Arsenal 2 Pro - Longterm (Six Month) Review - Is It Still Shit?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ส.ค. 2024
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It's the video you've all been asking for - the follow-up on the Arsenal 2 Pro 'Intelligent' Camera Assistant. And, ermm, it's not good news I'm afraid ... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
New to photography. Bought an arsenal because I thought I needed the help..... It crashed so much I was forced to learn how to take photos the right way. Thanks arsenal.
Yea, the crashing is not great, but at least you got a good outcome in the end! :)
😂😂😂
See, Arsenal is really useful. You learned how to use your camera.😂
@@rexonpadre4653😂😂😂
Dude, you are hilarious. I was investigating this device to determine if Arsenal 2 Pro was worth it. Thanks for saving me 300 bucks!
No problem 👍
Honestly, I never laughed so hard on a tech review than on yours of the Arsenal 2. When I watched the commercial for the device I was like "wow that's cool", but the I thought when it is that good, all landscape photographers out there are out of a job :) so there might be a catch to it, and I was right.
I really enjoyed your no bullshit attitude, while most reviewers are tip toing around not to say too much bad stuff that might scare other potential sponsors away. So, I hope you are getting a hell of lot more subscribers, I for my part am in for the journey.
Thanks Armin - I don't see the point in wasting anyone's time with a load of caveats ;)
Word for word, that is my opinion as well. The Arsenal video sounded amazing. Then I watched this video. I was laughing out loud; it was very entertaining. At the same time, you provided real information. You gave kudos where deserved (as limited as they were), which only enhanced the authenticity of your criticisms. I am definitely subscribing and am looking forward to watching all the videos I've missed. I never even knew about this channel.
it is brilliant, had a great laugh.
First, you made me laugh, and for that I thank you.
Second, absolutely love a reviewer that is willing to offer the unvarnished truth.
Third, I’m genuinely rooting for them. I wish it was a better product. There is a need for the level of computational photography that we enjoy on our phones to make it to the world of digital cameras.
Thanks Dan. Yea, I would definitely prefer that it worked because it cost me $250. Maybe one day they'll get there! :)
I get your point, but it then takes a way from the reason you get an actual camera, and that's to actually work on taking a pic, not letting AI do it for you.
I 100% agree with this. HOWEVER, fuck Arsenal. Arsenal 1 worked 6% of the time. Arsenal 2 is almost identical. so much infact that i'm considering cracking both open and seeing if they just used a firmware update to justify the the "2". Such a fucking scam.
Thanks for your hilarious reviews Andy. I was one of the mugs that bought Arse 1, after a few times using it, it went in the bin. I was wondering what Arse 2 would be like, and my questions have been answered 😂
No worries - glad to be of service! :)
I had the Arsenal 2 Pro in my cart along with a few accessories. Before finalizing my purchase I decided to checkout some reviews. After reviewing your video and others, I’ve decided to empty my cart. Thank you!!
Happy to save you some money. :)
So glad I came across your review! You’ve saved me some money, as I was close to purchasing it! Many thanks!
Glad I could help!
I’m the same. I was one step away from buying this and I decided to check for TH-cam reviews!!! Thank you 😊
I love your style! Back in 2018, when I was returning to photography after a 25-year absence, I bought the first Arsenal, hoping it would help me do some of the creative photos I saw online. I found it a piece of crap and it ended up gathering dust. I think I threw it away, eventually. I see nothing has improved since then.
No Jack it's every bit as bad as it ever was. :)
Man, i wish i found your review before i bought it months ago 😅 I have alot of the same feelings about it, but you put it much better than I ever could. Thanks for the hilarious but point on review!
Cheers - appreciate it :)
This was a thoroughly brilliant review - I loved the humour and honesty. I was literally about to purchase one but decided I better look at a few reviews. And so glad I did. Saved me hard earned money. Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
So, I was served by an instagram ad for this gizmo and was this close to buying it before watching your video. Thank you kind sir.
Glad it was helpful!
Ditto
I'm still in my 90 day window... And haven't gotten passed initial power on. Because I saw your first and now your second video. Thank you for saving me time, and getting the return setup asap.
