RunCam 2 Review & Comparison

by NoobRC | February 14, 2016 | (7) Posted in Reviews

Ordered from the US warehouse, my RunCam 2 finally arrived from Banggood.  The RunCam 2 is a small, lightweight action camera built for RC enthusiasts for under $100. It can record in 1440p 30fps, 1080p 60fps, or even 720p 120fps. You steam live video over WiFi (with a small delay), or using the included cable the RunCam can take the place of your FPV cam with a reported delay under 60ms.

The RunCam 2 comes with a removable battery and nice selection of accessories. All you need is a class 6 or above Micro SD card up to 64gb. You can use a lower class SD card, but you'll be limited as to what frame rates you can record. In the box you'll find the camera and battery, two velcro straps, some velcro pads, video cables, extra lens hood, and a camera mount.  The camera mount is nice as it can be mounted on a tripod or stuck down with the straps or some double sided tape.

RunCam 2 Accessories

Manufacturer Specifications:

  • FOV: 120°
  • Sensor Resolution: 4 megapixels
  • Video Resolution: 1440p@30fps / 1080p@60fps / 720p@120fps
  • Video Format: MOV
  • TV Output: NTSC / PAL
  • Interface: Micro USB
  • Max Micro SD Card Supported: 64G (need class 6 or above)
  • Image Flip(Manual/Auto): 180° Rotation
  • Dimension: 66mm(L) * 38mm(W) * 21mm(H)
  • Battery Capacity: 850 mAh
  • USB Power Input: DC 5V-17V
  • Working Current: < 600 mA
  • Weight: 49g(with battery) / 35g(without battery)

I decided to put it up against the other action cameras I have at hand, and compare it to an 808 #16 keychain camera, a GoPro, and the BitEye camera I reviewed last week.  In terms of size, the RunCam 2 is a bit larger than the 808, and a bit smaller than the GoPro.  Weight-wise it comes in at about 50 grams, whereas the 808 weighs under 20 grams and the GoPro at over 70 grams.  The BitEye camera lacks a battery which helps with the weight at 25 grams.

One of the features I like on the RunCam 2 is the removable battery.  If you're going to be doing a lot of flying you can order an extra or two to make sure you capture all your flights.  I also appreciate the fact that the Micro SD card is inside the battery compartment behind the door where it cant fall out.  Ever lose an SD card in the field?  It isn't fun.

To really compare these cameras I needed a way to record on all four at once.  I needed to be sure they were all exposed to the same light... I needed THE RIG.

I'm sciencing so hard right now folks, this is a serious testing rig.

After working so very, very hard on THE RIG I took a well-deserved break and ate a sandwich, then I got right to work.  A lot of people have sung the praises of this camera, so I wanted to see how it holds up. First things first, the blaze orange model stands out for obvious reasons.  If the camera should fall off your aircraft in flight, you'll probably have no problem finding it. I know I've spent hours in a field looking for a lost Mobius, so this is a good feature.

Second is the field of view.  The RunCam sports a 120 degree lens, which is more than suitable for RC use.  It's about the same as the 808 #16 lens D but is a higher quality glass lens, so the lens distortion doesn't seem to be as bad.  The lens distortion on the BitEye lens was stronger, as is to be expected since the BitEye has an FOV of 105 degrees.  Apparently I wasn't shooting in wide mode on the GoPro because I'm an idiot, but it's probably safe to say we all know what GoPro footage looks like in wide mode.  Indoors, the RunCam 2 seemed to handle low-light pretty well, and the transition between dark to light was smooth and quick, such as when stepping out of the house into the blinding snow.  Hello East coast in February!

High-Tech FOV Test

Outside was sunny and snowy, and the RunCam 2 performed beautifully.  The colors are sharp and vivid, perhaps a little over-saturated but not so much that it's a problem.  Even in direct sunlight the RunCam handled itself well, which the BitEye camera couldn't decide what gain to settle on. The colors in the GoPro were more subdued as I'm used to, so if anything the RunCam 2 may save me some time with color correction.

Happy Valentine's Day, here's a reason to stay indoors.

The RunCam 2 will probably be my go-to flight camera from now on.  The quality is beautiful, it's light enough for most of my planes and multirotors, recording at 60FPS can add a lot of feeling to your flight videos.  The best price I've found so far is over at Banggood.com where they are about $93 at the time of this writing with free shipping from the US warehouse, so be sure to check it out if you're looking for a new flight or action camera!

COMMENTS

The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 15, 2016
After looking at your comparisons, I actually like the Runcam 2 over the GoPro in certain cases.

Wonderful review! Keep it up!
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NoobRC on February 15, 2016
I completely agree! I was surprised by it, but I like the fact that the colors are a tad over-saturated (I always do that in post anyway) and it's so light! You can actually power it from your flight battery for extra weight savings of 15 grams. It's a bit heavy for some FT planes, but overall it's awesome.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 17, 2016
I've heard that the Flite Test guys once put a GoPro on the back of a Mini Speedster :p
The only thing that I miss on this one is the ability to plug it into your r/c receiver and control it remotely... the Foxeer Legend 1 has that feature.
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NoobRC on February 17, 2016
I didn't know that! That does seem like a cool feature if you're taking photos, but I usually just run video.
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 17, 2016
Running just video is fine, but if you want to take an image to print, taking a 16MP image is much better than selecting a frame from your video that's 1920x1080.
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NoobRC on February 17, 2016
completely agree with that. Does it allow you to grab full resolution pics while shooting 1080p video? If so i may need to add it to my shopping list...
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The-One-Who-Never-Crashes on February 17, 2016
What you do is you assign a three-position switch on your radio to an auxiliary channel on your receiver. Then, you plug the A/V out cable that comes with the camera into that channel. After that, you put the camera in "learning" mode and teach it that one position of the switch will tell the camera to start taking a 16MP still every three seconds, another position will tell the camera to start shooting video at the pre-set resolution and frame rate, and the third position will turn any recording off. This is a great feature and is discussed in detail in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMH8VDjg5ug.
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apnewton on February 20, 2016
Excellent review Noob. Runcam will be added to my wishlist. 5 stars
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Fearless FPV on February 15, 2016
I LOVE THIS!!!
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NoobRC on February 15, 2016
Thanks! Trying to make my reviews a little more entertaining, lol
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DaveinTN on July 12, 2016
Good article, it convinced me to buy a Runcam 2 which was delivered last week. I plan to use it as the flight camera on the Electrohub quadcopter I've built and have a question.

In order to save weight, I plan to remove the internal battery and power the camera from a Lumenier 200 mW transmitter. I believe this will work: The mini-usb connecter has two connectors attached. One is for power with black and yellow wire in positions 1 and 3. The other connector has a black wire in position 1 and an orange signal wire in position 2. If I move the orange signal wire from this connector to position 2 on the connector with black and yellow wires in positions 1 and 3, the camera should receive power from the transmitter and at the same time send video back to be broadcast.

Any comments or opinions will be greatly appreciated!

Dave in TN.
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RunCam 2 Review & Comparison