Ice fishing camera

Does anyone have any recommendations on the best underwater camera for ice fishing?

Personally I am looking for something very portable and handheld. I am leaning towards the aquaview micro plus or micro 5c. Does anyone have any personal experience on that lineup? Seems like they are pretty similar, any big performance differences?

I bought a Recon5 by MarCum this fall. Super portable, has a crystal clear screen. I've used it on the boat a few times and it seem pretty sweet. 1000 times better then my old Aqua View Scott!

Recon 5 is on my wish list this year as well!
I'll be doing lots of research for the next month!
Bring on the cold temps

I use the Aqua Vu Micro. Extremely handy and no bigger than my cell phone. Can put it in the pocket easily. I've got a first generation model. Newer models have even better resolution. Works well in slightly stained to clear water.

I'm still researching, but leaning heavily towards the Marcum Recon 5.

I got a Marcum pancam two years ago for Christmas and am not real happy about it. It's already been sent in to get the panning motor replaced and I don't think this one is going to last either. It should have a built in motor shutoff so it doesn't sit there and grind when it gets to the end of its revolution. i'm using a cheap $50 tablet and you can not see it out in the daylight. You need to be in a dark ice house. Now maybe a better quality tablet might make a difference. I'd like to hear other opinions on this camera.


Ken........

I've got an AquaVu Micro Plus and have been very happy with it. In my opinion one of the major bonuses is that the IR lights are on a manual switch, so you can control them. I didn't go with the AquaVu 5c because it has auto-light sensing IR lights and where I live we have a lot of stained water so I wanted to make sure I could still see and not get the "brights in a snow storm effect" in the stained water.

...also to save some cash check out the Reconditioned units Aqua-Vu sells on their site, they come with the same factory warranty

Does having the light on scare the fish away ?

Ken.......

The problem with the ir is if there is anything suspended in the water column (air bubbles, micro bugs etc) it reflects back like crazy with the ir lights and can block your view of anything else. Biggest drawback of my av micro 2 are those ir lights....

I just bought the recon 5 shall post when i try it out next week

yes - having the lights on does scare fish.

I have vexilar's fish phone. It works good enough for what im using it for but it is a rather big unit. Carry it in a zipper cooler bag. control it with your phone or tablet. The images are not super clear like ive seen on other cameras. Its only $120 though so......I mostly use the camera to film pike coming into my spearing decoys. BUT.....it has already cost me 1 phone too!! Somewhere at the bottom of Jay Gould lake is my iphone 6. LOL

I have an Aqua Vu micro and it is good for scouting and checking color of weeds, because of wide angle lens anything else is marginal. I also still have the old Scout black and white, the camera and lens on it are awesome and you can easily catch those extremely light biters that just mouth the baits.

I will be watching the comments for the Recon 5. This unit has made my list for next years item. At some point, you just have to fish, but still having it there can only help - right???

I can see that Aqua Vu micro is recommended a couple of times. But you should also take a look at "MarCum Mission SD Underwater Viewing System" try search for it on Amazon where it have good reviews.

MarCum LX-9 Digital Sonar/Camera System is the best underwater fishing camera for ice fishing!- according to my opinion. Go throw the lesson to find more other iconic models of ice fishing underwater cameras here- https://fisherreel.com/best-underwater-fishing-camera/ and spend on a suitable one according to your condition.

The images are not super clear like ive seen on other cameras. Its only $120 though so......I mostly use the camera to film pike coming into my spearing decoys [color:#000000]DOUBLE STAINLESS STEEL SPEARHEAD - ROUND SHAPE - MZFAST-2[/color]. BUT.....it has already cost me 1 phone too!! Somewhere at the bottom of Jay Gould lake is my iphone 6. LOL

I have the Vexilar camera that you can see in my "Getting Charged" picture (click on it to enlarge). Nice images on a larger unit that doesn't fit down most holes, unlike my old 6S, that always worries me!