Arsenal 2 Pro Reviewed
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- I've been putting my Arsenal 2 Pro through its paces for a month now and I think I have a pretty clear picture of whether it's a success or a failure. In this video I take a long hard look at this 'Intelligent Camera Assistant' and reveal wether it's a worthy sidekick or a waste of money.
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You just saved me a small bucket of cash! Thank you for the honest review! I’ve been thinking about getting the A2 since I was an A1 kickstarter supporter. Guess I’ll keep using the A1 version ( which I never use for my sports coverage photography). Thanks again, I owe you an adult beverage or two for helping keep that bucket of cash around!
Yep - save your money Kerry - it's a piece of crap. :)
What a great video, it was as honest as it was funny. I cracked up with Andy’s way of not “sugar coating” the problems with the Arsenal. I bought one through kickstarter and mine is equally dismal in its operation and it’s photo processing. I wondered if it was just me not doing something in-correctly. I’d use it, and get frustrated with it, put it away, use my canon R5 to take some real pictures without the crap of continuously trying to figure out the Arsenal, then with guilty feelings I would come back to this thing, only to find the same frustrations as last time. Thank you for making this video, today is the last time that I’ll mess with this piece of junk. Thanks for your humor too. I watched every minute of this and laughed a lot. I’ll definitely subscribe and follow you.
Cheers Guy - greatly appreciate the comment. I have the same intermittent relationship with it now. Take it out occasionally - update the firmware, test it, realise it's still every bit as shit, drop it back in the bag.
So you bought an Canon R5 indicating that you know photography and then you buy something to replace what you already know?? That is strange to me.
I had the A2 in the basket ready to buy and thought, wait a min! I should seek an independent review first
So glad I did
Awesome review
Although disappointing to find out it’s not up to scratch
Yea, it's not great. One of those cases of. ... If it looks too good to be true ... :)
Thanks for the review. I had the same experience with the Arsenal 1, so I avoided the Arsenal 2 on crowdfunding. A1 had the same sales pitch "machine learning, AI, scene analysis" all of which seemed to lead the A1 to massively overexpose all images. I watched your review as I was curious if they had perfected the formula. It appears they haven't. As for firmware updates, please keep in mind that most of the A2 updates could easily have been delivered to the disappointed A1 users. Instead they seem to have done a "rinse and repeat" on the same sales campaign to shift more hardware instead of fixing the A1. Also, A1 had the same long lead time to get to market after crowdfunding.... there were no Covid, chip shortage or supply chain issues back then. I fear your conclusion about the people behind it might be generous!
It's a bit shite to be honest. I certainly won't go anywhere near this product line again.
Excellent Review. I actually thought i was doing something wrong and felt dumb, yet the Arsenal 2 proved to be my worst buy of the last 10 years. I also thought (unconsciously), that the Arsenal 2 would bring to my Canon some sort of magical AI only found on smartphones, but as you mention, and in all modes, its totally random and i sure as hell get better pictures from my iPhone, no matter what lens i use with the Arsenal 2 or what mode. Im so disappointed. Yet again, perhaps i created myself an expectation on the product which ended up in being maybe only useful as a remote triggering device for my Canon and that it about how useful this product is to me. Got grabbed by the marketing on the device, I mean the product video is so compelling yet ended up misleading.
Thanks - yes it's a massive disappointment. In fact as the months go by I actually get angrier about just how woeful the Arsenal 2 is. There's defintely a follow-up video on this coming soon!
Thanks for the honest review, I really really wanted to ignore all the comments and buy this, but I won't! This is the only honest, well made video I could find on Arsenal 2.
Glad I could help!
What a fantastic review and absolutely loved the delivery. I came across the version 1 "relatively" cheap and wondered whether to take the plunge. So pleased I saw your review first. Looking forward to future photography gear reviews (following).
Cheers Stephen - you definitely dodged a bullet. :)
I just got my Arsenal 2 today. Using it with a 7D (mk1) and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Results:
- decent but flickery timelapses. Playing with camera settings does help, as does using manual exposure for the timelapses.
- what even are these exposure bracketed HDR shots? They are workable in post, I suppose, but I expected I'd get stunning HDR shots in a few seconds, and instead I got flat, grey, desaturated, low contrast shots. Not a bad starting place for editing, but not as advertised.
- the long exposure feature doesn't seem to work at all. Maybe I'm just not noticing the averaging, but I'm not getting the silky smooth photos advertised, and I'm not really seeing any difference from a single exposure.
- the focus stacking ghosting is a thing.
