Helmet camera

[Tony Anders]

I wonder what this camera would do in a cave...

I am sure it would do fine outside or hiking..but I doubt it would be very good in side the caves...

Might be a good one to wear on my fire helmet when I have a fire to take pictures of the fire attack.

www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=6&scid=14&pid=771

[Brian Roebuck]

They look pretty cool. If you had enough light I suppose they would work fine. Small lens cameras often struggle with low light levels. Mount up two Sten lights and shoot your video!

[Azurerana]

Just remember any helmet cam is going to generate jerky video. I'd much rather look at shots panned off a monopod, or handheld of a moving object than gratuitous motion. While there may be some effective use of a helmet cam (say, short whitewater rafting sequences, or a descent sequence, lending a brief "you are there" quality to a production) many caving videos are just bob and weave of a cave trip without editing. I call these "spot trips" -- often all you can see is a light bobbing in the dark. I get seasick, and won't watch more than 5 minutes of this.

[rangerdad]

This camera works OK. I just recently got one of these around Christmas off eBay for great deal of $60. I have only used it a couple of times since. Of coarse you can get them cheaper on eBay than from the company site also but the OS site does offer a good cover for the cam. I am pleased with it but like everything it has its plus and minuses. You must take care when using it on the helmet and remember not to turn you head so fast when taping. I tried both stop and go shooting methods and I also try not to tape every minute when I use it. I have noticed that some close up shots in caves with light color contrasting are too light to view. A single spot type light on the helmet does not work as good unless you are in a small area, I put 3 light weight lights on my helmet and it seams to give good area lighting if I keep them on the flood mode. It is waterproof, small and very light weight and comes with about ever possible mounting you may need. You can easily take it off your helmet with out removing the mount and use it in you hand. I use the Lithium batteries are recommended for long battery time/ colder temps and the SD card slot is a plus. I believe I get about 1:05 hrs of recording time on the 2GB card at best video quality @ 30 fps. If you can get the lighting right it works pretty well for the price and for me and my kids we should get a lot of use out of it.

I will add a link below for some You-Tube videos taken with the cam (Search for ATC-2K on You-Tube also). I have not got to use it much as I would like in caves and I did find out the hard way that I move my head around way to fast and need to keep a slower pace when using the cam. All in all if you do not want high quality professional videos it will work OK in my opinion. If you want a better video you will need to spend a lot more money for a better helmet cam and lighting system. I will also put a link to some You-Tube videos from another caver Mike that has some better helmet cam and lighting setups. Hope this helps.

ATC-K2 cam cave video
www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=91D17F546B32C09F

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGrXCqroATs


Mikes video Page
www.youtube.com/user/mwstoll

One other positive thing about the cam is you already have it in digital format so with most video editing software you can edit out footing that you dont want! I have also thought about taking along a small type recording device for better audio and adding it to the video later. The built in mic is not the greatest.

[NZcaver]

I have an ATC-2K which I've used in-cave. It could do with better low-light sensitivity and a slightly wider field of view, in my humble opinion. FYI - it does have a built-in microphone. It's sounds rather muffled because of the waterproofing membrane. It still picks up the voice of the "narrator" (ie the person wearing the helmet cam) easily enough. It's also picks up every bump to the helmet! There's a relatively easy mod to remove the membrane and improve your sound quality, but of course it will no longer be waterproof.

The best features of the ATC-2K is that it's self-contained, waterproof, and reasonably cheap. But it's probably better used outdoors or with lots of light. Like many helmet cams shooting footage which bounces around all over the place, it really needs a "constant" in the frame as a point of reference. Like pointing it at yourself or at a caver directly in front of you, etc.

A great toy for the caver who doesn't already have enough gadgets. Fun!

[freewheeler2go]

Greetings!
I too recently acquired an ATC-2K camera. I am really happy with it given that I am only interested in posting the vids on Youtube. Resolution is fine for this. I have posted a dozen or so caving vids on Youtube. You can see them under uk.youtube.com/user/freewheeler2go

I mounted the camera to the side of my helmet. I use a Stenlight.
The key was to align the camera with the stenlight such that the center of the light aligns with the center of the camera field of view. I am learning the limitations....the best distance to be (for my stenlight on Turbo setting) is 10 to 30 feet. Anything closer may be washed out by the Turbo setting. Anything beyond that is difficult to pickup.

Overall, I like the ATC and have found it easy to use!

[caveworm]

I recently got a Helmet camera (bullet camera) to take images of my caving trips. I am wearing either on the helmet or with a Strap around my head.
I have been able to take great footage. I just hook it up to My DVr or camcorder straped to my waist.


I got the GHOST CAM II Night and Day Cam by Adrenaline Systems. I shopped around and this brand has great reputation and is very reasonably priced.. you can find it at:

www.helmetcamera.tv/product_info.php?products_id=296

Make sure to check out the whole site as they have a lot of good solutions:


www.helmetcamera.tv.

www.adrenalinesystems.com/images/adrenalinecamera/800068_feature.gif [/img]



Though it is meant for Extreme sports, I have used this unit
It can be use day and night. It picks up the darkest of places as well as transitions into light.
Their service has been great. They set me up with all I needed, including a rugged DVR with SD card input for super fast footage stoorage.
Em if you have any questions.

[Brian Roebuck]

Sounds interesting Caveworm. Thanks for the info!

[L Roebuck]

That link is ok caveworm -- but we want to see the footage from your caving trips. Got links