Helmet cams are they a 5 minute wonder

A snowHead

I have been thinking of buying a helmet cam. But do you get board of them and if you get the skiing video out with your friends do they suddenly need to go home Puzzled

cran

You can use them for mountain biking and driving and other things as well as ski video, maybe even some POV sex videos (might be a bit off putting if you have a helmet or goggle mounting but give it a go...)

probably best not to get the video's out when you have friends round.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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rogg,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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It's like any other video - it is all about the editing. They can add some great footage to a holiday video but seeing an entire run from a headcam is usually rather dull (some obvious exceptions have been posted here before).

I take a lot of video footage when skiing with my mates but 3 hours of footage over a week usually edits down to about 6 minutes of watchable film.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

horizon did this rather good one on one of our holidays in Montgenevre editing together all the crashes: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=62914 . I think the headcam works especially well (as here) following someone, especially in trees where you have more reference points:

After all it is free

I've got one and use it occasionally. It does work best, as snowball said, when you have a reference point such as trees or following/being followed closely by another skier. On the days when I use the helmet cam I take a lot of footage and then edit it to a few minutes. Works OK for me like this, with occasional use rather than every day. Using it constantly would get tedious pretty quickly, but when the conditions are right it can be great to get decent footage of what skiing is all about (much better than photos).

For real value you need to be doing something interesting, trees, chutes etc with some definition. Turn left, turn right on a piste gets pretty boring pretty quickly POV. Alternately you need to be doing follow cam in which case you need to be good to keep up and keep your head directed at the subject.

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rob@rar, do you dump the video off the card every night, which means taking a laptop with you?

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kitenski, yes, but I take a laptop with me anyway. If you didn't want to do that you could stock up on memory cards as they are fairly cheap these days.

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cheers, how many hours of video do the cards hold?

kitenski, depends on the setting you use (1080, 720, etc) but I work on the basis of about 30m per GB.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I bought a cheap-ish one from ebay (about £40)... Stopped working when it was too cold...!

A snowHead

Been using helmet cam since about 2003, so 5 minute wonder? No. Great for filming your own run, but better for filming other people skiing/riding.
2 notes of caution.

1.
It will take that brilliant memory you have of hooning down the hill on the ragged edge, showing all and sundry those Skillz-dat-pay-billz and shine a Very bright and harsh light on them till you'll you'll be asking "Why is someone not helping this poor, fat old gentleman off the mountain and back the care home he so desparately needs?

2.
Nothing will make your friends flee from your home faster than you saying 'hey wanna see the footage of me skiing?' - Judiciously edit everything you shoot down to two cuts, one for your non skiing friends, who are only interested in either tricks (and they'll be other peoples - any trick filmed from your perspecting will look like you almost falling over), or your falling over, and the falling over will win everytime.
The second cut will be for yourself and be much longer, which you could show to your ski buddies who will mercilessly mock you for the reasons laid out in note 1.

I say go for it though, you never know you may end up with enough footage on ‘You’ve Been Framed’ to pay for your next trip.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Zero-G, the camera itself is very small, about 2/3 inches long and the about the diameter of a tube of smarties. It’s a remote analogue feed camera going back into a sony camcorder tucked in my backpack so actually. Rigging yourself up can be a bit of a faff compared to the new digital point-n-go jobbies, but the image quality is not far off that of the camcorder itself, and the minicam itself is pretty much bulletproof fully watertight, has performed perfectly in temps down to about -25 and it's captured my extensive 'blooper reel moments' flawlessly Embarassed

.

But all things must pass and am thinking on an upgrade next season though... Those new HD Contour range are calling to me...

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Thanks for all the replies some very interesting points.
If I can get one at the right price I may well go for it. I,ve seen HD 1080 for £149.00 on Amazon

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

i have gopro HD, its brilliant, im actually getting another one in the next week or 2. It is ALL in the editing. noone wants to see 10min video of you going down a slope. Now im clearly no pro (at skiing or shooting) but you can bear it, check out 2 of mine i made. all shot on gopro HD and edited in final cut and adobe premiere . first one is ok, i like the second one better, hopefully film 3 will be even better!

http://youtube.com/v/oLcP7mucm0I

http://youtube.com/v/soXnk0dSCvI

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i have a Drift x170, and so some mates so we have great fun and especially to see your mates doing 'the walk of shame' or seeing the young kids hooning around. have had lots of fun sat round with beers watching later on.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I'd get one but I don't think anyone would be interested in a serious of clips demonstrating my inability to stay upright for more than a couple of minutes Smile

After all it is free

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has to be a GoPro. I watched the promo video and had to go and buy one. Made loads of short movies and the accessories are totally geared towards extreme sports

Check out the promo video and i bet you will want one!

http://youtube.com/v/yo3M6EB8kmk

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Just got a GoPro 960 myself. Shoots a wider angle than the more expensive 1080. The versatility of it is incredible compared to other less 'special' looking devices. I've currently got it mounted on the seatpost pointing back up the trail. More interesting POV than looking ahead and just seeing someone's back bottom. I can't wait to use it in the winter

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Togger, your vids just loaded - awesome. Pianjoo - tune Cool

Did you try attaching the unit to the tip of one ski, looking back? There's a great bit of footage on the GoPro website using that POV

I've done a good few 'Quiver Killer' inserts to the tips of skis & a couple of pole inserts for camera mounting. Just waiting for the first request to put the inserts in to a helmet - but if you sign a disclaimer I'm game Toofy Grin

You know it makes sense.

Everyones raving about GoPros and for a very good reason, they are bloody awsome.

But having used a few here and there, I dont really advise purchasing them (especially the really expensive ones) unless your going to do something inspiring with it and would be able to edit and share them with people (and snowheads) to boast about how good a skier/boarder you are.

If you are the type that would use one to film day-to-day sports with nothing particularly interesting and then only go home and watch the raw file on your pc and thats it. Then it becomes a 5 minute wonder boys toy.

Should be getting my own GoPro soon, I really cant wait.

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Helmet cams are they a 5 minute wonder

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