When I review helmet cam systems I generally look at the big picture – which boils down to usability, reliability, and performance. Xtreme Recall excels in all of these areas. Some highlights: One battery to power camcorder and helmet camera, Right-Angle Sony 10-Pin AV Connectors, Durable & Waterproof cable connects, Fog Proof Cameras, great microphones, and a killer waterpoof LANC remote. If you are considering purchasing a helmet cam setup, please read on….

The Cameras
Xtreme Recall offers a variety of cameras ranging in price and quality. I will not get into quality comparisons with other cameras, all I will say is the video quality is top notch. All of their cameras have been specifically engineered to meet their requirements. The cameras really shine in the following ares:

• 1/3″ Sony – SuperHAD CCD’s – only the best. Also, their custom chipsets handle glare and abrupt light changes very well.
• Vacuum Sealed lense housings! FOR REAL – guaranteed anti-fogging. No internal lense fogging when experiencing dramatic temp changes. All it takes is a little bit of moisture in the housing and you’re screwed. Many helmet cam outfits claim their units are vacuum sealed, but I can attest that is not the case.
• Unique lense cover – made from Perspex with is a shatter/scratch resistant plastic technology. Most other cameras will use glass.
• Waterproff / Submergible – and not just the camera. All of the Xtreme Recall’s cable harnesses have truly kick ass waterproof, connectors.
• Flexible power band range. The cameras will function anywhere between 6V and 12V DC. This is a critical feature that allows for Xtreme Recall’s unique Single Battery Sony solution which allows the helmet camera to be powered from the Sony camcorder battery. This feature rocks.

Overall Usability
The Xtreme Recall systems really shine when it comes to usability. Whether you are mountain biking, snowboarding, whitewater rafting, skydiving or spelunking – no one whats to screw around with tiny buttons, fragile wire connections, or constantly removing things from backpacks. The cameras are small and lightweight. Their LANC controller is easy to use with gloves and even puffy mittens. The cable harnesses are waterproof, very durable and can also be connected and disconnected without even looking at them. The camera mounting systems are quick, simple, and reliable. Stereo and water submergible microphones. An idustry first, the Xtreme Recall custom Sony battery configuration enables the Helmet Camera to run off of the camcorder’s battery. Lastly, the CamelBack integrated backpacks are also an industry first.

I’ll start with Xtreme Recall’s Waterproof LANC remote control. This thing rocks. When used in conjunction with a Sony camcorder that supports the most current LANC feature set, the remote will do the following for you:

• Press the button ONCE, and the camcorder will turn on. The easily visible LED on the remote will be GREEN. Your camcorder is now ON and in STANDBY.
• Once in Standby, Press the button again and you are now RECORDING. The LED will now be RED.
• Once recording, Press the button again and you are back in STANDBY. The LED will now be GREEN.
• Press and hold the button for several seconds, and the Camcorder will shut off. The LED will flash a few times and turn off.
• The LED will FLASH RED when you are running out of tape or battery. This is a great feature as well.

Next, are the highly refined, durable, waterproof and reliable Cable Harnesses. We found the cable lengths to be ideal in length, mainly they are NOT TOO SHORT. The cameras have a few feet of cable, then terminate with a waterproof connector. I have to say that the connectors they use are the BEST available.

Here are the highlights:

• The connections are truly waterproof. They have O-Ring seals, in tandem with threaded connectors.
• The Male/Female Pin lineups are durable and allow for blind connections. This means you can reach behind your head with winter gloves on and line up the male/female connections, push them together, and thread the connections shut – all without seeing what you are doing.
• The Connector Pins are strong and overall the connections are engineered to prevent damaging the pins. Unlike some other pin connections on the market which are hair thin, I have yet to bend or misalign these connectors (even when doing it blind).
• Generally, a well designed cable setup that eliminates mess, confusing, and unwanted cable disconnects.

Attaching Helmet Cameras to a helmet has always been a challenge: Positioning the camera just right, affixing it in a non-permanent manor, allowing for camera position flexibilty on the helmet, and quick setup are some examples of these challenges. For mounting cameras, Xtreme Recall again has a highly effective approach. They offer a variety of hardware based mounts vehicles, but I’m going to focus on their wearable mounting setups.