No worries. :)
I love your reviews! Very entertaining, as well as informative! I'm glad i read your review, because I was very intrigued by their claims. I won't be wasting my money now, thanks to you. Have a great week!
Thank-you. :)
Just stumbled upon your videos. Absolutely love your candor. Subscribed. :)
Thanks - and welcome :)
Having spat tea over my keyboard, and PMSL I have to say not only is your review honest and informative, but bloody funny too. Thank you.
lol - no worries - thanks Wayne :)
Not that funny. Cool it, coolio
THANKYOU!!!! I have looked at it multiple times, even put it "in the cart" a few times! But something held me off. So I decided to look on good ol' TH-cam to see if there were any actual videos on it. Found your first video, watched it, and then watched the others... decided it's not for me. Plus, it's certainly not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to analyse the scene and tell me what settings I should use, in other words, I would be the one moving the dials! Not the little piece of plastic sitting on top of the camera!
Thankyou... You've saved me a huge wad of cash! *Remove from cart*
No worries Gayle - you definitely dodged a bullet there. :)
You sir, are an absolute legend. Best and most honest review I've ever seen!
Thanks Paul :)
Trying to find a video on this that wasn't a total fluff piece was a struggle, so good job.
No worries :)
New to photography, had it in my cart to add to my canon 90d.... Had a quick look for reviews. Many thanks sir.. glad I found your channel also
Glad I could help!
Thank you for this! I've been getting bombarded by ads for this device, and was seriously curious about it (despite not considering myself a "beginner" photographer). Now I know to stay as far away as possible from this technological train wreck. You've earned yourself a like and a new subscriber!
Cheers Jerry - appreciate it :)
Out of frustration on Arsenal will "FORCE" you to learn photography.
So I was just about to push the button and buy the Arsenal 2 pro. Looked up for reviews on TH-cam. I haven’t laughed so much on a review for a while. Guess what, I didn’t buy it but subscribed to your channel.
Glad I could help :)
Thank you for saving me money and for the laughs. Awesome review!
Glad you enjoyed!
That decal on your Mac cracked me up!!!! I had an idea the product was crap from the claim it was AI that had been created before 2021. Creating images from text is difficult but capturing images through a camera is unique. Wouldn't it have to learn from millions of images? Setting up your camera is a personal choice and I am having a difficult time wondering how it would determine what is optimal? GREAT FREAKING VIDEO! Really made me LAUGH OUT LOUD!
Thanks mate - appreciate it - and yes, the A.I. claims is sketchy at best!
If you have a head on your shoulders you will always look for reviews and trustpilot comments before spending on gadgets. That is what I did with Arsenal and after your first review, I waited for the second. I now won't touch it with a barge pole. It's a shame because if it would do what the advertising video said it would, it could be quite handy. Continue to tell it like it is Andy, it's so refreshing and bloody funny! Good job!
Cheers John - I appreciate it - hope you get something slightly more useful instead :)
Damn! What a refreshingly honest take in this age of avoidance of hurty feelz at all costs. A great laugh - that’s a big like & a sub! 👍🏼
Cheers Shannon - hope you enjoying the forthcoming content :)
Thank you Andy for this real good and wise review. I love your Jeremy Clarkson’s type of humour, and you make me save 250$ and a lot of disappointments as I thought crowd control was a gain of time… Long life to you and your sense of humour 😂✊
Haha - no worries, thanks Mathieu - wish I had Jeremy Clarkson's bank balance! :)
The most honest review of photography equipment ever. Deserve like and subs haha
Mate, what a legendary bit of video!! Dryer than a dehydrated Weet Bix and full of actual honest information. :) I had seen adverts for this thing a long time ago and the latest one shows it perched on top of a Nikon Z series camera (have just bought a Z6) so was intrigued to see how it could help me. The answer is of course it can't!! My skills are reasonable with about 40 years of taking photos just for my pleasure, with the occasional paid job. The Z6 has made a huge difference to how I approach a shot and getting more proficient with Lightroom, completes the creative possibilities. So I shall be looking out for more of your delightful insights and will resort to improving my own skills to produce the results I'm after. Cheers heaps, Pete
