i used this to film karl meltzer as he started his attempt to break the appalachian trail record on aug 7th, 2008. it was light and pretty easy to use.. although not super easy. the lense is circular, so it was hard for me to tell which way was up. it was windy and rainy and i have gloves on so it was tough to manage. the quality of video is good.

The VIO POV1 camera is incredibly easy to use. I took it mountaineering and ice climbing up the Black Ice Couloir a few weeks ago. I had the lens attached to the right side of my climbing helmet with the strap running down my shirt (on the outside of my long underwear but under my other layers), over my harness and into my front pants pocket, where I would turn it on and off with ease. The quality of the video is really good. I am in the process of editing the footage that I shot and will have it up on cloudveil.com soon. You can work as many angles as you have bits of imagination with this camera. I look forward to getting even more creative this winter with snowboarding shots and vertical ice climbing! It is easy to download the footage...just plug the cord in and away you go, right on your computer. No more DV tapes!

I am blown away with this head cam, great quality, rugged and easy to use. I immediately took it to the pool to film my kids jumping into the water and it is definitely water proof. I recently filmed some scuba diving and got great results.

For skiing it add a great perspective to my videos, giving an intimate feel to what we are up to.

Due to its light camera I can use booms to hang it up in the air and get cool perspectives while skiing. The multiple angles are great and will provide endless entertainment.

Check it out in action on my latest movie http://greghill.squarespace.com/

The VholdR contour HD is cheaper and seems to have better image quality and a lot easier mounting system. Which do you think is better?

Bought this last fall on a steep discount. I used about 20 solid days of skiing Big Sky last year. Overall Ive been really pleased with it. Its incredibly durable, im never worried about it getting wet. Its easy to use, the buttons take some force so you don't accidentally turn it off. I think the image quality is pretty good as well. However I would only recommend this if your going to give the camera abuse, otherwise you could probably get something cheaper. The one downside is that you have to buy the extra mounting kit from vio if you want the options, the basic mounts arent enough. Here's a link to a video I filmed last season with the vio http://newschoolers.com/web/content/viewvideo/id/272613/member_id/126918/

Holy sh*t, this thing is amazing. The ultimate ice climbing helmet camera - waterproof, rugged, and good quality video. After my first trip to Hyalite Canyon ice climbing with the POV1, I hooked up the A/V cables to the TV and the picture looked GOOD.

Just a couple of notes - the sound sucks. To be expected with a waterproof mic, but they'd be better off just not putting it on there at all. Also, and I know this has been mentioned, but there should be a little flashing light or some other indicator on the remote when the unit is actively recording. Otherwise a sick piece of gear that is really nice for showing just how sick that sketchy ice line really was.

The POV-1 is an awesome, robust piece of kit that i've used in far more situations than i thought already. From attaching it to my rifle on the ranges to my helmet as i jump out of planes the POV-1 has proven to be something any extreme sportsman or soldier shouldn't be without!

I've been using the VIO POV since mid December and have been less than thrilled with the results. This is mostly a negative review, so I'll try to speak about the good as well.

First, it's great having any helmet camera to record your best days on the mountain (or your most burly crashes), so right away I was stoked. Second, at 110-degree viewing range, I believe this has one of the largest viewing fields which seems to be its strongest point. Third, it's super easy to use and doesn't require much past a caveman's intellect to get it right.

Now to the bad. Customer service at VIO is a joke and they will not honor their warranty on the cable connecting the camera to the recorder. A single cable needle broke after 10 days of use, and VIO pointed all blame at me without allowing me to explain myself. They said it was user error, but if it really was, I imagine all the needles inside the cable would have broke off. But instead, only ONE did. Second, you have to get the lighting almost perfect. Many times on bright sunny days, the snow will be WAY overexposed and will cause massive blowouts on the imaging. This offer makes your record completely unusable and non-fixable. I've also noticed the recording to show lots of fuzz on cloudy days.

Again, it's awesome having a helmet cam, but I have to imagine there are MUCH better options out there from more legit companies that provide a better product at a more affordable price.

At $600, your better off buying a DSLR instead.

There are pleny of places to review the tech specs on this camera. It has serious issues with exposure which have ruined several of my better shots, hopefully the new firmware will fix the problem. The biggest thing for me is the ease of use, just turn it on and go. It doesn't slow you down much and doesn't piss your buddies off.

I bought this camera to use both mountain biking and snowboarding and have only used it in snow thus far. The video quality is very good especially with the wider angle lens.
But there are a couple of significant problems that need ironing out.
1) batteries life is extremely short in snow/cold weather and i had to resort to rechargeables with spares.
2) there is no way of knowing if you are recording or not as the pressing the remote makes the same sound on the unit when it starts recording as when it stops. As already suggested, there should be either a light on the remote to indicate recording or one beep for recording and 2 beeps for stopping.
3) the remote on many occasions did not have the power start the unit recording when operated in front of my body with the unit in my backpack.

