Taking video of your action sports has never been easier. With the new helmet camera’s you can take video of your skiing, snowboarding, surfing, biking, dirt biking, hang gliding, kayaking or any other sport you’re into. It’s a blast to go over the day on the slopes with friends after the lifts have closed. Just mount the camera to your helmet, bike or board, or strap it on to yourself using the various accessories available. Hit the play button and you can take up to 2 ½ hours of video. You’ll get incredible sound without whirl of the wind.
Rechargeable batteries last up to 2 ½ hours and have a built in battery warmer for winter outdoor sports. Batteries can be fully recharged in 2 hours. A 32GB SD card will store up to 9 hours of video. If you get a smaller SD card you’ll have to transfer the video more often to your computer and clean up the SD card to have room for newer videos.
If you are using the GoPro’s helmet camera it also takes still photos and a capture mode can be set to take a single photo shot every 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds with the 3 photo burst self-timer.
A highly engineered polycarbonate exoskeletal housing is shockproof and tough enough to protect the camera from rocks and other hazards thanks to its removable polycarbonate housing. It is also waterproof to 180 feet. GoPro’s are built to take a beating. Replacement housings and lens kits are available, making repairs or refurbishing your HD HERO camera affordable and convenient.
The basic GoPro HD Hero 960 camera at $179.99 has the same professional grade 960p, 720p and 480p (WVGA) video options as the GoPro HD Helmet HERO.
The GoPro HD Helmet HERO camera at $299.99 is packed with additional important features for filmmaking hobbyists & professional videographers.
The GoPro HD Helmet HERO is compatible with all GoPro mounts & accessories, like the 720p @ 60fps, 1080p video, and the HERO BUS expansion port in the rear of the camera that will let you take advantage of GoPro’s BacPac accessories – LCD screen & Battery Extension.
Local Alpine Accessories customers can rent the GoPro camera for just $49 for 3 days or $69 for 7 days usage which includes the 4G SD card for you to take home with your videos, a $19.95 value!
Here is what everyone is saying about the GoPro:
- “…packs more power than most professional cameras on the market today” says The New York Times
- “When I saw the footage from the GoPro on our big screens, I was amazed…” says producer Rick McCallum, Lucasfilm, Ltd.
- “Without a doubt, these are some of the smallest, lightest and easiest to use helmet cameras on the market. Great for taking videos of skiing and boarding!” says the staff at Alpine Accessories.
The ION Air Pro WiFi had some unique features we really liked.
In 1986 if someone was to strap a video camera to their helmet, it would be so heavy and bulky they would not be able to go down the hill. The cameras then weighed around 30 pounds, were bigger than most heads and the video and sound quality was terrible. But it had to start somewhere.
We now have video cameras that can hide in the palm of your hand, weighs in around 4 ounces including the battery! The darn things are so small and light you forget they are on your head. And what they are capable of is outstanding!
We researched and tested the new cameras on the market. We looked at the camera that started it all, GoPro. And we looked at ION, Contour and JVC. Now all were good cameras and very similar but we found a few features about the ION we liked so much, we closed out GoPro and started carrying the ION Air Pro.
Now all the cameras we tested had similar specs on the quality of the video. We found when you looked at your videos on a computer screen or your phone, we could not tell the difference in quality. The high definition only made a slight difference on a high def TV and even then it was hard to tell.
First, the controls vibrated when you pressed them. You may not think this is a big deal but many times we missed videos with our GoPro on top our helmet because we thought we pressed the button to record but got back to the condo and had nothing because the camera never started recording. Then I had the reverse problem. I thought I turned it off once and when I got back to review the video, I had a video of us standing around talking, waiting in lift line and riding up the lift. The vibrating buttons let you know every time you do something.
Second, it is water proof right out of the box. No need to put it in a water proof case. And when you put a GoPro in the waterproof case, it kills the sound.
Third, wind noise. The cylindrical design of the ION slices through the air with hardly any wind noise so you get to hear everything with more clarity.
Last, it hooks up with my cell phone via WiFi. I can operate the camera, see what I am shooting, review videos, check my battery life and a whole lot more with the free app. This feature alone is worth the camera. It took me a little time to figure the WiFi connection and controls but once you got it, it so easy to use.
So if you are looking for a new video camera, consider the ION Air Pro WiFi. It is worth every penny.