Just kidding…. Really this is all about the New York Times giving props to helmet cameras.

If mass media outfits that did product reviews were apples, then the New York Times would be a big one. Known worldwide for its career making/breaking book and movie reviews, the New York Times has now given proper respect to the hobby of helmet cam-ing with its recent rave reviews of two our hottest selling helmet camera systems: The POV.1 and the VholdR. Their reviewer James Bogner tested the systems out on mountain bike trails in Queens and in Upper Manhattan (believe it or not). His review of the POV.1 unit, while perhaps not as in-depth as our own, never-the-less had very good things to say. Mr. Bogner praised the waterproof, shock-resistant and dustproof POV.1, saying it “inspired confidence” by being both “easiest to set up” and “painless to use”. He favored its design and the included software with a “quick” boot time. He also said the POV.1 videos, stored on an SD card, were “natural and appealing”.

The VholdR was also pleasing to this New Yorker’s highly refined palate: Sayeth Bogner about its wireless design: “simple all-in-one ease”. As to his impressions of the video that he pulled off of it: “natural and smooth”. Indeed, the video clips attached to this New York Times online article did look smooth and as natural as can be expected considering the mountain biking was done inside New York City limits. Here at HCC we are very excited to see these products given the attention they deserve, especially by such prestigious publications as this one.

We recommend that you take a look at this product review/slideshow, not for the wealth of information that it contains, but for the side by side video comparisons and for the consumer confidence that a trusted source of information like this one can provide.

Click here to read the story over at the New York Times - make sure and click the “Next Page” arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the pictures to read the full 5 page article.

At first glance, the Hero 3’s conspicuous lack of sophistication and James Bond gadgetry could easily make it cannon fodder for a bad product review. It has no on-the-fly video playback, the near TV quality 512 by 384 resolution may cause the keen eye to wander to the next product.

Upon further reflection, however, where the Hero is found wanting has more to do with exactly that : user wants, and not user needs. One can still get good footage without the LCD screen for playback, and video storage capabilities are ample for most users. It may not be as small as a tube of lipstic, but the GoPro Hero still comes in under other “cable-less” helmet camera systems both in size, weight, and cost. So, if your willing to wait until you return home to view your video footage, and you don’t mind changing memory cards when taking more than an hour of Motion JPEG video, then purchasing the GoPro Hero instead of one of the pricier -and albiet more sophisticated- helmet camera systems can instantly put several hundred dollars or more towards making that next footage ladden vacation a reality.

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Well, here it is, the holy grail of the helmet cam world (for now) -The POV.1 from VIO. We have been waiting for the POV.1 since the inception of wearable video. The POV.1 is a fully integrated, fully digital, DVD quality helmet cam system. We have a POV.1 in-house, and are so impressed with this system we have moved it to the top of our recommended helmet cam list, and to our inventory over at the The Shop @ Helmet Camera Central. Also, based on our hands-on review of the POV.1, it has met most of the specifications for our dream helmet cam system.

VIO has invested quite a bit of time and money into designing this product from the ground up, and it shows. A lot of thought must have went into the hundreds of design decisions behind this unit. So far there seems to be good reason behind each issue I have with the unit. Keep reading as I discuss usability, pricing, quality, the good and the bad.

Some highlights of the Viosport (VIO) POV.1:

• The whole system is waterproof to 1m (3ft)
• Built in LCD screen on recording unit to view live video and review video
• 98 Field of View Wide Angle Lens with Infinite Focus
• DivX MPEG4 AVI Compression, 1GB at 720×480@30fps = 40 Minutes
• 24P and 30P Progressive video ready, up to 720×480
• SD card storage (up to 2GB), USB 2.0 connectivity, and Analog video/audio output
• No digital to analog conversion - digital from camera to compression
• Wireless remote - start/stop record and nice TAG feature
• 4 AA batteries powers the recording unit and camera
• 1 cable. From recording unit to camera
• Waterproof in-line microphone integrated into camera cable
• Lightweight (About 1 lb (375 grams) with batteries and camera) and power efficient
• Includes POV Manager software to quickly edit and post to web

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