- handheld mode actually is pretty decent at picking settings. It is a little better than auto mode, because it seems to be taking into account accelerometer data when selecting shutter speed. That's fine, but I use my camera in manual 99% of the time, so I think I'll mainly use it when I'm handing the camera to someone else.
- haven't tried crowd control or night photography yet, but they look promising
- still no pano mode. I'm a bit annoyed at this, since they don't indicate anywhere on the site it's coming soon.
- it's a decent remote shutter, but a professional one with a dedicated radio wouldn't have the latency. The big advantage for me is that I can get a live preview over wifi without having to upgrade my ancient camera.
- getting the results is... Bleh. The UX leaves a lot to be desired to actually access anything. The processed deep color outputs? You have to use the share button to download them- they don't simply save. Timelapses? Same thing- and when you do finally get them, they're low res. The full res outputs will theoretically be saved to the SD card when I pop one in, so we'll see. Multiple exposure shots do automatically save to the gallery.
- battery life can be problematic, but an external battery pack will solve this.
- I didn't have disconnection issues except when I went far away. I've had to reboot the app a couple times when the Arsenal seemed to get stuck in a particular mode, but overall, connection and app have been quite stable.
- the deep color feature is actually pretty decent. It's not as good as Samsung's AI built into phones, but it does a better job than a lot of LUTs, most of the time. I don't always like its style choices and I wish I had some knobs to tweak, but overall it's faster than loading up Luminar or DxO or Lightroom and produces workable results about 80% of the time. Send it over to Google photos for a quick pass and you can post it online without further edits and no need to break out the laptop.
- generally everything involving stacking will get usable individual images, but the stacked outputs have to be run through post processing to make them look good anyway, so it's not really a time saver or a quality improvement over what the desktop software you need to use anyway would do.
Mainly, my impression is that the Arsenal 2 is a huge missed opportunity. There's no way to use the app in landscape mode, so you're stuck with a tiny, unzoomable preview. I want to crop in until I can see pixels, place my focus exactly where I want it, see a histogram of my image, intuitively adjust white balance, etc. I want my GPS location and a network timestamp embedded into my image metadata. I want exposure bracketed to automatically calculate based on the dynamic range of the scene rather than just give me a slower interface than the exposure bracketing built into my camera. I want full sized processed results dumped directly to my phone - it's a 5GHz network, after all. I want an app that lets me pixel peep my images. Just nailing these fundamentals would make this a great device.
But the "smart" features leave a lot to be desired. I understand we can't expect the same level image processing and computational photography that's in flagship phones, but I didn't expect the gap to be this big.
For the smart features, I'd really like to see:
* Automatic exposure bracketing based on the actual dynamic range of a scene
* Exposure bracketed HDR timelapses with automatic settings
* Exposure bracketed HDR panoramas
* Any kind of decent AI face detection to help out with focusing on subjects
* Presets and limits for the kind of photo you're trying to take- let me at least tell this AI exposure machine whether I want it to prioritize depth of field or shutter speed, and for goodness sake let me set an upper bound on ISO, rather than having it guess everything for me.
Overall, I give it a 4/10. it'll stay in my camera bag because it wifi-enables an old camera and gives me expanded storage, a remote shutter, and a remote preview. I will absolutely use it for timelapses because I'm not invested enough in timelapses to use more advanced tools and don't want to leave my phone outside on a tripod for long periods of time. I can't see myself using the exposure bracketing, focus stacking, or long exposure modes. I hope the developers invest more in fundamentals and pivot away from the gimmicks going forward.
Thanks Nate - pretty similar experience to mine. I did wonder if the problems I'd experienced were specific to the cameras I had to test it with. I keep mine in the bag too and have just updated to the latest firmware so will dust it off and put it through its paces again soon. :)
@@Andyhutchinson anything better? I won one on eBay for $178 but haven't paid yet. If you could reply rather soon I'd be super grateful. Or is it still crap?
@@mrjaxsos303 still crap for me - no change whatsoever over the course of the last four firmware updates.
@@Andyhutchinson so don't buy it for $178? Or maybe pray for a good update?
@@mrjaxsos303 It's a gamble. It may work okay for you and the developers are actively releasing regular updates or it may be useless today and forever.
Simply amazing review. I too was so close to ordering the Arsenal II . Last minute I decided to do a quick search for a review. I got a lot more that I dreamt of here. I did not see where a single person was happy with theirs. What a shame.
