The worst part of going apeshit extreme sports style is that all your awesome moves are left out there in the wilds. This camera is all about taking those smooth moves home to prove you really did kick some butt (just be sure to delete the bits where you bit it hard before you share).
The camera can be mounted to a helmet, or handlebars, or even your arm. I’m not sure that sort of footage will translate to anything more than vibrating, nausea inducing stuff. So getting a bud along too to focus the attention of the camera on you is a good idea. In this sense, the camera’s waterproof and shockproof construction is the key. That, and it’s just $199 so unlike other cameras you can take a few more risks with its safety. More details plus helmet and handlebar mount shots after the jump.
Shoot AVIs at 640×480, 320×240, or 160×120, at either 15 or 30fps. It comes with 32MB onboard memory, which won’t get you far at all, plus SD support. Runs off 2 AAs. We’ve had a play and the camera is very easy to use – just three buttons and they’re easy enough to hit for quick start / stop which is what you want when it’s atop your helmet. It’s a pretty stylish looking unit, too.
Word on ‘the street’ (okay, from the Oregon Scientific PRs) is that
you can find this in Camera House stores, and other ‘good’ retailers if
you’re on Santa’s NICE list.
Adz
Friday, November 16, 2007 at 11:00 AMWhy do i like this?
It’s not for the stunts I want to do, but might have to.
Like cars cutting me off on my bike commute, who then abuse me for their bad driving. Video evidence at accidents would help prove reckless driving.
Would be interesting to know the recording time for different SD cards and battery life.
cOwMoO
Friday, November 16, 2007 at 4:10 PM@ ADZ:
I recently bought one of these cameras and use it to film my dirt biking adventures (or mishaps :p).
For video quality, here’s a vid that I took http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QfZVT2OKec (I lost my makeshift helmet mount tightener-thingy a few minutes beforehand so it’s shakier than usual).
Battery life: with 2 AA rechargeable 2800mAh batteries, it lasts maybe a little under 3 hours (I carry more than one set so I’ve never run them completely flat)
Recording time: using Sandisk and Sandisk II Ultra, I get around 1 hour with both, on max settings (640×480 30fps)
Pros:
Works quite well in low light
decent battery life
easy-to-use interface
very rugged (have crashed and landed straight on it, didn’t even skip a frame)
Cons:
The field of view is very low*
could use a sturdier mount for the more rugged stuff
Pros/Cons:
captures very crisp frames, good for snapshots, bad for smooth video.**
*I just found a disposable camera on eBay for $~35, which has a wide-angle lens around the same diameter as this cam, so I’m gonna try to mount that on the front, and see how that goes.
**Haven’t tried interpolation in any of the videos I’ve taken, that could help out.
vapor
Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 8:33 AMThanks for the write up Cowmoo. I’ve been looking for a cam I can mount on my motorcycle that can also be mounted on a helmet.
Greg Paterson
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 1:26 PMHave had one of these for about a year and use it for some sailing action, the first few times have been perfect, great vision, easy to use and download cool stuff to youtube etc
But the last few times have had some issues like not recording, switching off after a few minutes, and then when it does record i get very poor quality and now it has only 34 minutes available recording time after completely deleting all files, also “o” rings are worn out
Maybe I have drowned it a few times too many
Anyone know where I can get repairs or service for the cam in Sydney
Thanks
Marcos
Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 3:14 PMHi i just got one of these for getting some good footage on my motorbike but like the guy above im having the same problems and it happenin straight out the box will only record for about 5mins or less then shuts off. i left it recording on my window sil and it only recorded for 30mins and it just eats batteries like no tomoro. im guessing i got the faulty one but im very disapointed with it.