Industrial Revolution Intova X2 Waterproof Diving
Camera
By Duane Lawrence
March 24, 2018
Tester Information
Name: Duane
Lawrence
Email: duanesgear
(at) yahoo (dot) com
Location:
Sparwood, British Columbia, Canada
Gender: Male
Age: 45
years
Height:
5’9” (1.75 m)
Weight:
160 lbs (73 kg)
I have been an avid outdoor enthusiast for over 25
years. I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including mountaineering,
day hikes, multi-day backpacking trips, river and ocean kayaking, backcountry
skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking and rock climbing. I have climbed
throughout British Columbia, the United States and when opportunity presents
itself in Europe and India. I carry a wide variety of gear depending on the
type and length of trip. I am a search and rescue team member in the
Southern Canadian Rockies and am part of the swift water, rope rescue and avalanche
technical teams and ground search team.
The Camera
Manufacturer:
|
Industrial
Revolution
|
Product:
|
Intova
X2 Waterproof Diving Camera
|
Manufactured
Year:
|
2017
|
Web
Site:
|
www.intova.com |
MRSP:
|
$349.99
|
Colour:
|
Black
|
Listed
Weight:
|
197 g
(7 oz)
|
Measured
Weight:
|
195 g
(6.8 oz)
|
Dimensions:
|
8 x 7 x
5 cm (3.15 x 2.76 x 7.97 in)
|
Warranty:
|
Limited
One Year
|
Battery:
|
Rechargeable
2-hour use
|
Dive
Depth:
|
300 ft
(100 m)
|
Screen:
|
LCD 2
in (5.1 cm)
|
Screen
Resolution:
|
960x
240 pixels
|
Video
Resolution:
|
1080p
|
Photo
Resolution:
|
16 MP
|
Flash:
|
150
lumen (photo & video modes)
|
Zoom:
|
0-60x
digital
|
Memory
Card:
|
Micro
SD - not supplied
|
Functions:
|
Still
Photos and Video
|
Lens:
|
Wide
Angle
|
Accessories:
|
Floating
lanyard
Alternate Quick Access Removable Housing Door
Charging Cable
|
General Observations
The Intova X2 Waterproof Diving Camera is a small compact dive camera
that
comfortably fit into my hand. The camera has a little bit of
weight to it
for a fairly small camera but nothing that I would deem excessive
considering
it is a specialty dive camera. The housing is made out of what
looked to
be a durable hard rubber which showed no signs of wear throughout the
test period. I did note that there is a crack forming on the
hinge of the access port which is concerning as it may result in the
hatch cover breaking off. The camera functions are accessed by
five fairly
large unlabelled buttons. The digital ports, battery and micro SD
card
are housed under a locking, waterproof hatch. The camera comes with a separate
port cover that allows for the data ports to be accessed without having to
unlock and open the hatch door. The camera has a small 2 in square LCD
screen that is protected with a clear plastic cover. A removable soft
plastic LCD hood attaches to the clear plastic LCD screen with two prongs and
is for the most part fairly secure when attached. The camera also comes
with a floating wrist tether.
Turning on the camera the LCD screen displays current settings and information
along the perimeter of the screen. The icons along the top and bottom of
the screen are easily identifiable as there is a black bar that they sit on.
I found the information displayed along the sides more challenging to see
as they were set on top of what the camera is seeing through the lens. One
thing I did notice is that when the LCD hood is attached is was much harder to
see the icons, especially the ones located in the corners of the screen.
The hood is attached so that it rests on the inside of the screen
rather than the outside thereby making it harder to see everything displayed on
the screen.
Functions
A single button accesses the menu screen which is then navigated by depressing
the up/down buttons on the side of the camera which also control the zoom.
The menu provides access to the camera, video, wifi, image quality and
general system settings. Below is an overview of all the functions that
are available within each menu.
