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Received my Wide Vision Caboose w/ camera today.  Nicely made and linked up to the Lionel Wi-Fi app without issue.  My only problem is that the pic transmitted is totally out of focus.   Anyone else have this problem?  Is there a focusing knob or something within the app I am overlooking?  Or does this have to go back to Lionel.

Any input would be appreciated.

-Pete

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I took apart one of my two theater cars and detailed the interior.   In doing so I had to remove the camera mount and I played around with the location of the camera and I found the closer you moved it to the glass the worse the picture got.  It was more noticeable on pictures than in the video feed.   I’ve played around with these quite a bit.   These are not the high quality video machines everyone is accustomed too.   But I think for what they are and what they cost it’s a deal.   Now with that being said I am I anxious  to see what his issue is.  I saw video from one of these at York and it looked just like the theater cars so I’m interested to see what the deal is here.   Everyone keep there pants on until we get some more of these in folks hands.   Then we can all be ****ed.  Let’s hope not.  

There was a time when I took a lot of photos.  A common comment in photo mags was to put a plain glass filter over the expensive glassware to protect it.  I also had a desire for undistorted images.  That led me to set a tripod at the front door and a large gridded target at the fireplace.  I had a shifting lens that I could rotate through 180 deg and a 2x extender made for short lenses.  This gave me a 70mm side looking lens that would copy onto slide film the same detail visible to the eye at the camera location.

I was hunting big game.  I had spotted a new Ontario Northland 50-foot boxcar in dark blue and the yellow zig-zags, without a spot of dust or dirt on it, up in Baltimore set out next to a little-traveled public street.  I went to the tripod, slipped my gridded focusing screen in, and tested for pincushioning in both directions followed by a check that the detents to flop 180-deg to look sideways the other way was exactly in the same plane.  To Baltimore!  Kodak made two 10 x 7.5" color print enlargements for splicing.  I think they were very close to being exactly O-scale (each technician used his own magnification for "8x10 full frame", but the Kodak color fidelity was always impressive).

The moral here is, if you want undistorted results, don't put anything thicker than a gel film filter in the lens' light path.  Then only if you have to.  So, having spent $25 on this TV camera, cut the molded plastic insert out of the window.  Wasn't that intended to diffuse light, not transmit it?     --Frank

PS-- Camera should be able to see signals if towed behind TMCC F3 that uses postwar-dimensioned shells and has a trailing cab (F3A) unit.  In rare instances, a train could have a caboose on both ends. 

My Theater car picture when i first put it in the track seemed a little blurry - so i was debating to send it back -but  i tried it yesterday and it is clear and provides a great picture - didn't do anything  - i am getting a caboose this week and will try it - hopefully it will be ok 

Grampstrains posted:
tom21pa posted:

Wow, I just can't believe they could screw up anything. Guess the quality control still isn't in place.

Nothing like making an issue when we don't know for sure there is one.

Indeed. Unless I'm reading the thread wrong there's been a grand total of one person reporting an "issue" so far. Sure, that may change over time but let's get a valid sample. Duh.

Last edited by johnstrains

 Pete, if you tried it out as soon as you got it. I wonder if the camera lens could be fogged due to the cold temperature of the mail truck/box/outside . 

I also wonder if this explains why Ted K's theatre car was blurry "at first".

I imagine it would take a least a couple of  hours for the inside of the car to warm and a fogged camera lens to clear.

Last edited by RickO
T4TT posted:

Those images are NOT the same quality as the images from my theater car.  The images from my theater car are much more clear and crisp than the images from the caboose camera.  Jeremy Ferrell do you have a theater car?  

I do Sir.   I have two.   Clearly I’m missing something here quality wise everyone else is seeing.   Hopefully my caboose cam arrives soon so I can compare them.  

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