V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

I bought the V.I.O. to document the work of search dogs. Its been working flawlessly and produces excellent quality video for the size of it's components.
Need to purchase LithIon rechargables as it eats AA alkaline batteries like popcorn.
Have used it with a low impedance short shotgun and a tripod mount to do some pick-ups and liked the quality of the audio. A headphone jack would be a plus.
Like the big buttons on the remote control, but wish it had more than a 1 meter range.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

This camera has as many uses as you can imagine. It's noticeably rugged - just wish the batteries lasted longer. Abetter microphone would make it flawless .

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

I am an adventure videographer, I was using before GoPro for it size, but find better!!!
Image quality is totally higher, no need to double check the image size by its LCD.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

For Rally and outdoors sports

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

Good for sport and small cars.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

The field of view is excellent. I use it to make POV training videos and own 3 other helmet cams. This is by far the best one.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

I've used the V.I.O. sd pov a lot in the past and really wasn't to thrilled with it. But i was blown away how great the picture looks on their HD model. I shoot a lot on an EX-3 and Canon DSLR, so I've been trying to find a good POV that will mix well. It has great color depth so pushing the colors a bit in post, to better match my other cameras isn't a problem. also i bought the ram suction cup mount and was amazed how rock solid it is doing 60 mph down a bumpy highway, even with it outside of the vehicle.
My Dislikes- 1. the audio is useless, so having a "safety" just in case the other cams aren't rolling isn't an option.
2. the cable from the lens to the body is only about 5 ft. and i haven't found an option to buy a longer cable like the sd model because the cable goes straight in to the lens, rather than having a connector like the old model.
overall, I would by another one.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

Was looking for a Camera that I could use underwater to record swim team practices and this Camera does a great job at that. Picture quality is amazing under water and the sound quality is pretty good as well.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

So far, this looks like it will be very usable for my intended purpose, which is on my motorcycle. The other more commonly seen systems (which are less expensive) do not have the capability for you to frame the image ... so you really don't know what you will capture. The very small video head should allow for very flexible mounting. Nothing is perfect for all applications. I think this will work for mine.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

I used this pov hd for paintball games, it's great because it can take a shot directly and work right through the game. The only draw back I found with the pov hd is that I wore the pov pouch, it was a pain in the neck to have to reach down and open my pouch to either turn the pov on/off between games in order to save on battery life. Other than that product worked as it should and better.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

We bought this after trying out the GoPro Hero HD for a video shoot. On the upside, the picture is better, especially indoors, where the GoPro was super noisy. But it should be, it's more expensive. Now the downside. We are using this camera for a video shoot, and have gone through FOUR of them from B and H within two weeks. The first one started getting terrible vertical lines and noise the night before the shoot, so we rescheduled and had another one shipped. The second one started giving us the "no camera detected" message the same day we got it (which these do). Usually the fix for this is to reboot, but for this camera, there was still nothing and we could not get any signal back. Reschedule shoot. The 3rd one we just fired up and the left side of the image is blurry! We ordered two more, one as backup so we could get our shots, and we just fired up the 4th one, hopefully it doesn't break in the next day or two, but I have low expectations. This camera has tremendous potential, but the items we've gotten from B and H have been horrible. I don't know if this is a bad batch in stock or what, [...]. Not ready for prime time, I can't imagine how quickly they may fail if someone was actually using these in a sports POV situation (we're just walking around with it strapped to a helmet). Huge disappointment.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

First off when I took it out of the box it was DOA, no power at all. I gave it a good inspection and at the bottom of the battery chamber (very difficult to see) was a bar code tag blocking the contact. It took me half hour to fish it out and the POV.HD was working fine (do they even inspect these???).

I think the camera is ok, quality good, but not great. It doesn't do a great job in rapidly changine light, but not too bad. In 1080 mode fish eye is very apparent. It is designed like that, but IMHO limits the use of this. 720 better, again for what I want.