Cheers Greg. You genuinely did dodge a bullet there :)
I completely agree. I am not by any means an expert with a camera. in fact, I'm a complete beginner which is what made this such an appealing idea to me. I now have more questions than when I started and find this device was a complete waste of money and not to mention the amount of time just trying to setup one single shot properly due to fighting the crashes and odd settings it chooses. This is maybe a fun gimmick for an expert to play around with, but as it stands currently, I wish I didn't waste my money. I am hopeful that it will have some upgrades to make it better eventually, but for now it will sit at the bottom of my camera bag and I'll try again in a few months.
Thanks Mike, it's a shame but I agree - as it stands it's a waste of money.
Love the candid and snarky commentary. Thanks for the review.
No worries - thank-you :)
Thank you so much for your honest review. I tried Arsenal 1 and returned it because I could not get it to work at all with a Sony. I was almost ready to go for the Arsenal 2 to give it a second chance now that I'm using Nikon. But, after seeing your review, I'm saving my money. Good job!
No worries. You could definitely put your money to better use than Arsenal 2.
Thanks for the honest review, I was looking at potentially buying but it does seem underwhelming.
It's unfortunate. I'd have liked to have written nice things about it, but it is what it is.
there should be a reverse kick-starter campaign to pay Andy $5 for every time he saves someone from buying this boondoggle ;)
Haha - no complaints here! :)
I’m glad i cancelled my pre order the other day as I was disappointed with all the honest reviews here on youtube. Their customer service was very responsive and refunded my money with no questions ask. I guess save your money and hone your skills shooting as a regular photographer be. Good review!
Thanks Ferdinand - appreciate it :)
Amazing review, subbed!
Appreciate it :)
Bloody brilliant! Thank you for honesty, and for doing your research.
No worries
thanks for the REAL review, not like all the rest i found. seems like either they were paid for or did spend anytime at all to learn how to use a camera,.
Yea, I think people try to justify the cost of the purchase. I prefer to help people from wasting their money :)
Thank you for exposing them. Always appreciate a sassy man who has a generous appetite for beer and donuts.🍺🍩
Haha. No douughnuts for me anymore, but I'll take that beer!
@@Andyhutchinson Andy, who do you recommend for an online photography course, in the way of classic portraiture?
How TH-cam products should be reviewed. With honesty and no BS review. You get 15 out of 10!!!
Thanks mate :)
Awesome review. Did they really sell/make that much units? Or is it a "marketing" strategy to convince people to by them. This would have been a nice device get the most with my Nikon D850.
They same to be doing okay. I keep seeing their adverts coming up on Facebook and they usually have a lot of comments.
Thank you $500. worth! I was Seriously on my way to spend the big bucks on this gadget to pair up with my Nikon D850! Your honesty about the failure of this gimmick just saved my pocketbook. I'm a gadget fanaddict but all I can say is "if it sounds too good to be true, it is!" Think I'll buy a new lens to play with instead. Whew! that was close. I subscribed, love your candor
Yea - good call - couple of firmware updates later it's still crap.
I got one.. but luckily I got it through the website and not kickstarter.. so after about a 2 days I got an RMA to return it for a refund. This could have been really cool (I got it for the stacked photos to save time but it didn't even work).. oh well.
As a owner of the Arsenal 2 Pro but not tried it yet I sort of laughed and cried at this review. I loved the honesty. Don't feel like even trying to use it now. Kickstarter is a disaster. Very little comes out as promised.
Thanks mate. It's such an erratic bit of hardware but is probably still worth trying with your camera/smartphone combination.
Great review. Tell it like it is! So refreshing.
Thanks John - glad you like it :)
I also having problems (do no focus) with Arsenal 2 Pro and my Canon R6. Waiting for support to solve the problem. Thanks for your review.
No worries. I tried the new firmware update but it didn't improve anything.
I concur with everything you said. I feel like I just bought a gimic!!! It's just frustrating/maddening to take so much time dealing with the settings on this and get horrible results. Knowing how to do settings etc and what you said. I returned it.
I think you made the right decision :)
I love your review. I was getting ready to purchase A2 and thanks to your review said hell no for now. 😊
Definitely give it a miss, Rhonda - spend the money on something that works! :)
I was 2 secs away in clicking that "buy" button, U saved my wallet there!
No worries.
Great info on this product. thank you for doing this review and saving me and many more like me some cash. I guess I'll put my money back in my wallet and forget I ever saw Arsenal 2 advertising.
It's easy to be seduced by it but you've definitely made the right decision. :)
I had enough issues with version 1. So I was reluctant to even think about going down the route of upgrading. So it seems I’m 500 notes better off by not making that decision final
Wise decision. Six months in and it's still shite.
