Syma X5SW from Gearbest

[Epitaph]

A little while ago I received the Syma X5SW from Gearbest, whom asked I write up a review for it and give my personal opinions.

When I received the package, I saw that the Spanish postal service had shown their usual "care" with the delivery, as it had received quite a hard hit on one side of the box. Luckily it was the back side where the only thing that was next to it were the instructions and the actual packaging material, but the quad and the transmitter themselves were in good condtion.

The packaging itself is pretty good, the X5SW came well protected. In the box was the quad almost completely assembled, the legs which needed to be screwed in, a spare set of blades, the prop guards, a 1S 500mAh LiPo battery, the WiFi camera, a USB charger and the transmitter with a clip to hold your smartphone or tablet. They also send a small screwdriver to screw in the prop guards and the landing gear, although it's also handy to have if you should break a prop as these are held into place with a centre screw, not just simply "pushed on".



To fit the legs, the prop guards and the camera took all of 5 minutes, and the screwdriver that comes with the quad isn't that bad really, as the ones they normally send just break a tooth off if you look at them wrong. Once everything was put together, it had a liking to the famous (or infamous for some)) DJI Phantom 2, but in a 250 class.



There is a small compartment for the battery on the back for the 1S 500mAh battery that comes with it and there is plenty of wiggle space inside, especially in the length. Gearbest also sent me a 1S 650mAh LiPo as a spare which is almost the same size, just a couple of millimetres longer and this one also fitted in perfectly. Even a Turnigy Nanotech 1S 750mAh would fit in fine should you want to achieve longer flight times thanks to their highter C rate and capacity. The battery connector is the typical Molex conector that most microquads of the Hubsan, WLToys and Walkera ranges use, amongst others, so finding a compatible battery for this quad is quite easy. Should you decide to get a battery from somewhere else, check the polarity well BEFORE you connect it, as some, like for example the Nanotechs, come with their polarity reversed in the plug. Once the battery is in its place and the compartment is closed, the back end of the quad has a very clean look to it with no cables hanging.



Turning the quad around we find an aesthetically pleasing camera which fits perfectly into its place and plugs into the quad via a 3 pin Molex 1.25mm plug, the type used on microservos, and this plugs into a socket right next to the power switch. The camera is fed directly via the flight battery, which means that if you want to just use the quad for LOS practice you can disconnect the camera and doing so will not only give mor flight time from lower power consumption but also as the motors would not have to lift so much weight.



Also, whilst we're on the underside of the quad, I will point out something that I don't like personally and that has never made any sense to me. Where has this habit come from with RTF quads and even DJI's fleet to put the red LEDs on the front and the green on the back? It is a total contradiction to logic, not to mention the opposite way as used by those that race miniquads... The LEDs, eventhough they are backwards, shine quite brightly and help a lot with orientation in the dark, which lengthens the time available to fly considerably.

The transmitter is quite a simple one, the "buttons" on the front don't serve any purpose and are simply there for aesthetical reasons. It counts with two 2 axis gimbals set up in Mode 2 (throttle on the left), and eventhough they are your typical ty grade gimbals like so many models out there have, they do seem to work pretty well and their resolution isn't that bad. It also has complete trims per axis. On top of this, it also features two sholder buttons, one for changing the rates from low to high, and the other to activate the acrobatic function, which is to flip in the air... press it, then push the right stick in any direction and it will flip in that direction. The flip recovery on this wuad is quite good, although I would recommend doing it with a bit of height as it tends to loose a bit when flipping, which is understandable considering its size and that it's using brushed 1S motors. The transmitter's screen is pretty basic, although it has enough info for a normal flight. It shows the amount of trim per channel, what direction each stick is in and how much, and the amount of power in the battery using the typical 4 bars system, although the screen is not backlit so you can't really use it in the dark easily, unlike the quad itself. The transmitter is powered by 4 "AA" type batteries, and you can use both NiMH/NiCd or alcalines.

A "clip" comes with it to slip onto the antenna of the transmitter to hold your smartphone so you can use it in FPV, and the clip itself is pretty good... it holds the phone well with quite a bit of bite and keeps it at a good angleto be seen in flight comfortably. It opens up to about 85mm, which means it can hold a vast variety of large phones, even the iPhone 6 Plus. I used my Sony Xperia E1 in the clip, which has a 4" screen, and it held it firmlyeven with the jello case, and it never looked like it was going to fall out at any moment.



