Helmet Cam Comparison
GoPro Hero vs Oregon Scientific ATC3K
And, the GoPro HD!
Added March of 2010.
Standing on bike in truck, looking forward. The edge of the yard is 60 meters away, the truck at the neighbors house is 120 meters away.
Way back on the bike as if I was going through the whoops. The GoPro has a 170º view, the ATC3K has a 54º view. IMHO the wide angle is what you need for MX. Aligning the ATC3k is critical, the small field of view means you have to get it pointed just right. Aligning the GoPro can just about be done by eye due to the wide angle lens. ATC3K is waterproof to 10 feet, GoPro to 100 feet. Both are shockproof. Both take SD memory cards, the ATC3K will take a 4 Gig, for roughly 2 hours of video. One set of batteries will easily go the distance. The GoPro only takes the 2 Gig for 1 hour of Vid, but that's more than regular alkaline batteries will probably last. I'm told with NiMh batteries you'll be able to go a couple of hours, and word is that there is a firmware update that allows the 4 gig cards to be read. I don't know about that yet... You can get a new clear case for the GoPro for about $40. It looks to me like the camera would survive just about anything in there, so a new case will probably get you back in business should you take a soil sample with it. It comes with a variety of mounts, if you get the Motorsports model there are all kinds of spiffy hookups. Notably, the GoPro will go into the mount from either side, so you automatically have the option of a rearward looking camera. (If you are SURE you'll get the holeshot?) Until Oregon Scientific comes out with a wide angle version, I am no longer recommending the ATC3K for moto use. The GoPro kicks it's butt in this application. In my humble opinion. Your milage may vary.
OK, It's been pointed out that the still pix don't tell the story. Just looking at the stills, the ATC view seems better. And it is, as a still. To see the difference, please download then view the files below. Named by which camera they were taken from, this is 10 minutes Into a ride I took with both camera's mounted to my helmet. It's the same 15 second of the ride, one from the GoPro, one from the ATC3k
NOTE: Turn your sound WAY down for the ATC3k, it's freaked out. The GoPro gets excellent sound, but I had it set wrong for this early test.
Weight: See for yourself. I have the GoPro on the taller mount, but it's still 6 oz. flat. The ATC3K is about 6.5 ounces, but has AA batteries instead of the AAA the GoPro has. The GoPro has crap battery performance, as you would expect. If you use NiMh 1000ma rechargeable batteries in it you'll be fine. That or put in a new set every time.
Head on.
From the Top
Left Side
Right Side.
And now some GoPro pix. Stills. You know, of the camera! ;-)
Here is the camera out of it's case. It looks like a toy. It's not. Has a strange, rubbery feel to it.
The case is nice, uses a camover latch.
Goes straight in. The attachment to the mount will slide in from either side. Nice touch!
I got the 'Motorsports' model, it comes with all kinds of cool mounting stuff. The thing in the top right of the pic is the
display case mount. Could be useful for something, yes? Maybe?
You get 2 short mounts (top) an angle adapter thingy (top left) The suction cup car mount (left)
Two curved surface helmet mounts (the square one. The other one is on my helmet!)
Two flat surface helmet mounts (the rounded ones) an extra sticky tape bit, and some cables etc.
They sure want you to use super batteries. And you should, battery life is pooh.
Or, just make sure they are fresh!
Actually, I just haven't been to the store yet to get some NiMh batteries. I've got chargers, the AA battery charger you may be using for other stuff usually has a spot for AAA batteries as well.
So the GoPro HD came out and I just HAD to HAVE one! (I wonder why my wife calls me 'toy boy'? Hmmm...)
Overall: It's kind of hard to tell from the GoPro Wide... no viewfinder anymore (as if you need one with this wide of a lens), internal batteries with some oomph (yay!), same rock solid case, same killer buttons... Connects to RGB in on your TV, but doesn't work on my 42" GE LCD... the regular video out works fine, though. You get TONs of lost frames on an old computer, but if you pause the video and go frame by frame they're all there... it's just your PC can't keep up! Uses the same mounts, you can clip it into the mount you are already using for your GoPro wide (yay!). It's got a connector across the back of the cam for upgrades, not yet available just yet. (piggy back battery & something else...??) The display is right side up! (yay!!)
Weight: It weighs something like 1/2 an ounce more than the GoPro wide, and that's so little difference I couldn't tell by hand. The scale says 6.46 ounces, the same as the ATC3K. The batteries are built in Li-Ion, and should last about 2.5 hours. I've never used it that long, but can go collect 4 MX practice videos and go home and watch them on the cam, and it still has battery. You plug it into a USB port to charge the batteries. You can download the video this way as well, but it takes about 4x as long as with an up-to-date USB2 reader.
Sound: Performance is HUGELY better than the GoPro wide. I use mine for MX, so it's never all that wet, so I use the optional (included) open back. I was startled to hear myself speak the first time on video; it captures all the sounds with great clarity, unlike the GoPro wide that was fairly ineffective at recording anything but racing motor sounds.
Files: The point to this thing is to get great video, and it does it by recording in HD. You can choose 720p with crazy wide angle, 960p (same width) for even crazier wide angle in the vertical plane, or 1080p with slightly less wide of a view. Ya, it doesn't make sense to me either, but that's how it works. So the widest angle isn't that important to me, and the 1080p is SOOO cool, that's what I use. And the point to this is you'll need a 16 gig card to collect 2+ hours of video at that rate. (the cam will take as big as 32G)
Video: Oh yea, this is what I'm talking about. 1900x1080 @ 30fps There are other modes, including a 60fps slo-mo mode at 720p. But who cares? I do the 1080p @30fps and that's all I'm worried about. 30 frames per second of good, 2 megapixel photos makes some killer video. Make sure your computer is up to date, though. My 2004 setup really struggles with playing low compression 1080p video.
Blah, blah, blah, check out this sequence from the finish line jump at ET Motopark just outside Mesa, Arizona:
The thumbnails link to full size pix. Warning, pix are from 480 to 250 K.
Yes, these are THUMBNAILS! 8^)
Nice, for a THUMBNAIL!! I made these just a little bigger than the ATC3K just for fun. They link to the 1900x1080 full size captures. ;-)
I LOVE this shot! Just peeking over the launch... You get 30 pix of this quality per second!
After seeing these (don't forget to click on the image to see the full size version) if you don't understand why you need a GoPro HD... Well, I've got nothing for you.