Print This Page
Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Florida - and where adventure calls... on 3/13/2008
Haven't used in action yet...still figuring out how best to use it. Seems like it will be great to help capture the journey!
Mountaingear is one of the best sources of adventure/outdoor gear on the planet. The best brands, competitive prices, butt-kickin' service, and knowledgeable staff. Only improvement for my purposes would be if they implemented and UPS ground service as standard shipping to improve "tracking" and delivery. Otherwise, all is good here.
from South Carolina on 3/3/2008
This is an awsome Camera. Really great picture quality. My only complaint is the sound quality. It seems to not be able to pick up normal voice sounds. Sounds have to be really loud to be heard.
Buttons are somewhat difficult, but usable.
from Russia, Moscow on 2/4/2008
The best decisin for snowboarding
from s.korea on 1/5/2008
the product works great. i would suggest it to anyone who would be interested in this product. [...] i just wished it had better mounting options.
Camera works great except cold weather (Skiing). [...] Did have to modify the mounting hardware for direct screw mount to my helmet. Worked out great and got rid of all the camera bounce with provided hardware.
from Columbia, MD on 12/3/2007
It's important to remember this is a [$] video camera. That said, for its money it does a fantastic job. It takes a few trials to get it pointed in the right direction, and seems to work best on the handlebars of a mountain bike rather than a cycling helmet (kind of bouncy). It is bumpy, but then so is riding mountain bikes. It would probably be smoother on skis, which is where it is going next. Excellent if you are worried about taking a regular video camera on trails or in the snow; this one is much less fragile. The manufacturer recommends lithium batteries for cold, and that seems to work well along with the cold weather sleeve. Also, remember that sound is difficult with wind running by the mic - it does well with sound sitting still. For added fun you can record motorists breaking the law and show it to the cops! Depending on where you live this could be an every-day use. Make sure to purchase the 2 gig memory card - anything less is not going to give you much time. Two gigs gives you an honest hour at the highest video quality.
Mountain Gear offers one of the best deals around and the service was quick - the camera came across the country in two days. Their order tracking and notification is top notch.
from New York, NY on 11/6/2007
The good is that it seems to be sturdy and in any event, is sturdier than a regular digital camera. It also has plenty of memory with a 2-gig chip. A bunch of downers, though. First, without any kind of a screen, it's impossible to aim. You need to put it on your helmet while at home, look around and narrate to yourself so you know what you're supposed to be seeing, then plug it into the computer to see if you have it mounted right. If not, adjust. This obviously doesn't work if you're in the field and don't have your laptop with you, which is always. So aiming it is a crapshoot. I mounted it on my bike and shot nearly an hour of footage, only to get home and find out that for the entire thing, it was pointing high and to the left somewhere. Worse, the sound quality is zero if you have any amount of wind (like on a bike, or a climb in anything other than totally calm weather). This is also a problem with the controls. It beeps when you turn it on or off, which is a good feature because you can't see it. But the beep isn't loud enough if it's mounted on top of the helmet instead of on the side. And because of its weight, it really has to be mounted on top. It's too heavy for extended use on the side of a helmet; you'll feel it. If you're just going to film a short ski run, it's probably fine; but if you're trying to shoot a climb or a bike ride, for example, you need to mount it on top or it'll really annoy you (and forget about the handlebar mount; it's like the Blair Witch Project on extra caffeine). Also, it's tough to get the camera into the mount without looking at it, so expect to have to take your helmet off every time you want to mount the camera. That said, it does shoot when you have no hands to shoot with, and will survive where your regular DV camera won't.
Yes, yes, and N/A
from Phoenix AZ on 10/17/2007
Document road/path conditions from my bicycle.Catch a vicious motorist in the act (legal and usable as evidence in AZ).Prepare training materials.General fun.[...].Shouldn't just quit recording on its own.
Excellent, compact camera. I have used it in both the police and firefighting training grounds. Mounted to a fire helmet it captures training scenarios with good video and sound, has shown to be watertight. I have not used it in a high heat environment yet. Great tool
Planned on using it for backcountry skiing. I so far have used it for indoor climbing and some travel shots on my vacation in the Pacific Northwest and a pack trip in Yosemite. It took a little time to get to where I was pointing the camera correctly. For the money it is not a bad toy. The SD card I have used up to this point has not done well with audio. The built in memory is small. Records several minuetes. Once you jump up to a 1 gig card you can record 1 hour or more.
