Milwaukee 2311-21 12-Volt Digital Inspection Camera,GEN 2

I purchased this unit from a local dealer for $399. plus tax. Instructions say to charge the lithium-Ion battery before use. Upon attempting to charge it I found red & green lights flashing. This indicates a defective battery the booklet indicated. I did try it on the camera and it indicated almost a full charge, enough to try the unit somewhat. I noticed that the "lens" at the end of the camera was very poorly molded having uneven surfaces and what looked to be polished out scratches. That was of concern. This camera was brand new in the sealed carton. I returned it and purchased another one. SAME PROBLEM! I could not believe it. The red charge light DID come on for 20 minutes and I assumed it was going to be OK. I was wrong. After a hour I checked back and it was flashing battery error. Second problem. The manufacturer uses black foam behind the lens to separate the led illumination from the camera lens. It was very sloppy. The led was partially blocked due to the black foam in front of perhaps 25% of the led. The lens on the second unit did not have the scratches that the first one did. Milwaukee would not send out ANY item to make it right but indicated that I could return it or send it to an authorized repair center at my expense. This second one is also going to be returned for a refund. On the OTHER side of the fence are the GOOD things about the camera. The screen is awesome! Nice and bright and clear. Controls are easy to learn and operate. The 3 foot cable has just the right amount of stiffness. The carry case is plenty big. I played with it for over an hour and the battery life indicator did not drop at all indicating that it is probably very good on battery life. I hope they get these problems fixed. I'd love to have a 100% working unit. At $400.00 it should be near perfect. I do have extreme close up photos of the camera led with the black foam on it but don't know how to post the photos.

I had a job to back fill a gap between two wall. I had planned to use the camera to give me sight of what I was doing, namely to know when I had poured enough concrete into the void I was trying to fill.

My entry point into the void was a slot about 3/4 inch wide by more than 20 feet in length up and down. I assumed I could flex the camera cable into a 90 dregree bend and then rotate the device until the camera was pointing in the downward direction. But I quickly learned the rotation of the image is not a smooth rotation but is a stepped rotation angle. So if you are not on the corrrect step, your image will not be stright.

After getting the camera into place, I found it very hard to get an image that showed the area to be filled. The light was to low even with the internal lamp turned on as bright as it could go. The bottom of hte void was about three feet from the end of the camera lens.

The zoom feature is also stepped. It seems to be doing some sort of electronic zoom so the picture jumps in closer or farther away as you zoom.

I would not recomend it for wet conditions. The packaging is a far cry from being waterproof.

In the end, I spent $399 plus tax for a tool I doubt I will ever be able to use. I think I might have done better getting a pinhole security camers, attaching it to a wire coat hanger and watching the video on my laptop screen.

The Mil 2311-21 is a powerful and reasonably priced document camera. I was interested in using it to inspect a transverse beam my developer supposedly repaired.

The 2311-21 comes in a durable hard plastic case. The camera takes good photos (better with more natural light) and nice video. It is also easy to switch between video and picture mode.

So why the 3 stars? The inspection camera I received was extremely inconsistent in reading and recording to the compact flash memory drive. I am not sure if this is typical, but I found it concerning. When you pay $350 for a new device, it should perform without flaw. I had to insert and replace the compact dive numerous times just to get the device to read the media. Saving to the disk also presented a problem a few times as the files were corrupted. Again, I believe the device I received was bummed.

This camera is only good for tight spaces. The single LED light is okay, but would benefit from having 4. With one LED light, you get more of a peep hole effect with dark edges. Ideally, you want to see everything in the picture frame. I am saving for the Micro Explorer as an alternative to the Mil. 2311-21...I had to return this product due to the defective memory card read/write problems.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews  2.8 out of 5 stars