On the new VS460 there's no ice arm or surface device to control direction. Instead, a motor inside the underwater camera housing itself controls the camera direction. You can turn it only from the keypad.

360 degree camera rotation for maximum viewing. Camera rotates in housing with a push of a button.

Nite-Vu lighting system greatly reduces particulate reflection and improves viewing distance. The VS460 lights are positioned above the lens, like rack spotlights on a pick-up cab, which greatly minimize the reflection from particulates. The LED's emit a special blue light that our research has shown to yield the best water penetration and picture under all water conditions. It makes a huge difference in picture quality.

What I Found
It's a nicely made, well designed unit. Everything from the camera to the rechargeable gelcel battery, to the 60 foot wire has a place to be stored. The hardest part about using this camera is making the hole in the ice. After that, you just drop the camera in the water and push the on button.

The REALLY cool part of this unit lies in the way you can look 360 degrees around with the push of a button. Push the right arrow or left arrow and watch what lurks 12 feet below the ice in all directions. In my lake, Jasper (I grew up here - I don't actually own the lake) clear visibility was to about 15 feet out. I saw bottom weeds and muck, but I saw both VERY clearly in blazing sunlight. I did turn up the brightness and contrast which is located on the back of the little TV and under the nice, form-fitting cloth case. It's kind of hard to get to these two little knobs, but it only took a second. I had the TV adjusted to my liking and the case back in a flash. I tried the little brilliant blue LED's lights which you turn on from up above by pushing a button. No effect because it was very well lit 12 feet down under the ice. I'm pretty sure that these lights will be effective when it's dark out as well. You may not be able to see 15 feet out, but it will be some distance that would be useful. In search of rockier bottoms and deeper waters, I continued further out towards the center of Jasper. the sun was as high as it was going to get for the day and the darker colored ice was freezing, popping and cracking. It was pretty loud everywhere. I check the ice with my chisel which prompted a ripping, tearing crack down the lake and found that the ice was about 2.5" thick and getting thinner further out where I wanted to go. It's been a really warm winter, but that didn't stop a lone timberwolf from howling (a lot) on the island about a third of a mile further out. I thought it was a little odd that he was howling at about 10:30 AM on a bright sunny day, but he must have been inspired or something. Anyway, not wanting to test my ability to pull myself out of broken ice and really cold water, I headed back for shore along the same route that I took getting there. I found the ice thickness to be really variable and decided to call this test quits for the day. I will try it again when I actually go fishing in a shelter after the ice thickens up a bit more.

My Conclusion - If you like to see what's down there, this is going to be one of the greatest toys you've ever owned! Another cool feature is that Marcum added an extra weight that you can attach to the camera. You can use this in the summer, trolling with your outboard. It's like scuba diving without getting wet, plus you can enjoy a cold beverage while you're at it. No bends, no "ooops, my air hose just broke", no spitting in the facemask to prevent fogging! One other point - it works just as well on dry land as in the water. You could probably figure out a way to watch your front door with it.

Order the Marcum VS 460 HERE