My initial conclusions at this point in the review of the Syma X5SW are quite good. It is made out of a very light toy grade plastic, but which is quite strong because of the way it has been molded and fits together. The prop guards are easy to bend but recover their shape straight away without breaking, which makes it ideal for a beginner. The motors don't have much power as they are, but achieve enough thrust thanks to the gearbox system used in the transmission to the props, and eventhough it would have been better to have some superior motors to gain better resistance and strength, at first impression they seem to be more than enough for this model. The battery compartment, the camera itself and the clip for the transmitter are my favourite features of this model so far, as they seem to have been made carefully and with attention to detail, with the final user in mind, as well as giving the quad a final overall look that is very pleasing. The gearing system as are the motors, as well as all the electronics are all very well protected inside the body of this quad.

Now it's time to take it to the air...

 

[Epitaph]

So the time came to charge the batteries and take it outside to see how it faired up...

I found that the Syma X5SW is a quad that does not like the wind at all in fact even the lightest of breezes gave it problems in flight, and I was constantly fighting against it... and it was a breeze that hardly even moved my hair!!

After a little investigating, I found that is was a problem that many people had had with this model, and supposedly they had fixed the problem with this model and with its predecessor, the X5C-1, but in reality it still wasn't fixed. It seems that the problem comes from the combination of accelerometers and gyros used with the programming put in the board, and from the motors as they were just working on 1S being a class 250 quad... in a nutshell, sensitivity and lack of power.

In this video you can see how it was fighting against the breeze constantly, even making the landing a hard one because of the constant left inclination...

(I have permission to fly my smaller toys in the park just outside my front door from the Town Hall... handy to have friends in politics hehehe)

Indoor flight was great though!! It had good response on the controls and flew very smoothly and precisely. I tried it out at the locak sports complex, but unfortunately I forgot to press the record button ¬¬.

Flights reached almost 7 minutes in indoor, but they were 7 fun minutes whizzing around the basketball nets and the ceiling beems. I would like to try it out some day outside when there is no breeze, but unfortunately I still have not had a day with those conditions and I don't exactly live in a non windy area.

The orientation LEDs were very visible throughout the flight n the moments I looked up from the screen (still can't stop LOSing hehehe) and it responded well both in low and high rates. The flip mode works well also although you need bit of height befre you do it as it needs time to recover, so don't use it when you're close to the ground... it is only 4 small brushed motors trying to turn a 250 quad over, after all...

I found this quad can't handle more weight on it than what it is designed to carry from factory unfortunately, so swapping out the camera for one that records direct isn't a very viable solution unless you use the Syma SD card camera, or maybe n 808 keychain camera at the most. This model is totally compatible with the other Syma camera, the one that is used on the series 5 models that ends in "C" (for camera) rather than "W" (for WiFi). Supposedly it is controlled by one of the sholder buttons although I don't see how that can be so because it would either change rates as you chance camera mode, or flip... if I get a camera and figure it out I'll let you know.

My flying conclusions are that it's a very good model to fly in indoor and possibly outside when there is no wind, but it is not a choice model to use in a breeze as it's just not made for that... it's a 250 size miniquad with the AUW of a nanoquad almost, and it must be treated as the latter actually.

 

[Epitaph]

I decided to take the quad apart to see just how the internal construction was, as well as change those LEDs around

The Syma X5SW is quite well put together, using very light materials, but all the pieces go together precisely and uses a LOT of screws to hold it all together... you even have to take the landing gear, the prop guards and the gearing covers off to open it up. Once all the screws are removed, you still have to prise it open as there are clips all along the body holding it together, but once you finally get it open you find a simple but pretty solid elaboration inside.

The centre of the quad is totally dominated by the control board, a surprisingly small board considering the size of quad and the fact that it has all the brushed ESCs built in too, but in being so small helps keep the quad's weight down. On this board is the full receiving system gyros, accelerometers, logic and mixing board, and of course the already mentiones ESCs. After further investigation, I found that this model of receiver chipset is compatible with the Arduino nRF24L01+ modules (it must be the "+" model as the normal version has a lower data transfer rate and is not compatible as it just doesn't receive the information "fast enough"), meaning that this quad is possibly compatible with the Devo series Walkera transmitters that can use Deviation, and any other transmitter that may use this particular module and protocol, or even for those that like to homebrew, and ant to make a homemade transmitter out of an Arduino board! I have ordered an nRF24L01+PA+LNA module for my transmitter to try this out as it might give programming abilities enough to counteract the breeze problem, like wider EPAs or more control over rates and expo. I would recommnd that the module have a PA (Power Amplifier) to achieve the greatest range possible and best reception you can hope for... when I receive the module and fit it I will comment on it. It is also worth noting that you can also change the small antenna wire that is on the receiver for a coax WiFi one (connecting the shielding to a ground source on the board) and making a small hole in the centre of the top cover, and having this antenna "poke out" of the hole, and this would give a good range and directional coverage too. I might even try this out later on when I get some WiFi antenna cable...