Cheers. I'm thinking about doing a final video on the Arsenal now that the pano mode's been added! :)
I like your brutal honesty. Saw your first video after ordering one (aggressive FB advertising has worked for Arsenal). I was seriously considering returning unopened at the time, but I gave it a shot, after all, there are 90 days to decide. I was very disappointed with crashes and hangs, and bad results. Couldn't get long exposures (waterfalls with high dynamic range) to work, timelapses are so spotty, etc. What I don't think you touched upon and really annoyed me was that the timelapse produced is 1500x1000 pixels (not full resolution). I was shocked they don't really acknowledge that in any of the promotional material - that their timelapse cuts the resolution significantly. I would want at least 4K, if not full resolution. So if you want full resolution, you need to actually process all the images again. The key issue, of course, is that almost nothing works, works reliably, and it crashes often. This ruins the experience when you actually have set up everything right - framing, focus, etc. Btw, night assist works only on very fast lenses, so not for most lenses people would actually have. Recently, I gave it another shot... I started this video with Arsenal 2 under Bortle 3 skies just after sunset, before dark. Wanted a soft transition holy grail - still difficult to achieve those on an intervalometer. The first part of this video was Arsenal until it crashed and stopped, so I plugged in a $9 intervalometer and continued into the night scene... unfortunately, left it alone and didn't realize the first part probably finished the backup batteries faster than I had planned... th-cam.com/video/4n2JSta8vwU/w-d-xo.html (this video was not produced by Arsenal 2 - that didn't work at all - I just took the raw frames and reprocessed into the timelapse with photoshop).
Thanks Tal. There isn't a single shot or timelapse I shot with Arsenal 2 that I didn't have to manually process from the original images. So many people have reported having exactly the same issues as you and me that there is no doubt whatsoever any more about just how shit Arsenal 2 Pro is.
@@Andyhutchinson Btw, yesterday I did create a timelapse (fairly successfully) powered by Arsenal 2 alone. I decided to try things out on a much less challenging obstacle course. So no real day-to-night or night-today, but just clouds (that occasionally darken the scene). 10sec interval, I did use "Holy Grail" with very sensible boundaries, to avoid it going all over the board. And although Arsenal 2 did fiddle around with the aperture and time of each exposure fairly frequently even going back & forth. However the result is 'pleasing'. Would my Canon EOS R7 timelapse produce a better 4K video? probably. But this could be a second rig... Here's the result of that.... th-cam.com/video/GVbPuAw4SKs/w-d-xo.html
Not throwing away the Arsenal 2 just yet (still in the 90-day return period). If it can do some flexible exposure timelapse, maybe it's not all bad...
Brilliant review . . i somewhat know what im doing but thought this would be a nifty toy to add to the gear bag, i am glad i saw your review and saved myself some dollars, thank you.
Glad I could help
Brand new to photography, just bought a Z5 and really considered the Arsenal. Thank God I found this review first 🤣
Thank you sir!
No worries. Enjoy your Z5 - great camera so I hear and I'm sure you'll enjoy many awesome adventures with it :)
Saved me $300 and entertained me at the same time. Love your wit.
Thank-you kindly :)
I am SO glad I found your video as I was about to purchase this, but I was hesitant. I have adhd and struggle with making quick executive decisions 😅 so I thought this would be a perfect item for me but after watching this I’m definitely not ordering it. Do you have a specific photoshop program that you prefer? I was going to purchase Adobe Elements 2023.
As one ADHDer to another - I fully understand! Elements is a great application which hides a lot of the complexity and jargon. I use a whole range of apps but the one I open most often for quick edits is Luminar Neo :)
Great review. Thanks for the insight and information, love your humour too.
Thanks for watching!
The most amusing ang brutally honest review. Got this device 2 months after i purchased it. Nearly 3 months after using the device, it burned 30k shuttercounts off my camera when it was at 4k when I got it. It just didn't live up to expectations and the promises were all marketing stuff. The good thing is I leared how to use my camera out of frustration and got my money back. I won't be surprised if they shipped it to another KS supporter or customer.