HI I AM GUILL DOWNHILL RIDER I USED ON MY CANNONDALE SUPER V 500 .THE FIRST DAY THAT I USED THE HANDLEDBAR ADAPTOR BROKE .HAD FUN 5 MIN. WITH THE SHOCK THE CAMERA STOP RECORDING.BUT WAS FOR THE CRASH.I CHECK AT HOME AND THE MEMORY CARD SD 2 GB CAME OUT.I PUT IT BACK AND RESET EVERYTHING ITS OK.ITS A GOOD PRICE FOR A SMALL CAM.THE ONLY THING ITS THE MATERIAL OF THE ADAPTERS (HELMET ADAPTER AND HANDLEDBAR ARE POOR QUALITY).I USED THIS ON MY MOSTER TRUCK RC TEAM LOSSI LST2.AND MY BOAT RC AND WORKS SO GOOD.I TRYED ON MY AQUARIUM AND REALLY IT IS WATERPROOF.
I am a police officer and I use this camera when interviewing people. I was initially disappointed with the sound quality, but found the video and capacity with the 2gig card excellent. The problem with the sound is the waterproofing. If you are not going to be using it in water or wet environments all you have to do is remove the mic cover and there is a black square rubber cover over the mic. It is 1mm or thicker and causes the sound distortion and lack of range. Remove it an re-install the cover and you get as good a sound as any other video camera. This camera is well made and a good value at the price. If it had an external mic jack it would rate five stars.
from Sacramento on 8/20/2007
I am using this to catch bass fishing footage and I find that except for some lighting issues it works fairly well. Of course the picture quality isn't that great but it is pretty decent for the price. Overall I am happy with the purchase for what i got it for.
Try strapping it to a ski boot for some interesting shots. Cons are poor sound, aiming and levelling is by trial and error, and it tends to lock up and/or experience battery death when it gets cold. The manufacturer is supposed to sell a cold weather wrap which I have not been able to buy on the Web, but that would probably help. Overall a solid little device. Definitely buy a memory card to go with it for best results.
The microphone DOES NOT WORK. You only hear scratching/banging sounds - no voice. You have no idea what you'll actually film - difficult to line up and no preview.
from Dubai. UAE on 6/30/2007
Value for money.
Thats the best word to describe the ATC2K helmet cam.
from Quebec Canada on 6/15/2007
Really like it. Makes good videos of all rivers im going on! Sound could be better but anyways i dont really use it when i add music to my production.
from Australia on 6/12/2007
I just wrote a review recently on that cam saying that the mounting system seemed to be great and solid, but......
after the first use on my surboard I lost the cam......
the clip system that is used to separate the cam from the mounting pad just open by itself and I was just left with the mounting bit without the cam.
If you use it in water make sure you attach a little floater to it so if it goes off , you can still find it.
from Germany on 6/10/2007
The camera is ok for the money but the microphone really sucks
from LA on 6/1/2007
Too tight unless you wear a hard hat or hard helmet.
from Australia on 5/30/2007
Use it once only mounted on a bicycle helmet for a normal drive on the road. Image is quite shaky and quality is not optimal. But appart from that it is very well designed, batteries last for quite a long time, it is nice a solid, mounting accessories are nice and solid too. I haven't tested it in water [...]
from New Jersey on 5/30/2007
I just took the ATC-2000 with me for a ten day trip through Africa. It was the perfect device for slipping into my pocket and filming crowded bazaars, crazy driving, camel rides, 4x4 through the Sahara ... you name it.
Buy the 2GB card - without it, you just won't have enough recording time for the higher quality footage. Yes, the image is not what you would get from a real camera, but what are you expecting from this? From what it was designed to do, the image quality is perfect.
It would help to have a built-in bubble level. While that is irrelevant when used as a helmet cam - it would be handy when hand holding the unit since there is no other way to tell that you've really got it upright. I unfortunately have some crooked video of our 4x4'ing through the desert dunes because of that.
from Round Rock, Texas on 5/14/2007
I use it on Radio control helicopter for birdeye view area.
from Asturias Spain on 5/10/2007
I´ll use in circuit with motorbikes
from Grenoble, France on 5/2/2007
perfect
from united kingdom on 3/29/2007
Hi my name is joe i live in the united kingdom and ride a honda paneuropean i have mounted this camera onto the bike and found it to give very good results. video footage very good exeptional microphone had to fit a muffler for the noise could do with one supplying with kit, also a look at a better mounting for the flip up crash helmet thanks again for supplying me with this quality camera its nice to reflect on the days outings its amazing what you see.lots of jealous mates now regards joe / rollershutter
from Georgia on 3/29/2007
Put the product on a LT40. The video quality is ok. At 30fps, the quality is good enough. Anything below that really shakes. Battery life is pretty good. about 4-6 hrs. SD Cards tend to come loose but only happened once. The camera took some hits and still works. Overall, for the price, it is worth it.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Italy on 3/23/2007
You cannot find better anywhere else!
