Kenwood Motorsports Cam STZ-RF200WD Review

Safety is always a top priority. You never know when an accident can happen. It’s also fun to be able to record your adventures. For these reasons dash cams have become popular. But now it’s not just for your car, truck, or SUV. Thanks to Kenwood you can now have this fun and security on your motorcycle or ATV. Up for review is Kenwood’s Motorsports Cam STZ-RF200WD.

 

Features and specs:

Waterproofing/

Dustproofing: Main Unit: IP55

Cameras: IP66/67

GPS/GLONASS Antenna: IP66/67

Control Switch: IP66/67

Front & Rear Camera

Units: Image Sensors: 2 Megapixels ( effective pixels : 1.86 megapixels)

Lens Viewing Angle: 195° Diagonal (effective angle: 181°)

Frame Rate: 27.5 fps

F-number: 2.2

Recording Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Video Quality: Fine / Normal

Video File Format: MP4 ( Video format : H.264 audio format : AAC)

Recorded File Length: 30 seconds / 1 minute / 3minutes (Recording time for one file)

Recording Mode: Continuous recording, event recording, manual recording

Data Recorded: Video file, time and date, speed, location information

Audio Recording: ON / OFF

HDR: Yes

G-sensor: Yes (5 impact sensitivity settings / OFF)

GPS: Yes

Electronic Image

Stabilization: Yes

Positioning Satelites: GPS / GLONASS

Storage Media: microSDHC, microSDXC Class 10 UHS-I

16GB to 256GB

Recorded video Playback Methods: KENWOOD Motorsports CAM App

-iOS 11 or later

-Android 7 or later

KENWOOD Motorsports CAM Viewer

- Apple Mac OS 10.14(Mojave) or later

- Microsoft Windows 10

Power Supply: DC 12V

Power Consumption: 0.48 A

Measurement

( W x D x H) Main unit: 79 × 104 × 22.5 mm

3-1/8 x 4-1/8 x 7/8 inches

Camera /pc: 23.5 (Φ) × 34.4 mm

15/16(Φ) x 13/8 inches

GPS/GLONASS Antenna: 27.4 × 33 × 13 mm

1-1/8 x 1-5/16 x 1/2 inches

Control Switch:  25.8 × 36.9 × 9.5 mm

1 x 1-7/16 x 3/8 inches

Weight

(Excluding Cable) Main unit: 105 g (0.2315 lb)

Camera / pc: 42 g (0.0926 lb)

GPS/GLONASS Antenna: 14 g (0.0309 lb)

Control Switch: 9 g (0.0918 lb)

Operating Temprature:   -20 °C to +60 °C

(-4 °F to 140 °F)

Warranty: 1year

 

The Kenwood Motorsports Cam STZ-RF200WD came in a nice-looking color printed box with photos and specs of the camera system. Opening the box revealed a very well protected product, with all parts wrapped in bubble wrap. Materials used in the construction was both metal and plastic. The quality of materials used, as well as the fit and finish was excellent! Included is the central module, two cameras, GPS antenna, remote switch, mounting and installation hardware, and owner’s manual.

 

I love the design of the Kenwood Motorsports Cam STZ-RF200WD. The central module is mostly plastic, yet it feels really solid. And the wires that came out of the module are very heavy duty, with solid connectors. The GPS antenna and the remote switch are also plastic, yet they also feel solid and well made. The two cameras actually have a metal housing, and are attached to a metal mount. Kenwood definitely designed this for your motorsport vehicle like a quad or side by side, it can definitely handle any water, mud or other environmental conditions thrown at it.

 

The Kenwood Motorsport Cam STZ-RF200WD also came with many excellent features and functionality. The dual cameras record in full 1080P resolution at 195-degree view. And with two cameras, you can record in front of you and behind you, simultaneously. With built-in EIS and HDR, you will have good looking video footage. There is a G-Sensor for impacts. So, if an impact, such as an accident is felt, the recorded video will be put in a protected folder, so it will not be recorded over. This is due to the recording modes. There are three to choose from. Continuous recording records it either 30 second, 1 minute or 3 minute sizes. So all of the saved video files will be in either 30 second, 1 minute or 3 minute segments. The 2^nd mode, G-Sensor, places a recorded file in a protected folder. And the third is manual recording. Manual recording is activated by pushing the push-button switch. Each of the three recording modes also have their own sperate file that they record into. So when you push the button to record manually, it will record in that file.

 

The Kenwood Motorsport Cam STZ-RF200WD records not only good quality video, but audio as well. That’s because each of the cameras have the camera, as well as a mic. That way you get both video and audio. And thanks to the built-in GPS, your recorded videos will also have the time, location, and speed included in the video. And while there is a 32 GB card included, the device can handle up to 256 GB sized cards.

 

To watch videos and recorded on the internal card. That’s where the wireless link feature comes into play. It’s using a smartphone app that lets you control the system. Through the app, you can watch the videos stored on the internal memory card, as well as copy, edit and share any of the recorded videos. Through the app you can also change settings and update firmware.  The app connects to the camera system thru your phones wi-fi.

 

Installing the camera system was fairly straight forward. Some of the components, like the push-button switch and GPS antenna, have double sided tape already mounted on it. The included zip ties also hold the different components, like the central module and cameras in place. And if you are mounting this on a side by side or gold cart, the cable probably won’t be long enough. Fortunately, Kenwood sells extension cables. Now that it’s installed, let’s see how it performs.

 

Setting up the Kenwood Motorsport Cam was pretty simple.  With it wired up, I could see the indicator LED’s blinking on the switch that it was ready to connect to my smartphone thru wi-fi.  Once it was paired, I was able to go into the app, and go into the settings, and also watch the live video feed.  The resolution was very good with great details, as well as the beautiful colors.  They were well saturated without being overly so.  Reds were deep and yellows vibrant. 

 

The Kenwood Motorsport cam STZ-RF200WD is an excellent product. If you have been enjoying the security of having a dashcam in your vehicle, now you can have it in your motorsport vehicle like a side by side. And it’s also fun to be able to have the video of your adventures. With its excellent build quality, it should give you years of use. Based on its design, features, quality and performance, the Kenwood STZ-RD200WD has earned our Editor’s Choice Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.kenwood.com.