The FCB is mounted on top of the battery compartment, making the centre of the frame "fatter" obviously, like a Cheerson CX-10 under a magnifying glass , and this gives room enough to make modifications on the battery compartmnt to use different formats of battery, although I would only do this is you plan on flying LOS with no camera because of the already very tight weight limit of this quad. There are a few wires that go down from the FCB to a secondary smaller board underneath the FCB, which is where the power swich and the camera socket are located. Everything has been well thought out to keep the centre of gravity just right and this way not make the simple FCB work too hard compensating, not to mention overpowering the motors in that compensation. If you did wish to remove the camera to fit a bigger battery, you have to think that the camera will only save you about 20g of weight, so it's not that much bigger the battery you would be able to fit... The general quality of the FCB is pretty good, the soldering points seem to be quite clean and I couldn't see any cold solder issues anywhere, so it shouldn't give any problems in that aspect.

The motors are very well held into place as well as ery protected within each of the arms, with the body of the motor protruding out of the top of the arm rather than the bottom. This is actually a good idea as the motor itself is protected from anything that can hit from under, like a speeding planet, or anything that can hit from above thanks to the actual prop. It also puts the motor directly in the propwash so it's constantly cooled down rather than being shielded from the propwash by the arm, all this should hopefully help to extend the life of the motors a bit. Because of this, it is possible that the quad can be modified to take spome slightly more powerful motors, should the ESCs permit this or course, and still keep the refrigeration and protection abilities of the quad. In the case that one should break it is pretty simple to change it with just 2 points of solder on the FCB. The soldering points are really simple and don't need an expert solderer to change in the envent of needing to change them.

I finally got down to changing the LEDs around... it's a poretty simple task on this quad really. You just have to prise the coloured cover off, which is rubbery so it doesn't crack, and then unsolder the wires from the FCB and unclip the LED strip... then just put it into its new home, put the LED cover back on in the new place, and solder the wires to where the other ones were (solder the red LEDs to where the green ones were and visa versa... just check the polarity). The whole changeover process took all of 5 minutes, and even someone that isn't experienced with a soldering iron can do this pretty easily.



The gearing is well made, simple to avoid any faults, but also well protected thanks to their independent protection covers. Removing the covers you can grease up the gearing with a little goose grease or another grease that is not too thick to help keep them in good working order for longer.



With a little routine maintenance (as you would with any multirotor really) you can get quite a long life out of this quad, especially considering just how cheap it is.

 

[Epitaph]

And now it's time to take a look at the camera...

As you could see in the short video I made, this camera isn't a marvel of technology, as it is only 0.3mpx in photo mode and records video at 640x480. So if you're looking for an AP camera, this is not the model for you. But this is quite logical as this entire quad costs less than half complete than what a GoPro Hero 3+ would cost, so you certainly can't expect GoPro quality.

With that said, this camera does perform very well in what I would consider it's primary use, which is as an FPV camera with which to learn with. The connection via smartphone is good and clear, with about half a second lag time at the most, something very normal on WiFi systems (limitations of the frequency, more than anything), but it doesn't suffer from any noise or snow at any moment, and I tried it out with a range of over 150ft in some moments. If you are someone that wishes to learn FPV but doesn't want to spend a fortune in a system, not knowing if it's even going to "be your thing", then the Syma X5SW is perfect for you!

