New to photography. Bought an arsenal because I thought I needed the help..... It crashed so much I was forced to learn how to take photos the right way. Thanks arsenal.
arsenal taught me how to take proper photos too. I sold it and invested in a course doing most of the things. Though I already knew the basic principles, I was too lazy.
Honestly, I never laughed so hard on a tech review than on yours of the Arsenal 2. When I watched the commercial for the device I was like "wow that's cool", but the I thought when it is that good, all landscape photographers out there are out of a job :) so there might be a catch to it, and I was right. I really enjoyed your no bullshit attitude, while most reviewers are tip toing around not to say too much bad stuff that might scare other potential sponsors away. So, I hope you are getting a hell of lot more subscribers, I for my part am in for the journey.
Word for word, that is my opinion as well. The Arsenal video sounded amazing. Then I watched this video. I was laughing out loud; it was very entertaining. At the same time, you provided real information. You gave kudos where deserved (as limited as they were), which only enhanced the authenticity of your criticisms. I am definitely subscribing and am looking forward to watching all the videos I've missed. I never even knew about this channel.
First, you made me laugh, and for that I thank you. Second, absolutely love a reviewer that is willing to offer the unvarnished truth. Third, I’m genuinely rooting for them. I wish it was a better product. There is a need for the level of computational photography that we enjoy on our phones to make it to the world of digital cameras.
I get your point, but it then takes a way from the reason you get an actual camera, and that's to actually work on taking a pic, not letting AI do it for you.
I 100% agree with this. HOWEVER, fuck Arsenal. Arsenal 1 worked 6% of the time. Arsenal 2 is almost identical. so much infact that i'm considering cracking both open and seeing if they just used a firmware update to justify the the "2". Such a fucking scam.
I had the Arsenal 2 Pro in my cart along with a few accessories. Before finalizing my purchase I decided to checkout some reviews. After reviewing your video and others, I’ve decided to empty my cart. Thank you!!
I love your style! Back in 2018, when I was returning to photography after a 25-year absence, I bought the first Arsenal, hoping it would help me do some of the creative photos I saw online. I found it a piece of crap and it ended up gathering dust. I think I threw it away, eventually. I see nothing has improved since then.
Man, i wish i found your review before i bought it months ago 😅 I have alot of the same feelings about it, but you put it much better than I ever could. Thanks for the hilarious but point on review!
I had the Arsenal 2 loaded up in my shopping cart but wanted to think about dropping $300 on it. Decided against it and then stumbled across your review. Confirms I made the right choice. Thanks for your honest opinion.
Thanks for your hilarious reviews Andy. I was one of the mugs that bought Arse 1, after a few times using it, it went in the bin. I was wondering what Arse 2 would be like, and my questions have been answered 😂
Saw an ad for this device on instagram, promptly went to youtube and you sir, within 2 minutes convinced me to stay away. Had to stick around for the remaining 16 minutes just because.
Thank you for this! I've been getting bombarded by ads for this device, and was seriously curious about it (despite not considering myself a "beginner" photographer). Now I know to stay as far away as possible from this technological train wreck. You've earned yourself a like and a new subscriber!
This was a thoroughly brilliant review - I loved the humour and honesty. I was literally about to purchase one but decided I better look at a few reviews. And so glad I did. Saved me hard earned money. Thanks
I love your reviews! Very entertaining, as well as informative! I'm glad i read your review, because I was very intrigued by their claims. I won't be wasting my money now, thanks to you. Have a great week!
I was seriously looking into the Arsenal 2, based on their sales pitch. I'm SO glad I went looking for reviews, and yours was by far the best (and most entertaining!). Thank you for saving me good chunk of money and reminding me to just get to know my camera better (Sony A1) and stop looking for shortcuts!
Thank you so much! I was seriously considering buying this product for my wife who loves photography inversely proportionate to the amount of time she invests learning how to use her equipment. I thought this would be a way to help her actually start taking the types of photos she desires, . Your explanations were colorful, and reminded me of my late beloved grandfather. Your recommendations at the end of the video was the Pinesol to disinfect the mess made by the Arsenal product. I found that just as useful and helpful as your well done product review.
Thank you so much for this review. The company has been marketing this thing to me so very much it was driving me crazy. I’ve been taking photos for 20 years, I was just hoping for something to improve my speed on bracketing panoramic, and settings in Timelapse, but after your review I am completely convinced to save my money. 😁 thanks for saving me 300, plus shipping!
Thanks for this review and saving potential headaches if I had purchased this. I love the concept of the Arsenal, so can someone recommend a similar product? I love photography, but have such a crazy life that a product like the Arsenal 2 could really be a huge help for me. Any recommendations? Thanks! :)
I'm still in my 90 day window... And haven't gotten passed initial power on. Because I saw your first and now your second video. Thank you for saving me time, and getting the return setup asap.
Literally sore this advertised on Facebook this morning thought what the hell is that. The marketing to it is very good. If it had been £50 quid, I may have been tempted. A quick search of RUclips and you popped up. A huge thank you to stop me wasting my money, also a new subscriber as I like honest reviews and no BS. 🥳🥳🥳🤩🤩🤩
THANKYOU!!!! I have looked at it multiple times, even put it "in the cart" a few times! But something held me off. So I decided to look on good ol' RUclips to see if there were any actual videos on it. Found your first video, watched it, and then watched the others... decided it's not for me. Plus, it's certainly not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to analyse the scene and tell me what settings I should use, in other words, I would be the one moving the dials! Not the little piece of plastic sitting on top of the camera! Thankyou... You've saved me a huge wad of cash! *Remove from cart*
Love the review. Sadly, you confirmed my suspicions about this device. I could never get a straight answer and thought something was off. You confirmed it. Cheers, and thanks again.
