Helmet Cams

[me7111]

ive looked around on the forum and cant really find exactly what people do for a Helmet Cam. All the Irene videos and other operations ive been watching are usually by helmet cams. ive always been intrested in photography and video recording things (like making short films and such). so i am intrested in designing a helmet cam with a better view (a cheep one). but first i need to know who here straps a video camera to their head for OP: Irene or other big operations? and could you give a few details of how you put the camera on you head or whatever to attach it to? thanks.

[Reaper1]

i had a similar idea to mount one to a plate carrier or other MOLLE vest, but i havent had any luck

[Oscar]

I wrote a review on the helmet cams BlackEagle uses two years ago. You can find it here. THX has brought back some awesome videos with them. The only reason I haven't used mine more is because it's a pain to set up and keep working while you're playing airsoft. That and the weight involved.

http://www.phpbbserver.com/blackeagle/viewtopic.php?t=3&highlight=helmet&mforum=blackeagle

[me7111]

Mr. Kong the reason i wanted to know what people here do for helmet cams is because if you look it up on google all you really get is products and not so much ideas as im looking for.

im trying to come up with ideas for something such as this:
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/me7111/1104071741.jpg
and the camera on the front for a "3rd eye" view:
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/me7111/1104071742a.jpg
i thought if i could secure this inside with a perfect view of everything, it wouldnt have much weight and i have added wires to make it possible to add longer lasting batteries. the only problem is...this video camera doesnt work. so im using this as a model for now and when christmas roles around ill try to get a cheap (80-100bucks) video camera. preferably Aiptek (http://aiptek.com). the helmet is the inside of a bike helmet and i carved the whole out with a knife, carefully.:D anybody have any thoughts on this?

oh and oscar thanks for that thread. thats give me few ideas on a few things.

[Oscar]

I used my camera on a tactical helmet for OP: Distant Horizon, but I didn't like having to wear a helmet all the time, so I set off to mount it on my goggles somehow. I ended up tearing a goggle mask apart and making a custom mount. I'm still not happy with it, so I'm back to the drawing board. I may end up going THX's route, which is to mount it on a full mask. I found a goggle mount that fits my webcam (http://www.sportzshot.com/helmetcamera-mounts.php), but I have to remove it from its protective casing, which means the thinner lens would be vulnerable to damage by BB.

[me7111]

Before i have placed the video camera inside a full mask for paintball. yes i put it inside...but the camera got an amazing view of the left side of the inside of my visor. i have the video on my other computer somehwhere. ill try to bring up a small clip later. but i cant post links to videos on here can i? where can i do that if i can? it hurt the side of my head like crazy but it was an amazing view. i have other plans to tear apart a camera and place the lens in the middle of the visor and then place the rest somewhere on the head. that would give a great view too but there would be a lot of technicle difficulties that would come with it. plus i have no duckets for my experiements...but the helmet on my last post is very light and ive added all the weight that would come with sticking the camera on it and it didnt seem to be too bad. but thats my opinion :D.
anyone else have any helmet cam experience they would like to share?

[Oscar]

Another thing about a helmet is you probably won't want to wear it in the summer time or you'll burn up (if you're an active airsoft player). In my opinion the best route is the minimalist approach, finding something very light to attach it to without interfering with your gear or making you hotter. I would say get a goggle mount or something like that, but that's my opinion.

[AlphaSix]

I use a Viosport AdventureCam, it's the size of a piston out of a mechbox. it came with a rubber mount backed with velcro that I stick on the side of a helmet. I record everything on on an Archos 202 PVR thats about the size of a M14 mag, that, and the cables all fit nicely in a 3x3 molle pouch. Like Oscar, I don't like having to wear a helmet all the time so I just wear it when our guys are training so we can all view it later and make improvements. It works well, and produces clear 640x480 video, but for me, it wasn't worth the price only because I don't constantly use it.

[Mavrick]

My personal Opinon,

Looking at what your profile has listed, i would concentrate more on your gear and getting yourself up to date with everyone else you are playing with as well as attending events before i started making helmet cams. If you have the money to spend on a helmet cam then i'd expect to see you with a decently upgraded gun, an FRS radio to communicate without having to yell all over the field as well as a full chest rig + Hydration carrier and matching gear.

Its a good idea only if you have nothing else in airsoft that you need when you play. I can see the camera being more of a distraction to you and your team while playing.

Just my 2 cents, its kinda off topic, but i felt it was appropriate.

