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moab mark
12-06-2009, 08:18 PM
My wife wants my x mas wish list. I am looking for a quality helmet cam. Has anyone had much experience with the pov 1.5? Or our there others out there to look at?


Mark

CarpeyBiggs
12-06-2009, 08:52 PM
gopro HD helmetcam. shoots full 1080p, 2.5 hours record time, waterproof, rechargeable battery, looks awesome. i have one coming, i think...

i have the old gopro helmet (non-hd) and they are brilliant, though less than standard def, and the battery use sucked! that all got changed on the HD ones though, and it looks pretty damn good.

runs about $300.

www.gopro.com

oldno7
12-06-2009, 08:59 PM
I have the older gopro also, bought it this year at the OR show. It is kinda cool but definetely a battery and memory hog. They were supposed to offer us the new 1080 models for a lesser price if we bought the original. Haven't heard from them.

CarpeyBiggs
12-06-2009, 09:48 PM
I have the older gopro also, bought it this year at the OR show. It is kinda cool but definetely a battery and memory hog. They were supposed to offer us the new 1080 models for a lesser price if we bought the original. Haven't heard from them.

indeed, especially in the cold. have to use lithium batteries, and they get expensive.

that's why the new model seems to be worth it, just for the battery life (and rechargeable...) should be sweet. did you ever see anything in writing about buying the old ones and getting a rebate? i have two of 'em.

moab mark
12-06-2009, 09:55 PM
Anybody in salt lake sell these?

CarpeyBiggs
12-07-2009, 12:12 AM
rei is supposed to carry them, but i'm not sure they've got the new models yet. they were just released 2 weeks ago.

amazon will be the same price, however, if not a bit cheaper.

oldno7
12-07-2009, 05:43 AM
I have the older gopro also, bought it this year at the OR show. It is kinda cool but definetely a battery and memory hog. They were supposed to offer us the new 1080 models for a lesser price if we bought the original. Haven't heard from them.

indeed, especially in the cold. have to use lithium batteries, and they get expensive.

that's why the new model seems to be worth it, just for the battery life (and rechargeable...) should be sweet. did you ever see anything in writing about buying the old ones and getting a rebate? i have two of 'em.

Nothing in writing, they took our e-mail address' and said they would send us the offer when they became available. Probably won't happen at this point. There were a lot of us at the show who bought them, would be nice if they would follow through, but I'm not holding my breath.

Sombeech
12-07-2009, 07:21 AM
I would strongly advise against any helmetcam with cables of any kind. Go for a self contained one, like GoPro, Vholdr.... Of course, these models have HD now, or soon.

When I was first on the helmetcam scene, I had the camera on my head, a cable running down to my pack, and that sucker seemed to get snagged on everything. The POV 1.5 is a good camera, but less equipment is better.

My favorite setup that I've been using for 2 years now is just my regular still shot camera, in movie mode, mounted to my helmet. It's waterproof, so I take it boating and river running, snowboarding, and mtn biking in the rain. On average I'm filming 2 videos per week except in winter, so it's been through a lot.

The downside about the GoPro, although a great camera, is you don't have the LCD screen to view your footage. You could honestly do the whole trip and have no idea that your angle was off the whole time.

With my normal point and shoot camera, I can look at the footage, adjust the angle, and delete junk if my 8 GB card gets too full. I can also just take my helmet off for a quick still shot of the group or something.

