New Pivo Pod X - Kickstarter Deal

If you have been considering getting a Pivo to video your rides, here's your chance for a deal!

Pivo just released a pre-order on Kickstarter for their new Pivo Pod X. They claim that it is smoother than their other versions, and due to a nifty ball mount for your phone, is able to track up-and-down, not just side-to-side.

They are offering Early Bird funding specials that amount to 49% off the retail price. That's a pretty sweet deal! But you will have to act fast - the Early Bird deals will expire soon!

They're only a couple of hours into the release on Kickstarter and just a few thousand below their funding goal. Current expected shipping date is January, 2022. Ask Santa to do his shopping early!

Click here to find it on Kickstarter. 

Is the Pivo right for you? Here are a few things to know about it to help you decide.

• It tracks you via an app on your smartphone. For horses, it looks for a rectangular shape (the body of the horse). It is not able to differentiate between different rectangle shapes, thus, if there is more than one horse in the ring, it will follow the most recent one that passes the camera (the last rectangle shape that it saw), and you might end up with video of every horse in the ring except yours. (You just need to ride past it again to get it to pick you back up.)
• It needs to constantly see the shape in order to maintain tracking. I've had issues with it losing me behind a pile of jump standards. Also, it has a hard time when the light changes from bright to dark, as when I pass an open overhead door when riding inside during a summer day. If you ride a dark horse in a dark arena, you might have problems.
• Due to the processing power that the app requires, it will only work with newer, higher end phones. You can find a list of approved phones on their website.
• The zoom is only as good as the zoom on your phone. Same for video quality, although most phones these days can produce amazing video.
• Whenever your phone does a system update, there is a chance that it will affect the app and give you problems when you try to record video. The developers are very good at releasing fixes, but it can take a few weeks. 
• You will need a tripod to go with it.

I quite like my Pivo Pod, and as long as you know its limitations (don't plan on videoing your ride during a group lesson)  I think it does a really good job. This new version might just be coming my way in the new year (I'm at home with a head cold. Online shopping is inevitable.)

(Another) New Toy

 I'm weak. I totally admit it.

My friend T got a Pivo about a month ago. I was really impressed with how well the videos turned out, especially outside. I looked at them online, coincidentally there was a sale, (there's always a sale lol), signed up for the 5% email code, and then looked at my credit card statement and decided I should be smart and I don't need another camera system - I already have a Pixio - which had yet to return from it's required repairs in France.

A few days later, they sent another email, this time with a 10% off code.

Sigh.

A Pivo Silver arrived a week and a half later.

It was kind enough to arrive on my day off so I had some extra time to play with it at the barn. I'm quite interested in all of the other modes that the app offers, although I don't know how many will work with a horse.

Overall, I was super impressed with the Pivo.

The plan is to use my old phone, a Samsung Galaxy S8, which still works fine, just a little slower (it also has a crack across the front camera, so I'll just have to use the back camera, no biggie). This way I can just leave everything at the barn in my tack box and not worry about draining my new phone's battery more often. 

The S8 is not on the official Pivo recommended list of phones, but it is on the community-recommended list from real users. 

It worked beautifully!

Phantom was kind enough to strike a pose for the camera at the end of the ride.

I rode outside in the field that I normally ride in, which is maybe 50m across. The Pivo was about 10m from one side, and it was able to keep track of me about 40m away. For the most part the only times that it lost me was when I rode too close to it.

The picture quality is only as good as your phone. I was super impressed by the quality from my outside, evening rides; I don't know that it would be that good inside. I had assumed that the Pivo Pod would fit on my tripod, but I forgot that the screw on the tripod is larger as you are supposed to put some type of head on the tripod. I keep a quick release plate on the tripod, and have ordered a plate for the Pivo, but for the first day I dragged a barrel out and plunked the Pivo on it. Thus, my pictures aren't totally level, but no complaints.

I know, I know, I already have a Pixio, why did I need another recording device?

I try to ride outside as much as I can in the summer, generally in this field. If I want to use the Pixio I would need a total of 4 tripods to set up the camera and 3 beacons around the field, and there is often times when someone drives through the field, or wind will gust, and I don't want to risk my expensive system falling over. Not to mention the huge PITA factor of setting up and taking down 4 tripods.

Also, there have been many moments when I've been working on groundwork or on something in the barn and I want to record it. Again, the Pixio could be a pain to set-up - especially in the barn. The Pivo is small enough that it can live in my tack box. As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. It doesn't matter if you have a great camera if it's sitting at home and you missed the moment.

I haven't had time to go through the full videos, I just grabbed a few screenshots. Do I have time to review and analyse more video? Hell no! Quick screenshots? Yes!

For my fellow Canadians - after the conversion to the US dollar, the Pivo Silver starter pack came to $202 CDN. I was lucky and didn't get dinged by customs for extra charges. It ships from China, and took a week and a half to arrive to me in Alberta after landing in Vancouver.

I've admittedly only used it once, but so far, so good, and I'm happy I've got it!