could be. I think it's pretty easy to use. In fact, the installation is pretty quick out of the box. A quick start card is included and was easy enough to follow. You can use it to capture time lapses in less than 5 minutes and I would say if you are very careful to make sure your camera is placed and focused correctly give yourself 20-30 minutes to set it up (I didn't bother ). . with focus, but it seems simple enough). If focusing bothers you, I'd forget to rely on the screen. Make a test recording and then play back the video. Tedious, but probably the best choice. I'd happily pay a few hundred dollars more to be able to control via the app and even get a live view to help with setup and focus. There might be better options out there, but I haven't seen anything that jumps out of my box for long-term outdoor battery life at this price point. Maybe a GoPro with some weather protection options? I'll give it a month to work and we'll see what we get. I'll come back and post the results but for now I'm giving it 4 stars. I will correct according to the results. But so far I am very satisfied!