ATC2K video camera

Got a great deal on a waterproof sports video camera: $58 shipped to my door for an Oregon Scientific ATC2K helmet cam. It's no professional camera by any stretch of the imagination but it's waterproof up to 10 feet, and it's rugged as hell. It records AVI files to an SD flash memory card and uses two AA batteries. It's also quite small and compact, and it has a built-in microphone (although the sound quality isn't stellar either). These usually sell for about $100 but if you shop around you can find them for less. I bought mine privately from a fellow SV Rider member who had a bunch of them for sale. I didn't ask how he came to be in possession of them or why he was selling them so cheap.

As you might expect from a camera in this price range, there are some minor limitations: it can only read FAT16-formatted memory cards, which means that the maximum storage limit is 2GB. That represents about an hour of video at the high setting of 640x480 pixels @ 30 frames/second, or about 2 hours at the lower quality setting of 320x240 @ 30 frames/second. You cannot adjust exposure, colour settings, or adjust the focus in any way. It's pretty bare bones, but it works and it's made to survive abuse.

It comes with a bunch of mounting options: a handlebar clip, a rubber strap and locking clip meant for a bicycle helmet, some velcro straps, etc. For now, I'm using the handlebar mount but I'd like to find some other way of mounting it further up front and lower, like maybe under the fairing near the headlights. Not sure yet but I've got a few ideas.

So here's a sample video. Not great, but for the price it ain't bad. Shot this clip just after supper hour, as the sun was beginning to set... so the lighting isn't great.

Until I figure out another mounting solution, I've switched back to the factory wind screen: the dark smoke double-bubble screen is OK for bright daylight, but as soon as the sun begins to set, the camera cannot see through the dark wind screen.