I bought this and after getting upsold for twice the amount I originally ordered, I was really disappointed. over a year later and still, the best thing I got from this purchase is the phone mount that I use on a tripod. As an android user, I am still waiting for pano mode (IOS got it around 3 months ago as of writing), and I don't get why there is such a delay and low refresh rate on the live camera view. Shame cause it would have been a great replacement instead of buying in to Adobe subscription for example, as I mostly wanted it for night photography, and the stacking features
lol - yea I got that mount too :)
Thanks for your honest feedback!! I was actually thinking that is was not going to be good….I saved money!
Glad I could help!
Oh God Andy! I came here expecting a good review hahaha! Thank you for saving me $230..
No worries, Paul :)
Thank you for informative warning.
No worries!
you just saved me money, and a lot of wasted time... thank you for a great review.
No worries, Ric :)
I wish I would have seen this before I bought mine. So far, not super impressed with it. But since I can’t return it, I have a nice paperweight to remind me not to invest in Kickstarter stuff again!
Yea I'm of the same mind regarding kickstarters - too much of a risk I think. :)
Hi Andy, love your review have you checked it out recently my missus just bought one for (will arrive in June) as a surprise birthday present.
I last checked it about six months ago and it was, unfortunately, not improved. Since then I do hear that the pano mode has finally been added, so I may have to blow the dust off it once more. :)
The device was very promising but the software is a big let down. Last software update was March 14 or 15.
I think Revlon said that people buy hope when they buy cosmetics. Clearly that's all Arsenal is selling, too.
Very true :)
Wow! Agree Andy is honest. I saw the advertisement for the Arsenal 2 which looking at review of lens. I was curious how good it works. Thanks for saving me a $250.
No worries :)
Your video sure points out how full of crap most reviewers are. Your sarcasm and bluntness are gold.
Cheers Andrew, I like to keep it free of spin. :)
Never would I buy something like this.
Would rather spend the money on photography education or a holiday to a new area to photograph.
Thanks Andy for the video.
Wise decision mate!
So why watch this video or even comment?
@@sire45 well it's because I have subscribed to this channel and I am free to comment.
Simple as that.
Usb 3.0 cable for 7D mkii
Yeah 400.00 for a app adaptor not happy
Th most hilarious photography review I have come across. I think I found my calling on TH-cam. I should review shitty tech products!!!! 😂
Appreciate it :)
Agreed it mostly sits in the bottom of my camera bag as a remote shutter control. High hopes but never take better photos than I can. Maybe if you only know how to shoot in full auto mode this has value.
Yep, that's about the size of it :)
You are hilarious! and very professional in your review lol... I bought mine, haven't used yet and reluctant to even plug it! txs you made me laugh
No worries Alvaro - hope you get some value out of it :)
Same shitty results on my Sony A7c. Over promised under delivered!! How many firmware updates will it take to get to what was promised? Thanks for your honest review
Cheers Kevin - it's definitely going to take them a while to bring it up to working quality.
Thank you for FINALLY a honest review, not made by these fucking yuppie youtube children. Went from in the cart, right back out of the cart. Thanks for saving me some $.
Haha - no worries. You have indeed saved yourself money and frustration. :)
Nothing replaces knowledge and learning. I know how to make all those pictures by learning....and now I do not have to spend $250 to buy such a thing.
Has anyone had a go with this in realestate photography with the expose stacking. It’s pretty much the only feature I would be using with it. I wanted to see if it would expose well for both inside and outside so there is minimal post production work.
Unfortunately it's either one or the other - focus stack or HDR.
I was wondering that as well. Nothing moves, so it might be ok.
Hi Andy, is there a physical difference between the Arsenal 2 and the Arsenal 2 Pro?
I have one. Zero updates to the app since May. Doesn't bode well.
Guess that's money down the drain.
Regarding using it as a shutter, there are much cheaper devices for that and I can also just use the Sony app.
Yea - the future's not looking good. Working on a six month video for this and will see if it's improved on any of my cameras. :)
When the initial kickstart preorder Arsenal 1, from the promotional video, I would have thought that this is a smart product, the product has a more accurate than the camera lens sensor can get the scene information, and provide automatic and accurate exposure.
But the actual product I got, for me personally, I think it's just a transmitter + mobile app for remote camera shutter.
So when I saw the A2, using almost the same hype as the A1, I decided to ignore it completely. the A1 has been sitting in my drawer for almost 3 years and I find it hard to understand how a product like this could have been designed and released.
Incidentally, I don't give a fxck about their promo, about AI, etc.
This product has nothing to do with AI.
Yes I think you're right. It's a lot of marketing bullshit.
Loved the review in details, I was about to buy this crappy gadget now I wont even waste my money on it.
