Compact video camera!

THIS is a cool self contained video camera I found advertised on the net. It uses SD cards (up to 2 gig) and it's water proof.

I need one of these!

CHEERS!

Looks very cool. Need to investigate

Cool.... that looks like the ticket for what we do.  You Tube..... here we come!

I wonder if the quality of the video is any good.

Looks a little like a "grown ups" version of the Tony Hawk helmet cam

I wonder if the quality of the video is any good.

A bunch of kayakers in BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) use video cams when they paddle--and ROLL, too.  You can see the quality, which is good, on You Tube or Google.  Here's just one link:

Pretty cool!

The Original Big J (sorry, jmairey!) and Janice (sorry, skygreen!)  

Yo Janice... that video is excellent.  It's some of the best surf launch stuff I've seen.  It also reminds me why I like sit-on-tops. 

Do you know what kind of helmet or yak cam setup was used?

Do you know what kind of helmet or yak cam setup was used?

Here's another video link and some sketchy directions on how the paddler attached the camera on his closed-deck kayak (you know, the REAL kind!).
Janice



Filming surf is difficult because the zoom must be extreme or the camera man close.  And then there are the usual suspects like lens fog and sun glare.

When the camera was strapped to the foredeck, it folded backwards to shoot the sky instead of the water whenever a wave hit the camera with force.

I made a quick prototype of a better apparatus that simply requires a hunk o' material and an old useless tripod.

Cut the material to a section that will take up at least a 5x6 area on your deck, preferably more given the nature of your deck lines.  Take the old and useless tripod and pop off the top at the lateral hinge.  Attaching the top may get messy so you will have to do what works best for you. I used a cat litter tub side for the material, and I managed to secure the tripod head using wire, a drill, tubular steel, and gorilla glue for the cracks. The tubular steel was for balancing and support, and the angle of it kept the top from swiveling past a certain degree.

Anyway the thing works great, and the releasable nature of the tripod is excellent for hand filming and then plopping it back on the deck without shock cord mess. I almost did a telephone pole last night in the ebb and the camera barely moved so it seems to work well. It also gets rid of former deck view obstructions, like gloves and bilge pumps, giving the user a nice view of the water and bow.

Was that filmed with the same video cam as the one Mahi Mahi was talking about??

Was that filmed with the same video cam as the one Mahi Mahi was talking about??

Here's some info that one of the paddlers offered:

"It's a nice camera, but VGA is not the best quality of video.  My videos were produced using a dive camera that was attached to a modded tripod to stay on the deck.  I believe anglers usually use sit on tops so it might be easier to find some sort of attachment. Usually the best footage is taken from one kayaker to another, as cool as deck mounts are, they get boring after a while unless there are other parties involved, or you are in heavy surf .  My camera is an Exilim s600 with an EWC-60 case.  About 500 together..."

I guess it depends on how valuable the shots are.  Personally, I would (if I had one, that is  ) stick with the high quality stills from the waterproof Optios.

Janice

That camera look cool! I dont think Im allowed to get it though...thats ok for now, my optio camera takes great quality video, and will take up to 20 min or more then you have to download, thats with a 512mb flash card, and you can buy "bigger"flash cards. Its not a cell-phone type video, its like TV, and of course underwater too.
For kayak video, im going to attach it on my ghetto bar, with the tripod thingy, aiming back, and just try to capture the fish fight/landings. Should be perfect at Bean Hollow.
Got to get some quality Mooch video as well, it does capture sound/screams.
Its only rated for 5 feet underwater and any "forced" water, like getting slammed by a wave or squirted with a hose, could cause seal falure, too bad, it would make for a cool video getting slammed by a Bean hollow crasher.
With all our cameras/video equip, we should put them together for a film on landing big lings or 'buts or dinos. Or maybe a short film with Mooch being the only "actor". Story line anyone?!

  Great idea!!! I'll start a screen play, and I think I could also be a stunt double for our star  " Mooch ", we kind of look simular from a far ...Danglin

Just got a mailer from mountaingear.com.  It is on sale for $99.95 and free shipping.

http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Oregon+Scientific/idesc/ATC%2D2000+Action+Camera/Store/MG/item/112301/N/0

I'm very curious...has anyone here bought one of these? Looks like fun.

I'm very curious...has anyone here bought one of these? Looks like fun.

Yes Al, I bought one and it arrived today!

Tried it around the house. Seems to make decent (not great) video. I look forward to taking some fishing vids.

I'm thinking about strapping it to my little dog. See how the world looks when your 10" tall. 

al