Helmet Camera

I recently started experimenting with a camera mounted on my helmet to
capture video while skiing. I wasn't sure how this would workout so I
didn't want to spend much on the 'experiment'. Here is what I've found so
far. Your comments and experiences would be appreciated.

I found helmet camera kits on the internet for $300 and up. I bought a
color video 'lipstick camera' (size and shape of a lipstick tube) that was
sold for use as a security camera (Fry's ~$60). The camera put out a NTSC
video signal and one channel of audio. It was powered by a 9 volt DC plug
in type power pack. I bought a rechargable battery pack for a remote
control car to provide mobile power ($20 with charger). A little cutting
and soldering and I had a mobile camera that would work while skiing. The
output of the 'lipstick' camera was plugged into the input of a standard
Sony TRV38 camcorder. (The scary part was hooking it up the first time and
watching for smoke!)

I tried several temporary methods (duct tape, zip ties, string, etc.) the
camera to my helmet. None worked well enough to even try it on the snow. I
made a little wood mount that has the contour of the top of my helmet on the
bottom side and a open top 'U' shape on the top. I clamped the lipstick
camera into the mount with a piece of nylon webbing I had. The mount is
attached to the helmet with industrial strength velcro. This gave me a
solid mount that I thought would hold up to skiing and getting hit by the
safety bar on the lift when someone puts the foot rest down with out
warning.

The first day gave me a video tape of the snow in front of my skis. I had
to move the camera back a LOT more that I thought it should be. The second
day I started to get video of the person in front of me, but mostly of their
skis. I moved the camera even farther back for the third day. I also found
that I needed about 20 feet between them and me. The third day I finally
started to get some usable video. The key was to move the camera back so
that it was parallel with my line of sight. That is MUCH, MUCH farther back
than I expected. I thought the subject would be in front of me (and
therefore lower on the slope), the camera would need to point below my line
of sight. Clearly that was bad logic.

I found the quality of the video to be decent in the shade on a sunny day,
but horrible in the sun. The video is constantly coloring the subject
red/purple on the white snow background. When the scene is primarily white,
the whole scene gets a red tinge to it. I think the camera is getting more
light than it can handle. The camcorder has an automatic iris that the
lipstick camera does not. This may be a fatal flaw.

I REALLY have to concentrate on keeping my head steady. Make head movement
slowly and steadily. DO NOT look around to see who is coming up
behind/beside you. DO NOT shake your head yes or no to answer someone's
question. This is a learned skill that will take me some time to develop.
That loss of situational awareness (don't look around) may be something I
can't give up and just have to edit out me stealing a quick look around.

The 9V battery was only good for about 2-3 hours of camera use. I was
keeping the battery pack in an inside pocket so my body heat kept the
batteries warm. That also meant I had to unzip my jacket and dig it out to
unplug the battery when I didn't need it on (like on the lift). Once the
battery started getting low, the picture got kind of dark around the edges
with a circle of the 'proper' brightness in the middle of the scene. The
circle got smaller and smaller as the batteries got lower and lower.

I had to use the touch screen to program the camcorder to record the
external video source each time I turned it on so I tended to keep it
running. When I got off the lift I pulled off my goggles and glove and
pulled out the camcorder and turned it on. WHen I got on the lift I turned
everything off again. This was a total waste of tape and bettery power when
I was trying to tape someone who stops to rest every 10 to 20 turns. I have
found a remote control cable that should allow me to keep the camcorder in
my backpack and turn it on and off remotely.

Has anyone else tried this? Any comments or hints you care to offer?

KentB wrote:
I recently started experimenting with a camera mounted on my helmet to
capture video while skiing. I wasn't sure how this would workout so I
didn't want to spend much on the 'experiment'. Here is what I've found so
far. Your comments and experiences would be appreciated.

I found helmet camera kits on the internet for $300 and up. I bought a
color video 'lipstick camera' (size and shape of a lipstick tube) that was
sold for use as a security camera (Fry's ~$60). The camera put out a NTSC
video signal and one channel of audio. It was powered by a 9 volt DC plug
in type power pack. I bought a rechargable battery pack for a remote
control car to provide mobile power ($20 with charger). A little cutting
and soldering and I had a mobile camera that would work while skiing. The
output of the 'lipstick' camera was plugged into the input of a standard
Sony TRV38 camcorder. (The scary part was hooking it up the first time and
watching for smoke!)