I purchased the Arsenal 1 and then the Arsenal 2 a year later or so when ever it was released. I did not get to use the Arsenal much due to having some camera issues and chalked up some of the issues I was having to the camera issues I was having. The Arsenal 2 came out and all the great features that they were talking about I thought I have a new camera and at this time I had been taking photos for a while watching videos and learning to use the camera more. I like so many are waiting for the features to work or even be added. I have not used the junk since the first month I got it. Great to find your channel and hear the stories you had not only made me laugh but also helped me realize that I was not doing something wrong when I was getting the same results you were getting with it. I just happened to be updating my firmware today for a trip and thought I would see what the word is on it. Apparently not worth my time to update the firmware on it.
Thanks. They have apparently added the long-awaited pano mode to the Arsenal finally. With that in mind I am planning one final review of the device. Based on my initial tests - nothing much has changed!
@@Andyhutchinson I did notice that last night after doing a firmware update on my Arsenal that the Pano was there. I have not had a chance to look at it much but looking forward to your review on the newest update to see if anything has changed. I will hopefully get some time this weekend to go out and see what it can do.
So I was just about to push the button and buy the Arsenal 2 pro. Looked up for reviews on RUclips. I haven’t laughed so much on a review for a while. Guess what, I didn’t buy it but subscribed to your channel.
Just got mine Friday so far I am having the same results you are. I am a product photographer so I am going to try focus stacking later today. I use helicon focus, in studio and I think I will be using helicon after my experiments this afternoon
If you have a head on your shoulders you will always look for reviews and trustpilot comments before spending on gadgets. That is what I did with Arsenal and after your first review, I waited for the second. I now won't touch it with a barge pole. It's a shame because if it would do what the advertising video said it would, it could be quite handy. Continue to tell it like it is Andy, it's so refreshing and bloody funny! Good job!
Thanks so much Andy, you have just saved me many $$$$$. Loved your presentation 🙂 And your are 100% correct if it seems to good to be true it probably is Thanks again Cheers
THank you Sir, was loooking at the Arsenal one, and decided to wait, then seeing the Arsenal two . I was now considering to spend the money on this item. But your review here was very informative to hold on to my money .........
I truly wish that I would’ve watched your video prior to me hitting the purchase button to the arsenal pro 2. I truly hate the fact now that I have a sinking feeling on purchasing this.
The most amusing ang brutally honest review. Got this device 2 months after i purchased it. Nearly 3 months after using the device, it burned 30k shuttercounts off my camera when it was at 4k when I got it. It just didn't live up to expectations and the promises were all marketing stuff. The good thing is I leared how to use my camera out of frustration and got my money back. I won't be surprised if they shipped it to another KS supporter or customer.
Brilliant review . . i somewhat know what im doing but thought this would be a nifty toy to add to the gear bag, i am glad i saw your review and saved myself some dollars, thank you.
I like your brutal honesty. Saw your first video after ordering one (aggressive FB advertising has worked for Arsenal). I was seriously considering returning unopened at the time, but I gave it a shot, after all, there are 90 days to decide. I was very disappointed with crashes and hangs, and bad results. Couldn't get long exposures (waterfalls with high dynamic range) to work, timelapses are so spotty, etc. What I don't think you touched upon and really annoyed me was that the timelapse produced is 1500x1000 pixels (not full resolution). I was shocked they don't really acknowledge that in any of the promotional material - that their timelapse cuts the resolution significantly. I would want at least 4K, if not full resolution. So if you want full resolution, you need to actually process all the images again. The key issue, of course, is that almost nothing works, works reliably, and it crashes often. This ruins the experience when you actually have set up everything right - framing, focus, etc. Btw, night assist works only on very fast lenses, so not for most lenses people would actually have. Recently, I gave it another shot... I started this video with Arsenal 2 under Bortle 3 skies just after sunset, before dark. Wanted a soft transition holy grail - still difficult to achieve those on an intervalometer. The first part of this video was Arsenal until it crashed and stopped, so I plugged in a $9 intervalometer and continued into the night scene... unfortunately, left it alone and didn't realize the first part probably finished the backup batteries faster than I had planned... ruclips.net/video/4n2JSta8vwU/видео.html (this video was not produced by Arsenal 2 - that didn't work at all - I just took the raw frames and reprocessed into the timelapse with photoshop).
Thanks Tal. There isn't a single shot or timelapse I shot with Arsenal 2 that I didn't have to manually process from the original images. So many people have reported having exactly the same issues as you and me that there is no doubt whatsoever any more about just how shit Arsenal 2 Pro is.
@@Andyhutchinson Btw, yesterday I did create a timelapse (fairly successfully) powered by Arsenal 2 alone. I decided to try things out on a much less challenging obstacle course. So no real day-to-night or night-today, but just clouds (that occasionally darken the scene). 10sec interval, I did use "Holy Grail" with very sensible boundaries, to avoid it going all over the board. And although Arsenal 2 did fiddle around with the aperture and time of each exposure fairly frequently even going back & forth. However the result is 'pleasing'. Would my Canon EOS R7 timelapse produce a better 4K video? probably. But this could be a second rig... Here's the result of that.... ruclips.net/video/GVbPuAw4SKs/видео.html Not throwing away the Arsenal 2 just yet (still in the 90-day return period). If it can do some flexible exposure timelapse, maybe it's not all bad...
Wish I’d seen this video a long time ago. The only thing that it has really been good for is to act as an intervalometer since my Nikon d3400 apparently doesn’t support any that I can find. The pano mode was the other reason I had purchased it and it is a pain to use. I use my iPhone 13 or take pictures and stitch them together later. I pulled it out the other day to see if it worked any better hoping a good update had come along. Nope. Save your money and get a camera and or software that will do what you need.