If this one breaks on my next crash, I think I'll go with an Olympus Stylus next time, still in the $200 range. (I'm aware that I could break it, so I go cheaper)

If you'd like to mess around for kicks and giggles, take your average camera in video mode, make sure it shoots at least 640X480 and 30 frames per second, and just mount it to your helmet. Then go from there, maybe go HD depending on the price. Get insurance if it's over $300 (if you can)

Here's my setup:
http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11636


http://www.bogley.com/forum/files/helmetcam__7_.jpg

http://www.bogley.com/forum/files/helmetcam__12_.jpg

http://www.bogley.com/forum/files/2_380.jpg

CarpeyBiggs
12-09-2009, 03:35 PM
mark, i just got the new gopro hd, but it's at my house in utah (i'm in alaska right now). extra rechargeable batteries are only 20 bucks for it, which i consider a STEAL.

mine cost me under $300 shipped, with extra battery. hard to beat that. the test footage i've seen looks mighty impressive.

will you be at freezefest at all? i'm definitely taking it through the black hole

R
12-09-2009, 03:53 PM
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/653981-REG/VholdR_1300_ContourHD_1080p_Full_HD.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/582889-REG/GoPro_GHHW5170_Helmet_HERO_Wide_Video.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/617922-REG/VholdR_1200_ContourHD_HD_Helmet.html

CarpeyBiggs
12-09-2009, 04:08 PM
that's not the HD version of the gopro, however.

moab mark
12-16-2009, 09:26 AM
http://vholdr.com/contourhd/features

Does anyone know what the dual laser alignment is doing on this camera? Is it rotating the lenses to stay level?



Mark

Sombeech
12-17-2009, 12:36 PM
http://vholdr.com/contourhd/features

Does anyone know what the dual laser alignment is doing on this camera? Is it rotating the lenses to stay level?



Mark

You'll shine the beams in front of you to get an idea where your camera is pointing, and the 2 beams is to show if it's level or not. I believe the adjustment is still manual.

moab mark
12-17-2009, 12:39 PM
That makes sense

Thanks
Mark

Alex
12-17-2009, 12:40 PM
I have GoPro HD that I just got. They were back ordered for 1.5 months, I don't know if they are up to speed yet.

So far I like it, I only used it indoors though. All the hook ups it comes with is awesome. The quality is nice. Very grainy in dim spots, very nice in a well lit areas.

moab mark
12-17-2009, 12:58 PM
Iran into a guy on a dirt bike in moab who had the countor on his googles. He said that he loved it, The lasers were better then sliced bread. He always knew where he was shooting.Has anyone else had any experience with one of these? I like the clip it on your goggles and go.Plus it has a tripod mount.

Mark

CarpeyBiggs
12-17-2009, 01:36 PM
Iran into a guy on a dirt bike in moab who had the countor on his googles. He said that he loved it, The lasers were better then sliced bread. He always knew where he was shooting.Has anyone else had any experience with one of these? I like the clip it on your goggles and go.Plus it has a tripod mount.

Mark

never used it, but i prefer super wide angle lenses, and gopro fits the bill. plus, the gopro is fully submergible for scuba and black holes at freezefest.

i've heard decent things about the vholdr though.

Alex
12-17-2009, 02:00 PM
Wide angle and high res were my priorities as well. I stuck a 32gb card into the camera and have 2 hours of footage

moab mark
12-18-2009, 01:08 PM
Yea the gopro does have a better wide angle lense. We'll see about the vholdr, got home last night and my wife had ordered it for my son.

Mark

ScoutColorado
12-19-2009, 07:44 PM
Mark,
I got a GoPro Hd a few weeks ago. Pretty impressive. Also got an extra battery.
I also bought it to take through Black Hole.
It does have a problem with card compatibility, though. I bought brand name class 6 cards and they wouldn't work. Same cards worked fine in all my other devices, video and audio.
I've been talking with support, and they are having spotty success. Even brand name cards like Sandisk 16gb class 4 won't work.
Funny, though, I tried a Sandisk 4GB class 2, and it worked great. Just to small to do any serious recording.
They are supposedly putting together a list of compatible cards as they test them, but won't have it out for a while.
So, I wouldn't invest in a lot until they get it straightend out.
RR

ScoutColorado
12-19-2009, 07:46 PM
Also, the main competitor Contour has laser sights, and is more compact.
They just released a waterproof case for it to catch up with GoPro, but it is a little more expensive, and you have to pay another $30 for the case on top of that.
RR