Nerf Cam ECS-12 Blaster Review

Nerf N-Strike Elite Nerf Cam ECS-12 Blaster. Wow. That’s quite a name, isn’t it? I mean it has the word Nerf twice in it, that’s got to count for something. Surely that means it’s twice as Nerfy, huh? Lawl.

Anyway, let’s get into this review, yeah? Let’s start by breaking down the long name first. We know it’s made by Nerf, so there goes the first part. Next, It falls under the N-Strike Elite series of blasters. What that means is it should be pretty powerful, firing darts far down range. Nerf Cam is the actual name of the blaster. Nerf Cam because it has an integrated video camera. Cool.

ECS-12, what does that mean? ECS stands for Electric Clip System. Electric, as in it runs on electricity. No, you don’t plug it into an outlet. In this case it takes a whopping 8 AA batteries. The Clip System part should be obvious. This blaster uses clips mags and the clip mag that is included with the blaster is a 12-dart capacity clip mag. Now let’s go over the looks of this blaster.  Starting from the outside in, like I like to do. Let’s take a look at the box-art for the Nerf Cam.:

Nerf Cam Box Art.:

Looking at the box-art of the Nerf Cam we can tell a few things right off the bat. It’s in the Elite series of blasters, like I said before. There’s a big N-Strike Elite logo on the box to make sure you know it. In huge words up top on the box, it advertises the built in camera for this blaster. It mentions recording battles and sharing videos and photos.

It also talks about the included 4GB memory card, which can hold about 100 minutes of video. It has the “Elite XD. Up to 85 feet!” writing printed at the top, too. Finally, at the bottom it lets you know it includes 12 Elite darts and requires 8 AA batteries, which are not included in the box. On to the back of the box.:

On the back of the box, we see more of the same. It has the blaster name at the top, with a summary of features. Next to it is the familiar N-Strike Elite logo again. It has a picture of the blaster, mid-fire. It talks about the tactical rail and fast reload clip system.

To the left, it goes into more detail about the camera and the memory card. Also, it has an illustration about dart range. To the far right of the box, it mentions included darts and unincluded batteries. You have to buy batteries, folks! Pretty standard stuff here. Next, let’s take it out of the box.:

The Nerf Cam, Unboxed.:

The Nerf Cam has a pretty unique color scheme. It has the familiar orange in certain places, like the tac rail, camera shield, the triggers, and the clip and barrel. But then it has a large amount of white, making up the majority of the blaster body. It also has a deep blue coloring for the stock, the handle, around the camera and under the tac rail, and for the handguard/grip up front.

Definitely a mix we haven’t seen before. I actually didn’t like it at first, as it’s a stark contrast to the other Elite blasters, but it’s grown on me and now I like it very much. I particularly like the big ELITE lettering towards the front of this blaster. It’s a very solid, well constructed blaster and I’m sure you’ll love the way it looks and feels.

Outside of the aesthetic properties of the Nerf Cam, let’s talk about some functional properties. It has a pretty decent sized shoulder stock permanently attached. Yup, it isn’t removable or adjustable. However, it is a good size and pretty comfortable, so this isn’t a major concern. It has a really good pistol grip handle, though. It is a great size and feels good to hold. There is the main trigger, and then underneath there is an acceleration trigger, for revving up the flywheels.

Across from the acceleration trigger is the clip release button. I love when they place the button in that position. Up above this, where you’d usually find a sight or scope, is the camera screen. It is a small screen, with a few buttons for video control underneath. In front of that is the top tactical rail. Below that, in the middle of the blaster, is a speaker.

Down below that is the magwell, where you insert your included 12-dart clip. In front of that is the handguard grip. It is definitely very comfortable. On the other side of the grip is a small button for activating the Nerf Cam camera.

Going up top again, near the end of the tac rail, is the camera lens. It is in position to capture the end of the muzzle and whoever your target is, but not exposed enough to take any damage. In front of that is the end of the barrel, a pointless front sight, and the muzzle. The muzzle looks cool, like it has a built in flash suppressor. Unfortunately there is no space for an extended barrel attachment, but there is another tac rail underneath. Let’s see the Nerf Cam from behind.:

Down The Sights Of The Nerf Cam.:

Now we move on to performance of the Nerf Cam blaster. The Nerf Cam may resemble the Nerf Rapidstrike, but it shoots more like the Nerf Stryfe. Whereas the Rapidstrike is a full auto blaster, the Stryfe and Nerf Cam are semi-automatic. You cannot hold down the trigger and expect the darts to keep flying, you have to pull the trigger for each dart to fire.

The rate of fire, once you rev up the flywheels, is as fast as you can pull the trigger. It is on par with the Stryfe in that regard. For ranges, it is similar to those other blasters as well. This blaster shoots pretty fast, so you better have a couple of extra mags handy. The accuracy is decent, with a fairly tight grouping of darts.

As for the camera on the Nerf Cam, well that’s a different story altogether. Sigh. The Nerf Cam camera is functional, I’ll give them that. It records video and it takes pictures and it even has a microphone and speaker. But oh boy, what is this camera from 1999? The picture quality is nowhere near high definition. Not even close. And the microphone? All it seems to do is pick up the overwhelming sound of the flywheels spinning inside of the gun.

I guess they figured that children wouldn’t need a good camera, so they could cut costs in that area. But c’mon, the name of this gun is the Nerf CAM. How do you cut costs on the main feature of the blaster? And how expensive is a tiny HD camera these days anyway? Can’t be too much. My iPhone 4 from four years ago puts this thing to shame. Sad.

Shutter-ing The Nerf Cam.

Well, now that you’ve read all about the Nerf Cam, what do you think? A Nerf Stryfe in a Nerf Rapidstrike-like body, with a cheap camera thrown in. Sounds good, no? Well, yes and no. The performance of the actual blaster is pretty darn decent. It holds its own, for the most part. The camera is a novel idea. I like how it was implemented. I’m not sure if a speaker was even needed, but it’s a nice touch. Maybe with some heavy modding, this blaster could be a real winner. But that would require extra money. And when you’ve already invested $80 into a Nerf blaster, it’s hard to suggest spending more.

That’s right, the Nerf N-Strike Elite Nerf Cam ECS-12 Blaster retails for a whopping eighty bucks. Going by current prices on Amazon, that’s about two Rapidstrikes, or four Stryfes. Two and a half Nerf Demolishers. Haha. But if we are going to use current prices, the Nerf Cam is going for a pretty decent price right now. So, we’ll let you decide on if that price is worth it or not. Alternatively, you could just get a camera mount from SlyDev and attach a small camera or GoPro onto a blaster you already have. Or you could use Nerf’s very own Battle App accessory. Nerf made their choices with the Nerf Cam, already. Everything else is up to you.

Featured MOD.

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This is another awesome mod from famous YouTuber Coop772. He has done such a polarizing paint job that looks so far from the Nerf Cam’s stock look. He also has done various performance modifications as well, increasing the performance of the blaster. Simply amazing.

Nerf N-Strike Elite Nerf Cam ECS-12 Blaster