Menu
Options
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wifi
|
On/Off
|
Remote
|
SSID
|
Password
|
|
|
System
|
TV
System
|
Video
Rotation
|
Digital
Zoom
|
Auto
LCD Off
|
Volume
|
Language
|
|
Firmware
V
|
Time
Setup Format
|
Default
Setting
|
Auto
Power Off
|
Lens
Correct
|
Field
of View
|
Image
|
Flicker
|
Screen
Mode
|
White Balance
|
Image
Effects
|
|
|
|
Contrast
|
Sharpness
|
Meter
|
ISO
|
EV
Setting
|
|
Video
|
Resolution
|
Video
Quality
|
Motion
Detection
|
Video
Duration
|
Time
Lapse
|
|
|
Loop
Video
|
Mute
|
Dual
Stream
|
Video
Stamp
|
Record
LED
|
|
Camera
|
Size
|
Photo
Quality
|
Photo
Burst
|
Photo
Flash
|
|
|
|
Self-Capture
|
Time
Lapse
|
Photo
Stamp
|
|
|
|
Once in the menu the functions are generally self-explanatory and not very
difficult to find. Once selected the camera retains the settings until
manually changed. This is important to remember when using features such
as self-capture, time lapse and photo burst as the camera will stay in
that mode even when turned on and off. Most of the settings are self-explanatory
and for those that are not the instruction manual that is available online
provides brief descriptions of what they do. I found that the options
available through the menu were, for a point and shoot style camera, plentiful
enough without being overwhelming. They are fairly self-explanatory that
once I knew where to find them I could easily find and selected the various
functions that what I wanted.
Instructions
I found that the instruction manual was very easy to follow and use although
brief. Aside from some of the specific functions there appeared to be an overriding
assumption that the camera user already knew what the functions would accomplish
and why one might want to use them. The manual actually only came in
at a short 16 pages including the cover. The photos depicting the set up
and functions of the camera were easy to follow and I had limited questions
after reading the manual or at least paging through it. The last couple
of pages included some information on battery care which was good information
with the last page containing troubleshooting information.
Wifi Control
The camera has the ability to be controlled through a mobile app. I did
download the app and was able to install everything needed to accomplish this
with little to no major issues. I am not much of a tech-minded person and
I was able to install and connect to the camera in about 15 minutes or so.
Once in, I found that with the much larger display on my phone that I
wanted to manage all the settings and get everything set up the way I wanted. The only problem was that I was only able to access the
video and photo options. I messed around with it for a while before I
realized this and was thoroughly mystified why the manufacturer would go to all
the trouble to creating the app and allow for remote access to the camera but
not provide full access. I must admit that having what the camera was seeing on
my phone was neat and I can imagine that if I was setting it up for delayed
pictures or video of myself or others that this could be useful.
I was disappointed that I was unable to remotely turn on or connect to the
camera without first turning on the camera, going into the wifi menu and
turning everything on. By the time I got through this process I found
that I could have already taken the video or photo that I was remotely setting
up for.
Usability
When I was first getting used to the camera I was mildly annoyed that there
were absolutely no markings on the camera housing to indicate what button did
what and its associated functions. I found that I had to make a decided
effort to memorize which buttons did what and how to access everything. As
I find with most things the more I use it the less I needed the markings
but it seems like a fairly basic thing for the manufacture to do and it would
make the camera much more user friendly. Once I figured out what
buttons did what it is a fairly simple camera to use. The one thing that
I personally got very annoyed with was that camera's default setting
was video. Each time the camera is turned on it
starts on the video setting, which I found for a camera impossible to remember
all the time and I ended up with videos rather than photos. I also found
that when I went into the menu and out again it would revert back to the video
mode unless the camera mode was deliberately selected. Being an
individual who takes photos and not videos I found this very annoying. Another
oddity that I discovered was that the zoom function actually has to be turned
on. I am not sure why anyone would not want it on but it is actually an
option that needs to be selected prior to use. Once on it does stay on
but it took me awhile to figure out why I could not just zoom in and out.
For a small camera I found that it fit nicely in my hand and the
buttons were
very easy to use regardless if I was underwater or not. I only
had a
chance to dive in the Caribbean’s warm waters so am unable to comment
on how
the buttons would be with neoprene gloves but they seem large enough
that they
would still be functional. The buttons are fairly stiff, which I
would
attribute to this being a dive camera and the need for a watertight
casing.