First test: I shot a video in my garage showing how to change a mountain bike tire. Audio picked up nicely, and I just used a shop light to brighten the picture. Very happy with the quality.

Second test: A one-week biking trip in Durango, Colorado. I mounted the camera to the top of my helmet with the provided accessories, plus two short sheet metal screws (like 1/2 inch!). The mic picked up the rushing wind most of the time, but did catch some of my comments when pedaling slowly. The video was terrific, although in very dynamic scenes with a lot of motion -- such as vegetation rushing by -- there was some jumpiness that would not have been there if tape were running versus digital encoding.

I have also encoded footage from this camera into other formats, such as windows media and flash, with great success. This camera is really awesome.

Only complaints/wishes:

1. The remote control works well, but it's hard to hear the beep of the camera going on/off if the main unit is in a backpack. So, I found myself being over-diligent clicking the stop and record buttons, which "tagged" the video sometimes unnecessarily. An indicator light on the remote showing if it is recording or not would be *awesome*.

2. The remote control didn't seem to have enough power to control the camera through my body, so I had to hang the remote on a shoulder strap of my backpack and kind of shoot it around my body, but this wasn't inconvenient.

3. The lens is perfect for capturing action in front of the shooter -- very nice wide angle -- but not the best for catching any landscapes or objects more than 10 or 20 yards away. Not a big deal, since I wanted a first-person "point of view" action camera, but it would be excessively nice to have a quick snap-on lens to change the aspect ratio optically.

I highly recommend this unit. I'm an outdoorsman and also in the video business and this is a great performer!

In order to edit the videos using third party software you will most likely have to install the Xvid codec and FFdShow (The two programs can be found using Google). Some editors can edit files relatively easy (Final Cut Pro (Mac) and Windows Movie Maker (Win)), while some editors will need more codecs or programs installed.

Please feel free to call or e-mail us at any time. We are available from M-F 8:00am to 6:00pm EST.

E-Mail: customer.care@vio-inc.com
Phone: 888.579.2267

Thank you,

Ian M
Customer Care Team
V.I.O. Inc.
www.vio-pov.com

Hello all and thank you for using the POV.1.

We have videos available to help with mounting the POV.1 as well as a new Mount Kit that will be released in February. To see our tutorial videos please go to:

http://www.vio-pov.com/vio_movie_gallery/gallery.php?category=Tutorials

and to order the new mounts please visit us at www.vio-pov.com

Thank you,

Ian M
Customer Care Team
V.I.O. Inc.
888.579.2267

Sabrina,

The unit can record under water to a depth of 1m, which is about 3.5ft or so. While this limit is for the whole POV.1 unit, the camera head itself cam go deeper and should not have a problem with the depths you mentioned. Also I would recommend using a dry bag if you plan to have the recorder in the water for an extended period of time.

Ian
Customer Care Team
V.I.O. Inc.
Customer.Care@vio-inc.com
888.579.2267

The camera is great and the video resolution is terrific. The problem I had is with the video clips. I loaded the .avi files on my computer but when I went to play them, I could only hear audio. So I went to the POV website and read the FAQs. I downloaded the DivX codec, which allowed me to watch the video. But then when I imported the clips into my video editing software (Sony Vegas Pro 8) the video appear, but there was no audio.
Bottomline: Trying to edit these .avi files is a full nightmare. (I also couldn't find a phone number on the vio-pov.com website.)

This is the best POV camera ever. Been using it to document MC rides around the city. Having lots of fun with it.

Pros: The camera takes EXCELLENT quality footage. Provided with a bunch of mounting accessories, and is absolutely bomb-proof.

My beef: 1) Battery life. For 4 AA's I would expect more than about an hour of recording. 2) Even though it comes with mounting hardware, unless you want to screw the mount to your helmet you need to come up with some other way of mounting. 3) Price... self explanatory. 4) the remote has no indicator to tell whether or not you're recording. SO, if you accidentally hit it, or are neurotic, you still need to open your pack to check if it's recording or not.

Basically I just didn't use this thing enough to justify the cost. I guess the battery problem could be solved with rechargeables. FYI my 4 gig SD card yields 44 minutes of record time.

i completely agree with the statement below. this camera is cool if you like to film facebook / internet quality video. other than that forget about it.

if the sun is out the snow turns one color. oversaturated.

if the sun is not out the snow and sky are the same color.

on multiple occasions the file i captured would come back "invalid clip" really aggrovating.

luckily backcountry.com took my return. i put that money into a handheld HD camcorder. which was only a few dollars extra with 4 year warranty from best buy.