No wire, great video quality and simple to use.
Only few annoyances:
- poor & low audio quality caused by waterproof capability !
- incompatible with MMC, SDHC and 4GB SD! (Only FAT16 supported)
I hope Oregon Scientific fix this in ATC-3000 !
Excellent cam!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Oslo, Norway on 3/23/2007
Easy to use, but short battery life. Lack of USB powering when conected to PC. A bit flimsy takes, espesially hard-mounted on bike, but nice for shorter cuts into movie-mix.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Minnesota on 3/23/2007
Great little helmet cam. Easy to use and takes good video. Light enough to wear on your helmet. Takes some time to get focus and sight line adjusted since there is no display on the camera itself. First time out had lots of video of the snow three feet in front of my feet. Waterproof is a bonus.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Houston on 3/22/2007
Not quite camcorder quality video, but much better than I expected. 640x480@30 FPS Needs plenty of light (indoor/twilight video quality is noisy, outside on sunny or overcast days is fine).
The audio is a bit muffled, probably due to the waterproof feature.
When used as a helmet cam, stabilizing it with duct tape will greatly reduce the image shakeyness.
I used this camera as a helmet cam during a track racing event, it did not disappoint. Definitely worth the price.
from Clevleand ,England,UK on 3/22/2007
Cam well worth the money if you don't have a video camera with capabilities of adding a pencil cam.There are a few flaws..the microphone is appauling for motorsport use,but I have used video editor to cancel this out with back ground music instead.Great for boarding.2 gb card gave just over an hours use..with 2gb card now availible for less than $20 this is great.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Austin, TX on 3/22/2007
Meets my needs, simple, rugged. Decent video at a low price. Can attach to just about anything. Worthless audio. User's Manual needs some work.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Lewisville, TX on 3/22/2007
Recorded an hour's worth of trail footage out at Northshore. Major improvements to original design of the ATC-1000. Easy to view videos using SD card. Needs a way to cover the batteries and SD card while being able to uncover microphone. Otherwise a GREAT buy for the money.
from Canton, NC. on 3/2/2007
I mounted the camera on the barrel of my marker and filmed over 1 hr of footage and it turned out great. It took a dirrect hit from a paintball and continued to work. Cleaning the lense is a little tough. It does'nt pick up voices very good with the SD card cover on.
It's a great camers to catch your'e action on tape, whatever it may be.I have friends that want to buy 1 for filming family vacations because it's so compact and water resistant.
Buy it you want regret it!
from Cotswolds UK on 2/13/2007
Camera works well but brackets could be stronger
from Fort Worth, Tx on 2/9/2007
Battery Life: Consumes AA batteries pretty quickly when using in the heatAdjustability: Not very in many ways except for frames. No way to ensure camera is pointing correctly without pulling card and viewing mpegs on external device[...] it was a decent buy as long as you have enough light.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Galveston, TX on 2/9/2007
Works, has shorter run time than anticipated. Poorer picture,having sky in frame seems to overdarken everything else. Manual says can damage card and camera if card removed when power is on. Easy to do so that part is not user-friendly. But cheapest camera to do rough, dirty job. Movie's similar to camera phone. Would be more effective with onboard compressor to extend run times. Raw AVI files are too large and 45 minutes will easily fill a 2G SD card.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Syd nsw on 2/9/2007
I ride sports bikes on the track, and was suprised at the quality of picture at over 200kph.
In saying that i would recomend the ATC 2000 for any use, from extreme to backyard fun.
[4 of 4 customers found this review helpful]
from Park City, UT on 12/27/2006
Video Quality is great. Shot lots of footage on tree runs at "The Canyons". Sound quality is just OK. Mounting the camera and finding the right angle view leaves a lot to be desired. Actually altered the mounting hardware provided for a tighter, more robust mounting scheme.
[7 of 13 customers found this review helpful]
from Missouri on 11/13/2006
I just purchased this camera to take to Mt Baker this summer. I plan to record climbing up the Roman wall becuase I am usually too busy to take photos while assending it. Usually photos dont show the steepness of the wall. So far I have taken it on a couple of runs and plan to use it hiking. It takes nice footage and adjusts to light fairly well. The 2gig SD cards make it easy to shoot an hours worth of video. [...]Hope to have videos from Mt Bakers summit in June.