Product Description

Get ready to make your own action sports movies with the Tony Hawk HelmetCam and your PC. With the Tony Hawk HelmetCam with 32 MB of memory, you can capture several minutes of action for your videos. Just strap to any helmet, aim laser targeting feature, press record, and start shooting. Edit and add special effects on your PC, share your action sports videos, start making action sports videos starring you or your friends, then turn your computer into the ultimate editing suite! Recommended for ages 7 to adult.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9138 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Prime Entertainment
• Model: Tony Hawk HelmetCam
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
• Format: CD
• Dimensions: .96 pounds

Features

• Film Extreme Sports Moments with the Only Camera Endorsed by Tony Hawk
• Lightweight Self-Contained Unit Records Video and Audio at the Touch of a Button
• Software Lets Users Create Their Own Videos Alongside Footage of Tony Hawk
• Add Animation/ Graphics/Music and More
• It Even Comes with a Real Laser Pointer for Targeting

Manufacturer Description
Get ready to make your own action sports movies with the Tony Hawk HelmetCam and your PC. With the Tony Hawk HelmetCam with 32 MB of memory, you can capture several minutes of action for your videos. Just strap to any helmet, aim laser targeting feature, press record, and start shooting. Edit and add special effects on your PC, share your action sports videos, start making action sports videos starring you or your friends, then turn your computer into the ultimate editing suite! Recommended for ages 7 to adult.

What is the image resolution of the camera?
Connected to the computer (tethered): Images and video are always captured at VGA resolution (640 x 480) when connected to the PC, however, when a movie is created it is reduced to 432 x 324 to match the editing and playback windows in the software. Away from the computer (untethered): Images and videos are captured at 320 x 240 resolution.

Does the delete button erase everything I've created?
You can erase one recording at a time, starting with the last one you recorded, by pressing and holding the Delete button for 3 seconds. To delete the next recording, keep holding the Delete button for another 3 seconds, and so on.

If the Delete button is held for 10 items in a row, all of the items in your camera's memory are erased, all at once.

How long can my movies be?
When the camera is attached to your computer, you're limited only by the amount of free space on your hard drive. Away from the computer, you're limited by the size of the memory card in your camera. With the 32 MB card that comes with the HelmetCam you can record several minutes of video.

What type of files can I import and export?
Import supports the following file formats:

• Movies: AVI files
• Images: JPG and BMP files
• Sounds: WAV files

Export supports the following formats:

• Movies: AVI and WMV files
• Images: JPG and BMP files

If I e-mail my movie to a friend, do they need to have special software to see it?
To e-mail a movie or still image to a friend, simply export the movie file as either a WMV or AVI file. All your friend will need is software that will read WMV or AVI files. Most computers come with software that will do this. Still images can be exported as JPG or BMP files. Longer movies may take a longer time to export.

What is the frame rate and resolution of the HelmetCam?
The Tony Hawk HelmetCam has a frame rate of 15 frames per second, a capture resolution of 320 x 240 when not connected to your computer, and a resolution of 640 x 480 when used as a webcam.

Can I upgrade the memory in my HelmetCam?
Yes. The HelmetCam takes a standard SD memory card, widely available at retailers. Please keep in mind that the maximum recording time for a single video is 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes is reached, the recording stops automatically. You are able to record as many videos as you can until the memory card is filled.

What's in the Box:
Dual-mode VGA video camera with built in microphone and targeting laser, CD-ROM with editing software, helmet strap with clip, 32 MB memory card, USB cable.

---

Customer Reviews

Pretty Darn Nice Camera - For What It Is
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).

Does okay 320x240 @ 15 fps, but that's not much
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.

Tony Hawk Helmetcam
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.