Anybody used an oregon ATC3K helmet cam? Any Good?

For around the same price, the GoPro Helmet Hero Wide is a far better option.
As it's a super wide angle lens the effect of "wobbly head" is reduced in the footage.
As with all things there is a slight compromise to the Oregon as the resolution is not quite as high (But still looks great on a LCD TV), and you can only use up to 2Gb SD cards for 1 hr of footage.
On the plus side, it comes with heaps of mounting brackets and will also take 5 mp photos every 2 or 5 seconds instead of video.
If you are in Perth, Launch Helmet Cams sell both. I've had good dealings with them.
If you want to spend more, then they have plenty more higher resolution options
www.launchhelmetcams.com/

Hey LouD. I have an ATC2K helmet cam. Picked it up from Ebay a while ago for $150 brand new. I use it mainly for mountain bike riding but recently took it out kite surfing.

I found mounting to the helmet can be a little tricky as it means a lot of trial and error getting the angle right. But you have the option of mounting to your board, or even on your body somehow...I think the mounting, no matter what camera you buy will always end up being a custom job...velco straps only go so far.

As dgl said, make sure you check and clean the o-rings and apply silicon before going out on the water.

I agree with the shaking and the noise, but if you have a solid setup that reduces the shaking, its comes out good. Also a decent editing package can reduce the shaking and a decent soundtrack will fix the noise...who wants to listen to the wind anyway! I think you will find this applies to most self-contained cameras.

The ATC is fairly easy to use and doesn't require much to get going. Get some decent batteries and a good SD card. I thought I read somewhere that the newer models can use up to 4GB. Which will give you about 2hrs footage on the highest resolution.

To me, I don't see too much difference between the ATC3K and the GoPro except the GoPro is $100 dearer. The benefit I guess is it takes photos and has a waterproof depth up to 30m (if you like diving)

I am trying to thing of a way of attaching to the kite or lines and get a downward shot, but I think will be tricky. There will also be the risk of smashing it if I crash the kite.

Good luck with the shopping.

peanuticus said...

Oregon thing is CRAP.

best thing since sliced bread is the GoPro Surf! Kitepower sells em.

I am interested in why you say this. I will eventually look to upgrade mine...please explain.

i have one and have used it quite a bit it does the goods for the price, i have mounted it on my kite and also a Gath helmet the kite gives the best result,, the software to edit the video is the bit thats a bit tricky, iahev some really good editing SW but uses heaps of memory and is quite large at the end.
tie a good lanyard to the camera and yeah turn off teh sound and edit in some music

I have both cams , Go pro is by far the best

shot was taken on 2 second interval function, with go pro wide angle mounted on a garth helmet, Go pro are now bringing out a new wide angle wrist version as well in the next month.

ianmac said...

I mounted my ATK camera on to a piece of foam which i cutout to the strut shape , lined it with velcro , glued velcro to the Strut . then used various pieces of velcro to attach it to the foam . It takes about three attempts to get the angle right but no biggie, you can also see i cut an out line of the base into the foam so theATK Kit would sit still

Good stuff. Thanks mate. Not too keen to go gluing velcro strips on the strut, but see what i can make up Good work.