By Tara Tuckwiller on October 23, 2011 in
Try to capture photos or video of yourself skiing or snowboarding this winter, and you'll quickly figure out what experts already know: Your regular camera or camcorder (with some exceptions) just can't cut it. It's fragile, not waterproof, hard to operate with bulky gloves on and may not even work when it's below freezing outside (many don't). Besides, who has a free hand to hold the thing, anyway?
Enter sports cameras (aka action cameras or helmet cameras). These rugged camera/camcorder hybrids are designed to strap onto your body or equipment and take all the abuse you can dish out while skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, car racing -- even surfing, snorkeling or scuba diving, as the best ones are totally waterproof. We pinpoint the best ones in our new report -- and now, they're cheaper than ever.
"You can take some breathtaking images and video when engaged in extreme sports with an investment of just a couple of hundred dollars," writes Bruce Gain at TomsGuide.com, who beats up three action cams in a head-to-head surfing, driving, sailing and cycling test. "Cameras that allowed you to do that just a few years ago would have cost thousands of dollars."
Take the ContourRoam (*Est. $200), the top-rated budget sports cam. It packs full 1080p HD video and 5-megapixel still photos into a tiny (5-ounce), tough, waterproof (to 1 meter) case with a glove-friendly, instant-on/record switch. You get two adhesive mounts to stick the camera onto your helmet or equipment, or you can buy extra mounts (bike mount, roll bar mount, goggle strap mount, etc). If you're willing to pay for slightly sharper, steadier video, the GoPro HD Hero (*Est. $260 to $300) takes top honors. Both brands offer deep-waterproof cases (to 60 meters) -- included with the GoPro, or $40 extra with the Contour.
"These cameras are actually easy to use," says motocross champ Brian Deegan, who tests three helmet cams for Men's Health magazine. He personally owns a GoPro to shoot footage of himself flipping around on his dirtbike, and also "I use it with my kids," he says. "My daughter races go-karts and it's really easy to download the footage, check it out ... put it up on the TV. I think there's a lot of different ways to use these cameras."
Sports cameras can't exactly replace your regular camera or camcorder, though. They usually lack hand-shake stabilizers, so the footage isn't as steady as with a regular camcorder. Sports cams use wide-angle lenses to catch more of the action, so the edges of your shot will look distorted. There's usually no zoom and no LCD screen, so you can't see your shot on the back of the camera (although GoPro sells an add-on LCD for $80).
But if you tend to abuse your cameras, a sports cam could be just what you need. The GoPro HD Hero remained waterproof (and recording) when surfer Bruce Gain lost it in the ocean for two hours, and it "survived a 1,000-foot tumble [off] of Telluride's 13,320-foot Palmyra Peak" in Wired's heli-skiing test. Now that's tough.