We have been trialling a similar camera for some of our 2008 promo clips and our camera guys have all given it the big thumbs EXCEPT for the fact you still need to produce/purchase a housing for the mpeg4 recorder as its only the actual lipstick that is water proof (make that bomb proof)

Getting a housing to fit the suv-cam mp4 player is no great issue... finding a remote control or lanc controller to switch to record mode is however a real issue.

Our guys have also achieved some pretty amazing results using high res lipsticks into mini dv cameras in purpose built housings that can be controlled by a lanc controller that is fitted to the strap on the purpose built camel back pack holding the housing and camera.

The guys are also messing around with the lipstick into an mp4 player so they can utilize their current collection of lipstick cameras... we will keep you posted on how they go !

I've had a chance to mess with different lipstick cameras through work and the one I purchased for myself, and to be absolutely frank you'll be hard pressed to find a waterproof lipstick cam (cam only - no recorder) that genuinely reproduces 500 TV lines resolution for under $600. Even the companies on the web advertising their cams as 520 - 580, even 620, are not any more than 480 when properly tested on a resolution chart. However, personally even 420 lines is good enough for DVD 720x576 quality video if the colour reproduction and focus is good, which is what you'll get with the sony HAD sensors.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Elmo cam is 640x480 @ 420 (claimed) TV lines.

The Helcam one I bought claims 580 TV lines, but when I test with chart it is still really only about 460 to 480.

The important thing is that you get one with a Sony SuperHAD or EXHAD 1/3 inch sensor. The panasonic and samsung sensors currently don't compare to the quality of sony's. I'm not sure what's in the Elmo but it may not be a sony. I've read recently that a Korean company has developed a super-duper new sensor type that we will probably see in the next generation of digicams/camcorders and has significantly higher light sensitivity with much less noise.

As far as auto/manual focus is concerned, the iris in the cams are generally set to a high F-stop (small aperture) which increases the depth of field so much that providing you manually focus the cam on a subject 50 metres away, even things right up close will be in focus too. Most helmet cam setups have a wide angle lens which also reduces the need for auto focus, and the wider the the angle the less image stabilisation issues occur. Basically - you won't need auto focus at all

Sorry if I've stated the obvious here, but to those who didn't know much about it I hope this helps a bit.

Yep have to agree with Stehs and Haircut regarding getting whay you pay for (and ther SUP is a tad exy)

We're messing around with 480 line lipsticks plug into one of these
http://www.minidisc.com.au/iaudio-a2-portable-media-player-20gb-p-767.html?display=reviews

Still face the same problem of no remote and no way of being able to build/modify a housing for an easy start record, pause record button

This is why we continually return to the mini dv with lanc controller stashed away in a purpose built waterproof housing.
As Haircut mentioned 480 TV lines for DVD 4x3 (720x576) is OK... but we tend to use the stuff mainly for cut aways or web based stuff. If you compare it to standard mini dv quality, from a production point of view the lipstick vision is polls apart in quality... especially if you are shooting from the beach with a decent 3 chip (3CCD) camera

I'm having trouble finding the original sensor link that I read, but theres some stuff here plus the new kodak replacement to their existing bayer array

fareastgizmos.com/digital_cameras/new_image_sensor_chip_enables_digital_cameras_to_capture_vibrant_images_without_a_flash_in_dark.php

www.dpreview.com/news/0706/07061401kodakhighsens.asp

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Do you really want to start/stop? My somewhat bulky setup runs non stop for 5 hours at full compression quality 25fps 720x576 rez which I have found covers most of the day and you never miss anything as it is left recording the whole time onto a JVC everio 30gig camcorder. At he end of the day i just scrub through the video straight off the cam via the PC and trim off what i want to keep. Admittedly the mini DV tape camcorders have slightly better pic quality but i'm not sure the quality outweighs the convenience of Hard disk.

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In our experience the time you save being able to start/stop recording at the flick of a switch is worth it. Having to scrub through an hour of tape to get 6 minutes of usable stuff is tiresome to say the least. Then there's always the issue of missing something spectacular because the tape has run out (it also inspires the riders to go for big moves when they know the camera is recording - they just look down, see the red light on the chest mounted button and go for broke)
As we are running direct to a mini dv system (and agree with your view - admittedly the mini DV tape camcorders have slightly better pic quality)it means we have 1 hour of tape max. As we are looking for the best possible image resolution and clarity the lipstick to mini dv provides the best possible solution at present.
The main guys who look after our camera stuff have around 15 years combined experience in broadcast television so can get a bit picky when it comes to image quality.

I'll see if I can get a picture of one of the set ups and upload.
Anyone who saw the Windsurfing West Oz episode on Gero would have seen the quality of the image that can be captured using the helmet cam set ups we are running

With a lanc setup to your system Haircut you could record 5 hours of quality vision as opposed to having to scrub through a large amount of data. The time we save by not having to go through all the pictures to delete all the boring stuff means we can spend more time on the actual editing

But as they say, each to his own. Not trying to tell you how to do it, simply highlighting what we have found works after using this stuff for the past 4 - 5 years

Regards

WindWarrior Australia

We have added a shot of one of our helmet cam set ups to the photo section
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=5096
Unfortunately the animated gif did not load, we had dropped in 7 frames from a video sequence as stills and hoped that it would actually rotate through the frames (animated gif) so you could get a feel for the shot. Looks like the upload has selected just 1 frame.
The sequence was of a nice little table top captured using helmet cam

The quality of the image in the photo does not do the helmet cam justice. As mentioned previously anyone who saw the West Oz Windsurfing segment on Gero WA would have seen what the cam can capture.

The housing itself is bomb proof pvc housing (super light and super tough)with a fail safe airtight inner seal/section. The inner airlock may seem a little over the top but you only have to flood one recording device (in this case a mini dv camera) for it to be a worthwhile addition (we learnt this the hard way !)

Anyone looking to use this sort of set up we would recommend checking to see if your recording device (mini dv camera) can receive and record an exterior av input... a lot of cheaper mini dv cameras can not record an av input.

The lanc controller that you can see in the shots allows the rider to select what they want to record as opposed to simply running the camera non stop until the tape runs out.
Focusing mainly on wave ridding and jumps, simply leaving the camera to record the full hour menas you get a lot of blah blah type shots as the guys are going out and setting up their jumps/waves as opposed to all shots of jumps and waves.
Having watched our guys cut together numerous clips, segments and dvd's of windsurfing, the general blasting in and around and jybing with the helmet cam on all look pretty much the same (which = boring/repetitive shots)
At the end of the day it just comes down to what you want to do with the footage.
If its just for watching back with your mates to show them what it looks like to sail around, catch a few waves, hit a few ramps and take a few dumpings, leaving the camera recording till it runs out is fine.

We also found using a H2O microphone provided some pretty special commentary... especially during wipeouts and or big big jumps/waves