Also you must have a screwdriver or coin around to change the batteries or access the flash card. It's tough to make a quick change because of this.
One other trivial but very annoying feature is the carrying case. While it is very convenient, it is difficult to replace the camera head and cord, which has proved to be a pain in the field. Speaking of the cord, it is a good length, but no way reduce the excess (like on laptop chargers) since there is not velcro on it. If you are shooting by hand, it really gets in the way. Also for this price I would have like to have had an external lens cover. One rock in the wrong spot and you need a whole new camera head.

While I am on a roll, the connection to the camera seems pretty weak. As they instruct, you have to be very careful when attaching the camera. It can be easily misaligned. Also there is no dust cover over the pins on the recording unit once the camera is removed. Again at this price you would think there would be one.

I think there technical support is pretty good, but it really annoyed me when I took a photo of the tag blocking the contact, emailed it to them, and got a message back assuring me that each camera was tested by their own people and works properly when it leaves the factory. Obviously this is not the case, so I am very concerned about their quality control. You would think they would at least apologize instead of implying that I must be mistaken.

Over all, this is a good product, but way overpriced for the quality, or rather lack of it. A little more attention to end user details, and I think this would have been great. I haven't tried any of the other, but I need a few more POV and won't be buying VIO.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

Obtained for use during demonstrations/protests to capture the events as evidence. Industry leading adjustments to this unit can be easily made on the go. No other unit made at any price can do what the VIO HD can. Rugged, it can take a decent amount of abuse from both operator or demonstrator !

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

I've been a V.I.O. user for many years, and despite the fact that there are many more POV models to choose from these days, I still think what V.I.O. has to offer is superior to anything else out there. Here's why:

1) Slim profile camera head
The fact that all other POV cameras less than 1k resemble huge plastic boxes, is a real hindrance to unique mounting solutions and look terrible when filming an athlete or subject wearing one of those things.

2) In-field flexibility
Once again, V.I.O. is the only POV camera solution less than 1k that offers a menu of recording modes, exposure settings, multiple video codecs, external mic jack, and more.

3) LCD Screen
Want to make sure you aren't looking at the sky? That the unit is on? That you got the shot you needed? Me too.

4) Remote control
Stash the POV.HD in hard-to-reach areas (backpacks, cars, planes, boats) and remotely control it.

5) IF67
Funny thing is that everything more expensive than this, isn't ruggedized! Really, there is no point in owning a POV camera that can't be dropped or blasted by water/wind/dirt at high speeds.

You'll also find that the 1080p quality is as beautiful as it gets. 142 FOV, is wider than anything else you'll find too. Highly recommend this camera if you're serious about producing top-notch POV.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

After spending the last 3 years working extensively with POV footage its very easy to see the difference in video quality between the POV.HD and the cheaper products like GoPro and Contour. There are several videos being circulated on the web that show how great this footage actually is but many of these videos have been compressed for optimal download times for web viewing. The casing is extremely durable, V.I.O. cites the IP67 rating which is yet another step above the rest of the pack. At [$] I put this video quality on the same playing field as the Sony HXR-MC1 (which sells for $2500) in terms of video quality and far superior in terms of durability. Very happy with this product

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

POV.HD Customers-Please access the New POV.HD 1.04 firmware upgrade [@]

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

I've owned a GoPro for 2 years and had it returned multiple times because it broke. The video quality was ok but I wasn't entirely happy with its performance. Just purchased a POV HD and am blown away with the video quality! The 720 60fps setting is unlike anything I've seen from a helmet camera.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

First I've heard of V.I.O. but very happy with quality of this product. Used the camera for some difficult POV shots for a major motion picture and this thing produced. The picture quality was very good and the rugged design allowed the kit to survive several high impact crashes at 75mph. Recorder was difficult to mount on the exterior of a vehicle but overall very pleased.

Comments about V.I.O. POV.HD Digital Helmet Camera System:

The bottom line, Noisy, noisy. My setting are 1080/30p, Noise filter on, and recording quality at highest level. It's noisy and the black levels are crushed. I can't believe they call it HD. I have a $150 Sony Blog camera that blows this one away in quality.
Wow, not what I was hoping for.