After looking at spending 400-500 on different solid state in car camera, I found this and instantly bought it. It is a GREAT deal for a fun little helmet cam that you can put wherever you want in the car and not really worry if soemthing bad happens to it. They have a previous version which only records at 15 FPS for 70 bucks at bestbuy, but for 40 bucks more you get 30 FPS, is waterproof, and better overall.

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=20&scid=77&pid=709 (http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=20&scid=77&pid=709)

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3839/atc2000qc9.jpg

Full-function, hands-free, digital recording
Waterproof up to 3 meters and shock-resistant for extreme conditions
Mounts easily on helmets, handlebars, and other sports equipment
640 x 480 VGA resolution at 30 frames per second
USB and RCA cables included for easy playback on PC or TV (NTSC)
SD card expansion up to 2GB – onboard memory is 32MB
Operates with 2 AA batteries, not included
Dimensions: 4.25L x 1.75D x 2.25H (in.)

Most online stores are sold out at the lower prices, but I found a legit seller on ebay who i bought one from for $110 shipped.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230109882661&rd=1&rd=1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230109882661&rd=1&rd=1)

Then There is a great deal on memory cards (the camera can only hold UP to 2 gigs). @ gig 60x SD card for $5 at Frys

Ultra 2GB 60X Secure Digital Card $4.99 shipped after rebate at Frys
Back in stock. Frys has the Ultra 2GB 60X Secure Digital Card at $24.99. Send for the Frys-exclusive $20 rebate (http://image.ak.outpost.com/art/rebates_pdf/5193466_033007.pdf). Free shipping. FRYS (http://www.frys.com/product/5193466)

Next lowest price on PriceGrabber (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=29976584/search=ULT40041/sort_type=bottomline/) is $27.48.

Omfg I Want One!!!!

Too bad this deal wasn't around about a year ago. I ended up getting a Samsung sports cam with the bullet camera included for about $600 from Best Buy. The wind noise is horrible, it's so bad that the sound has to be totally edited out.

Please do a review with links to video footage after you test it out. If it works well I might have to buy one and use this instead of the overpriced one I'm using now. Thanks for the heads-up.

Ya, ive had this thing for a few months and i wouldn't say that its the best helmet cam but its pretty fun for the money.

The only problems i've had are mounting the stupid thing. It's pretty heavy and bulky compared to a normal helmet cam so getting it securely fastened is a challenge. Although since its all self-contained you can pretty much just throw it on anything and your ready, which is really cool... no wires or anything.

The 2gb card holds like 50mins of video which is plenty imho. Another big thing is sometimes the camera shuts itself off for no reason and i lose all the data, it usually only happens when its mounted on my motorcycle and i accelerate really fast or on my kart (probably because without shocks the camera gets bashed around).

All and all im glad i got it but it does have its limitations mainly; its size and weight.

I got one for Christmas '06...great fun for auto-x, but I find that mounting it to a helmet makes too much shaking. I prefer to mount it to the car itself.

Ya, ive had this thing for a few months and i wouldn't say that its the best helmet cam but its pretty fun for the money.

The only problems i've had are mounting the stupid thing. It's pretty heavy and bulky compared to a normal helmet cam so getting it securely fastened is a challenge. Although since its all self-contained you can pretty much just throw it on anything and your ready, which is really cool... no wires or anything.

The 2gb card holds like 50mins of video which is plenty imho. Another big thing is sometimes the camera shuts itself off for no reason and i lose all the data, it usually only happens when its mounted on my motorcycle and i accelerate really fast or on my kart (probably because without shocks the camera gets bashed around).

All and all im glad i got it but it does have its limitations mainly; its size and weight.
You have any vids online? It sounds great Im just curious about the picture quality.

You have any vids online? It sounds great Im just curious about the picture quality

I can try to post some on youtube or something, however i cant seem to figure out the damn website... it keeps asking me to confirm my email :confused:

Sample video anyone?