I'm glad you got your money back and can put it to good use :)
The best and most honest gear review ever. I find so many reviews are hard to trust because people are being paid to give bullshit reviews, or at least getting free gear in exchange for nothing but a stellar pile of dog doo doo.
Cheers :)
The changing of the aperture during the time-lapse is especially egregious. Even if the aperture is wrong (f25?!), it's not supposed to change during the time lapse because that would change the depth of field/what's in focus during the series. That's a strict no-no no matter what aperture is used!
Great sense of humor, BTW! The judicious use of curse words really underscored your frustration with the device and made it more humorous than a train of f-bombs.
Absolutely - it's about as intelligent as a house brick. :)
Really enjoyed watching your video mate, no nonsense great British straight talking, yes lad. Big up.
Thanks mate :)
I had to sub after the first minute, this man is what reviews should be!!!!
Thanks mate - hope you enjoy future content :)
Thank you. I was bombarded with ads about this product. Enjoyed the video, made me laugh a lot.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wanted to retry my Arsenal 2 after having had it garhering dust, unused, for the last 8 months. Just found your review now, am loving it, laughing my ass off - and guess Arse 2 will go back in the shelf instead of with me on my vacation 😂 Thanks for the great video!
Yea wise decision - enjoy the holiday!
Very new to manual camera photography. I literally had this product in my cart with the accessories when I thought to myself “hmm I shld check some reviews first”. Thats when I came across your video. Needless to say, I emptied my cart.
Glad it was helpful!
Had my answer :53 in but stayed for the whole vid. Thank you sir. Subbed!❤
Thank-you and welcome :)
Thank you. I was considering the Arse nal and I’m glad I found this. I posted in my photography group if they had come across it in their FB feed and one person posted this review. Love it. Even my partner was entertained listening to it in the background. I will save my bucks as I will not be getting any bang for my buck if I buy it. That was impressive though to get f25 out of a lens that didn’t have that capability. Whoo
Glad it helped Danielle - you definitely don't want this device!
I was just at the stage of putting my Paypal details into their site, then thought I'll see if there's any reviews on the youtubes....so glad I did after laughing for a good 10 minutes you convinced me not to. Great video and brilliantly put together...thanks a lot!
Cheers Colin - glad you enjoyed it and saved yourself a few hundred bucks and a lot of grief! :)
I purchased the Arsenal 1 and then the Arsenal 2 a year later or so when ever it was released. I did not get to use the Arsenal much due to having some camera issues and chalked up some of the issues I was having to the camera issues I was having. The Arsenal 2 came out and all the great features that they were talking about I thought I have a new camera and at this time I had been taking photos for a while watching videos and learning to use the camera more. I like so many are waiting for the features to work or even be added. I have not used the junk since the first month I got it. Great to find your channel and hear the stories you had not only made me laugh but also helped me realize that I was not doing something wrong when I was getting the same results you were getting with it. I just happened to be updating my firmware today for a trip and thought I would see what the word is on it. Apparently not worth my time to update the firmware on it.
Thanks. They have apparently added the long-awaited pano mode to the Arsenal finally. With that in mind I am planning one final review of the device. Based on my initial tests - nothing much has changed!
@@Andyhutchinson I did notice that last night after doing a firmware update on my Arsenal that the Pano was there. I have not had a chance to look at it much but looking forward to your review on the newest update to see if anything has changed. I will hopefully get some time this weekend to go out and see what it can do.
Is the sd card backup working fine? Its the only feature i wanted arsenal for - to extend my eos R with backup functionality
Great review! Loved your personality and am now a subscriber.
Thank-you kindly - and welcome :)
I can’t quite work out whether you like this product or not… hilarious review. You just saved me £250
Thank you. I’m a beginner and was going to buy it. You saved me from that headache 🙃
You’re welcome 😊
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your NO BS approach to reviews. I’m a subscriber now 😂
Cheers Aaron - and welcome :)
Glad I found this review, thought it looked to good to be true... the review did make me laugh though 😆👌 Subscribed 😊
Appreciate it - and welcome :)
Great hilarious honest review. I just received my Arsenal 2 over the weekend. I didn’t need the help, but I was hoping this would shave time off in some areas of shooting. I am supremely disappointed with the device especially for the price point. Your final recommendation to do anything with the money that would be spent for it to be used elsewhere to improve photos is 100% correct. I should’ve invested in another lens. I thought I was leaning in on AI to reap the benefits but I got Got. Lesson learned.