I really love their helmet camera mounts. The mount is very simple, yet effective. First, place the provided velcro adhesive strips to your helmet. These strips come in multi-packs and range in length from 4-8 inches. I prefer the longer version because it covers are large region on top of a helmet. This long length provides a huge range of camera position options on the helmet: all the way forward, all the way back, pointing forwards, or pointing backwards. Next, slide the camera into the fabric based helmet mount. The stretchable sheath grips the camera very tightly and allows for camera rotation angle adjustments. The helmet mount has a large velcro surface area on the bottom. Lastly, firmly push the helmet mount onto the velcro strip on your helmet. That’s it. First impression was that it was not strong enough, but after downhill mountain biking for thousands of vertical feet and several deep powder snowboard front flips diggers – it has proven itself to me.

Here are the highlights of the Xtreme Recall Helmet Camera mounting system:

• The velcro mount is VERY strong, and VERY versatile.
• If I don’t like the forward angle of the camera, I just pull the mount off of the velcro and move it forward or backward. No tools, no glue, no drilling, and NO DUCKTAPE!
• If I want to film people riding behind me, I just pull the mount off of the velcro and turn it around and slap it back on my helmet. You can even turn the mount sideways on the helmet too.
• Safety: As strong as the velcro is, if the camera wire harness were to snag on something the velcro would give way before the upper vertebrae of my neck – bonus.
• Multiple cameras? The helmet mounts are totally affordable, so you can have each camera in it’s own mount and ready to roll.
• Filming with friends? Have 10 different helmets for 10 different sports? No problem. The velcro multi-packs are awesome when filming with friends or when you have multiple helmets. Just slap a velcro strip on each helmet and your set. Period. Cheap, no tools, no long setup times, and simple camera position adjustments for each riders different helmet angle.
• In summary: Effective, durable, affordable, flexible, and easy.

Xtreme Recall has a great single battery solution for the helmet camera marketplace. Since their cameras operate between 6-12V DC the cameras can be powered from the lower voltage provided by Sony camcorder batteries. This is one of my favorite usability features of the Xtreme Recall systems because it further reduces the wire clutter and points of system failure. Xtreme Recall’s custom Extended Life Sony camcorder battery provides a power dongle off the back of the camcorder battery to power the helmet camera. So, you connect the battery to your camcorder like you normallywould, then connect your helmet camera to the custom power dongle on the battery. Keep in mind that when the helmet camera is connected to the dongle it is ALWAYS ON, even if the camcorder is OFF. Regardless, this is the best solution out there. Since it’s an extended life battery, I found that I can leave the helmet camera powered up for hours and use the LANC controller to power on/off the camcorder. In this setup a single battery has allowed for 2 full hours of recorded footage with camcorder and helmet camera powered the whole time, with battery to spare afterwards. If you need more record time, carry an extra battery. I no longer have to worry if my camcorder battery is outlasting my helmet camera battery. One battery to charge, one power source, and it the battery runs out the LANC controller tells me! Nice.

Xtreme Recall’s customer CamelBack integrated helmet camera packs are worth the money. These packs arrive with the cable harnesses, microphones, and LANC controller pre-wired into the pack. The fact that these are military grade CamelBack’s are a bonus! Here are the military grade features: extremely strong water bladders, quick disconnect valves at the bladder and mouth piece, insulated water tube, and a water flow toggle switch at mouth piece. This is a great investment, looks very professional and will save you from many hassles with wires.

Other Items of Interest
Xtreme Recall specializes in custom systems and camera upgrades. If you need a custom cable setup they can hook you up. Also, if you have an old helmet camera, you can send it to them and they will upgrade the wire harness to their connectors and even adapt it to a Sony 10-pin connector! They also sell a unique camcorder impact protector – worth checking out if you want to prevent crushing your camcorder in a fall.

In Summary
At this point in the wearable video game, bolt-on camcorder based systems such as the Xtreme Recall are no longer worth the extra cost and extra wires. If you are looking for the a wearable helmet cam system with excellent video quality, Helmet Camera Central highly recommends the ContourHD by VholdR.