# Lionel Wide Vision Caboose w/ Camera



## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

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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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Take the lens cover off. No just kidding. I have no idea how to focus it.


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## kstrains (Sep 19, 2015)

I will be receiving mine tommorow. I will post after trying it. 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks would appreciate your insight!

-Pete


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## HarborBelt1970 (Sep 24, 2015)

Have you checked whatever plastic "glass" panel in the caboose the camera is mounted behind? In the Lionel theater car I recently got, which uses the same camera app, that glass was covered with a protective plastic film that had to be peeled off. 

In fact, in the car that I got, there was film on both the outside and the inside of the "glass" panel. I took the car apart to get both off.


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## HarborBelt1970 (Sep 24, 2015)

DELETE: Duplicate post.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

First thing I looked for....did not appear to be any film on the glass.

-Pete


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## laz57 (Sep 19, 2015)

PETE, 
My caboose is coming in on Wednesday from RO. Is there any film on the lens? Maybe clean the plastic window? Just throwing stuff out there. I;ll check mine when it comes in.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks Laz......doesn’t appear to be.....but I want to be careful as not to scratch the window. Waiting on someone else who may have received them to see what they encountered. Please reply after you receive yours. 

-Pete


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Here are a couple of pics showing what I am talking about....


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

BFI66 said:


> Here are a couple of pics showing what I am talking about....


It looks like the lens is out of line. I noticed in the one photo your soldering iron is slightly in focus, but the rest of the picture is blurry. The lens may not be cut correctly.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks Denny, thats what I am thinking too. Since its under warranty I will probably send it back. Camera works well, just looks like the lense needs to be tweaked.

-Pete


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## bigdodgetrain (Jun 12, 2015)

don't know if Dave Olson posts here so I stole his post;


"The image should be much clearer than that. I'm going to look into some samples today."


Dave Olson

Director of Engineering

Lionel LLC


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks Bigdodgetrain......glad Dave Olson agreed with me.....got the typical off the cuff-no help replies from that other forum......last time I post there for help....

-Pete


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2019)

*"don't know if Dave Olson posts here so I stole his post;"*

No, they don't post here. Very shortsighted of them for whatever their reasoning is. The smart route would be to take advantage of as much positive exposure as you can get. And, it would be free publicity as well. Maybe they have more business than they can adequately handle.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm waiting on one of these, I hope I don't see the same issue. You are the only one so far I've seen feedback from on this product.


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## Rocky Mountaineer (Sep 19, 2015)

Pete, not sure how sophisticated the lens design is in the camera caboose. However, lenses usually have several "elements", and it appears one or more of these miniature lens elements is out of alignment... or perhaps the lens mechanism is simply flawed in this caboose. That's typical when NOTHING in the picture is in focus. I'd be surprised if there's anything you can do to "fix" the problem, given the images you posted here. I suspect you're looking at an exchange, but I'll let Lionel techs guide you further. 

If it were simply a focus issue, the images would look cloudy or more of a soft blur.... and some part of the image would be in-focus. But what you're showing appears more like a motion blur from a still camera that moved during an exposure -- which is why I'm thinking more along the lines of a misaligned lens element... since this is supposed to be a video camera capable of clear motion images.

David


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Dave, You are probably right.....This one will be put back in the mail tomorrow. My vendor, Nicholas Smith....no questions asked....is replacing it. 

-Pete


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## laz57 (Sep 19, 2015)

Hi PETE,
On the other forum a guy stated that he has his in HD on a ipad and can focus using the ipad and his fingers. Just thought you would want to know.


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## teledoc (Oct 22, 2014)

Pete, Got the PM, and tapatalk worked fine.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

laz57 said:


> Hi PETE,
> On the other forum a guy stated that he has his in HD on a ipad and can focus using the ipad and his fingers. Just thought you would want to know.


Thanks Laz for the heads up.....unfortunately that tip, while appreciated did no work.

Saw that Dave Olson chimed in again and confirmed nothing else to do but send it in for a “look see.”

-Pete


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## kstrains (Sep 19, 2015)

I got mine this afternoon. I worked with it for awhile. I realized off the bat not to expect high quality photographic images with this camera. It automatically is set 720p but then I figured out that you can raise the resolution to 1080p. The more light in the room the better the quality...somewhat. There are some setting to adjust the picture such as brightness, etc but I don't quite understand what they all do yet. 

I have a carpet layout so I don't have anything good to take photos of. I took all my photos while my train is running and standing still. I used my iPad and Android phone. As you said, Pete, in HD, you can focus more up close but that does not improve the quality.

