VIO POV.1 Wide Angle Lens: E Aho Laula (Wider is Better)
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 