Thank you. I was considering the Arse nal and I’m glad I found this. I posted in my photography group if they had come across it in their FB feed and one person posted this review. Love it. Even my partner was entertained listening to it in the background. I will save my bucks as I will not be getting any bang for my buck if I buy it. That was impressive though to get f25 out of a lens that didn’t have that capability. Whoo
Funnily enough I bookmarked that just the other day when it came up on FB. Looks like an interesting bit of kit - and if I wasn't haemorrhaging money due to a home renovation, I'd have already bought one! ;)
Very new to manual camera photography. I literally had this product in my cart with the accessories when I thought to myself “hmm I shld check some reviews first”. Thats when I came across your video. Needless to say, I emptied my cart.
@❤I live n h US …northeast in a town named Hebron, Ct … I am semi handicapped due t a stroke. I miss the. ambulatory part of photography but he’s I love your take on the field….keep it up!
Great hilarious honest review. I just received my Arsenal 2 over the weekend. I didn’t need the help, but I was hoping this would shave time off in some areas of shooting. I am supremely disappointed with the device especially for the price point. Your final recommendation to do anything with the money that would be spent for it to be used elsewhere to improve photos is 100% correct. I should’ve invested in another lens. I thought I was leaning in on AI to reap the benefits but I got Got. Lesson learned.
Hmmmm, not fair in the focus stacking with movement. I have the same issue with the built in focus stacking on the Canon R5. Any amount of movement during the capture ends up as ghosts in DPP afterwards
The best and most honest gear review ever. I find so many reviews are hard to trust because people are being paid to give bullshit reviews, or at least getting free gear in exchange for nothing but a stellar pile of dog doo doo.
That decal on your Mac cracked me up!!!! I had an idea the product was crap from the claim it was AI that had been created before 2021. Creating images from text is difficult but capturing images through a camera is unique. Wouldn't it have to learn from millions of images? Setting up your camera is a personal choice and I am having a difficult time wondering how it would determine what is optimal? GREAT FREAKING VIDEO! Really made me LAUGH OUT LOUD!
I just ordered the Arsenal 2 today. 😒 What is the 2 Pro? I don't see that on their website. Anyway they state a 90 day return policy, so I guess I'll give it a go.
Crowd control was the reason I started looking into this thing. Nothing I can't do on my own by manually using the same method, but I thought, well, if it can save me time and has a bunch of other cool stuff... maybe? But your review confirmed my suspicions; infant AI making guesses at random photo scenarios just seemed like a bit of a stretch. Thanks for the honest review!
I bought one. I shouldn't have bothered. Took an age to get here, was charged the $ price in £ and it turns out to be a piece of junk. Save your money. It really doesn't do anything very well at all that you can't very easily work out how to do without it. Clever marketing. I'll grant them that. That's about all.
I rarely return products, but this one I did. The price is little to much to just keep it on the shelf. And I am glad I did return it... Kudos to Arsenal for smooth return though.
Hi, why didn’t I find your review a few weeks earlier? I know photography and give classes about many of the subjects. Tonight i tried to do a night sky shot. I played around for a long time. Didn’t work. Last night stacking didn’t work. For those two I bought it with the hope to be a little bit faster. Why does the Arsenal choose ISO 3200 during late afternoon??? Oh well. Lesson learned. I don’t even want to sell it on ebay. It would feel like stealing money from the buyer.
I am SO glad I found your video as I was about to purchase this, but I was hesitant. I have adhd and struggle with making quick executive decisions 😅 so I thought this would be a perfect item for me but after watching this I’m definitely not ordering it. Do you have a specific photoshop program that you prefer? I was going to purchase Adobe Elements 2023.
As one ADHDer to another - I fully understand! Elements is a great application which hides a lot of the complexity and jargon. I use a whole range of apps but the one I open most often for quick edits is Luminar Neo :)
Thank you for this review. You saved me countless hours of playing with the device to try to make it work, and saved me hundreds by convincing me not to even buy one.
I just saw their FB ad. Thank you very much for the honest review. I already guessed it's not as great as advertised, but for gen 2 it's shockingly bad. My opinion: If you already got yourself a good camera, learn how to use it and get a decent editor. It's so rewarding
Hi Andy, I had this device in the basket ready to order and I thought I'd better check out some reviews. Had no idea it was so far behind what is promised in their promo! I wrote to them and asked them what they are doing to address these issues and to let you know when they've fixed them. This was the reply: Hi Mike, Thanks for your interest! We have made many improvements to Arsenal 2 since the launch, and have reached out to that reviewer to offer assistance. You can see we have solid ratings in app stores and many customers happily using the device. We also have 90-day return policy if you want to give it a try. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help! Kind regards, Carol That response isn't really enough to convince me to return the basket and press 'buy now'
I've thought, since I first saw their hype, why would anyone put this on a camera that will already do all this stuff. As you point out, if you don't or can't take the time to learn photography, then get a good phone camera. Your review is refreshing in that you are not afraid to call a spade a piece of shite! Well done thanks!
I really wanted to like this Arsenal 2 device and have looked up a few videos but it seems that it definitely under delivers. Hard to make an AI think completely like a human to take the shot you want and how you want it.
Mate, what a legendary bit of video!! Dryer than a dehydrated Weet Bix and full of actual honest information. :) I had seen adverts for this thing a long time ago and the latest one shows it perched on top of a Nikon Z series camera (have just bought a Z6) so was intrigued to see how it could help me. The answer is of course it can't!! My skills are reasonable with about 40 years of taking photos just for my pleasure, with the occasional paid job. The Z6 has made a huge difference to how I approach a shot and getting more proficient with Lightroom, completes the creative possibilities. So I shall be looking out for more of your delightful insights and will resort to improving my own skills to produce the results I'm after. Cheers heaps, Pete
How does it do with family pictures? My kids running pictures of my wife things like that. I don't care about landscapes and things of that nature. I just want better family photos. Is this something I should purchase?