Glad I could help :)
Having the same issues as you with my R6 and Samsung Galaxy S10+. I thought it was something I was doing wrong. Tried it on my 90D and had better results. The night photography is shit. Your out of focus night shot looks EXACTLY like mine, and we are in different Hemispheres! Maybe it is just the AI reference photo? LOL!
I hope they get their shit together. I'd like to have this work after spending all this money.
Thank you for an honest review.
Yea, it's not great. They emailed me to ask if I'd used the new firmware update (which I hadn't). So I installed it, tested it and it was just as shit.
Thanks for saving me money mate!
No worries Annette - hope you spend it something awesome :)
Everything you said I too experienced. I'm sad I spent the money and supported the effort. It was enough of a disappointment that I have chosen to avoid supporting future electronic Kickstarter projects.
I feel the same way Miguel - it has put me right off trusting them.
Any update on the arsenal 2 doing a Holy grail timelapse? (that's pretty much the only reason I was interested in it.
any updates?
Be interested to hear how you get on with it Dade. You never know - you could be the one person it works for ! :)
Similar experience with my Canon R5 and R6. Very disappointed with this product. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Yep - unfortunately so.
Wowzers so glad I purchased this! 😂😂
You and me both!
Sounds like the autel nano + lol
Sounds like exactly like the autel nano +
I hear about the Arsenal 1 being pretty bad si I was curious to see if version 2 would be worth it. Thanks for clearing that up Andy!
lol - no worries :)
the issue here is just your opinion with no live video of the product working on a camera we can't see. for all we know u may be paid to run down this product so how about a proper live review. Also include no cursing swearing and acting professional...
Couple of things Howie.
1) If you read the comments section of this video and the others I've made regarding Arsenal 2 Pro then you'll see that I am a long, long way from being the only person that thinks it's crap. Nobody would have to pay me to criticise it - I'd do it for free - because I paid my own good money for it and it's the worst photographic accessory I've ever used.
2) I'd ask you to check the longterm review of the Arsenal 2 Pro here on my channel for 'live' video, but I think I swear a bit in that one too.
I have orderes the arsenal 2 in january it was supposed to come in february. July has just begun and i still did not receive it. In april I reached out, they told me may and not i reached out and they tell me august. This is a joke don't spend your money there.
Get a refund - it's not worth $20, let alone $200.
Just got the 2 pro today and "tried" the focus stacking on a Sony A7rIv and iPhone 12 Pro Max.I had previously seen a user video (th-cam.com/video/3KvQlAavJWw/w-d-xo.html) around 5'30' showing focus stacking on the 2 pro, using near and far focus points. I could not find this on my machine, I tried to figure out how the "new" process would work of focusing on a near point and determine how many photos and steps to take but, after a few trials, I gave up. There goes the AI function since one has to guess the appropriate shots/steps combinations. Since the possibilities are endless (a range of a few feet to one on hundred of yard) I wonder if a firmware update is forthcoming. my version is 2.0.33.
I had the same questions - it's all so vague and imprecise.
For me it wasn't worth it in the end :(
Or me I'm afraid.
@@Andyhutchinson another issue I have with this project (but not only) is that they took my money a long time ago, even if they knew it would be delayed. And because it's through kickstarter I don't (think) I benefit from the same return policy.
I think I'm done with Kickstarter. Wish I hadn't done this Arsenal 2, and definitely wish I hadn't done the Miops Capsule 360, or the Alpine Spark...
And as of now in July 2022 they completely removed the Arsenal 2 Pro model from their website. They're only offering the basic version. Maybe they didn't want people to spend $500 and be absolutely frustrated and angry with them?
The only Kickstarter I'm glad I did was a bike helmet with built in front and rear lights with usb chargeable batteries - that was a good one, everything else I've supported has been on par with Arsenal.
I appreciate your honesty and humor and have subscribed.
Yea, I feel the same way about Kickstarter. Not something I'm going to be using in the future. :)
They are still pushing this garbage!!! Thanks for the review that I choose NOT to buy!
Glad I could help
No wooden shoes because it says Arsenal and I’m a Sunderland supporter LOL
Arsenal 1 was this bad too.
Yep. Hopefully there won't be an Arsenal 3.
@@Andyhutchinson The focus stacking doesn't really make much sense though as you can do that yourself. Only the timelapse with proper exposure would make sense but even with that it it doesn't look too good.
This product is complete crap save your money
100% correct.
thanks for the review. I was just about to buy it. not gonna happen
No worries!
thanks for saving me 250 bucks really appreciate it, its just another scamm they deliver a pice of shit from the a1 then deliver tha same shit with a2 instead of fixing the a1
No worries :)