33 years old (in body if not mind), and living in Edinburgh. A keen interest in cycling, cars, spor...
33 years old (in body if not mind), and living in Edinburgh. A keen interest in cycling, cars, sport, design, writing and movies. And marzipan. Can't get enough of that stuff...
Member since:03.11.2003
Reviews:64
Members who trust:6
After a long time wondering about getting a small video camera to film my various cycling 'adventures', but being put off by the cost and size of many cameras, I hit upon the Actioncam ATC-2000 and immediately saw it as a solution I had been waiting for.
My hopes for an easy to use and generally high quality picture have, for the most part, been realised - although that's not to say there aren't a few niggles which hold this product back from being perfect.
The unit itself is completely self-contained. In some cameras a separate battery pack, or recording unit, has to be carried on your body, while the camera itself is mounted wherever you want it. With this camera everything is housed within the 11cm long body - there are no cables to wire around yourself, and no separate pieces to find a home for.
This makes for a nicely sturdy piece of kit, everything protected within a very chunky feeling cylindrical casing, further protected by hard rubberised
sections. The back of the camera screws off to reveal the battery housing (2xAA batteries), a slot for SD cards (up to 2GB), and the ports for connecting the camera to your television or PC. It all feels virtually bombproof - which shouldn't be a surprise given it's intended as a action sports camera I guess.
As standard the camera comes with 32MB of memory, but even on the lowest resolution this only really gives a few minutes of recording time, so you're definitely going to want to upgrade that. The different resolutions affect just how much recording time you will have, ranging from pictures of 640x480 pixels, down through 320x240, to 160x120.
The frame rate can also be changed, between 30 frames per second and 15 frames per second (the higher number giving a much smoother picture). At the highest resolution, and filming at 30fps, a 2GB SD card will give you an hour of recording time.
Downloading your creations to your PC is as simple as it gets. Attach a USB cable into the back of the unit, and the other end into your computer, and the computer will immediately treat the camera as a removable drive, just like a memory stick. Videos (in .avi format) can then be copied or cut and pasted to wherever you want.
The picture quality from the camera is pretty high, especially at 30fps, and I find recording in the middle resolution serves my purposes perfectly well. The picture runs pretty smoothly, and the definition is reasonably high (though less so when playing through a large television screen).
It's also easy to operate, with one button to switch on, and another to start and stop recording. There is also a menu button to cycle through the options on the camera.
The mounts are also very easy to use. The handlebar mount siply clips round the bars, and is tightened with a bolt and nut. This mounting system is obviously more susceptible to a rough surface underneath the wheels (as can be seen later in a clip shot from a mountain bike). The helmet mount can be used with a velcro strap, or a silicone band, and produce a much smoother image, although the angle of the camera is more difficult to set up. This mount can also be used to put the camera onto your arm, shoulder, or anywhere else you can think of!
For both mounts the camera just slides and clips into place, with the attachment on the camera able to loosen off, and tighten, in order to change the angle. The camera unit also twists in the attachment so that the image is always the right way up.
All fine so far, so what are the downsides?
Well the biggest for me is the microphone. On the bars all I seemed to get was vibration rattle. Thinking this was a problem with it being on the bars I took it off, and spoke directly at the camera to test it. On playback I was barely audible. I have since found out that the microphone is covered by a plastic membrane to keep the whole unit watertight. A good idea, to be sure, but one which completely negates the point in the microphone being there at all.
Also the on/off, and menu, buttons are a bit fiddly - especially when indulging in action sports where gloves are likely to be worn. With some buttons having to be held down for two seconds before the beep sounds to let you know it's worked, it can get annoying and frustrating when you're not hitting the button just right.
And the camera will simply eat normal AA batteries. I've got some high power rechargeable batteries I'll be using with this, otherwise it would cost a fortune to use this on my regular commute (in case of incidents) and for weekend leisure and sport riding.
The question of whether to recommend this camera or not must, therefore, be tackled with these issues in mind. The microphone, for me, is the most serious issue, and I think I can live with it - especially when I take into consideration one other important factor... The price.
For £100 you are unlikely to get anything approaching this picture quality, build quality, and ease of use. For this reason alone, if you're looking for simplicity on a budget, the ATC 2000 is probably the way to go. If you've got more of a budget, or want a more complete package rather than something that just captures good images, then you'll likely want to go elsewhere.
All that remains is for you to see the results for yourselves. Unfortunately this meant uploading a couple of videos to YouTube, and the compression hasn't been kind to the clips - I can assure you that the definition is waaaaaaay higher than what you'll see if you go to these links.
Mountain biking at Glentress http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WSR9fOIE9c
Riding down Princes Street, Edinburgh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrLs_J9JvM
More videos will also be appearing in conjunction with my cycling magazine at www.citycycling.co.uk, but I'll have to add voiceovers and music later...
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Sunshine, rain, snow or dust! Hold on the action with the ultimate digital video camera ... more
suitable even for mountain biking! It is watertight, shock proofed and contains a compact case with All-In-One design. It can be mounted easily on helmets, bicycles and a wide variety of sports devices. Connect it directly and play it back on the TV or PC.
Kingston 2GB SD Memory Card SD/2GB Protection and reliability with Kingstons Secure ... more
Digital memory cards Kingstons standard Secure DigitalTM (SD) memory cards combine massive storage capacity blazing data transfer rates and ironclad security in a memory card no bigger than a postage stamp. With an excellent price-to-performance value Kingstons SD cards are ideal expansion option for the smallest of devices including MP3 players digital cameras PDAs smartphones and more. For added reliability and durability our solid-state SD memory cards are built of nonvolatile memory components and have no moving parts to wear out or break. Quickly and easily download and transfer digital files between various digital devices a computer and the Internet. An SD memory card reader makes it easy to upload files from an SD memory card to a computer. Kingston 2GB SD Memory Card SD/2GB - Specification Capacity 2GB Dimensions 0.94` x 1.25` x 0.08` (24mm x 32mm x 2.1mm) Operating Temperature
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days......
Kingston 2GB SD Memory Card SD/2GB Protection and reliability with Kingstons Secure ... more
Digital memory cards Kingstons standard Secure DigitalTM (SD) memory cards combine massive storage capacity blazing data transfer rates and ironclad security in a memory card no bigger than a postage stamp. With an excellent price-to-performance value Kingstons SD cards are ideal expansion option for the smallest of devices including MP3 players digital cameras PDAs smartphones and more. For added reliability and durability our solid-state SD memory cards are built of nonvolatile memory components and have no moving parts to wear out or break. Quickly and easily download and transfer digital files between various digital devices a computer and the Internet. An SD memory card reader makes it easy to upload files from an SD memory card to a computer. Kingston 2GB SD Memory Card SD/2GB - Specification Capacity 2GB Dimensions 0.94` x 1.25` x 0.08` (24mm x 32mm x 2.1mm) Operating Temperature
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days......
very helpful by (100%):