This was recorded with the older model Oregon Scientific quick cam or whatever it's called. I think it's the ACT-1000, but I can't manage to find a pic on google.

edit: Found it. http://helmetcameracentral.com/images/atc-1000.jpg

The only complaint I really have is the sound sucks with the wind rushing over the mic. I'm going to try putting a piece of tape or something over the mic next time I use it to see if that helps.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/waktasz/th_AVI_0009.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v132/waktasz/?action=view&current=AVI_0009.flv)

Funny, all of the Camcorder Review-type message boards slam this Oregon Scientific camera as being terribly wobbly, firmware crashes, unable to fit a modern 4GB SD card in the slot (then it gets stuck), terrible mic, and horrible customer service.

The sound is clipping a bit, taping up the mic or shrouding it should help a lot!

At least when I view it, it looks like there is some distortion on the video processing. Did you convert the file from its original format, or just upload the raw file? What setting did you use (Resolution and Frame Rate)?

-JW

Funny, all of the Camcorder Review-type message boards slam this Oregon Scientific camera as being terribly wobbly, firmware crashes, unable to fit a modern 4GB SD card in the slot (then it gets stuck), terrible mic, and horrible customer service.

About 2 months ago I almost bought this cam and when I read the reviews I stopped. One of the reviews said something to the effect of:

"$110 sounds like a great deal until you discover that it doesn't work. (explanation of problems follow)"

OP, please let us know after a dozen uses how the thing is holding up.

WHen I was doing my research before buying I somehow never saw the reviews where people slam it. The 2 gig lmimit is no big deal as the company states it in the product descr. and 2 gigs is supposed to hold 2 hours of video or something like that I thought.

search youtube for act2000 and people have posted lots of sample vids. When there is a lot of vibration (like they tape the cam to crotch rockets, it does get a little wavy. I plan on mounting it better so it doesnt get all thjose shocks.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M9PyDQPTRg

One of the local guys recorded this with the old 15 fps camera. but yeah Ill do some personal testing and see how crappy it is

Here is the only real decent vid that I have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27BM7JprZPw

The sound is kinda scratchy but its not too shakey and thats because i used the solid handle-bar mount to mount it to the frame slider.

I am kinda dissapointed in this camera mainly because I was expecting it to be a tough, quality camera but its turning out to be more of a toy than a camera that should be used for extreme sports. The main problems is the camera will shut off in extreme use (hard acceleration or big bumps) and its pretty big and heavy so you really have to make sure it is mounted solidly.

I've used it at least a dozen times and its still holding up, its very hard to mount it anywhere but ive gotten snow in it, dropped it a few times and it still works. However, if your planning on mounting it to anything without shocks (i.e. a kart) do expect it to work.

WHen I was doing my research before buying I somehow never saw the reviews where people slam it. The 2 gig lmimit is no big deal as the company states it in the product descr. and 2 gigs is supposed to hold 2 hours of video or something like that I thought.


One of the local guys recorded this with the old 15 fps camera. but yeah Ill do some personal testing and see how crappy it is

Yeah, you can get a ton of crappy footage 320x240 at 15fps on a 2GB card :D

I can get about 68 minutes of 720x480 at 30fps on a 2GB CF card at "Normal" Resolution (4MB/s), but I usually end up going much higher in quality (8MB/s) for autocrossing and just deal with the 17 minutes per GB. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2M7pEoE-04

That, and 16GB CF cards are getting stupd-cheap now, so there are no excuses (that's 960 minutes of crappy 320x240 at 30fps):D:D


Oregon Scientific does sell (who knows who maks it) a nice UV Meter that I want to get my Mom (she has Lupus and can't go outside for very long), I'll let the professionals deal with my racing video and OS make camping gear :devil:

Can anyone recommend a slightly higher quality but similar unit? I don't want a full camcorder or anything, I just want a little recording device that isn't quite as fussy.

This is just one review on Amazon, but it seems to have legitimate points.

"I would not recommend this camera based on several design flaws:

1) The picture quality is very grainy, and at the highest resolution settings and in bright sunlight it gets no better. It also does not record 30 fps at the 30 fps setting, but something more like 20 fps.

2) The lens angle is a medium length focal length, which means that you will not capture much of the scene but rather a narrow view, which, as it is a longer focal length will be quite jumpy even with slight camera movement.

3) The biggest issue...the camera's SD card slot has no way of securing the SD card, so with moderate vibration such as on a bicycle or motorcycl handlebar, the SD card will shake out of its slot resulting in the camera stopping its recording.

I like the idea of the camera, and its design seems very rugged. The incuded mounts are also very thorough. I'm returning the camera and will look towards something else - completely dissatisfied in the ATC2K."

