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Everyone knows how a lot enjoyable it’s to squeeze a set off and watch a distant piece of metal react to the bullet’s impression. So wouldn’t it’s cool to document and share that second? However recording by way of a scope isn’t simple and adapters on your cellphone or GoPro could be clunky to make use of.
After making an attempt just a few digicam adapters I’ve lastly discovered one which data high quality video: the Tactacam FTS Package. I examined it at Outside Life’s annual gun check on completely different scopes and rifles then continued testing at house on my air rifle. Right here’s what I consider the Tactacam FTS and a have a look at some pattern footage I recorded.
FTS Mount
Tactacam 5.0
Makes use of micro SD playing cards
Decision: 4k at 30fps, 2.7k at 30fps, and 1080p at 120fps (gradual movement)
As much as 8x zoom
Battery Life: 2.5 hours
Weatherproof
Onboard microphone
Mounting
The FTS mount contains seven adapters to suit completely different scopes. You’ll check match them onto your scope’s eyepiece till you discover one which slides on with a cosy match. Then you definately’ll slide the FTS mount onto the scope. Examine the reticle focus in your scope and take away the FTS, then alter focus if needed. As soon as every thing is targeted, slide the FTS onto the scope and tighten the Allen screws.
App
Pairing your digicam with the Tactacam Join app, lets you use your cellphone as a monitor and alter video recording settings. You may as well export video out of your digicam to your cellphone utilizing the app.
Recording Modes
The Tactacam 5.0 has three filming modes: normal, zoom, and gradual movement in 1080p. A unique coloration mild will seem on the digicam with every mode.
Normal = Inexperienced
Zoom Mode = Darkish blue
Gradual Movement = Gentle blue
Testing the Tactacam FTS within the Discipline
The Outside Life gun check is essentially the most rigorous and thorough gun check in existence. Hundreds of rounds are shot by way of the most recent rifles for accuracy testing. To not point out the hundreds extra rounds shot to guage every gun’s operate. So there’s no higher place to check a gun accent just like the Tactacam FTS.
I mounted the FTS on a Nightforce ATACR that sat on a customized 6.5 creedmoor rifle constructed by taking pictures editor, John B. Snow. Discovering the right adapter and mounting the digicam was simple, however the first hiccup got here once I couldn’t join my Tactacam 5.0 to the Tactacam app. I exhausted all choices as I sifted by way of the guide for solutions. But, I nonetheless couldn’t get the WiFi pairing to work, which is essential for aligning the digicam with the scope’s reticle.
That inconvenience offered a possibility to check Tacatacam’s customer support. I known as the principle assist quantity and was speaking to an actual individual inside a couple of minutes. The Tactacam rep was in a position to replicate the error and walked me by way of a number of choices till we discovered the wrongdoer. In my iPhone’s settings for the Tactacam app, the native community WiFi setting was toggled off. As soon as I toggled it on, I used to be in a position to get the digicam and app linked.
The bumpy begin was clean roads as I adopted the onscreen instructions to get the digicam linked after which use my cellphone as a digicam monitor. The app is intuitive and straightforward to make use of, however I skilled a lag between the reside motion the digicam was filming and what I noticed on the app.
As soon as the scope is on and aligned, you can begin recording. Snow shot a string of targets from 100 to 300 yards whereas the Tactacam recorded a crisp, clear picture with minimal shake. We then moved it onto a .223 rifle, which produced even higher video because of the decreased recoil. We additionally examined the FTS on a Marlin 336 with a Nightforce ATACR 1-8×24.
One factor we discovered in these exams is that the FTS adapter sits about an inch nearer to your eye than the scope would with out it put in. That’s why I might hesitate to put in the FTS on a rifle chambered in a magnum cartridge. In case you’re going to completely shoot the gun with the FTS put in you would transfer the scope ahead to account for that.
Once I bought house from the gun check, I connected the FTS to my FX Affect M3, and it recorded some actually cool footage of pellets hitting my KYL rack in gradual movement. I feel the FTS is a pure match for the most effective .22 rifles or finest air rifles as a result of the mix of low projectile velocity and little or no recoil leads to insane footage. One tip for air rifle shooters is to color the rear of your pellets in a contrasting coloration so that they present up on video higher.
The place the Tactacm FTS Excels
The FTS excels at capturing cool, quick movies of taking pictures on the vary. If you wish to seize bullet hint arcing right into a distant piece of metal, that is a straightforward method to obtain that.
It additionally gives a novel perspective for looking movies. The FTS turns into particularly highly effective within the occasion you’ve gotten a questionable hit on an animal as a result of you’ll be able to see precisely the place your crosshairs have been positioned on the shot.
The place the Tactacam FTS Can Enhance
The FTS will have an effect on your scope’s eye aid. So be ready to have a much less forgiving eye field and have your eye nearer to the scope.
One other con is that if your scope’s magnification adjustment is on the attention piece, you’ll be able to’t alter the zoom without having to reorient your digicam. One other con is that the digicam can intervene with throw levers.
Closing Ideas
After a couple of minutes of preliminary setup, the FTS and Tactacam digicam document high quality footage of precisely what you’re seeing as you shoot. If you would like a plug-and-play method to document video by way of your scope the Tactacam FTS is without doubt one of the finest choices.