If it’s any consolation, you are far from alone in being disappointed with this awful product.
Lmao, when I saw the title of this video, I knew it would be my style. Laughed so hard. Thanks for saving me money!
No worries! :)
Thank you for you COMPLETELY honest review. I unfortunately am one of those suckers that not only bought the Arsenal I but also now the Arsenal II. I was hoping to pair the Arsenal I (or II) with my Rhino ROV Slider and my MOVO timelapse ball head to get those amazing stargazing time-lapses. According to your review, I completely wasted my $$$.
Yea - I think so - it's not a very capable or useful bit of equipment on any level :)
Thanks Andy, I was minutes away from pressing the buy button, when I thought let’s have a look at one more review!.. as I can’t physically buy you a beer, I have virtually bought you a pint 🍻🇬🇧 of course I have liked & subscribed 👍
Greatly appreciated Mike - thank you 😀
Thanks Andy. Crazy good review. Keep it real my friend...the world needs more honest people. BTW: you're funny as hell too (Bonus)!
Thanks mate :)
First time ever watching one of your videos. Loved the video and your dialogue had me laughing my ass off.
Thanks mate - appreciate it :)
Thank you sir as I was planning to buy this but now you opened my eyes.Great and honest review.
Glad I could help :)
first video i watch from this channel, intro alone made me subscribe
Thank-you kindly :)
I've thought, since I first saw their hype, why would anyone put this on a camera that will already do all this stuff. As you point out, if you don't or can't take the time to learn photography, then get a good phone camera. Your review is refreshing in that you are not afraid to call a spade a piece of shite! Well done thanks!
No worries :)
Andy, Thank you for your uncensored review. I was also about to buy the Arsenal 2 but thought I'd check out a review. Excellent review = Big savings...What is the specter app you mentioned? I dont think I have the spelling correct on it.
Thank-you. Here's a link to the app on the App Store - apps.apple.com/us/app/spectre-camera/id1450074595 :)
Crowd control was the reason I started looking into this thing.
Nothing I can't do on my own by manually using the same method, but I thought, well, if it can save me time and has a bunch of other cool stuff... maybe?
But your review confirmed my suspicions; infant AI making guesses at random photo scenarios just seemed like a bit of a stretch.
Thanks for the honest review!
Yea, you can do far better simply using a Timelapse sequence and the Median tool in Photoshop.
Thank you so much for this review. Saved me time and money!
Glad I could help!
Thanks for saving me $300. Think this might be the funniest and most honest review I've ever seen
Cheers :)
Just got mine Friday so far I am having the same results you are. I am a product photographer so I am going to try focus stacking later today. I use helicon focus, in studio and I think I will be using helicon after my experiments this afternoon
The stacking's bewilderingly vague isn't it.
45 seconds. Has that day come? Love the brutal honesty 😂
Love the "laugh to tears" face on top of an Arsenal product in the background too!!
First one to notice that! :)
I ordered one last night and I’m canceling today. Thanks for the review no BS review!
Glad I could help
Love the honesty and humor. I subscribed…
Thanks Nancy :)
“Has that day come? Fk no!” Smashed that subscribe button. 😂
lol - thanks - and welcome :)
😀 I love TH-cam and honest reviews. Just saved me money! Thanks!
Happy to help!
Not just a useful honest review, but a hilarious to watch it, really enjoyed
Thanks Ahmed :)
Like your style, esp at intro! I almost drank the Arsenal-2 koolaid their website is pouring. Your vid stopped my drinking it, saving me precious $$$ and lots of what would have been wasting my precious time. THANK YOU...
Appreciate it ;)
Thanks for your funny and candid review. All the Facebook reviews are only positive ones which mde me question and go searching for reviews outside that platform. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I'm glad I found your review and have moved on. Thanks again.
You are so welcome!
