SightFlex for iSight Review, caution

dear all,

thought i would let you know about the following; the sightflex for isight made by DVForge http://www.dvforge.com/sightflex.shtml got very good reviews in nearly all the reviews i read. so i ordered one.

I knew that the metal gooseneck would make awful creaky noises, but that is ok for me.
the problem with mine was, that after a certain time the camera picture would freeze, or it would shut down completely (green light off). also when flicking the gooseneck with the finger, the isight picture would be flickering, with strange lines across the picture.

I thought i might as well trough it away, cause i was afraid it would damage my ibook.

so i found the following: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=143848&cid=12055060
also check the pictures: http://www.nuxx.net/gallery/main.php?g2view=core.ShowItem&g2itemId=19371

so i opened mine, and found a real mess. the pictures above look very clean and neat in comparison to the guts of my sighflex. the metal colored outer protection around the small cables was all over the place, and where the small cables are conected, everything was really rusty!!

what a dissapointement!

never the less, i twisted the cables and put a aluminium foil around them. put it together again, and since then it work's perfectly. don't ask me why!!

it doesn't shut down any more, and also the frighting flickering in the picture is gone.

I am not saying that all those sightflex stands are badly wired, but mine was for sure! also i am pretty sure, that it doesn't do your isight any good, until fixed (or what ever you would call that) with above procedure.

alex

Posted on Sep 24, 2005 4:21 AM

Reply
2 replies

Sep 26, 2005 10:38 AM in response to alexander cleis

I also purchased a Sightflex about a week ago and enjoy mine a bit better than Alexander does. The flexible gooseneck does make an awful creaking noise when you're adjusting it. I also had a small brown spot where the gooseneck meets the firewire connection although I didn't think it looked like rust, I thought it was a bit of adhesive. Either way it's not that bad. I also experienced the video "freeze" that Alexander mentioned, but came to the conclusion that it only happens when the camera is shaking to much. I am able to move the Sightflex around while the video is running with no problems, but if you accidentally bump the Sightflex while the video is running it'll lock up for a few seconds.

It is a nice product that does serve a purpose. If Apple would have included a mount for my iMac with the iSight, I wouldn't have needed the Sightflex. I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a little more flexibility than the mounts included with the iSight offers.

Sep 26, 2005 11:04 AM in response to Stephen Jack

Hi Stephen,

met too, i think it's a very good and useful product. if it would just be produced a little bit more carefully.

after doing the aluminium foil mission, i can now hit the sightflex that the isight camera "really" shakes around madly, and i don't get any freezes anymore. that's the thing that's getting me, after i did that, the whole thing works perfectly.

alex

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SightFlex for iSight Review, caution

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