I tried several temporary methods (duct tape, zip ties, string, etc.) the
camera to my helmet. None worked well enough to even try it on the snow. I
made a little wood mount that has the contour of the top of my helmet on the
bottom side and a open top 'U' shape on the top. I clamped the lipstick
camera into the mount with a piece of nylon webbing I had. The mount is
attached to the helmet with industrial strength velcro. This gave me a
solid mount that I thought would hold up to skiing and getting hit by the
safety bar on the lift when someone puts the foot rest down with out
warning.

The first day gave me a video tape of the snow in front of my skis. I had
to move the camera back a LOT more that I thought it should be. The second
day I started to get video of the person in front of me, but mostly of their
skis. I moved the camera even farther back for the third day. I also found
that I needed about 20 feet between them and me. The third day I finally
started to get some usable video. The key was to move the camera back so
that it was parallel with my line of sight. That is MUCH, MUCH farther back
than I expected. I thought the subject would be in front of me (and
therefore lower on the slope), the camera would need to point below my line
of sight. Clearly that was bad logic.

I found the quality of the video to be decent in the shade on a sunny day,
but horrible in the sun. The video is constantly coloring the subject
red/purple on the white snow background. When the scene is primarily white,
the whole scene gets a red tinge to it. I think the camera is getting more
light than it can handle. The camcorder has an automatic iris that the
lipstick camera does not. This may be a fatal flaw.

I REALLY have to concentrate on keeping my head steady. Make head movement
slowly and steadily. DO NOT look around to see who is coming up
behind/beside you. DO NOT shake your head yes or no to answer someone's
question. This is a learned skill that will take me some time to develop.
That loss of situational awareness (don't look around) may be something I
can't give up and just have to edit out me stealing a quick look around.

The 9V battery was only good for about 2-3 hours of camera use. I was
keeping the battery pack in an inside pocket so my body heat kept the
batteries warm. That also meant I had to unzip my jacket and dig it out to
unplug the battery when I didn't need it on (like on the lift). Once the
battery started getting low, the picture got kind of dark around the edges
with a circle of the 'proper' brightness in the middle of the scene. The
circle got smaller and smaller as the batteries got lower and lower.

I had to use the touch screen to program the camcorder to record the
external video source each time I turned it on so I tended to keep it
running. When I got off the lift I pulled off my goggles and glove and
pulled out the camcorder and turned it on. WHen I got on the lift I turned
everything off again. This was a total waste of tape and bettery power when
I was trying to tape someone who stops to rest every 10 to 20 turns. I have
found a remote control cable that should allow me to keep the camcorder in
my backpack and turn it on and off remotely.

Has anyone else tried this? Any comments or hints you care to offer?


Kent,
This sound really neat. Haven't tried it but you are becoming a model
for some good trial and error. Can you post some results somewhere where
we can see them? This is something I've thought about but never got
around tuit.

A friend of mind did video me once. Good turns, then I got back, then
too far forward, over the handlebars, AC separation of shoulder, ride
down the mountain in a sled. All on video.
VtSkier

Vt,

Email me and I will send you a link to some video I posted last year. If
you try to email, I'm sure you can figure out the key.


"VtSkier" wrote in message
...
KentB wrote:
I recently started experimenting with a camera mounted on my helmet to
capture video while skiing. I wasn't sure how this would workout so I
didn't want to spend much on the 'experiment'. Here is what I've found
so
far. Your comments and experiences would be appreciated.

I found helmet camera kits on the internet for $300 and up. I bought a
color video 'lipstick camera' (size and shape of a lipstick tube) that
was
sold for use as a security camera (Fry's ~$60). The camera put out a
NTSC
video signal and one channel of audio. It was powered by a 9 volt DC
plug
in type power pack. I bought a rechargable battery pack for a remote
control car to provide mobile power ($20 with charger). A little
cutting
and soldering and I had a mobile camera that would work while skiing.
The
output of the 'lipstick' camera was plugged into the input of a standard
Sony TRV38 camcorder. (The scary part was hooking it up the first time
and
watching for smoke!)

I tried several temporary methods (duct tape, zip ties, string, etc.)
the
camera to my helmet. None worked well enough to even try it on the
snow. I
made a little wood mount that has the contour of the top of my helmet on
the
bottom side and a open top 'U' shape on the top. I clamped the lipstick
camera into the mount with a piece of nylon webbing I had. The mount is
attached to the helmet with industrial strength velcro. This gave me a
solid mount that I thought would hold up to skiing and getting hit by
the
safety bar on the lift when someone puts the foot rest down with out
warning.

