Customer Reviews

Digital Blue Tony Hawk Helmetcam

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was skeptical that this camera would be really bad - I mean, how many of these gadgets are just inferior quality with less than acceptable output. Well, this one surprised even me! After installing two AAA batteries and the supplied SD card, my sons and I took it outside to test it out. We decided to place it on a baseball helmet and see if we could get some live action "at the plate" video. We learned a few things - 1) This is actually a pretty good camera - while it is not the best resolution - it can capture videos akin to what you can view on youtube. So not really that bad. The color is good and the sound is very good. 2) You need good light to capture decent video. - The sun was going down when we took the videos and things got backlit pretty badly. But even at sunset, if you capture the action where the light is hitting it, it is very good. So you need good light.
The camera is super simple to use, push a button and you hear a pleasant chime and you are recording. Press it again and it stops recording. There is a blinking camera icon on the small LCD screen which indicates recording and a nifty clock-like indicator showing how much of the memory card you have used up. It also shows the number of video clips you have taken and there is also a button for deleting invividual clips...super simple - in fact, my five year old figured it out.
The product is pretty decent quality and looks durable. The supplied helmet strap and usb cable are very sturdy. We thought the product would look dumb strapped to our helmet but it is not that obtrusive.
We decided that baseball did not lend itself well to the cameras intended use since it was way too jerky (but still fun). Biking, skateboarding, skiing, and more "smooth" & steady situations would be ideal. In fact, we strapped the camera to a pole and pointed it at our action and it was great.
I must say, I thought this would be a loser and am very impressed. Our kids didn't know what to think of it and we were not sure they would even like it. They think it is pretty cool and can't wait to discover new uses for it.
In fact, we saw a cool video on the web which showed this camera attached to an R/C airplane and it gave a flyover tour of a city area which looked really really good. Definitely a great camera for kids and adults alike who want some medium resolution fun video clips. Note: this will work with a MAC also if you have an sd card reader for the MAC (does not recognize via usb on MAC only via card reader).

I have used mine for both biking and skiing. The video is jerky for biking and very jerky for skiing. It's difficult to watch the skiing, but the biking video can be a fun reminder. The built-in laser for alignment is too dim to be useful outdoors. The cam on the mounting pad clicks into different positions, and is a bit tricky to align, but will stay when set. The included (very thick) rubber band made for a good mount on both a bike helmet and a ski helmet. Field of view also seems a bit limited. Single button operation plus confirmation sound made it possible to operate with a mitten while on a helmet (on my head). As a novelty gimmick, it's fun to capture video you cannot get any other way, but don't expect much.

I recently used this helmetcam during a rollerderby practice. This camera will not be useful during an actual rollerderby bout becuz it will most definitely become damaged once it gets smashed against someone else's helmet or worse someone's face will get crunched by the camera. This camera, of course, had skateboarding in mind and not rollerderby. :)

For this type of camera you aren't going to get top quality. If you want quality footage then you need to buy an actual camcorder, but I doubt that you'll want to carry it around with you as you are doing tricks on wheels.

When my husband saw this product at Wal-Mart for $100 it was not something that we would have considered purchasing. The price lowered to $50 so to us that was a more reasonable price for a novelty item.

After having it strapped to my helmet and watching the footage of skating in a pack of rollerderby girls it was pretty exciting. It's something neat to be able to share on youtube and pass around to one another. The band that comes with the helmetcam to strap it to a helmet works very well. It stayed in place and did not move. If it doesn't fit your helmet perfectly there is a rubbery piece that is supplied to help the fit be tight.

It gives an outsider somewhat of an idea of what it's like to be able to skate in a pack of rollerderby chics. It was cool to hear the wheels rolling and the viewer sees what it is like to be right in the middle of the pack.

I gave this camera three stars because I think the price is a little hefty for this camera. For the quality film that it records I wouldn't mind paying about 29.99 for this toy.

Also the red laser light on the helmet is very annoying. As soon as you turn it on the red laser is on and blinking...you can check where its target is which needs to be straight ahead in front of you...and until you press "record" it continues to blink. So, you are basically blinding people with your red laser light. I wish there was a button to turn off the red laser after you had made sure you know where it is targetting. I think I will get a piece of duct tape to put over the laser light so that I won't have to constantly keep my hand over it before I decide to record what I am doing.

Basically if the cam is moving at all the footage is worthless and the sound quickly gets out of sync with the video. Digital Blue is just trying to make a fast buck one this one and if you really want to try it you can buy mine! Please! ;-)

Novel idea, but worthless none-the-less.

This product is a joke.

The video is terrible, way too jerky to actually show anything (1-2 fps, maybe) and quickly went out of sync with the audio. The helmet mount is basically a big adhesive pad with a rubber strap and doesn't work. The software is micky-mouse. The bundeled demo clips were obviously not taken using this camera.

I really don't see how this product is supposed to be taken seriously.

If you want to get dark and grainy videos with unsynchronized sound, then by all means go ahead and buy this camera. Even on a bright sunny day the captured footage leaves a lot to be desired. The angle of view is tiny. The resolution is tiny and the frame rate is extremely low. If you are doing any activity that involves a lot of movement (why else would you buy this camera?) you will end up with a very jumpy and confusing video.

This camera is promoted as a great bargain, but unfortunately in this case you get exactly what you paid for - a novelty store item that will end up collecting dust in the back of the same drawer that you dump your obsolete cell phones in.

If you really want to get decent quality first person videos, you will have to shell out upwards of $100-$150 for an Oregon Scientific or Tachyon XC. If you try to do it on the cheap with this camera, you will still end up with an Oregon Scientific or Tachyon XC except it will cost you an extra $30 plush shipping.

You have to remember you're only spending $[...] or so on this product so you can't expect some awesome quality videos. For the money I paid I was actually suprised how well it works. I used it for horse back riding, videoing on the flat and over fences. It's easy to work and the quality is pretty comparable to the video on my 5mp HP camera. It does only record for 15 minutes at a time but I put a 512MD SD card in there and got three 15 minute clips. For fun this camera is a good buy.

I did not want to pay $50 for the cam not knowing the quality. Found it on here for $30 after shipping. Used it in my race car and was supprised in the quality even under the lights at night. You will need a bigger memory card if you want vids longer than 4-7 min. The sound quality not great, can get out of sync. Aiming the cam is a little dificult but the laser makes it a little easier. The program is easy to download vids but not as good for editing. If you are expecting a perfect quality camera don't get this. If you are looking for an inexpensive way to record some decent footage this is worth it. I would even pay the [...] that I was not willing to spend before I used it. Check out a sample here [....]

Sure, it is a bit jumpy when taking action shots. But a helmet cam with built in camera and easy SD card memory at this price is pretty unbelievable. Would not suggest it for professional use, but very fun for private use. Movies did download to our computer easily.

absolut great for a first time action camera. creates hours of playtime-and that's what I bought it for. the double function as webcam was was welcomed too.
good quality for the price. sure it is not as fast as alternatives probably are - but that doesn't really matter for the intended purpose of capturing "action"