INTRODUCTION
Compact portable cameras (action cameras and spy cameras for most people) have come a long way since their introduction in the consumer market a few years back and so today many athletes consider them to be essential gadgets to record both their work and personal life. There are always some people who may look down on such devices because they simply can't compete with normal handheld models when it comes to image quality and features but action cameras are constantly improving in terms of specifications and on top of that they also get smaller something that allows manufacturers to place them even inside Wearables such as watches, hats, shirts, buttons, belts and glasses. Rollei has been manufacturing action cameras for many years now but it wasn't until last year that they released sunglasses with built-in action cameras and today we will be taking a look at their Sunglasses Cam 100 model.
Rollei’s history goes back to the year 1920 and a workshop in Braunschweig. With the launch of the twin-lens Rolleiflex, a landmark film camera, Rollei quickly established a global reputation for precision engineering. A cult brand, it gave rise to its very own photo style in the 1950s and ’60s. In 2007 Hamburg-based RCP-Technik GmbH acquired the European rights to Rollei and since then has marketed Rollei consumer products with growing success. Rollei products are currently sold in more than 20 European countries. The Rollei product range features digital cameras, camcorders, action camcorders, digital picture frames, slide scanners, professional tripods as well as camera and iPhone accessories. Excellent service is assured for all Rollei products with the all-inclusive package for 24 months. If a defect is found within this time, the product can be returned and a new one received within eight days.
Placing an action camera inside a pair of glasses is not the easiest thing and it does present manufacturers with certain limitations but still that didn't stop Rollei from using a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor capable of recording Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) resolution video at 30fps and HD 720p (1280x720) resolution video at 60fps. The sunglasses cam 100 model also comes equipped with a 550mAh lithium-polymer rechargeable battery, micro SD/SDHC card slot for cards up to 32GB, stereo recording microphone and two interchangeable glasses. True the features list of the sunglasses cam 100 model may not be as long as the ones we see with many of the latest action camera models but size and weight are a lot more important when we are talking about a pair of sunglasses so we never expected to see more than just the basics. Are the basics however enough to attract consumers? Well it’s time to find out.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
The sunglasses cam 100 arrived inside a small box with a picture of two people on a jet ski, the Rollei logo and a 2D barcode at the top.
On both sides of the box you can see the features list in English and German.
The front picture extends all the way to the front and here you can also see the main features and the viewing angle of the lens.
At the rear of the box Rollei has placed the specifications list again in both English and German.
Contact information and the Rollei website URL are printed at the bottom of the box.
The box contains the sunglasses cam 100, extra interchangeable glasses, storage case, mini-USB charging cable, cleaning cloth, user's guide, warranty information, product paper and a mini CD carrying the instructions manual in several languages.
THE SUNGLASSES CAM 100
The storage case may not be of the best quality out there but it's quite hard and offers very good protection to the device.
With the microSD card mounted the sunglasses cam 100 weigh just 64g.
I placed the sunglasses cam 100 next to my favorite Adidas and Valentino sunglasses to showcase their size (which is actually not bad at all).
We were very impressed to see that the sunglasses cam 100 offer 1080p resolution recording thanks to the 5 megapixel CMOS sensor however the 63 degrees horizontal viewing angle seems way too little.
Rubber coating has been applied on the entire device making it very hard to scratch and splash-proof.
The on/off battery button also doubles as the recording button and is placed on the exterior of the right temple (the one on the left does nothing).
A small sticker placed on the interior of the left temple has contact information for Rollei, their URL and the electrical specifications of the device.
You will find the mini-USB charging port and the micro SD card slot at the base of the right temple.
If you want to try the extra glasses you can remove the default ones just by pulling them downwards gently.
AUDIO/VIDEO QUALITY
Before we go into the audio/video quality of the device we just wanted to point out that the default quality setting of the sunglasses cam 100 is set at medium (we used high for our tests) and so to change that you will need to plug them with your computer using the mini-USB cable and edit the above file (you can find detailed instructions in the bundled mini CD). Also as you can clearly see from within the Setting file you can adjust a plethora of settings and so this should be the very first thing you do prior to using them.
I tested the Sunglasses Cam 100 over a period of 22 days both while driving and on foot with very good results as you will see (i skipped doing serious night tests since we are talking about a pair of sunglasses). As usual we chose to upload a short clip to our server (even that is roughly 25MB in size) and not YouTube to preserve the exact same quality so to download it directly just click on the above images (click and save as).
CONCLUSION
Size and weight are the two primary problems manufacturers face when designing action cameras so when we received the sunglasses cam 100 we didn't really expect much especially in terms of audio and video quality. Well it may not happen very often but I’m happy to say that in that aspect we were wrong since the sunglasses cam 100 produced crystal clear image quality with vibrant colors and very good audio quality. Unfortunately however this particular model has a few drawbacks including the very narrow recording angle of 63 degrees, the lack of good video stabilization and most importantly the angle of the camera lens since they don't record exactly what you see in front of you (to record exactly what's in front you should be either facing a bit lower or push the glasses further down your nose). Unlike the S-50 action camera which we reviewed a while back (again by Rollei) the sunglasses cam 100 also don't feature a built-in GPS and a WiFi adapter but considering that even without them they are quite bulky not to mention that these features would reduce battery life even more and would obviously increase the cost i can understand why Rollei chose to go without them. When it comes to battery life unfortunately due to size limitations Rollei was only able to squeeze a 550mAh lithium-polymer battery in the sunglasses which gives them up to 1 hour of recording but for most scenarios this should be plenty.
Rollei currently offers the sunglasses cam 100 directly from their website for a tempting price tag of 129.99Euros inside the EU so although not perfect they are available for quite a bit less compared to other similar solutions. Of course the sunglasses cam 200 with their much wider viewing angle of 143 degrees seem to be a much better solution for just 40Euros more but until we get them over we're just speculating. In conclusion the sunglasses cam 100 by Rollei offer excellent video and audio quality at a bargain price and although far from perfect we still highly recommend taking a look if you're in the market for something like that and you don't want to spend much in the process. If however you want something even better and price is of no concern then stay tuned for our upcoming reviews of the sunglasses cam 200 model and many others.
PROS
- Design
- Build Quality (Splash-Proof)
- Video Quality (1080p@30fps/720p@60fps/Smooth & Sharp Image With Vibrant Colors)
- Audio Quality (Stereo Recording)
- Interchangeable Glasses
- Price (For Some)
CONS
- 63 Degrees Recording Angle
- Video Stabilization
- Camera Location (Looks Slightly Higher)
- Manual Settngs Adjustment (For Some)