The first day gave me a video tape of the snow in front of my skis. I
had
to move the camera back a LOT more that I thought it should be. The
second
day I started to get video of the person in front of me, but mostly of
their
skis. I moved the camera even farther back for the third day. I also
found
that I needed about 20 feet between them and me. The third day I
finally
started to get some usable video. The key was to move the camera back
so
that it was parallel with my line of sight. That is MUCH, MUCH farther
back
than I expected. I thought the subject would be in front of me (and
therefore lower on the slope), the camera would need to point below my
line
of sight. Clearly that was bad logic.

I found the quality of the video to be decent in the shade on a sunny
day,
but horrible in the sun. The video is constantly coloring the subject
red/purple on the white snow background. When the scene is primarily
white,
the whole scene gets a red tinge to it. I think the camera is getting
more
light than it can handle. The camcorder has an automatic iris that the
lipstick camera does not. This may be a fatal flaw.

I REALLY have to concentrate on keeping my head steady. Make head
movement
slowly and steadily. DO NOT look around to see who is coming up
behind/beside you. DO NOT shake your head yes or no to answer someone's
question. This is a learned skill that will take me some time to
develop.
That loss of situational awareness (don't look around) may be something
I
can't give up and just have to edit out me stealing a quick look around.

The 9V battery was only good for about 2-3 hours of camera use. I was
keeping the battery pack in an inside pocket so my body heat kept the
batteries warm. That also meant I had to unzip my jacket and dig it out
to
unplug the battery when I didn't need it on (like on the lift). Once
the
battery started getting low, the picture got kind of dark around the
edges
with a circle of the 'proper' brightness in the middle of the scene.
The
circle got smaller and smaller as the batteries got lower and lower.

I had to use the touch screen to program the camcorder to record the
external video source each time I turned it on so I tended to keep it
running. When I got off the lift I pulled off my goggles and glove and
pulled out the camcorder and turned it on. WHen I got on the lift I
turned
everything off again. This was a total waste of tape and bettery power
when
I was trying to tape someone who stops to rest every 10 to 20 turns. I
have
found a remote control cable that should allow me to keep the camcorder
in
my backpack and turn it on and off remotely.

Has anyone else tried this? Any comments or hints you care to offer?


Kent,
This sound really neat. Haven't tried it but you are becoming a model
for some good trial and error. Can you post some results somewhere where
we can see them? This is something I've thought about but never got
around tuit.

A friend of mind did video me once. Good turns, then I got back, then
too far forward, over the handlebars, AC separation of shoulder, ride
down the mountain in a sled. All on video.
VtSkier

In article ,
"KentB" writes:
I found the quality of the video to be decent in the shade on a sunny day,
but horrible in the sun. The video is constantly coloring the subject
red/purple on the white snow background. When the scene is primarily white,
the whole scene gets a red tinge to it. I think the camera is getting more
light than it can handle. The camcorder has an automatic iris that the
lipstick camera does not. This may be a fatal flaw.

You might want to experiment with filters:

I was looking at this lense:
http://www.viosport.com/store/customer/ourgear.php?page=ac3_overview
and they do mention "5-levels of Neutral Density (Sun) filters will
eliminate that purple snow due to filming in extremely bright conditions."
(sold separately)

Seems like everything you'd want on this unit is sold separately...

bruno.

Seems like everything you'd want on this unit is sold separately...

Bruno,

You hit on exactly why I approched this as an experiment instead of jumping
into buying the VioSport.com or HelmetCamera.com package. I counldn't
answer the most basic questions - What do I need? What may I want to add?
How much is it going to cost for those? And then the big question - After I
spend that much money, is it worth it and I will I continue to use it?

I'm much closer to answering those questions now. I've ordered the remote
control cable so I can leave the camcorder in my backpack or inside my
jacket and still turn it on/off when I want it. During bright sun or open
runs I will stick to shooting hand held video. The helmet camera will never
match the auto exposure and framing capabilities of the hand held video.

I have finally given it to my wife - I'll use the helmet cam for tree runs
or big drops. Both of those are really limited by trying to keep the
camcorder in one hand and ski 'normally'.