I appreciate your honesty. you saved me a lot of cash
Glad I could help
Holy **** thx for the clip. Saved me money , time and nerves
No worries :)
I just ordered the Arsenal 2 today. 😒 What is the 2 Pro? I don't see that on their website. Anyway they state a 90 day return policy, so I guess I'll give it a go.
It was the name of it when it was on Kickstarter - just meant you got a cable and an iPhone holder.
Phew thanks from New Zealand. I was just about to buy it. That sales pitch they have is soo good haha
No worries. Spend that money on something useful! :)
I just saw their FB ad. Thank you very much for the honest review. I already guessed it's not as great as advertised, but for gen 2 it's shockingly bad.
My opinion: If you already got yourself a good camera, learn how to use it and get a decent editor. It's so rewarding
Absolutely - thanks Marco :)
Holy sht lol, I just typed in all my CC info and was about to pay. Then I was like wait, before I do that... let me do some due diligence... thank you for this video.
Now I'm a believer! Just ordered mine after laughing myself to death after this absolutely hilarious video! 🤣
“Absolutely fucking not”. Earned the sub there.
lol - thanks mate :)
Thank you very much Andy, I was going to consider buying one , saved me all the money now :)
Glad I could help!
Best
Review
Evurrrr
I recon you just saved me some coin
Cheers Davy - appreciate it :)
Great review Andy! Most quick fixes rarely work better than the little more effort a true craftsmanship requires.
Absolutely - thanks Richard. :)
Laughed my head off, Cheers Andy!
lol - no worries :)
thank you for saving me from
another money grave in crowd funding, sir. found a follower.
No worries :)
Thankyou for this advice !! You save me a lot of money
Happy to help!
I'm confused. The website as far as I can see says the arsenal 2 is on preorder. Did you get it early, or is it just saying that to try and get people to order? The website says they aren't shipping until February 2023. I could have sworn that when it was being pushed to me on ads months ago it said it was arsenal 3. Does anyone have any idea what's up with that?
Looks like they sold their existing stock and are doing a new manufacturing run. Save your money though mate!
@@Andyhutchinson tbh I was hoping to pick one up used to mess around with and make a video about it.
I couldn't find any used and started to look into buying it new, but it just seems fishy. Almost all of the promo and updates are from over a year ago.
It's like they knew they messed up and are trying their best to cover it up.
Maybe the new one will actually meet the expectations they set, but I'll wait to see before I give them any of my money.
You legend, awesome review.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thx for this review! I was planning to buy one. Thanks to this review: not anymore. I'll spend the money on some extra equipment 😀
Thanks Rob - good decision :)
@❤I live n h US …northeast in a town named Hebron, Ct … I am semi handicapped due t a stroke. I miss the.
ambulatory part of photography but he’s I love your take on the field….keep it up!
Thanking you kindly and welcome :)
Thanks for saving me money!! You got a subscriber
No worries - and welcome :)
Hmmmm, not fair in the focus stacking with movement. I have the same issue with the built in focus stacking on the Canon R5. Any amount of movement during the capture ends up as ghosts in DPP afterwards
Yea, it's not the thing's strongest mode.
Shite is a great word it deserves. I mean the tell tell of their ads is obvious. I hope you triple your audience thanks to the heroics and comedy of your review!!
Thanks Oswaldo - appreciate it :)
Hi Andy thanks so much for this review, was gonna waste a lot of money I can't afford to lose. Is there an AI device on the market that can do what the Arsenal devices claim to do?
There isn't anything (including Arsenal) that can do what Arsenal claimed, but I've heard good things about the Unleashed 22 th-cam.com/video/wkSe40TVECI/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, Andy. I was about to buy it and then I saw your video and now I'm $300 richer!!
No worries - spend your money on something useful! ;)
Can you recommend any other similar item instead?
Honestly? No. There are similar types of products such as the Komet and the Unleashed - but they all seem to have major issues of one kind or another.
Well that review answered all my questions, not that I was going to buy one, I was intrigued to see a product that could, in theory, do something that has taken me a good few years to learn. I will go as far to say, what a fucking excellent, down to bastard earth review, thanks a fucking lot, most enjoyable ... as you would probably say. 😉👍🏻
Haha - no worries - thanks Terry :)