Within the category of quads that transmit to a mobile device there are quite a few models, like the Walkera Ladybird, or the Ominus Dromida FPV, all of which are smaller and more lively models with very basic cameras on the whole, or at a much higher price, and they are models that are more adapted to people that already know how to fly FPV or that already have some LOS miniquad experience. This model on the other hand is more stable indoors as it is of a much larger size, as well as a very clear reception that can be seen on any smartphone screen. I even tried it out on my old Sony Xperia Tipo, which has a small 3" screen and I could even see it well on that. Other models have strange configurations which can be rather annoying too, like the Walkera Ladybird, which can be controlled via a Devo transmitter or directly from the smartphone, but you cannot remove the onscreen gimbals on their app when using the Devo, which makes it very annoying as you are FPVing "through" virtual gimbals which hinders your vision a lot. The app is downloadable direct to your smartphone via a QR code on the side of the box, and it has 5 icons on the top of the screen... one for taking a photo, one for starting the recording session, one which indicates the signal strength, one for opening a recorded file, and the "back" button.

To make the camera work, assuming you already have the app installed, is to turn on the quad and bind it with the transmitter. Once this is done the LED in the camera will start to blink, and what you do then is search on your smartphone for an open WiFi signal titled "FPV WIFI_xxxx", where "xxxx" is a 4 digit alphanumeric sequence. Once you are bound to that WiFi signal, just start up the app, press the "Start button", and you will see the image on your smartphone screen. Then just put the phone into the clip and away you go!!!

The camera standalone is also interesting as you can make it work directly off a 1S battery, connected directly to the red and black wires of the plug, and the plug can be brought in Hobbyking for a few cents literally. With this you can adapt the camera to use on other models apart from this quad, like other quads, planes, or even on cars if you wish to do a little ground FPV. It is generally a good way to learn to fly (or drive) FPV without having to invest a small fortune in equipment. You can make recordings on your smartphone to watch later if you wish to use it to see where you need to improve, or just to share with people even.

The video recording format isn’t a standard one so to begin with you can only watch them via the actual pone app. But if you extract the video from your phone (they are kept in the main drive of your phone, in a folder called “SYMA”, in which you will find a subfolder called “SYMA_V&#8221 to your computer, you can recode it into an MP4 or MKV format using a free video recoding program called HANDBRAKE, and after this you can upload them to Youtube or just watch them direct on your computer. The videos are recorded without sound which some people will like (like myself), whereas others won’t like this. I personally find the sound annoying and would much rather have a video with some good music on it that an angry hornets nest following every move… but that’s just personal taste. When you recode the video with HANDBRAKE you can change the video size if you want, but it’s best to just keep it at the original aspect ratio of 4:3 or it would just look weird. But as I said, it’s not a camera to make videos really, but rather to learn to fly FPV.

I have ordered a smartphone wide angle lens to add on to see if this improves the view for FPV, because eventhough the image is good, it does seem very limited in angle as well as very “zoomed”. I’ll comment on how that mod goes when the lens arrives.

My conclusions on this quad after so many “steps” are as follows…: It is a quad with limitations due to its lack of power and the type of camera used, but is a great platform to learn to fly FPV with at a low price. It has a very pleasing, clean design, looking at first glance like a scalled down Phantom. Thanks to the camera’s compatibility it has more uses than just with this quad alone and for that alone make it a good buy. The transmitter is very simple in its design, but ample for the functions of this quadcopter, and the fact it actually looks and feels more like a proper transmitter rather than a playstation controller is something I do like a lot, as I am a pincher, not a thumbsy. The cross compatibility with other transmitters will be a big bonus if it pans out as this will give a lot more options to the user if they have a favourite transmitter, or if they are looking for more functions and adjustments. The indoor stability is great and this makes it perfect for those that wish to learn to use a larger quad in a smaller environment, even if you just want to use it in LOS. The WiFi reception is very good for learning to fly FPV, although it doesn't have much angle unlike the GoPro or its clones. Its flight time isn't bad considering the size of model and the fact that it’s only flying on a 1S battery. The quads resistance to “planetary encounters” is very high thanks to its low weight and “bouncy” plastic. The ease of control is very good which makes it perfect even for a first time quad, and those with more experience I’m sure will find good uses for it too..

Would I recommend it? Well, yes, it’s made for what it is, and complies with these functions well. It would need an upgrade for those more breezy days, although I think the X8 range from Syma is made precisely to fill that gap. But when it comes to price nd knowing what it’s for, I certainly would recommend it.

Than you very much to Gearbest for supplying this model to me for me to be able to write up this review.

