Oregon Scientific helmet cam

**Big E** · 08-29-2007, 09:00 PM

Anyone ever tried one of these?

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/sho...cid=14&pid=709

Self-contained, waterproof camera that will take a 2GB card, for $130. $170 w/ the 2GB card. Sounds pretty cool, seems like it might be a little bigger than the usual helmet cams, but w/ no extra wires or anything to carry, sounds pretty nice. Noticed it might be kinda heavy, though.

**f2f** · 08-29-2007, 09:13 PM

try searching. in short: they suck.

edit: i'll be a little bit more helpful.

ATC-2k (oregon scientific), with artificial stabilization (it will help slightly, but costs money, without it it's even worse):

higher quality ($240 without the recorder) hardware stabilized cam from http://helmetcamera.com:

(the image-in-image is post-production, but at least you have an idea of how stable it is)

if you want physical details: the camera is bulky, hangs out (creating a lever effect) and needs to be fastened very securely in order to avoid vibration. even when fastened very strongly, without any hardware stabilization it picks up every bump, so it's only usable in low-impact sports (tying it to your bike is useless for example, unless you really want to "see" every bump)

if you want technical details: the light-gathering ability of the camera is sub-par. in low-light situations you'll get a significant amount of snow and other artifacts from the electronic white balance.

and most importantly, the recorder's vertical refresh rate does not match the advertised 30fps, so when you're moving fast you'll see a "warp" effect whereby the top of the picture appears closer than the bottom in a given frame.

this all affects the ATC-2k. newer revisions may be better.

**Big E** · 08-29-2007, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by f2f

try searching. in short: they suck.

Doh!

You'd think w/ all my time on here, I would have remembered to search first. Please allow me to JONG myself, and beg the board's apologies...

**f2f** · 08-29-2007, 09:27 PM

i'm only saying this because i had an atc-2k and tried to sell it: i remember the thread well, although it wasn't very visible. i hope my edit has put things in better perspective. it was not my intention to jong