Prism Firmware update???
I'm surprised that there has been no firmware update, given how long the Prism has been available. What are the plans for an update?
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Three month later and no reply, let alone update or announcement?
C'mon, Sena, you can do better than that.
1) Boost 1080 from 30 fps to 60 fps as Drift, GoPro, etc. already have. Or at least explain why it's not available. Maybe a Prism 2.0 product will have it?
2) The Prism would benefit from voice command support for the same functions gained through at least the 20S & SMH10 headsets.
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Yes it would be nice to receive an answer as I am thinking of purchasing the Prism as well.
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At this point, after a very unofficial chat with someone at Sena, my guess is the Prism isn't about to change. I think this is Prism V1.0. Maybe there's a V2.0 lurking somewhere in Sena, or maybe they've decided not to take on GoPro, Sony, etc., and the cheap cameras from "China Inc.".
At this point, I think it's safe to say there will be no upgrade to 1080@60 FPS. My guess is it's not just a simple swap this for that process.
Voice command remains "nice to have", but I've gotten to the point that it's less important.
So... do you buy one? Pros: Excellent form factor, good added functions (single, burst shots, time lapse). 720 @ 60 FPS gives surprisingly good images. Of course, 1080 would be nicer. Amazing set of mounts.
Cons: No 1080 @ 60 FPS. Short battery time. Moderately limited space on 32 Gb chips. Sena's manuals, as always, need to be read with care, and even then some stuff is obscure.
But... there are ways around the chip size and battery issue. Go to this web site: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm and click on Windows GUI version of fat32format - download the .exe file. Stuff a 64 Gb microSD chip into your computer and run the program. Where you see "Allocation Size", scroll down to 64,000 (whatever begins with 6). Click on it and do the formatting. You must use this program! Windows will only take you to 32 Gb! At the end of the formatting, you will have a 64 Gb chip that Prism will use (128 Gb or more doesn't work - I tried it). Do not use the Prism to format the chip!! You'll be back to 32 Gb.
But wait! There's more! Buy a huge auxiliary battery for charging phones. I found one rated at 50000 (fifty thousand!) mAh (mili-amps per hour). Buy as USB extension cord (Male USB Type A plug at one end, female USB Type A socket at the other end - these are the large USB plugs used for almost anything; Plug one of the Sena USB charging cables into the back of the Prism (there's a little rubber "trapdoor" in the back of the camera). You must use a Sena cable - their plugs fit much tighter than anything else. With a tight fit, the cable won't pop out of the Prism. Plug the USB Type A male plug into the USB extension cable and plug the cable's male connector into the battery pack.
With the 64 Gb microSD and the external battery pack (have fun figuring out which pocket to put the battery in...), you can literally turn the camera on and start recording all day(!!!). At the end of the day, unplug the extension cord, plug the male connector of the Sena cable (don't remove it from the camera) into your laptop or PC and down load all of the files (A file for about 45 minutes. There is no break when you end one file and start the next. Once everything is downloaded, erase (do not reformat!) the files in the camera, and you're good to go for the next day! Turn the camera off at lunch and coffeee breaks and you should be able to get two days on a chip. Woohoo!
OK, to buy or not to buy? Small, easy to live with camera, tons of mounts for all sorts of points of view. The waterproof case works with any mount except the side-mount helmet mount. The camera is supposed to be water-resistant. With the case, it's waterproof but you'll have to mount the camera on the top of your helmet.
With the two hacks listed above (making a 64 Gb chip, external battery), the camera does a lot. But...
Not having 1080 @ 60 FPS is a disappointment. If it's a deal-breaker, well, there you are.
Hope this helps.
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Correction: If not having 1080 @ 60 FPS is a disappointment, if it's a deal breaker...
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Wow RB, thanks so much for your insights! I will definitely try some of the hacks you've suggested. For my need, the Prism should be OK. Yes it could have more bells and whistles but what it has going for it offset any potential negatives in my book. I especially like the size and the ease of use. I'm taking a huge trip this summer and want to chronicle it in a series of YouTube videos so it should fit the bill just fine. The fact that I don't plan on running a camera for everyday riding means I don't want to spend GoPro prices.
Do you use the helmet mic to do your own commentary? If so, what are your thoughts there?
David
P.S. I'm in Tennessee, what part of the country are you?
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You're quite welcome. The microSD thing sounds rather ...um... overwhelming? But it's really little more than the usual quick format Windows does. (What's happening is the FAT32 file system is capable of going to 64 Gb, but Windows, for some reason, capped its formatters at 32 Gb - this tool steps around that cap) I found my battery pack and extension cable on eBay. Neither is very expensive.
My biggest problem in publishing videos is YouTube (and Vimeo) compress video files to save storage overhead. All well and good in that sense, but it makes a mess of videos (lots of blocks AKA pixilation, blurred images). I've tried three editors (Resolve, ShotCut, and OpenCut). The output from Resolve, in particular, and ShotCut, for the most part, is pretty clean. But YouTube really trashes them. The 1080 @ 30 FPS footage also takes it on the neck. AFAIK, there's no real work-around. >:(
There's no question that GoPro can produce some amazing images, but the cost, IMHO, verges on silly. And I don't like that "brick coming at you" look. Helmet mounting, at eye level, with little or no helmet in the FOV is almost impossible. With the Prism it's "only" a matter of moving the clip-on mount as far forward as possible. Take a look at some of my YT videos; search for Richard Emerson Hawk Mountain (1080 @ 30 FPS) - that should find at least one of my videos - Yet Another Resolution is 720p60 - see what you think.
Y'know, after a while, you get the urge to just shoot everything and see what it looks like.
The commentary thing... I'm somewhat on the gabby side (can ya tell?), so I pretty much shut up while the camera's running. Except for the occasional comment. The helmet mic works just fine. IMHO bike videos with non-stop rushing are... I really don't like them. I keep the external mic off and... meh, works for me.
One additional con: when the camera's powered up, the phone, intercom, and GPS audio is disabled. >:( Kinda defeats a lot of the reason for having the 20S, doesn't it? >:( >:( >:(
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SE PA - NW of Philadelphia.
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Thanks again for some great information. If you are ever down Tennessee way feel free to hit me up and I can show you some great roads.
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We touched a bit of Tennessee coming back from N'Orlins a couple of year ago. Sure would like to get back with the intent of exploring the area.
Now... great roads... one word: Alps. Heading back in July, Prism camera videoing all the way. Woohoo!
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BTW, I'm not 100% certain about this, but I think there's a way to establish email contact via the list. Give it a shot if you want. Kinda think broadcasting my secret address billybob@bitbucket.net (<bogus, of course) wouldn't be a winner. :)
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