Thank you Andy for this real good and wise review. I love your Jeremy Clarkson’s type of humour, and you make me save 250$ and a lot of disappointments as I thought crowd control was a gain of time… Long life to you and your sense of humour 😂✊
Wanted to retry my Arsenal 2 after having had it garhering dust, unused, for the last 8 months. Just found your review now, am loving it, laughing my ass off - and guess Arse 2 will go back in the shelf instead of with me on my vacation 😂 Thanks for the great video!
I was just at the stage of putting my Paypal details into their site, then thought I'll see if there's any reviews on the youtubes....so glad I did after laughing for a good 10 minutes you convinced me not to. Great video and brilliantly put together...thanks a lot!
Thanks for your funny and candid review. All the Facebook reviews are only positive ones which mde me question and go searching for reviews outside that platform. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I'm glad I found your review and have moved on. Thanks again.
I took mine to the Lake District and it failed to take one single good photo. Lake District is so stunning it’s very easy to take a great photo. Obviously I did a better job using my knowledge. I’m never buying anything on kickstarter again after 4 campaigns, only 1 was great (that was a book)
@@Andyhutchinson what puzzles me, when the first one was such an enormous success, why did they have to go on kickstartet again for V.2? Looks like they, like a lot if Kickstarters are pushing the risk of failure on to the customers.
Andy, Thank you for your uncensored review. I was also about to buy the Arsenal 2 but thought I'd check out a review. Excellent review = Big savings...What is the specter app you mentioned? I dont think I have the spelling correct on it.
Was curious if this was just good marketing and a sexy design or if it was a good product after being bombarded by ads for it. Thanks for clearing it up for me.
New to photography. Bought an arsenal because I thought I needed the help..... It crashed so much I was forced to learn how to take photos the right way. Thanks arsenal.
Yea, the crashing is not great, but at least you got a good outcome in the end! :)
😂😂😂
See, Arsenal is really useful. You learned how to use your camera.😂
@@rexonpadre4653😂😂😂
arsenal taught me how to take proper photos too. I sold it and invested in a course doing most of the things. Though I already knew the basic principles, I was too lazy.
Dude, you are hilarious. I was investigating this device to determine if Arsenal 2 Pro was worth it. Thanks for saving me 300 bucks!
No problem 👍
Great review, you're so funny too!
Honestly, I never laughed so hard on a tech review than on yours of the Arsenal 2. When I watched the commercial for the device I was like "wow that's cool", but the I thought when it is that good, all landscape photographers out there are out of a job :) so there might be a catch to it, and I was right.
I really enjoyed your no bullshit attitude, while most reviewers are tip toing around not to say too much bad stuff that might scare other potential sponsors away. So, I hope you are getting a hell of lot more subscribers, I for my part am in for the journey.
Thanks Armin - I don't see the point in wasting anyone's time with a load of caveats ;)
Word for word, that is my opinion as well. The Arsenal video sounded amazing. Then I watched this video. I was laughing out loud; it was very entertaining. At the same time, you provided real information. You gave kudos where deserved (as limited as they were), which only enhanced the authenticity of your criticisms. I am definitely subscribing and am looking forward to watching all the videos I've missed. I never even knew about this channel.
it is brilliant, had a great laugh.
So glad I came across your review! You’ve saved me some money, as I was close to purchasing it! Many thanks!
Glad I could help!
I’m the same. I was one step away from buying this and I decided to check for RUclips reviews!!! Thank you 😊
First, you made me laugh, and for that I thank you.
Second, absolutely love a reviewer that is willing to offer the unvarnished truth.
Third, I’m genuinely rooting for them. I wish it was a better product. There is a need for the level of computational photography that we enjoy on our phones to make it to the world of digital cameras.
Thanks Dan. Yea, I would definitely prefer that it worked because it cost me $250. Maybe one day they'll get there! :)
I get your point, but it then takes a way from the reason you get an actual camera, and that's to actually work on taking a pic, not letting AI do it for you.
I 100% agree with this. HOWEVER, fuck Arsenal. Arsenal 1 worked 6% of the time. Arsenal 2 is almost identical. so much infact that i'm considering cracking both open and seeing if they just used a firmware update to justify the the "2". Such a fucking scam.
I had the Arsenal 2 Pro in my cart along with a few accessories. Before finalizing my purchase I decided to checkout some reviews. After reviewing your video and others, I’ve decided to empty my cart. Thank you!!
Happy to save you some money. :)
I love your style! Back in 2018, when I was returning to photography after a 25-year absence, I bought the first Arsenal, hoping it would help me do some of the creative photos I saw online. I found it a piece of crap and it ended up gathering dust. I think I threw it away, eventually. I see nothing has improved since then.
No Jack it's every bit as bad as it ever was. :)
Man, i wish i found your review before i bought it months ago 😅 I have alot of the same feelings about it, but you put it much better than I ever could. Thanks for the hilarious but point on review!
Cheers - appreciate it :)
I had the Arsenal 2 loaded up in my shopping cart but wanted to think about dropping $300 on it. Decided against it and then stumbled across your review. Confirms I made the right choice. Thanks for your honest opinion.
Glad you found it helpful.
I have it in the shoppingcart, ready to order, but 30 dollar shipping made me reconsider and watch reviews. Saved 340 bucks :)
Such a refreshing review - glad I looked up Arsenal reviews!
Cheers - appreciate it!
Thanks for your hilarious reviews Andy. I was one of the mugs that bought Arse 1, after a few times using it, it went in the bin. I was wondering what Arse 2 would be like, and my questions have been answered 😂
No worries - glad to be of service! :)
You saved my money and quenched my thirst for knowledge about this product.
Thanks for your service, sir.
No worries :)
Saw an ad for this device on instagram, promptly went to youtube and you sir, within 2 minutes convinced me to stay away. Had to stick around for the remaining 16 minutes just because.
