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.

As of May 1st, 2008 the all POV.1 systems will include the new Wide Angle Camera Head as standard fare. There is no price change for the POV.1 system and the Wide Angle Camera Head is also available as an accessory for $149.95. The Shop @ Helmet Camera Central is accepting pre-orders on the new Wide Angle systems and will shipping them on May 1st, 2008.

Have a look at some actual footage! Click here to download some sample RAW, untouched Wide Angle video footage of kayaking on a sunny day. You will need the industry standard XviD Codec to view this - Go here to download the XviD codec for PC or Mac’s.

The wide angle has approximately a 98 degree horizontal field of view (or 110 degrees diagonal) as opposed the 78 degrees on the standard lens. It is wide enough to get more into a shot horizontally, but not so wide that it distorts the image like a “fish eye” lens does. Also, the new POV.1 wide angle camera head has infinite focus capabilities, meaning objects both near and far in the same picture frame will be crisp, as opposed to the standard camera head having a focal range of approximately 5 to 30 feet. The wide angle will give better “perspective” to action filming. Capturing a wider field of view can give context to the action by including other subjects in the picture (ex. fellow motorcycle rider racing neck and neck with you off to side) or can simply make more of the natural landscape visible (ex. the left and right bank of a river while kayaking.) Lastly, the wide angle can also help a bit with bumpy or shaky footage, making it more enjoyable to the viewer. This is due largely to the wide open feeling of the wide angle shot which minimizes the shakes in your video. We’ve also noticed that the wider angle lens allows more light into the CMOS sensor which helps improve overall color capture. All in all we are very impressed with the new camera head!

The original narrow view camera head (could also be referred to as the zoomed camera head) will not available again until late summer of 2008. VIO is in the process of reworking the lens element of the original camera head to also use an infinite focus approach. The Shop @ Helmet Camera Central has a limited stock of the original camera heads available and can be ordered upon special request.

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. Fast forward to the end for a deal on the POV.1 as well!

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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