Hello everyone!
This is magpie Tech. We just got a fresh review from ZRM and wanted to share it with everyone. ZRM is a tool and gadget community from South Korea. We sent ZRM 2 VH-80s for a beta test, and 레미(Remi) posted the below review. [Disclaimer: We do not know who Remi is other than that he is a member of ZRM, and had no prior contact with him until we asked for permission to translate and post his content here.]
The post was originally written in Korean, and is translated by Jin Y. Yoo. All of the photos are taken by Remi.
Hello, this is Remi.
This is an interesting item we haven't seen in a while. So, I signed up first to the field test and got the chance to become the first reviewer as well. Frankly, I wouldn't call myself necessarily a professional woodworker involved in fabrication and interior design like our other members, but because of my unique job experience I have been using digital distance measurers professionally for a very long time, and probably more than what a woodworker or interior designer would in average.
Anyways, here are the subjects for the testing today!
Starting from the left: Magpie VH-80, Leica DISTO D2, and the woodworker's best friend, the Tajima tape measure. As you see in the photo, VH-80 has a semi hard case, D2 a soft case, and... the tape measure?
While D2 has the stereotypical design (for a laser distance measurer), VH-80 has a more unique look for its bilateral function.
Now to compare the size and exterior..
As you can see in the photos, the VH-80 is about 12cm long, not much longer than the D2 which has a small body. Compared to the Bosch model I tested at the Wood Worker product test event too, VH-80's size is a good size and not any bigger.
The LCD screen has a bright and soft skyblue backlight, and is comfortable to the eye. One of my biggest complaints with D2, which I use, is the strong green light with a big ego... :'(
To be honest, I think the LCD color and menu configuration depends a lot on individual preference and to say whether it is good or bad would be subjective. In my personal opinion, I believe both devices are equally great in usability.
Now, we'll take our time looking at the exterior and features of VH-80.
First, as you see in the photos below, the laser pointer and sensor is positioned at each ends of the device and there is a hole to connect with a hand strap at the bottom side.
The battery compartment is located on the back, and it's very easy to remove and insert the batteries. The tripod socket is located in the back as well.
You sometimes encounter people who tries to highlight(?) a specific laser model by debating the accuracy of the device. But honestly, most of the digital distance measurers produced today, except very cheap Chinese models, often share the same module regardless of its brand. Therefore, I think most laser measurers' performances are pretty standardized.
Instead, it's more important to look at the UI side that handles and utilizes the data than the laser sensor.
For that reason, while there are little differences between brands, most products allow a similar margin of error at around +-3mm. VH-80's maker also stated the margin of error is +-3mm.
But to check more objectively, I measured with D2 and VH-80 each 3 times.
As you see in the photo, both models did not show any margin of error, or error in repetition, when taking three measurements consecutively.
Vh-80 can change modes to measure like a standard laser measuring device, in single direction mode as well as the bilateral mode.
Thus, you can change the mode to correspond to what you need depending on your position and direction. Let's see what kind of advantages there are with this.
The biggest points I give VH-80 is the convenience that comes from the bilateral mode, which other products does not have. People who haven't worked in the field may ask "isn't single or two practically the same thing?" and skim over this point, but in large scale operations, it's a totally different story. First, take a look at this photo.
I am measuring the height between the floor and ceiling. They are both same in that it takes one-click to measure the height. So you could say there is no difference. But there is actually one really important factor. The standard model must stick to the floor or ceiling, whichever is the starting point, and VH-80 can operate anywhere in between.
If the job was just once measurement, it's not a big deal, but if you visit a work site, you'll find that its extremely rare to find a building in which the height of the space is consistent through out. Especially with older buildings, the differences get only worse with time. In my case, I've seen a 38 sq. meter room's wall have inconsistencies up to 5 cm through out. So, I developed a habit of checking a wall every 30-40 cm from end to end. This is very important when installing louvers, plates, and boards! But imagine having to sit and stand continuously along a 10 m wall? It's a great great advantage to check while standing.
Especially, if the work site is very large...?-_-; In that case, the bilateral measurement is an incredible merit to repetitive measuring and saving physical energy.
