Sena 10C Thoughts and Ongoing Review Update 6th May/2016 - Update 10/09/2016

Purchased a Sena 10C helmet intercom/camera unit yesterday from The Adventure Bike Shop.

Been using a Sena SMH5-FM for a couple of years now....  mainly for GPS and music.... not really one for phone calls while riding/ driving as you should focus on the road and not.... well you choose... hair/make-up/dinner/on tonight the list is endless, unlike your life expectancy if you keep a phone to your ear while driving.

The 10C is about twice the size of the SMH5 but its by no means big or bulky.... there are two mounting option in the box... a simple stick on pad which you slide the 10C into so alignment is critical as there is no rotational adjustment with this option... strangely enough after looking at the "lines" of the helmet... (Shoei Neotec) fitting it parallel to the base worked perfectly.... the 10C itself has 30 deg of  "horizon" adjustment to keep the video "level"....  The sticky pad option means the unit sits really close to the helmet so unlike the Go Pro its hardly noticeable as a camera....and the "sticky" was my preference with the SMH5....

After my first test ride/video I realised that the pad cannot be placed forward enough on the helmet, being a flip front, so the view ended up being more left hand side than middle of the road due to the helmet curvature...

So... I removed the sticky pad and fitted the 2nd option of the narrower, bulkier, clamp on unit
that has 360 deg vertical adjustment.... and surprisingly this only adds about 10mm to the mounting width...  Camera alignment looks more centered but will not know until testing tomorrow... now it clamps on adjustments will be simpler. As a comment you can point the camera rearward but you cannot flip the picture, so it will record upside down...

As the cabling for the 10C is the same as the SMH5-FM I just plugged in my existing mic/speaker set up, rather than faff about, so will be keeping the new, boxed, ones as spares.....

First, real, problem... lovely little shortcut/cheat sheet for the "which button do I push/hold" but nowhere does it mention that when connecting to a computer you have to turn it on (all I ever needed to do with the SMH5) and then turn the camera on too to access the SD card....  might be a simple thing but had to check the forums to find this out because the Sena updater, on my laptop, had recognised it and updated the firmware.... but no "drive" was showing up on screen.

Second, possibly a, problem... The Sena android app... nice little page full of slide buttons that let you know/adjust the state of the camera but no live view.... so there is no way to check the "framing" of the video/photo..... not a good idea Sena...  sending a photo to the app/phone for alignment purposes can't be that difficult... even a low res black and white would be better than nothing...

Third, sooner or later it will be a, problem.... there is a little rubber protective cap for when you are not using the camera but the lens is not replaceable and there is no cover/ protector when in use...

Early days and not edited down anything yet...  so will be adding thoughts and vid,s etc as I go

Reading a few comments about the Sena 10C from around the web and many people are complaining about the battery life when using the camera being far less than spec...

Initially slow charged mine via the laptop, as i think a fast initial charge is never a good idea, and have now recorded nearly three hours of video..... What I did find was that the camera turned itself off at around two hours.... It has an auto off feature that kicks in at 20% battery level so the intercom keeps working rather than you have a "dead" unit..

But half an hour later, when i had stopped, I checked the battery level and it was showing 3/4 full.... So I turned the camera back on again and recorded another 1/2 an hours worth of video...

Repeated this once more until the camera would not stay on with an indicated 25% battery left..... guess it might be more to do with the way the camera drains the battery.... sort of a deep discharge problem... and, who knows, once the battery has been through a few charge/discharge cycles it might even get better...

But more than happy with the total recording time I ended up with before having to recharge the unit... so to all with a 10C.... the auto off on the camera might be like a fuel gauge... whats on the gauge might not be whats left in the tank...

Still having lots of wind noise so need to play a bit more with the mics location - its hidden in the left hand cheek piece padding at the moment but might give the boom mic a try...

First try did not work so.. second go round...
Short video to test quality and "how do you put music on these things"

Video works in the preview but cannot see it on the published page... please let me know if you can/cannot see it..... and if you can the quality has really dropped from the uploaded file so may end up with a link to the original... P

Time lapse Video...
Recorded a "Ride home including shopping" video using the time lapse feature. You have a choice of 1 or 10 seconds and tried out the one second option first..

The results looked pretty sharp but do think that the one second time frame only really worked in the slower sections and feel that the 10 sec option might just end up as a blur at normal road speeds...

So the first one is saved at half speed (equalling the 0.5 second option that the Sena Prism has)

And the second is at the, pre-set, one second rate....

 So which do you think is better?...

Its not as simple as "lets just turn on time lapse" as you really need to understand what end result you are actually after... A nice slow cruise down a country lane may well come out better than a blast....

Sena don't do a car mount for the 10C yet, a missed opportunity in my opinion, but using the "sticky" mount with a dash type holder would work..

But if your pointing it out of, say, a hotel window I'm sure that you will get some amazing extra  holiday memories..

Update 06/05/16
Been having a bit of trouble with the sound recording..

The initial problem being sorted by fitting the 10C speaker set up supplied in the box... Guess there  wired different to the "5" set up that I had left in the helmet, thinking... same fitting so I'll use 'em...

 Have just found that the wires are damaged at the mounting point... must have caught them somewhere... So a new set is on the way from Amazon.. (Amazon Prime is worth it for just the next day postage... let alone the videos and music...)

Above is a good still shot that shows what can be achieved by pressing the photo button as you trundle along (many I have taken don't show the number plate quite as clearly)....

Really want to try a remote but no not like the unit that clamps onto the grip... Poorly thought out placement if you have short fingers... so will see if a wristband one turns up on eBay...

A better idea, to me, may be just a simple box with three buttons on it that mounts over top of the left-hand switch gear... The three buttons being an intercom push on push off (with led) - a video push on push off (again with led) and a photo button (with a led flash/flashes to confirm photo taken)...

You could have a fourth button for the intercom or volume but once you set/activate these you don't often change them...

Update 10th Sept 2016
Not used the camera as much as I thought I would...  It is brilliant as a "record the evidence" camera but the videos captured on my last holiday I did not feel good enough to post..

Had been hoping a firmware update would improve the overall image quality but none have to date..

It's not that I regret buying the 10C as it does exactly what I bought it for... Record the idiots and speed up the insurance claims...

Its just that I am considering buying a second camera for better/sharper quality images... Like the newer Garmin virb unit, as have a Zumo 350 and the Go Pro units are superb.... just don't like the "box" style shape... so will have a look at the latest group of "lipstick", with remote viewer, type units...

Would I buy another 10C... Yes... for all its short comings... its always there... intercom, radio, Mp3 and camera... It's part of my helmet now and I would not take it off, apart from when I use it hand held...

Happy Snapping Folks.
P