 

[Epitaph]

As I said before, II was going to look into transmitter compatibility, in this case with the Walkera Devo 7E. All I had to do was wait for the module to arrive… and it did

The module is an nRF24L01+PA+LNA, which cost me all of €3 shipped, and this is the module that should supposedly work with the Syma X5SW. I installed the module in my transmitter in the only space available for it, first of all starting with soldering the wires to the module and covering it all with clear heatshrink, and finally soldering all the wires to their corresponding points on the motherboard. An important thing which I already mentioned the module to buy is the “+” model, as the nRF24L01 without the “+” will not bind, even if it has a PA (Power Amplifier) built in as it’s a bitrate thing not a power issue. Models that use the normal module will work with the “+” module, but not the other way around, making the “+” module the most universal.



Once I finished soldering all the solder points, it was just a case of placing the module firmly inside the case so it wouldn't move, and closing the transmitter up.



After this it was a case of connecting the transmitter to the computer so I could actívate the newly installed module in the hardware.ini file, assigning the address where it is soldered (in my case to A14), and activating the PA function for higher power output.

Luckily, omeone had shared their Syma X5C config on the Deviation fórums, so it was just a case of downloading this and using it as a base on which to work on, making small modifications where I see fit… I am still adjusting it as it’s an excesively complicated file, like with a cannel assigned to rates rather than just adding them in with the expo in each channel. Once the initial changes were made, it was just a case of copying it over to my transmitter via the USB connection, and then this way I already had a model created on my transmitter with name, protocol and everything rather than having to start from scratch, figuring out channel order or what to reverse and things like that.



All that was left now was to turn the quad on, followed by the transmitter and let them bind to each other. The bind process was a lot faster than with the original transmitter, and faster also than the models I have using the A7105 module (WLToys protocol and others) or even the CYRF6936 module that the transmitter comes with originally (which is used for DSM protocols, for example). Once bound, all I had to do was give it a little throttle and see if everything was working OK, adjust the trims and all those other “teething” issues. No I have a much more professional transmitter with a ton of options to use on this quad, like EPAs, Expo, DR/TR to my liking, throttle curves would I wish to add them, etc., and not to mention much better, more precise gimbals to control the model with.

To hold the phone, the Devo range has 2 models of phone holders... model A which is designed for all the full size Devo transmitters, as well as the WK2xxx models. It clips onto the back handle using the plastic part of the handle to finish the grip.



Model B is made for the compact range of Devo transmitters (Devo 4, Devo 6S and Devo 7E) which have a smaller metal carry handle on the back and no plastic part, meaning the model A wouldn't fit. The model B phone holder grips onto the antenna itself and it also pretty easy to adapt to other transmitters or other brands with a small modification in most cases.



Personally I preferred the model A phone holder, as it holds the phone offset to the left rather than centred, as well as holding the phone further out from the transmitter than model B does, giving better room to get to the top switches, especially considering I installed the 2 extra switches with long arms. I had a model WK-2402 transmitter (actually I have 2 of them) which has the plastic part on the carry handle on the back. I removed the plastic handle part and cut it down on the left side so it would fit into the smaller Devo 7E metal handle, also shaving down the grip on the left side, but leaving all the right side untouched. Once I put it into place and installed the phone holder on this, all the cut and shaved parts were hidden inside the phone holder grip, leaving the visible part original and looking like it was factory made like this. This gave me the ability to install the model A phone holder onto the compact 7E transmitter... and I am very pleased with the results!!

 

[cranialrectosis]

Very cool. I am looking for a new way to torment the dogs!

 

[jhitesma]

Well the X5C seems to be dog approved:

This looks to be the same basic quad with the camera/FPV added. So it should do quite well for dog tormenting

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Looks like a nice inexpensive starter RTF with a camera. One thing that somewhat surprises me though is it appears a bit large for 1S.

 

[jhitesma]

Looks like a nice inexpensive starter RTF with a camera. One thing that somewhat surprises me though is it appears a bit large for 1S.

I was thinking the same. I suspect it's the same basic setup as their X1 only with a very thin light plastic shell for a frame that makes it look far more substantial. It's hard to tell scale in epi's photos but in ibcrazy's video it doesn't look any bigger than my X1 - just bulkier.

And I know people have flown #16 keychain cams on the X1.

I am curious to see how this flies as it does look heavy for flying on a 1s. I imagine with the camera onboard it doesn't get very spectacular flight times and isn't very zippy.

 

[Epitaph]

It's a 250 size quad, that's from centre of prop to centre of prop on the diagonal... so it's the same size as a racing miniquad. Flight times are about 5-6 minutes of relaxed flying with the camera. The flying weight, that's with the camera and battery, is 120g, so it's like half the weight of my Tellytubby quad I made.

