Tool Review: Sound Environmental Products C2 Camera

Oct. 6, 2011
Steptoe tests out the C2 Camera from Sound Environmental Products.

Sound Environmental Products’ C2 Camera (No. C21-10) features a side-view camera for flexibility in inspection views. The C2 has 360-degree rotation of the lens, plus by flexing the cable at an angle, a forward view can be easily accomplished. Lighting is both white light for inspections and UV for leak detection. The wand has an 80” reach. There is enough storage for capturing and storing several hundred images, which can be downloaded to a PC using a USB cable. The images can be recalled to view on the onboard video screen. The camera has its own built-in battery pack. 

The Review

Mike Steptoe, owner of Reliable Auto Repair in Fort Atkinson, WI, tested out the C2 Camera.

The major advantage Mike saw with the C2 Camera, was that the camera was mounted on the side of the wand, instead of at the tip.

“You have to use the mirror less,” Mike explains. “You have to use mirrors for the other (scopes), where it reflects the image of the side. But this one I’ve used a couple times on evaporator cores on air conditioning systems, and (the image) was right there because the camera is pointed toward it instead of like other (scopes) where you’d have to try to bend the end of it to try and look at it, or use a mirror.”

Mike also liked the brighter output of the scope's light.

“It lights up a bigger area,” Mike says. “I think there are two light bulbs, the way it looks.”

He also was able to use the scope’s UV light to find dye in an A/C evaporator core.

Mike found the dual controls, both on the wand and on the main screen, were helpful.

“It’s kind of nice to have (the controls) in your hand when you’re viewing it, so you can bump the zoom up and down instead of having to go back to the screen.”

Mike said the tip of the wand was a bit larger than other scopes he’s used. Although he thought it'd be convenient to have a smaller camera wand tip, he still found the unit easy to use for the jobs he was completing.

The only other improvement he suggested was having a longer battery life on the unit.

Overall, Mike really liked the camera for it's bright light, ease of use and camera angle to view different areas of the vehicle more easily.

About the Author

Erica Schueller | Editorial Director | Commercial Vehicle Group

Erica Schueller is the Editorial Director of the Endeavor Commercial Vehicle Group. The commercial vehicle group includes the following brands: American Trucker, Bulk Transporter, Fleet Maintenance, FleetOwner, Refrigerated Transporter, and Trailer/Body Builders brands.

An award-winning journalist, Schueller has reported and written about the vehicle maintenance and repair industry her entire career. She has received accolades for her reporting and editing in the commercial and automotive vehicle fields by the Truck Writers of North America (TWNA), the International Automotive Media Competition (IAMC), the Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards and the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) Azbee Awards.

Schueller has received recognition among her publishing industry peers as a recipient of the 2014 Folio Top Women in Media Rising Stars award, acknowledging her accomplishments of digital content management and assistance with improving the print and digital products in the Vehicle Repair Group. She was also named one Women in Trucking’s 2018 Top Women in Transportation to Watch.

She is an active member of a number of industry groups, including the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC),  the Auto Care Association's Young Auto Care Networking Group, GenNext, and Women in Trucking.

In December 2018, Schueller graduated at the top of her class from the Waukesha County Technical College's 10-week professional truck driving program, earning her Class A commercial driver's license (CDL).  

She has worked in the vehicle repair and maintenance industry since 2008.

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