![]() But only the Virb video window will have those menu bar buttons that let you take a snapshot, start a video recording, or even review the photos and clips already saved in the camera, and that’s just the first layer of cam control. Or, in fact, that screen could purportedly be set up to show four simultaneous Virb video streams - or some mix of Virb, analog, and Axis IP network cams - and each window could be made full screen with two taps. That particular bimini tube mount might be useful backing into a slip, but the Virb could be semi-fixed anywhere around the boat, or you could move it from mount to mount as needed. It’s functioning like a fixed boat cam with its wide-angle lens monitoring an area I can’t see well from the helm. Now here we see how the test Virb XE works once it has joined the WiFi network of an MFD like the GPSMap 7612. ![]() Note, too, how the Virb mount system easily mixes with third party components - including the premium ScanStrut Rokk Mini gear I recently tested - and there’s also plenty of battery competition. ![]() They are also waterproof to 50 meters, as evidenced above by the well gasketed and clamped housing door that protects the battery and SD card. Actually, I quite enjoyed testing the first generation Virb cams even without WiFi-connected display and control, and the totally redesigned X and XE models are easier to use standalone. I’m about to dig deep into the MFD/Virb integration, but note that you can still use a Virb X/XE fairly well as a fixed boat cam without a compatible Garmin MFD thanks to the excellent Virb phone and tablet apps. Of course, you can still take the Virb any time you decide to jump off a cllff, but I contend that it makes one heck of a versatile and affordable boat cam no matter the “action” level. I think that the really big Garmin wireless deal is how well the second generation Virb X and XE “action camera” design can integrate with the latest Garmin marine displays, even though it surely doesn’t look like a fixed boat cam, and it is still mainly marketed toward crazed young men wearing helmets. Below is my hands-on experience boating with the Virb XE before I learned about the Ultra this afternoon, and then a bit on how the Ultra seems to compare. And the Ultra looks like it will make an even more spectacular boat camera! So the other gear will wait until entry #2. Garmin is blazing several worthy wireless trails…īut wait, stop the presses! I had nearly finished an entry about how the Virb XE, gWind Wireless 2, and Quatix 3 watch have all integrated wonderfully with the Garmin nav system on Gizmo when to my surprise Garmin announced the new Virb Ultra 30. It took mere minutes to get a masthead view at my helm, and while mounting the gWind sensor required tools, it too is completely wireless. But I simply climbed up Gizmo’s mast, mounted a Virb XE with an adhesive base, and aligned it using the free Garmin Helm app on my phone to see the Virb video screen running on the flybridge GPSmap 7612. Normally, for instance, it would take two people to align a fixed boat camera, plus running power and video cables. The multiple layers of Garmin wireless communications going on above may seem crazy, but they all work well and have endless practical and/or fun applications around a boat.
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