Hi all!
I am a longtime diver with a gadget-bug and am constantly trying out new things. My latest project was driven from all of the helmet cams that I have seen being used by all of the X-sport folks (snowboarding, mountain biking, etc. etc.) and I thought to myself, 'Why the heck doesn't anything exist for the scuba community?' After a little research, I was quite taken aback. Not only were there no helmet cams available for scuba divers, there were no commercially available HELMETS for us divers.
Thus began my project. My first goal was to find an easy to use lipstick camera that would be amenable to head mounting. I decided to use the ContourHD from Twenty20. It is small, portable, the right shape and has a minimal number of switches (power and record). I was able to find someone to produce a basic acrylic case for the camera with a o-ring seal and springed latches. The case is adequate though I will probably move to a new design in the future.
Next, I had to find a helmet to mount the camera to. It had to be light, well fitting, and not have any impact resistant foam since it needs to be negatively buoyant. I joined a cave divers forum and searched their posts and found that they had as big of a problem finding helmets for diving that I did. They were using various rock climbing helmets and old kayaking helmets that had been discontinued. It seemed like the good ones were treasured and handed down from generation to generation, they were so hard to find.
I first went with a suggested helmet that I found on the forums and ordered one. Well, it was flimsy, didn't fit well and wasn't adjustable. It did provide me with some practice for how I needed to mount my gear. I went back to basics and took a tour of my local hardware store and ended up buying a construction helmet. After a short trip to my local Wal-Mart, I had some nylon webbings and clips for a chin strap.
I drilled holes in the helmet for air/water escape and added some holes to mount my gear with nylon tiewraps. An hour later, I had my HelmetCam v2.0. It has the ContourHD camera mounted on the left and has a UK eLED SL4 light on the right. It is easy to put on/take off, and is just slightly negatively buoyant underwater, making it almost invisible to the user.
The light is nice since it is pointing where I am looking most of the time (depends on the distance,since it is not exactly parallel to my eyes) and the camera is recording 100% of the time during my dives. I turn on the camera before placing in the case and turn it off after removing it after the dive.
If people are interested, send me a note and I can provide more details on what I did. I am hoping to start a fashion trend and see how many divers will be wearing various Helmet*** devices by the end of the season!
-Frank Yue
I am a longtime diver with a gadget-bug and am constantly trying out new things. My latest project was driven from all of the helmet cams that I have seen being used by all of the X-sport folks (snowboarding, mountain biking, etc. etc.) and I thought to myself, 'Why the heck doesn't anything exist for the scuba community?' After a little research, I was quite taken aback. Not only were there no helmet cams available for scuba divers, there were no commercially available HELMETS for us divers.
Thus began my project. My first goal was to find an easy to use lipstick camera that would be amenable to head mounting. I decided to use the ContourHD from Twenty20. It is small, portable, the right shape and has a minimal number of switches (power and record). I was able to find someone to produce a basic acrylic case for the camera with a o-ring seal and springed latches. The case is adequate though I will probably move to a new design in the future.
Next, I had to find a helmet to mount the camera to. It had to be light, well fitting, and not have any impact resistant foam since it needs to be negatively buoyant. I joined a cave divers forum and searched their posts and found that they had as big of a problem finding helmets for diving that I did. They were using various rock climbing helmets and old kayaking helmets that had been discontinued. It seemed like the good ones were treasured and handed down from generation to generation, they were so hard to find.
I first went with a suggested helmet that I found on the forums and ordered one. Well, it was flimsy, didn't fit well and wasn't adjustable. It did provide me with some practice for how I needed to mount my gear. I went back to basics and took a tour of my local hardware store and ended up buying a construction helmet. After a short trip to my local Wal-Mart, I had some nylon webbings and clips for a chin strap.
I drilled holes in the helmet for air/water escape and added some holes to mount my gear with nylon tiewraps. An hour later, I had my HelmetCam v2.0. It has the ContourHD camera mounted on the left and has a UK eLED SL4 light on the right. It is easy to put on/take off, and is just slightly negatively buoyant underwater, making it almost invisible to the user.
The light is nice since it is pointing where I am looking most of the time (depends on the distance,since it is not exactly parallel to my eyes) and the camera is recording 100% of the time during my dives. I turn on the camera before placing in the case and turn it off after removing it after the dive.
If people are interested, send me a note and I can provide more details on what I did. I am hoping to start a fashion trend and see how many divers will be wearing various Helmet*** devices by the end of the season!
-Frank Yue