Funny, all of the Camcorder Review-type message boards slam this Oregon Scientific camera as being terribly wobbly, firmware crashes, unable to fit a modern 4GB SD card in the slot (then it gets stuck), terrible mic, and horrible customer service.

The sound is clipping a bit, taping up the mic or shrouding it should help a lot!

At least when I view it, it looks like there is some distortion on the video processing. Did you convert the file from its original format, or just upload the raw file? What setting did you use (Resolution and Frame Rate)?

-JW

That's the raw file format as sent to photobucket. They transform it into an .flv so I'm not sure what compression it uses.

I think a 1 minute autocross run is less than 10 megs even in uncompressed format at the unit's highest resolution which is 320xsomething at 15 or 20 FPS.

It really depends what you want to use it for. I use it for analyzing my autocross runs (my phone has an SD slot so I can watch my runs while I am in the staging area...really helps learn the course, I recommend it) and posting them on the interweb for fun...I don't expect to make an award winning video documentary with it, but for $70something on ebay, it was definitely worth it.


One more thing to note, is that video the camera is just strapped to my head rest, so it is bouncing quite a bit. If I had a hardened mount, it would look much better.

I picked up one of the ATC2Ks around Christmas time but haven't tried it out yet. I've seen reports on another website that guys have had problems using 2GB cards with it. I'm too lazy to find my instruction booklet right now, but I'm pretty sure it specifically says to format them for 1GB. The two guys who tried to use the 2G cards formatted for 2G found that after it got 1GB of data onboard it somehow got corrupted and the video wasn't viewable.

The one thing that annoys me about the camera is that it doesn't have a "standard" threaded camera mount (I think they're 1/4"-20?). The only way to mount it is either to your helmet (or handle bars if you have those in your car...) using the included straps, or to jury rig it somehow. When I ordered it I assumed it would have the standard threaded mount on it so I could use my Chase Cam suction cup mount to put it wherever I wanted to.

Pat Olsen
'97 Legacy 2.5GT sedan

This is just one review on Amazon, but it seems to have legitimate points.

"I would not recommend this camera based on several design flaws:

1) The picture quality is very grainy, and at the highest resolution settings and in bright sunlight it gets no better. It also does not record 30 fps at the 30 fps setting, but something more like 20 fps.

2) The lens angle is a medium length focal length, which means that you will not capture much of the scene but rather a narrow view, which, as it is a longer focal length will be quite jumpy even with slight camera movement.

3) The biggest issue...the camera's SD card slot has no way of securing the SD card, so with moderate vibration such as on a bicycle or motorcycl handlebar, the SD card will shake out of its slot resulting in the camera stopping its recording.

I like the idea of the camera, and its design seems very rugged. The incuded mounts are also very thorough. I'm returning the camera and will look towards something else - completely dissatisfied in the ATC2K."



That's weird...the ATC 1000 SD slot slides in and then clicks into place, and then the back of the unit has a screw on cap which secures the batteries and the SD card. It even has a rubber o-ring and claims to be water resistant.

well, if it's quality is sooo bad... at least you could get one or two really dangerous shots before destroying it :)

Here is a sample video from their website: http://www2.oregonscientific.com/atc2kvideos/waterslide.avi


and from what ive read, the typical memory usage is about 10 megs per minute for high quality.

The act2000 is MADE for a 2 gig card while the act1000 is only made for a 1gig card.


and I plan on using painters tape to secure the **** outta it to wherever I want. side of the car, roof, wherever.

also, to solve the medium zoom factor, I want to get a super cheap fisheye adapter and tape it to the end. Ive seen people even use the door peep ones on the end of a P&S and it works, so I'll figure something out.


ANd as for a slightly higher quality one, you are going to have to spend 400-500 for a solid state CF reader one. There si a vendor on these forums who sells it, I forget, but the jump from this guy to the enxt step is a few hundred bucks, which is why I decided to get this cheapie, just for fun, not 1080i ;)

http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=5ABE3408E24F11DB8C8C000423CF0184

one of the local kiters attached the atc2000 to his kite and went boarding.

as long as I can get pretty good video like this and not worry about it breaking from water, a few jolts, and stuff I think it should be perfect for my needs :D