AKK CA20 600tvl CCD Camera Review

Published:  June 5, 2017   Original article click here

Thanks to AKK Technology for providing the CA20 for review, you can purchase the camera here.

This is our first AKK product that we have reviewed that is not a video transmitter, but will it keep up the high bar of standard and quality and performance that the video transmitters have set.

First Impressions

The specs looked good. A 600tvl ccd camera with the 1/3″ SONY SUPER HAD II CCD, Nextchip 2040 DSP is always a good sign for an FPV pilot. However, the box was not like it had been with the video transmitters. The product did not feel as premium as the video transmitters had felt, but then again it is all about the performance of the camera. Inside the box, it was packaged well enough for the camera to not be damaged, but once again, it was not neatly packed in foam like the video transmitters had been. The camera was the same form factor as the original HS1177 camera, and had the same workings. The camera has the one 4 pin plug at the back. Probably the biggest dissapointment of this camera though was the wires. They were plastic coated, which for us was a bit of a let down, especially as the previous AKK products we had received all came with silicone wires, which we love. However, despite all of this, the camera apparently comes with a 2.8mm lens, but still have 120 degree field of view, which would make it more like a 2.5mm lens, meaning that the stock lens that this camera comes with would be great.

Installation

The installation to our martian 220 was very simple. It uses the same self tapping screws that the old HS1177 cameras use. These are usually a pain to put in, so when we struggled with that, we weren’t too bothered. It maybe would have been nice to have the mounting system like with the foxeer arrow, where there is no need for self tapping screws, but this is only a small thing. It uses a 4 pin connector, and so if you want to adjust the camera settings, you have to remove the connector that connects the camera to the drone, and then do all the fancy things to work out a way to connect the camera to some kind of screen whilst still getting power to it to be able to change the camera settings. This is a bit tedious, however camera settings, in our opinion anyway, only need to be changed once, and that’s when you get the camera. If you copy the camera setting off a pilot such as Mr Steele, or Finalglideaus, you can’t really go wrong.

Performance

The performance of this camera was good. The 120 degree lens was nice, however you could notice some ‘fisheye’ effect around the corners of the image, but this was not too distracting. The camera is durable and the light handling is as good as any CCD camera. The picture was also noise free which was great.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is another CCD camera that works. It is a solid product from a company that we trust, but we would probably point you towards other cameras before we point you towards this one. Lots of new CCD cameras such as the runcam swift 2, and the foxeer arrow come with a voltage sensor. These are slightly more expensive than the AKK CA20, but you can now get a standard HS1177 for less than this AKK camera. However, we really like the fact that it comes with a 120 degree FOV lens, and this gives it a 1 up over the cheaper HS1177 style cameras. Overall, a decent product.