RunCam 2 Review & Comparison

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.

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!

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.

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!