I was sent it to do a review, so here I am doing a review ... just haven't had the time to start writing away, hence the reserves. I will be adding another part tomorrow... and if I can't sleep, I'll do it tonight hehehe

 

[Epitaph]

Parts 2 and 3 are written up

 

[cranialrectosis]

The weak point on the X1 was the gears. Land on the rug, get fibers in the gears and you have to clean them out to fly. Land or crash outside in the sand and you have to clean them out with a toothbrush or the sand will strip your gears next time you fly.

The protective cover they put over the gears in this one should make it last longer and require a LOT less maintenance.

 

[Epitaph]

Very true this... the gear covers do have cooling slots in them, but it is a lot harder for anything to be sucked up into them. Add to this that the landing hear is a lot higher so this keeps them off the ground better. Another thing you can do if you are still worried about dust getting in is to stick a small circle of foam to the covers themselves, and that way air can get through but the dust and stuff will mainly get trapped in the foam, a bit like how a fish tank filter works... then all you would have to do is unscrew the covers every so often and wash them out under a tap to get the trapped dust out.

 

[airhawk]

am i the only one that wants to see a naze 32 in the x5 thats probably the case.

 

[razor02097]

am i the only one that wants to see a naze 32 in the x5 thats probably the case.

The X5 control module has ESCs, receiver, power distribution, and flight controller all in one board. If you want to add a naze32 it would be easier to fit the shell to a real 250 sized quad.

 

[airhawk]

yeah thats true

 

[Epitaph]

I guess you could use the shell as a quadframe no problem if you like making adjustments... I was thinking about doing that with the DM007 frame which I think looks quite good, and already has room for a 2S battery (although only a 400mAh one), and the frame itself is REALLY cheap... the only thing I didn't like is that I can't seem to find the blue LED light strips for the front and back ANYWHERE!! But it also uses bigger motors, so probably wouldn't be hard to fit some brushless motors on it... I'll keep that project in my list if I find those blue plastic LED parts... hehehehe

 

[Epitaph]

OK guys, part 4 (the final part of the actual review) is all written up sorry it took so long, but I didn't have much time to actually get down to do it over this weekend or anything. I'll see if I can do part 5 tomorrow, which is not of the actual quad but rather a transmitter mod.

 

[Epitaph]

OK... I did part 5 as well!! It more or less "came out" by itself!!

 

[Epitaph]

OK, here's a little something I have modded, which actually came out quite interesting.

I received this morning the wide angle lens... it's one of those you use on your smartphone, which can be used as wide angle, or unscrewed to use as a macro, and stays in place via a magnet. Anyway, I decided to try it out on the Syma X5SW camera with some positive results. Now, it's not going to turn this into a GoPro or anything remotely close to that, but it does make FPV much better even if the results are just a bit better at first glance.

I started by taking a photo with the camera as is, from a set distance with a set object, in this case, being my transmitter...



After this, I took the camera off, and glued the new lens into place. I found that the magnetic ring as a little too big for this camera in particular, and it wasn't holding on properly... besides, I didn't want to crash in a field and loose the lens in the shrubs (not that there are many around here) because the magnet isn't that strong, so I mixed up some epoxy, took the lens ring off the camera, sanded it down to get down to the core plastic and to roughen it up to bond better, and glued it into place. After, just add a little more epoxy around to secure it nice and tightly. I also added a touch of epoxy to the thread which lets you unscrew the wide angle lens to use it as a macro as this camera will never be used for macro. Another nice thing is this particular lens comes with a lens cap so it's nice and protected when not being used



Then it as just a case of putting the camera back together once dry and placing it back on the quad. I hen placed the quad in exactly the same place as before, with the transmitter at the same distance... I'd say the difference is small, but definitely noticable



As you can see, rather than making it wide angle just by giving a fish effect, it only gives a tiny bit of this, and the rest is to "zoom out" from the original lens, which I found the zoom to be the most annoying thing when flying as things were so close you couldn't see what you needed to see, namely on the sides.

So, for less than $4 and a few minutes messing around with a nail file and some epoxy, I've turned this camera into a much more pleasant one to use, and I'll probably order some more of these lenses for other cameras I will be testing out in the future... if only I could remember when I got it from!!

And sorry for the low light... I more or less live in the dark as I have photophobia. Yeah, I know, what on earth am I doing living in Spain with photophobia??