For me, VH-80 seemed more convenient to use in filming than interior work. With the development in digital cameras and lenses technology, there are a lot of people who use auto-focus to film these days. But, manual short focal length lenses are still prevalent in the film industry like movies and TV programs, so measuring the distance for focusing is a very important task.
One of the major tasks of an assistant is to measure the distance between the camera and subject with a tape measure, like you see in the above photo, and mark the lenses distance and the focus setting value to a device called a follow focus for quick focusing.
You can see in the below photo, the distance between the camera and subject can be measured quickly corresponding to the changing camera angle. I think our assistant can work with more ease now.. ^^;
With the lenses open, the CCD can be damaged by the laser, so it's very important to close the lenses with a lenses cover or an autocover when measuring. And if the lenses is already open, you would need to aim the laser to the lenses hood or camera body. If this device is introduced to the market, it will be very useful for the film industry.
Another interesting feature of VH-80 shows the checked measurement continuously, and it's very convenient in finding intervals of distance like for hanging frames, or installing rafters.
If you look at the two photos above, you can see the bilateral arrow is a full line above and a dotted line below. When it's a full line, the value fixes to a single measurement, while when it is a dotted line, the upper left and right value changes depending on the two lasers independently. The datum point is the center position found at the triangle marks above and below the "on" switch. This would be very convenient when marking the center of the height or width of the wall, and marking along intervals.
I tried finding the midpoint of a wall in the second photo above. You can see the midpoint with 1 mm difference between.
Another feature of VH-80 is finding a height value by using the Pythagorean theorem. The structural characteristics of laser distance measurers would require an endpoint like ceilings to measure heights, therefore, it is impossible or difficult to measure a space without a roof or an obscure height of a wall. The Pythagorean function is the interesting feature of VH-80 to resolve this issue. First, I turn the Pythagorean mode on...
As you can see above, I changed the mode to single direction and to the feature mode that shows a triangle with an angle inside. When i measure the first value, shows as the adjacent value, it moves on to the second measurement.
Firstly, the lateral length came out as 1.1 m. And then the icon blinks to indicate it is ready for the angled side. You can see the angled side is flickering.
And as you can see above, you point to laser to the height you want to measure and press the main button. It is important to maintain the VH-80's position when raising the device between the first and second value to minimize any error in the measurement, like you see in the photo. If this position shifts, the value can change even by millimeters. Of course, for things like the exterior of a building where 1-2cm of error can be allowed, it could be okay to be a little rough i guess...^^'
Yes, here is the result. You can see the wall I measured is 1.189 m. Very easy right? ^^;
Like other high end models like Bosch, VH-80 also measures area and volume. Here's a shot of the Bosch model's UI for comparison.
Therefore, it has nothing to lose function and feature wise against standard high end models and also has applications such as the Pythagorean function. It even has an analogue level, so it can without much problem measure relatively accurate horizontal and vertical values. Of course, other companies like Bosch has devices that digitally measure angles, but in the field, bubble levels like the above allows a much faster work speed. On top of that, digital angle functions require its gyro sensor to operate simultaneously and use up a huge amount of battery power, so I think VH-80's bubble level is a pretty decent compromise.
And as you see below, it's convenient to measure the lengths of a floor with furniture, which I believe is an advantage of the bilateral function.
VH-80 is still a prototype model, . It also has Bluetooth installed, but an application like Bosch's is still under development so I couldn't try it out during this test, but you can see it in the Kickstarter video. Personally, I look forward to it a lot.
It's a short sample test period, so it's a little early to test in an environment that requires durability, etc., but compared to D2, I believe it's a totally usable model on site.
In a time when devices made in Korea is practically going extinct, I think VH-80 is a meaningful new product. I am hoping that the mass production in July give high quality products out and once again become a representative of Made in Korea products.
It's a rough test review, but I made a little time to write for our members.
This was 레미(Remi). ^^
Thank you so much 레미!! All rights reserved by ZRM and the original poster 레미(Remi).
You can join ZRM and find the original post here with a Naver account.