Glad it was helpful :)
I just found you and I enjoyed you thoroughly. Finally somebody with a sense of honesty, sarcasm, and knowledge enough to know when something is crap.
Thank-you kindly :)
Thank you for this! I've been getting bombarded by ads for this device, and was seriously curious about it (despite not considering myself a "beginner" photographer). Now I know to stay as far away as possible from this technological train wreck. You've earned yourself a like and a new subscriber!
Cheers Jerry - appreciate it :)
Out of frustration on Arsenal will "FORCE" you to learn photography.
So, I was served by an instagram ad for this gizmo and was this close to buying it before watching your video. Thank you kind sir.
Glad it was helpful!
Ditto
Same here I was about to buy Arsenal 2 pro and you saved me Andy, thank you!
This was a thoroughly brilliant review - I loved the humour and honesty. I was literally about to purchase one but decided I better look at a few reviews. And so glad I did. Saved me hard earned money. Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
Trying to find a video on this that wasn't a total fluff piece was a struggle, so good job.
No worries :)
I love your reviews! Very entertaining, as well as informative! I'm glad i read your review, because I was very intrigued by their claims. I won't be wasting my money now, thanks to you. Have a great week!
Thank-you. :)
Thank you for your honest review, saved me some money. To say thank you liked and subbed.
Thanks and welcome :)
I was seriously looking into the Arsenal 2, based on their sales pitch. I'm SO glad I went looking for reviews, and yours was by far the best (and most entertaining!). Thank you for saving me good chunk of money and reminding me to just get to know my camera better (Sony A1) and stop looking for shortcuts!
Glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful!
Thank you so much! I was seriously considering buying this product for my wife who loves photography inversely proportionate to the amount of time she invests learning how to use her equipment. I thought this would be a way to help her actually start taking the types of photos she desires, . Your explanations were colorful, and reminded me of my late beloved grandfather.
Your recommendations at the end of the video was the Pinesol to disinfect the mess made by the Arsenal product. I found that just as useful and helpful as your well done product review.
Thank-you kindly. It's definitely not going to help improve anyone's photography - quite the opposite in fact. :)
Thank you so much for this review. The company has been marketing this thing to me so very much it was driving me crazy. I’ve been taking photos for 20 years, I was just hoping for something to improve my speed on bracketing panoramic, and settings in Timelapse, but after your review I am completely convinced to save my money. 😁 thanks for saving me 300, plus shipping!
No worries - you're definitely better off without it. :)
New to photography, had it in my cart to add to my canon 90d.... Had a quick look for reviews. Many thanks sir.. glad I found your channel also
Glad I could help!
You sir, are an absolute legend. Best and most honest review I've ever seen!
Thanks Paul :)
Thanks for this review and saving potential headaches if I had purchased this. I love the concept of the Arsenal, so can someone recommend a similar product? I love photography, but have such a crazy life that a product like the Arsenal 2 could really be a huge help for me. Any recommendations? Thanks! :)
Unfortunately there isn't anything comparable to the feature-list on this - just specific devices
Having spat tea over my keyboard, and PMSL I have to say not only is your review honest and informative, but bloody funny too. Thank you.
lol - no worries - thanks Wayne :)
Not that funny. Cool it, coolio
I'm still in my 90 day window... And haven't gotten passed initial power on. Because I saw your first and now your second video. Thank you for saving me time, and getting the return setup asap.
No worries. :)
I've subscribed to your channel on the strength of this video. Thanks for the incredibly honest and refreshing review!
Thanks - and welcome. :)
I was on the verge of purchasing this device. But thanks to your straightforward and honest review. I’m saving my $300 for something useful.
Best
Review
Evurrrr
I recon you just saved me some coin
Cheers Davy - appreciate it :)
Literally sore this advertised on Facebook this morning thought what the hell is that. The marketing to it is very good. If it had been £50 quid, I may have been tempted. A quick search of RUclips and you popped up. A huge thank you to stop me wasting my money, also a new subscriber as I like honest reviews and no BS. 🥳🥳🥳🤩🤩🤩
Thank-you kindly - and welcome :)
THANKYOU!!!! I have looked at it multiple times, even put it "in the cart" a few times! But something held me off. So I decided to look on good ol' RUclips to see if there were any actual videos on it. Found your first video, watched it, and then watched the others... decided it's not for me. Plus, it's certainly not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to analyse the scene and tell me what settings I should use, in other words, I would be the one moving the dials! Not the little piece of plastic sitting on top of the camera!
Thankyou... You've saved me a huge wad of cash! *Remove from cart*
No worries Gayle - you definitely dodged a bullet there. :)
Love the review. Sadly, you confirmed my suspicions about this device. I could never get a straight answer and thought something was off. You confirmed it. Cheers, and thanks again.
No worries - glad I can help :)
I purchased the Arsenal 1 and then the Arsenal 2 a year later or so when ever it was released. I did not get to use the Arsenal much due to having some camera issues and chalked up some of the issues I was having to the camera issues I was having. The Arsenal 2 came out and all the great features that they were talking about I thought I have a new camera and at this time I had been taking photos for a while watching videos and learning to use the camera more. I like so many are waiting for the features to work or even be added. I have not used the junk since the first month I got it. Great to find your channel and hear the stories you had not only made me laugh but also helped me realize that I was not doing something wrong when I was getting the same results you were getting with it. I just happened to be updating my firmware today for a trip and thought I would see what the word is on it. Apparently not worth my time to update the firmware on it.
Thanks. They have apparently added the long-awaited pano mode to the Arsenal finally. With that in mind I am planning one final review of the device. Based on my initial tests - nothing much has changed!
@@Andyhutchinson I did notice that last night after doing a firmware update on my Arsenal that the Pano was there. I have not had a chance to look at it much but looking forward to your review on the newest update to see if anything has changed. I will hopefully get some time this weekend to go out and see what it can do.
