I ordered an extra shoe so we can transfer the gorillapod from her camera to mine. If you’re in the market for a new camera, try and get one with the tripod mounting shoe somewhat centrally located on the bottom of the camera. My fiance’s camera has the tripod mount on one side so the camera wants to lean to the other side. Fortunately, the gorillapod is strong enough to resist this.

The wireless device is ok when it’s close to the receiver, like in the same room. When placed probably about 50 feet away with two wood framed drywall walls in between, the quality was completely poor to the point of not being able to make out anything. The camera quality itself is a decent quality if it’s hardwired. but given that the wireless is useless for this price you can get a much better hardwired camera. I’d avoid getting this because there’s got to be better wireless options out there.

One other note: I have the “II” version of this tripod (the current version that Amazon sells is “V”), which I purchased used in 2002. It is still going strong! The “V” version looks just the same as mine, based on the Amazon photos.

It’s also supposed to output 480 TVL resolution however after side-by-side testing, I’ve found that this camera’s image quality is not as high as other Q-see cameras that are rated only at 420TVL (namely the Q-See QS2350C Weatherproof Color CCD Camera Kit With Built-in Heat Circulating Blower). The image quality isn’t that bad (you can still identify faces) but there is noticeable noise in the picture that isn’t in the lower-cost 420TVL outdoor units. It seems that much of the high cost of this camera is not because of the supposed 480TVL lens but rather because it is apparently “vandalproof” (something I guess time will tell).

A third comment: This camera can handle low light situations fairly well even though there are no IR LEDs. In close-to-complete darkness though, the camera could not distinguish any objects so if you’re planning on using this unit as a night-time surveillance tool, you will most likely need ambient lighting or an array of IR LEDs close to the camera to make this camera useful.

1. It couldn’t be easier to take videos. You insert the batteries and press a button and you’re filming.

2. You connect it to the computer by plugging it into the USB port. Software downloads to your computer, all very smoothly. The connection to the USB port is problematic. A USB connector pops out of the side of the camera, which is very elegant but doesn’t work well in practice. I had to unplug another device to fit it into the available slot next door. It’s kind of like having one of those big plugs taking up so much room on a power strip. I’ve already ordered an extension for it.

3. The editing software is very basic. This is to be expected. This is supposed to be a quick, point-and-shoot device that takes basic video that can quickly be shared on the web. Which is a great idea. But here’s the thing: you can edit a video from either end, ending it earlier or starting it later. But you can’t crop out a part in the center. Is that insane? Now, you can make copies of a movie and then take the beginning part of one and the ending part of another. It’s inelegant but possible, right? And there is a “movie-making” feature that allows you to mesh these two movies together…except that you can only save the product if you’re in Windows. With Mac you can’t save it, so it’s useless for posting the amalgam on the web. As far as I can see, at least.

4. Quality seems okay for the purpose. Looks good on my computer, at least.

So in short if you’re going to take very short videos that you don’t intend to edit and post them on YouTube, this works well. Though I have to say, it isn’t super speedy. While I’ve been writing this my computer has been processinga three-minute video for posting online, and it’s only gotten through about 5% of it so far.