I actually found that I ended up using the side of my finger to
depress
the menu and zoom buttons as it was easier that using the tip of my
finger.
The buttons are also different heights so that I found that
I could run
my fingers over the buttons and know which one was which. The LCD
screen
under the right lighting conditions was fine, nothing fantastic but
functional. When I was diving I had no issue at all seeing what I
was
taking a photo or video of although the small size made it difficult to
lock
onto what I wanted to zoom into. On land the screen was finicky.
In some light conditions I had no issues whatsoever seeing what
was being
depicted on the screen while if there was any reflective light it was
impossible to see anything at all on the screen. I would suggest
that
this is one of the major drawbacks of this camera. The screen has
very
limited viewing abilities while on land and I found that it made the
camera
fairly useless as there was no way to determine what I was actually
aiming the
camera at. Until I got back inside or to a place where the
reflective light
allowed me to view the screen I had no idea if I had actually captured
the
image I wanted or not.
Pictures
Overall the images that the camera produced were fairly good. The
resolution options provide for a high quality image and the internal camera
settings allow for a number of environmental conditions including sand and
snow, sports, landscape, sunset and four dive settings from below 20 feet (6
m) to below 100 feet (30.5 m). The image settings also provide the user
to access the white balance settings which included auto, sunny, cloudy, fluorescent
and incandescent lighting. Regardless if the camera was in video or
camera mode the quality of the images was very good. When diving, I got
down to 105 ft (32 m), I found that depending on the clarity of the water
the images were of moderate to very high quality. This is to be expected
as the suspended particles in the water column have a significant impact on the
clarity of any image taken under water. On land the images taken were
very good. The main drawback and difficulty was the size of the screen
and its susceptibility to reflective light on the LCD screen. I found
that a lot of the images I took were not what I was hoping for purely due to
the fact that I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of.
Another significant problem that I had with the camera was with the
zoom function.
I am not sure if there is a problem with the autofocus or not but
I was
unable to focus the image when using the zoom when looking at a distant
object.
I tried it out many many times over the test period and was
unable to get
the zoom to focus making it completely useless unless I was zooming in
to
something that was within a few feet. Even after resetting the
camera to its default system settings the focusing while zoomed in to
distant
objects was impossible for the camera. One thing that I had
to remind myself of while testing this camera was that it
is first and foremost a dive camera. Divers tend not to take
images or
video of distant objects and only zoom in to objects that are fairly
close,
think of a macro mode. As a pure dive camera I would have no
issue with
the zoom function at all but when used outside of the water its
limitations
became very evident.
Summary
The Intova X2 Waterproof Diving Camera is as previously mentioned first and
foremost a dive camera. Taking this into consideration I liked the camera
and was happy with the images it was able to produce. The camera is
compact, reasonably light and the buttons are easy to find and use without
having to look at the camera. One of the most annoying things about this
camera is that it reverts back to video often and I ended up with a lot of
video rather than photos which, when taking a photo of an allusive fishy,
is not cool. As for its use on land this would not be the camera I would
recommend. The LCD screen is too sensitive to light, is too small to see
much and the zoom is ineffectual when looking at distant objects. The
camera body is definitely waterproof, I had it down to 105 ft (32 m) with
no issues at all. The one thing I did note and am concerned about is the
crack that is developing on the hatch cover hinge. If this fails I think
it will compromise the entire waterproof structure of the camera and the whole
camera may need to be replaced. The images produced by the Intova X2 are
excellent both in and out of the water. The available functions are
fairly easy to navigate to and provided me with all the options I would likely
need. Overall I would say that this is a great little dive camera that
can be used on land if desired but that is not really what it was built for.
Thank you
to BackpackGearTest.org and Industrial Revolution for the opportunity to test
the Intova X2 Waterproof Diving Camera..
Read more reviews of Industrial Revolution gear
Read more gear reviews by Duane Lawrence
|