So I was just about to push the button and buy the Arsenal 2 pro. Looked up for reviews on RUclips. I haven’t laughed so much on a review for a while. Guess what, I didn’t buy it but subscribed to your channel.
Glad I could help :)
Thank you for saving me money and for the laughs. Awesome review!
Glad you enjoyed!
Just got mine Friday so far I am having the same results you are. I am a product photographer so I am going to try focus stacking later today. I use helicon focus, in studio and I think I will be using helicon after my experiments this afternoon
The stacking's bewilderingly vague isn't it.
Saved me $300 and entertained me at the same time. Love your wit.
Thank-you kindly :)
Brand new to photography, just bought a Z5 and really considered the Arsenal. Thank God I found this review first 🤣
Thank you sir!
No worries. Enjoy your Z5 - great camera so I hear and I'm sure you'll enjoy many awesome adventures with it :)
If you have a head on your shoulders you will always look for reviews and trustpilot comments before spending on gadgets. That is what I did with Arsenal and after your first review, I waited for the second. I now won't touch it with a barge pole. It's a shame because if it would do what the advertising video said it would, it could be quite handy. Continue to tell it like it is Andy, it's so refreshing and bloody funny! Good job!
Cheers John - I appreciate it - hope you get something slightly more useful instead :)
Thanks so much Andy, you have just saved me many $$$$$. Loved your presentation 🙂 And your are 100% correct if it seems to good to be true it probably is Thanks again Cheers
You are very welcome
THank you Sir, was loooking at the Arsenal one, and decided to wait, then seeing the Arsenal two . I was now considering to spend the money on this item. But your review here was very informative to hold on to my money .........
Glad I could help
I truly wish that I would’ve watched your video prior to me hitting the purchase button to the arsenal pro 2. I truly hate the fact now that I have a sinking feeling on purchasing this.
From what I've heard there's a big gap between order and arrival so you could cancel.
The most amusing ang brutally honest review. Got this device 2 months after i purchased it. Nearly 3 months after using the device, it burned 30k shuttercounts off my camera when it was at 4k when I got it. It just didn't live up to expectations and the promises were all marketing stuff. The good thing is I leared how to use my camera out of frustration and got my money back. I won't be surprised if they shipped it to another KS supporter or customer.
I'm glad you got your money back and can put it to good use :)
I ordered one last night and I’m canceling today. Thanks for the review no BS review!
Glad I could help
Loved this honest review. Subscribed
Appreciate it - thank-you :)
Had my answer :53 in but stayed for the whole vid. Thank you sir. Subbed!❤
Thank-you and welcome :)
I also use my pluto for remote trigger - when the battery doesn't fail.
I've got one of those. I've used it once, so far. :)
“Absolutely fucking not”. Earned the sub there.
lol - thanks mate :)
I had to sub after the first minute, this man is what reviews should be!!!!
Thanks mate - hope you enjoy future content :)
Brilliant review . . i somewhat know what im doing but thought this would be a nifty toy to add to the gear bag, i am glad i saw your review and saved myself some dollars, thank you.
Glad I could help
I like your brutal honesty. Saw your first video after ordering one (aggressive FB advertising has worked for Arsenal). I was seriously considering returning unopened at the time, but I gave it a shot, after all, there are 90 days to decide. I was very disappointed with crashes and hangs, and bad results. Couldn't get long exposures (waterfalls with high dynamic range) to work, timelapses are so spotty, etc. What I don't think you touched upon and really annoyed me was that the timelapse produced is 1500x1000 pixels (not full resolution). I was shocked they don't really acknowledge that in any of the promotional material - that their timelapse cuts the resolution significantly. I would want at least 4K, if not full resolution. So if you want full resolution, you need to actually process all the images again. The key issue, of course, is that almost nothing works, works reliably, and it crashes often. This ruins the experience when you actually have set up everything right - framing, focus, etc. Btw, night assist works only on very fast lenses, so not for most lenses people would actually have. Recently, I gave it another shot... I started this video with Arsenal 2 under Bortle 3 skies just after sunset, before dark. Wanted a soft transition holy grail - still difficult to achieve those on an intervalometer. The first part of this video was Arsenal until it crashed and stopped, so I plugged in a $9 intervalometer and continued into the night scene... unfortunately, left it alone and didn't realize the first part probably finished the backup batteries faster than I had planned... ruclips.net/video/4n2JSta8vwU/видео.html (this video was not produced by Arsenal 2 - that didn't work at all - I just took the raw frames and reprocessed into the timelapse with photoshop).
Thanks Tal. There isn't a single shot or timelapse I shot with Arsenal 2 that I didn't have to manually process from the original images. So many people have reported having exactly the same issues as you and me that there is no doubt whatsoever any more about just how shit Arsenal 2 Pro is.
@@Andyhutchinson Btw, yesterday I did create a timelapse (fairly successfully) powered by Arsenal 2 alone. I decided to try things out on a much less challenging obstacle course. So no real day-to-night or night-today, but just clouds (that occasionally darken the scene). 10sec interval, I did use "Holy Grail" with very sensible boundaries, to avoid it going all over the board. And although Arsenal 2 did fiddle around with the aperture and time of each exposure fairly frequently even going back & forth. However the result is 'pleasing'. Would my Canon EOS R7 timelapse produce a better 4K video? probably. But this could be a second rig... Here's the result of that.... ruclips.net/video/GVbPuAw4SKs/видео.html
Not throwing away the Arsenal 2 just yet (still in the 90-day return period). If it can do some flexible exposure timelapse, maybe it's not all bad...
Wish I’d seen this video a long time ago. The only thing that it has really been good for is to act as an intervalometer since my Nikon d3400 apparently doesn’t support any that I can find.