View attachment 487762


View attachment 487764


View attachment 487766


For the price of these cabooses, I think this a cheap camera that Lionel put in these cabooses. I might be wrong but sending it back to Lionel might not change anything with the quality of the photos.

Personally, I like the caboose with the camera. Watching the real time video is cool although the quality is not the greatest. I have not recorded any video yet; however, I seen some YouTube videos from the theaters cars that seemed to be ok. I am taking my caboose to a Friends layout this weekend, so I am hoping to record some video of it. 

However, I don't think I will be posting many or any photos using the camera in this caboose. 

Ken




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks Ken for the pics....as you can see from the pics you took, the quality is not the best but at least it is clear and not blurry.
Appreciate you taking the time to post these.

-Pete


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## Midnight Goat (Dec 19, 2017)

How interesting. The pictures Pete posted actually look less grainy/clearer but out of focus compared to the pictures Ken posted.


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## teledoc (Oct 22, 2014)

Looking at Ken’s photos, the actual field of focus looks very good, with respect to the distance from the camera. The up close field of vision looks out of focus, but the far end looks to be in focus. Just my two cents.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I just want it to show the video from the train, I'll live with the mediocre video quality as long as it's not out of focus like Pete's, his is clearly broken.


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## Rocky Mountaineer (Sep 19, 2015)

Pete, I know nothing about these wi-fi caboose cameras. So here are some fairly basic questions I should have asked earlier:

Are the photos you posted actual single "still images" captured while the caboose is moving? If so, that could be your problem -- namely the photos might have been captured while the camera was moving too quickly on the track (for the standard shutter speed set in the camera)... or perhaps captured over some bumpy track? Or are the photos you posted single-frame "video frame grabs" from the camera's video file?

Is the camera even capable of capturing single "still images"? Or does the camera only run in video mode? Have you been able to "watch" smooth video from the caboose at all? If the continuous video stream looks as jarred as the images you posted, then it's definitely an issue with the caboose camera/lens.

Just some thoughts....

David


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

John/David

First off the pics I posted were single snapshots from a non moving train.....video quality was the same. Dave Olson from Lionel agreed the camera was defective and the pics should have been clearer. My vendor agreed to take it back in exchange.

Now for the good news, I received my second caboose today. Picture quality was not blurred and acceptable to me. This is not a high resolution crisp pic. The pic is okay.....what you would expect from a wi-fi transmitted video.......this is however far better than the caboose I sent back. The pic appears to be more focused on objects far away and a bit blurred on objects close by. I am still playing with it, but overall I am satisfied considering what I paid for it.

-Pete


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

David, I did not answer your question clearly after rereading your post. The camera is capable of single snapshots which I posted inaddition to moving video.

-Pete


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm glad to hear that as I'm looking forward to getting one (actually two). I've seen the theater car video, and while far from perfect, it's what I expect from this piece, I believe it's the same camera.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

John, as long as your expectations are not high....this will be fine for your applications.

-Pete


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Pete, I just want it to show video on a monitor while trains are running, nothing special. People get a kick out of seeing video as the train is moving, the one I currently have is a hit at modular shows.

I have the little Mobius 1080P camera for recording videos, it does a much better job than these cars, and I can use that for stuff I want to save and show.


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## BFI66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Heres a quick photo of new Caboose Cam in roughly the same spot so you can compare to the caboose cam I returned.

-Pete


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## Millstonemike (Aug 9, 2018)

BFI66 said:


> The pic is okay.....what you would expect from a wi-fi transmitted video......
> 
> -Pete


It is the camera's limited capabilities. Wi-fi can transmit HD TV with ease.


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## DennyM (Jan 3, 2016)

Glad that worked out for you Pete.


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## kstrains (Sep 19, 2015)

Pete, I am glad to hear your dealer exchanged out the car for you rather than having to ship I back to Lionel. 

QUOTE=teledoc;2387448]Looking at Ken’s photos, the actual field of focus looks very good, with respect to the distance from the camera. The up close field of vision looks out of focus, but the far end looks to be in focus. Just my two cents.[/QUOTE]


Below is what Dave Olsen said on Pete's thread on the other forum in regards to the image quality....

" I tested the prototype that I built and I also pulled one from stock to test. Both have clear views. Note though that the image is going to be blurry for anything close - I.E. the roof of the caboose. But anything more than 6 inches away should be clear."

I think that sums it up well in what you should expect with the image quality of these cameras. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## ronbyrne (Jun 12, 2011)

*I think it's Vibration... Not focus!*

I am a photographer. I'm pretty sure the symptom I see in your photos is blurring caused by the camera not getting enough light. Try getting a shot taken in a much more brightly lit room ( or part of the layout) with the car not moving. If the picture clears and there are no adjustments you can make for light level send the car back.


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