Crazy - 1080p cam + 180' housing for $270?

[pickens_46929]

You can pre-order here, I found...

Helmet Camera Central

They are supposed to get the first batch on 10/18, I think it said.

Order button wasn't there before.

 

[phillybob]

I'm keeping my eye on this thing. I wouldn't really need one till my Socorro trip in March. By then we'll know if this thing sucks or not.

 

[Matt S.]

FYI I asked GoPro customer support if it was possible to tether the camera to a computer--so you could recover photos or video as they are being shot--and that can't be done. The camera will still operate while attached to USB, but anything you shoot won't be visible in storage until you reconnect it.

I was curious as tethering would have made it a great webcam.

 

[Gombessa]

Well, you are certainly getting farther with GoPro than I did today! I called maybe 15 times throughout the day, and the phone tree always said they were busy helping other customers. I'm pretty sure it's lying to me

Anyways, I guess we should thank you for volunteering to be the guinea pig for this product. Definitely post up some sample vids when you get it and let me know if it's any good

 

[RonFrank]

For those bucks, I maybe in! Looking forward to SOMEONE ELSE giving this a go, and a report/sample UW!

 

[Matt S.]

I used the tech support form. I may have only gotten an answer to the tethering question because it was easy, but if you haven't tried the form yet give it a shot.

 

[supersand]

I read the reviews on amazon about the previous generation camera from this company and they seem to be ok. Granted it was the previous non-HD version so maybe this one will be better with the improvements they've made from their previous generations. I don't know anything about the 1.4 LUX "low light" listed specification... maybe others can elaborate on this. This (low light performance) would be one of my concerns for scuba usage (at least here in N California waters) in addition I would like to see the capability of the automatic white balancing in action. The lack of LCD for lining up shots shouldn't be too much of an issue as it seems to have such a wide angle and pretty much everything in front of the camera would be in frame.

Keep us posted when you receive the camera. I really like the idea of a small ultra wide angle video camera and at this price I'd be interested if performs as well as it seems to in the demo videos.

-Erik

 

[Gombessa]

I don't know anything about the 1.4 LUX "low light" listed specification... maybe others can elaborate on this. This (low light performance) would be one of my concerns for scuba usage (at least here in N California waters) in addition I would like to see the capability of the automatic white balancing in action.

OK, this is a really informal test, but I just compared the low light capability of the allegedly similar Flip Ultra HD to my old Sony T-30. Since the Sony doesn't help anyone, I'm also including a reference photograph of the same scene, taken at 18mm, f/3.5, 1/15", ISO 200. If you can set your camera to these settings and get a shot of similar brightness (or lack thereof), you've got a good idea of how much light there is and how the HD Hero *should* perform (similar to the Flip):

​

Reference picture:

Using my Sony, I've definitely gotten some clips under kelp cover that looked fine to my eyes, but came out inky black - just like in the test above. I haven't gotten the Flip in the water yet, but from preliminary tests, it should easily outperform what I have now. Hopefully the HD Hero does as well.

 

[Matt S.]

The video shows as private.

I'll definitely post a bunch of stuff when I get the camera, but I bet some other gadget sites will have reviews up first.

Maybe the HD Hero will just be an excuse to travel to well-lit tropical destinations.

 

[Gombessa]

Oops, try again.