[THX]

helmet cams are a bit of a burden and does sometimes bring the fun level down. I primarily wear mine when I think others will want to see what certain events are like sacraficing some enjoyment of the event. If I want to have fun and enjoy myself or its a particularly grueling event (springfield) I will leave it home. With my setup I am constantly evaluating whether I should shutoff the camera to save tape and battery or leave it running in case there is a surprise.
Ive been doing the helmet cam thing for going on 3+ years now and havent had one time where I didnt miss something that was killer and would have been awesome due to batteries running out, being out of tape, connections getting unplugged, etc.
Like everything else you have to practice before you get it right so I would recommend not expecting anything too great the first couple times and make any adjustments before you need those great shots (in practice, etc.). It took a while to get the setup I have the way I like it and each setup has its own good and bad.
Id rather not carry a full camcorder around in events but its what I had already and it has LANC so I dont have to fiddle with the recording device to turn it on and off=save battery and tape. If money was no object and I had to buy from scratch and I could find it Id take something like alphasix has with a LANC controller because that would seriously cut down on size/weight of the recording device. Also you have to be willing and financially able to completely destroy your setup if it came to it without having your world shattered.

[Darkstar]

http://www.helmetcamera.com/ has a full helmet cam package that you can buy. Might be worth the extra money to get everything at once.

http://helmetcameracentral.com/ also has some reviews and links to helmet cam systems, some of which are incredibly nice. I'd love to get an HD compatible one :D

[strikers_blade]

Helmet cameras can be useful, practical and even "forgetable" if done right. Sadly, such combination also mean you will need to invest properly. Yes, many cheap kits are available out there but they will most likely need external power sources, big recorder, separate microphone etc.

Right now, you can get complete set for about 600$. The set will have enough memory to record for 4 hours straight and battery life should also be 4 hours. STRIKERS set are actually 1h30min memory capacity with 2 hours recording time on the minidvr and more than 12 hours on the bullet camera.

In 2008, we hope to be able to record for a full 4 hours without changing anything (basically pushing start at 8am and stop at lunch time). Being able to record for so long will definitely assure you that no "great" time will have been lost. As of now, we only have to change the SD card every 90 minutes or so and the battery once in the morning. Such setup gave us easily 12 hours of footage for Irene 5 Saturday morning event.

The whole set fits in a digital camera mini bag. The bag is so small that we can attach it on our webgear or even the suspender on the harnesses. That bag include the minidvr, the bullet camera battery, the wires, the extra SD cards and minidvr extra batteries. You start the minidvr the same way you would take a picture and same for shutting down. As of right now, we barely feel the camera or bullet when we carry it.

the bullet camera can be either helmet mounted (velcro) or molded (soon to be done). Some prefer to mount them on face mask or even goggle but we quickly realized that you will have a lot of vibrations in the footage, which can get player sick :D

Our future goal? having wireless helmet camera with 8 hours capabilities....our limitation right now is the battery source not lasting long enough.

p.s. I will post the Irene 5 video link as soon as it will be completed.

[me7111]

these are some really good thoughts. thanks guys. and thanks mavrick for that opinion. i understand what you are trying to get across and the time and money i spend on this helmet cam is just an off side project so if i have free time ill mess around and work with it. but so far i havent spent any money on it and dont plan on it until, like you said, i am pretty well set in airsoft itself.

Oscar, AlphaSix, and THX i agree completely. what im trying to do with this is make something that would give a beautiful view, without even knowing its on you. with that it means not having to worry about something coming unplugged and not dieing and especially not being over 50 bucks in cost.

You guys have givin me a bunch more ideas on this and i thank you. i want to try and make a helmet cam something that is used in airsoft almost as much as the gun itself. it wont be easy and the way i see it it will take awhile. Saying that i probly won't have it done until summer time roles around.

But thanks again you guys for the ideas. ill post up some more ideas once i get them developed.

Does anyone else have anything they would like to share about their experience with helmet cams?

[Cut Throat]

I was looking through my skate mag and I found this http://shop.ccs.com/item.do?categoryID=&itemID=20369
You mount it in a few place and not be in the way.

[me7111]

yeah ive seen those cameras all over the place. they are nice but a little too much(for me). that would be a great idea for someone who has the money though. ive been thinking about this and i want to shed it of its rubber skin and place it right there:
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb122/me7111/1105071517-1.jpg
i thought that would be a bit nifty.

[Oscar]

I think I am going to wait on the technology to catch up a bit. They've now come out with 64GB solid state drives you can put in your computer. I'm sure large capacity solid-state digital video recorders aren't far behind. I've not purchased such a setup because I don't like video quality or resolution you get from digital video recorders out today. I prefer to have pristine footage to work with.