The pano mode was the other reason I had purchased it and it is a pain to use. I use my iPhone 13 or take pictures and stitch them together later.
I pulled it out the other day to see if it worked any better hoping a good update had come along. Nope.
Save your money and get a camera and or software that will do what you need.
Yep. Sad but true. :)
Thank you. I was bombarded with ads about this product. Enjoyed the video, made me laugh a lot.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you. I was considering the Arse nal and I’m glad I found this. I posted in my photography group if they had come across it in their FB feed and one person posted this review. Love it. Even my partner was entertained listening to it in the background. I will save my bucks as I will not be getting any bang for my buck if I buy it. That was impressive though to get f25 out of a lens that didn’t have that capability. Whoo
Glad it helped Danielle - you definitely don't want this device!
Have you tested a Nomad star tracker from MSM? I like your candid clarity. 👍😎🇳🇿
Funnily enough I bookmarked that just the other day when it came up on FB. Looks like an interesting bit of kit - and if I wasn't haemorrhaging money due to a home renovation, I'd have already bought one! ;)
Just stumbled upon your videos. Absolutely love your candor. Subscribed. :)
Thanks - and welcome :)
Very new to manual camera photography. I literally had this product in my cart with the accessories when I thought to myself “hmm I shld check some reviews first”. Thats when I came across your video. Needless to say, I emptied my cart.
Glad it was helpful!
@❤I live n h US …northeast in a town named Hebron, Ct … I am semi handicapped due t a stroke. I miss the.
ambulatory part of photography but he’s I love your take on the field….keep it up!
Thanking you kindly and welcome :)
Great hilarious honest review. I just received my Arsenal 2 over the weekend. I didn’t need the help, but I was hoping this would shave time off in some areas of shooting. I am supremely disappointed with the device especially for the price point. Your final recommendation to do anything with the money that would be spent for it to be used elsewhere to improve photos is 100% correct. I should’ve invested in another lens. I thought I was leaning in on AI to reap the benefits but I got Got. Lesson learned.
If it’s any consolation, you are far from alone in being disappointed with this awful product.
I thoroughly enjoyed your straightforward review. Too bad that I already bought one. No regrets; everything is a learning experience.
lol - yea well I paid my own money for it too - so I guess we're in the same boat :)
To be fair. You can’t “stack” moving subjects!
Hmmmm, not fair in the focus stacking with movement. I have the same issue with the built in focus stacking on the Canon R5. Any amount of movement during the capture ends up as ghosts in DPP afterwards
Yea, it's not the thing's strongest mode.
The best and most honest gear review ever. I find so many reviews are hard to trust because people are being paid to give bullshit reviews, or at least getting free gear in exchange for nothing but a stellar pile of dog doo doo.
Cheers :)
Anytime I see something advertised in Facebook that I would be remotely interested in, I look for reviews like this. Nice.
Thanks Andy. Crazy good review. Keep it real my friend...the world needs more honest people. BTW: you're funny as hell too (Bonus)!
Thanks mate :)
That decal on your Mac cracked me up!!!! I had an idea the product was crap from the claim it was AI that had been created before 2021. Creating images from text is difficult but capturing images through a camera is unique. Wouldn't it have to learn from millions of images? Setting up your camera is a personal choice and I am having a difficult time wondering how it would determine what is optimal? GREAT FREAKING VIDEO! Really made me LAUGH OUT LOUD!
Thanks mate - appreciate it - and yes, the A.I. claims is sketchy at best!
I just ordered the Arsenal 2 today. 😒 What is the 2 Pro? I don't see that on their website. Anyway they state a 90 day return policy, so I guess I'll give it a go.
It was the name of it when it was on Kickstarter - just meant you got a cable and an iPhone holder.
Crowd control was the reason I started looking into this thing.
Nothing I can't do on my own by manually using the same method, but I thought, well, if it can save me time and has a bunch of other cool stuff... maybe?
But your review confirmed my suspicions; infant AI making guesses at random photo scenarios just seemed like a bit of a stretch.
Thanks for the honest review!
Yea, you can do far better simply using a Timelapse sequence and the Median tool in Photoshop.
I bought one. I shouldn't have bothered. Took an age to get here, was charged the $ price in £ and it turns out to be a piece of junk. Save your money. It really doesn't do anything very well at all that you can't very easily work out how to do without it. Clever marketing. I'll grant them that. That's about all.
Yep - useless, crappy, awful device.
I rarely return products, but this one I did. The price is little to much to just keep it on the shelf. And I am glad I did return it... Kudos to Arsenal for smooth return though.
Yea, I suspect they've had a lot of experience in the old returns department! :)
first video i watch from this channel, intro alone made me subscribe
Thank-you kindly :)
The most honest review of photography equipment ever. Deserve like and subs haha
Hi, why didn’t I find your review a few weeks earlier? I know photography and give classes about many of the subjects.
Tonight i tried to do a night sky shot. I played around for a long time. Didn’t work.
Last night stacking didn’t work.
For those two I bought it with the hope to be a little bit faster.
Why does the Arsenal choose ISO 3200 during late afternoon???
Oh well. Lesson learned.
I don’t even want to sell it on ebay. It would feel like stealing money from the buyer.
lol - yes the resale value depends entirely on how you handle your conscience!
I am SO glad I found your video as I was about to purchase this, but I was hesitant. I have adhd and struggle with making quick executive decisions 😅 so I thought this would be a perfect item for me but after watching this I’m definitely not ordering it. Do you have a specific photoshop program that you prefer? I was going to purchase Adobe Elements 2023.
As one ADHDer to another - I fully understand! Elements is a great application which hides a lot of the complexity and jargon. I use a whole range of apps but the one I open most often for quick edits is Luminar Neo :)
Thank you for this review. You saved me countless hours of playing with the device to try to make it work, and saved me hundreds by convincing me not to even buy one.
