I’ve been thinking about buying the VIO POV 1.5 helmet mounted camera for a few months now. I think it would be an awesome resource for the trip and the videos would be outstanding for
the Belizean Travel website. Liz is all for it. She wants lots of video and photo documentation of our trip. And we could certainly find other uses for it once we get back (besides for our next awesome adventure).
I think there are a number of applications for this nifty device. We could mount it for zip lining and capture some clever images of our flight through the trees. With the optional water proof kit we could snorkel with it or maybe even diving. Rumor is this thing will handle deep dives. But I’ve got a friend’s HD camera setup for that. Kayaking is another option. The Mayan ruins would be well documented and the hands free operation make it great for the climbing and trudging, etc. Basically, we figure it could capture all the activities we do (assuming I have enough memory cards)! The system has a continuous loop recording capability that allows you to simply tag a period of time you wish to keep or you can just set it to record and it does so until it runs out of memory. I like the loop capability because you can sort of set it and forget it until something memorable occurs.
I’ve been researching helmet mounted cameras for a while now and this one seems to be the best. Teton Gravity Research, the guys that produce the best ski movies, use it. That makes me confident I can use it all winter as well. Wired Magazine recently did a review of helmet mounted cameras and gave this one best review. Their major critique was that it was not High Definition and very expensive to not be high definition. I don’t like the cost. It is very expensive, almost prohibitively so. But I am not so worried about standard definition resolution. I figure that is acceptable for DVD and I am no major filmmaker.
I looked further at many reviews on Backcountry.com and they were mixed. Mostly positive but a few people complain about color wash. I think that is something that can be overcome with video editing.
In summary, the decision to buy this is camera is going to come down to want vs. economics. Can I afford it? Can it be folded into the total trip costs? Will it get used sufficiently? I don’t know. I’ll keep thinking, salivating and calculating. If I get it, look for some clever, first person point-of-view videos on this site after the trip.