Helmet cams?

[Scuba_Steve]

Hello people, I'm looking at helmet cams. I see a few people around here have the Go Pro. What I'm wondering is does anyone have any other band & what is peoples experience with these devices. I'm mainly looking Contour, Go Pro, & Tachyon but if someone wants to show off another brand (HD only) feel free to do so. So if anyone has experience &/ vids to share that would be good.
FYI I'm especially interested in Tachyon's "indestructible" qualities as my purpose for the cam will range from road bike to dirt bike to paintball.
Any info appreciated, cheers in advance

[Scuba_Steve]

Anyone willing to share helmet cam experience???

[NZsarge]

Drift HD 170. Google it.
Edit: it's the only one i've seen that can really compete with the GoPro.

[willytheekid]

Hay steve

I have the Tachyon XC (non High def).
The case is fantastic!, truely water proof (U can take it swimming etc) and really good at absorbing knocks etc.....but.
The sound is absolute shit!....to the point that it would be better off with the mic ripped off it completely (the case just muffles the sound and amplifies wind noise!)
The video is ok (for non high def) but the new HD XC is meant to be great for picture quality, but still has shit sound!.
KB memeber Peeteey, is the one to talk about HD cameras, hes tried heaps of them and currently uses a Go-Pro HD with water proof case etc.....bloody good camera!, good sound/picture and mounting options.

[Scuba_Steve]

Hay steve

I have the Tachyon XC (non High def).
The case is fantastic!, truely water proof (U can take it swimming etc) and really good at absorbing knocks etc.....but.
The sound is absolute shit!....to the point that it would be better off with the mic ripped off it completely (the case just muffles the sound and amplifies wind noise!)
The video is ok (for non high def) but the new HD XC is meant to be great for picture quality, but still has shit sound!.
KB memeber Peeteey, is the one to talk about HD cameras, hes tried heaps of them and currently uses a Go-Pro HD with water proof case etc.....bloody good camera!, good sound/picture and mounting options.

hey cheers, yea I've heard the sound is shit due to waterproofing the mic. Not to much of an issue, for paintball it could occasionally be nice to have but as for the biking no-one wants a constant drone of the engine throughout the clip. I do see this year they're also offering a model with better audio but not the waterproofing.

It's definitely the cams abuse ability I'm looking for but I also want decent quality picture, which is why I'm kinda leaning towards the Tachyon XC HD, but would like to know how the others hold up & what peoples experience with them has been, are they good at this, shit at this etc.

[motor_mayhem]

I've got contour HD, really good for ease of use and quality

[Scuba_Steve]

I've got contour HD, really good for ease of use and quality

would you feel comfortable using it in "rugged" conditions??? & hows the audio on those cams???

[george formby]

I've used my go pro on a helmet mount with no problems. I use the "open" door when I'm on the bike to get better sound. I have it covered with gaffa tape to make it water resistant or splash proof... Sound is good up to a 100kmh or so depending on mounting position. The mounting clip clicks but I solved that with a bit of gaffa tape too.
With the water proof door on it does what it says on the packet. I have used it for spear fishing down to 15 mtrs or so. Battery life is about 2 hours in the real world.
My only issue was figuring out how to edit MP4 with Windows movie maker, sorted that too.

[george formby]

One thing I have noticed with the contours is ease of mounting. People are taping them to just about anything with no brackets. Can't do that easily with a gopro.

[steve_t]

I've used my go pro on a helmet mount with no problems. I use the "open" door when I'm on the bike to get better sound. I have it covered with gaffa tape to make it water resistant or splash proof... Sound is good up to a 100kmh or so depending on mounting position. The mounting clip clicks but I solved that with a bit of gaffa tape too.
With the water proof door on it does what it says on the packet. I have used it for spear fishing down to 15 mtrs or so. Battery life is about 2 hours in the real world.
My only issue was figuring out how to edit MP4 with Windows movie maker, sorted that too.

There's a little orange (or white) rubber doohickey that stops the mounting click sound.

Scuba Steve, it does sound like a Go Pro would be the best suited for your needs. I use the open 'skeleton' door for mountain biking but the sealed door for on the motorbike cos I find the wind noise is too much where I mount mine.

[Scuba_Steve]

There's a little orange (or white) rubber doohickey that stops the mounting click sound.

Scuba Steve, it does sound like a Go Pro would be the best suited for your needs. I use the open 'skeleton' door for mountain biking but the sealed door for on the motorbike cos I find the wind noise is too much where I mount mine.

would you have any worries about it falling in mud, clay, or even just dirt with a decent hit etc??? & considering it's form factor how easy would you say it is to attach it to things like a paintball barrel or mask??? that is whats worrying me with the Go Pro, its square!

[george formby]

would you have any worries about it falling in mud, clay, or even just dirt with a decent hit etc??? & considering it's form factor how easy would you say it is to attach it to things like a paintball barrel or mask??? that is whats worrying me with the Go Pro, its square!

The case is pretty strong, mine has connected with the odd bit of shrubbery & a rock or two with no damage. If you do munt it you can replace it very reasonably.

Being square, mounting needs to be inventive, as long as you can stick one of the self adhesive mounts onto something your away. You can also set it to film upside down. I'm gonna stick mine on a dog harness, Bull Terrier cam! You can get a ram mount attachment too.

Gaffa tape IMHO works better than the doohickey, much easier to clip & unclip & zero clicking.

[steve_t]

would you have any worries about it falling in mud, clay, or even just dirt with a decent hit etc??? & considering it's form factor how easy would you say it is to attach it to things like a paintball barrel or mask??? that is whats worrying me with the Go Pro, its square!

Yeah, it's rugged as.
Here's some footage from youtube with a Go Pro attached to some dude's paintball mask

[BoristheBiter]

I have the Drift HD170.
Other than the mic, I have no complaints about it or the ruggedness of it as i have had a good few offs (dirt) and it still rocks on.

Some of my vids. http://www.youtube.com/user/Boristhebiter?feature=mhum

I got mine from these guys,

http://www.launchhelmetcams.ca/

Received it in 4 days from order.
I also got the long life battery and 32G card.
I have not had a day when i have ran out of either battery or memory.
Biggest thing is you will need a fast computer as it takes a bit of power to edit them and some storage space unless you edit then erase 15m@1080p=1GB.

[BoristheBiter]

Oh and if you are getting one now from Launch helmet cams

Storewide Sale! - Get 10% off absolutely everything for the next 4 days only. Enter coupon code JFB10 (must be in capitals) in to the checkout to get 10% off your order