No worries - happy to help.
@@Andyhutchinson You don't happen to know of something like this product, but actually works do you?
I just saw their FB ad. Thank you very much for the honest review. I already guessed it's not as great as advertised, but for gen 2 it's shockingly bad.
My opinion: If you already got yourself a good camera, learn how to use it and get a decent editor. It's so rewarding
Absolutely - thanks Marco :)
Great review. Thanks for the insight and information, love your humour too.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you. I’m a beginner and was going to buy it. You saved me from that headache 🙃
You’re welcome 😊
Thanks!
Appreciate it - thank-you kindly :)
Hi Andy, I had this device in the basket ready to order and I thought I'd better check out some reviews. Had no idea it was so far behind what is promised in their promo! I wrote to them and asked them what they are doing to address these issues and to let you know when they've fixed them. This was the reply:
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your interest! We have made many improvements to Arsenal 2 since the launch, and have reached out to that reviewer to offer assistance.
You can see we have solid ratings in app stores and many customers happily using the device. We also have 90-day return policy if you want to give it a try.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help!
Kind regards,
Carol
That response isn't really enough to convince me to return the basket and press 'buy now'
lol - thanks Mike - if you are in any doubt, just scroll through the comments on this video from people who did purchase this device!
I've thought, since I first saw their hype, why would anyone put this on a camera that will already do all this stuff. As you point out, if you don't or can't take the time to learn photography, then get a good phone camera. Your review is refreshing in that you are not afraid to call a spade a piece of shite! Well done thanks!
No worries :)
I really wanted to like this Arsenal 2 device and have looked up a few videos but it seems that it definitely under delivers. Hard to make an AI think completely like a human to take the shot you want and how you want it.
For sure. The issue here is that I don't believe there's anything remotely AI under the hood of this device.
Damn! What a refreshingly honest take in this age of avoidance of hurty feelz at all costs. A great laugh - that’s a big like & a sub! 👍🏼
Cheers Shannon - hope you enjoying the forthcoming content :)
Mate, what a legendary bit of video!! Dryer than a dehydrated Weet Bix and full of actual honest information. :) I had seen adverts for this thing a long time ago and the latest one shows it perched on top of a Nikon Z series camera (have just bought a Z6) so was intrigued to see how it could help me. The answer is of course it can't!! My skills are reasonable with about 40 years of taking photos just for my pleasure, with the occasional paid job. The Z6 has made a huge difference to how I approach a shot and getting more proficient with Lightroom, completes the creative possibilities. So I shall be looking out for more of your delightful insights and will resort to improving my own skills to produce the results I'm after. Cheers heaps, Pete
Cheers. I'm thinking about doing a final video on the Arsenal now that the pano mode's been added! :)
How does it do with family pictures? My kids running pictures of my wife things like that. I don't care about landscapes and things of that nature. I just want better family photos. Is this something I should purchase?
Thank you not only for the review but making it most entertaining. Better than most of the shat on steaming services. Have you tried Cam Ranger?
No. That's been on the to-do list for a while, along with a star tracker that someone recommended to me.
Thank you Andy for this real good and wise review. I love your Jeremy Clarkson’s type of humour, and you make me save 250$ and a lot of disappointments as I thought crowd control was a gain of time… Long life to you and your sense of humour 😂✊
Haha - no worries, thanks Mathieu - wish I had Jeremy Clarkson's bank balance! :)
Wanted to retry my Arsenal 2 after having had it garhering dust, unused, for the last 8 months. Just found your review now, am loving it, laughing my ass off - and guess Arse 2 will go back in the shelf instead of with me on my vacation 😂 Thanks for the great video!
Yea wise decision - enjoy the holiday!
Lmao, when I saw the title of this video, I knew it would be my style. Laughed so hard. Thanks for saving me money!
No worries! :)
I appreciate your honesty. you saved me a lot of cash
Glad I could help
I was just at the stage of putting my Paypal details into their site, then thought I'll see if there's any reviews on the youtubes....so glad I did after laughing for a good 10 minutes you convinced me not to. Great video and brilliantly put together...thanks a lot!
Cheers Colin - glad you enjoyed it and saved yourself a few hundred bucks and a lot of grief! :)
I misread the video title thinking you were saying the Arsenal 2 Pro is “the shit”. Haha😅
lol - and how quickly did you realise I was definitely not bigging up the Arsenal?
@@Andyhutchinson Two seconds in….hahaha.
Thanks for your funny and candid review. All the Facebook reviews are only positive ones which mde me question and go searching for reviews outside that platform. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I'm glad I found your review and have moved on. Thanks again.
You are so welcome!
Phew thanks from New Zealand. I was just about to buy it. That sales pitch they have is soo good haha
No worries. Spend that money on something useful! :)
I took mine to the Lake District and it failed to take one single good photo. Lake District is so stunning it’s very easy to take a great photo. Obviously I did a better job using my knowledge. I’m never buying anything on kickstarter again after 4 campaigns, only 1 was great (that was a book)
Yea I feel the same way about Kickstarter unfortunately.
@@Andyhutchinson what puzzles me, when the first one was such an enormous success, why did they have to go on kickstartet again for V.2? Looks like they, like a lot if Kickstarters are pushing the risk of failure on to the customers.
Love the "laugh to tears" face on top of an Arsenal product in the background too!!
First one to notice that! :)
Andy, Thank you for your uncensored review. I was also about to buy the Arsenal 2 but thought I'd check out a review. Excellent review = Big savings...What is the specter app you mentioned? I dont think I have the spelling correct on it.
Thank-you. Here's a link to the app on the App Store - apps.apple.com/us/app/spectre-camera/id1450074595 :)
Was curious if this was just good marketing and a sexy design or if it was a good product after being bombarded by ads for it. Thanks for clearing it up for me.
No worries, glad I could help.