The camera is not perfect but it is the most bomb proof I have ever seen. We use it for all kinds of odd situations and it has been working out great for us. The quality could be better but rumor has it they will be releasing an HD cam next year.

Thomas,
I'd like to thank you for the favorable comments about your experience with our product and also provide some insight on second part of your review. The warranty we currently offer is a 30 day money back guarantee and a one year manufacturer’s defect. Simply put, if a customer receives our product and is unhappy, within 30 days they can send the camera back for a full refund. If we notice a component consistently failing in our camera we will replace it for our customers no questions asked under the one year manufacturer’s warranty. In your situation with the bent pins, there is some gray area. If properly connected, the pins are unable to bend or break. However, it is our policy within our Customer Care team at V.I.O. that we do whatever is necessary to make our customers happy. I invite you to contact me directly and I will see to it that your problem is resolved.
I Appreciate you taking the time to review our product and look forward to resolving your issue.

Best,

Ryan Anthony
Customer Care Manager
VIO
888.579.2297

I have the POV 1.5 MOTO. First thing I noticed was the bad selection of mounts. The kit labeled "moto" should have alot more helmet options along with x/y adjustments. There is no need for a parallel tube mount unless I mount it to a rifle. There should be a TOOL-LESS quick release helmet mount similar to the c-clamp mount.

The POV should come standard with a lens guard.

I would like to see an optional fisheye lens available from VIO not third party.

I use the camera side mounted on my helmet with the recorder in a fanny pack. Riding offroad motorcycles I will fish the camera cable through my gear to keep from getting snagged on tree branches, etc. Since the camera is screwed to the helmet mount and the cable doesn't detatch from the camera head, I have to carry my helmet around when I take a break. On the 1.5, there should be a quick connector in the cable 6" or so from the camera head so you can remove your helmet easily.

I have had issues with "invalid clip" and the recorder not being able to read clips on the card, but my computer can play the clips.

The resolution is very good compared to other cameras. However, the saturation could be a little more intense.

The sound is top notch compared to other cams when you dial in the microphone levels. You will also want to muffle the mic from wind noise. I wrapped mine with a piece of cotton which seems to do pretty well.

Contrary to other posts, I found the battery life very good.

A tool-less redesign is needed for the I/O port cover. Thumbscrew?

The remote is very convienient, however there is no indicator on the remote telling you wether you are recording or not. Since you have to have the recorder in your hand to verify, might as well toss the remote.

This product is great. I have used it mountain biking and climbing some 14ers in colorado. The quality is great. At the top of some 14ers the focus is great close and then when you look out is not distorted at great distances either. The only thing I would say needs to be thought about improving is the remote. I think that it is just to unreliable. you hit the button to start it and if you are unable to hear the beep you are worried it is not on. I started with it on my back in a backpack and have since only used it in a front pocket for easier access to make sure that it is on. Small inconvenience on such a great device. Would definetly recomment to anyone.

Been using the POV1 for almost a month and it takes great footage. Only thing I need to do is get some rechargable batteries.

Awesome camera, and fully backed by the manufacturer.

I had my camera in a wet slot canyon and it leaked. It was well over a year old and I had given it a good workout.

VIO, no questions asked, replaced it.

That is awesome customer service.

Highly recommended.

This Helmet Cam is awesome; a Christmas present from my very cool girlfriend. It is easy to use, and comes with everything you need to mount and upload to your computer. The images are high quality on the upper setting, and the audio is very good too. I use it for backcountry skiing at Berthoud Pass, the videos we're making are getting real good. I would definately say this cam is a good purchase. Awesome.

camera is pretty good when compared to other ones that I have tried. But it didn't come with very good instructions and I am kinda learning on the fly. The mounting options are not great and too few, I guess I need to buy some more hardware. Other than that it is good, and the small unit with screen makes it a lot easier than other units.

Seems to be a pretty good camera. I wouldn't say that it's the best. My problem with it is that its not self contained, so I have to worry about cables and things hanging of those cables. I would have to say that the video is pretty nice, but $600 or so for a pov type camera is a little too rich for my blood. Recently I've been looking into other pov camera's with still high quality video's, and all self contained. For example VholdR just released their new HD camera called the Contour. Good camera and better price!

I tried using this camera on a fairly long ski tour and it did add a bit of weight to my pack, maybe a pound but when you count ounces it felt like a lot. Over all though it had a really good video quality.

I tried a few helmet cams before I got this one and I just love it! The picture and sound quality is great. I use this on my dirt bike and it works great.

Would give it 5 stars, but the remote range is not that great and the software that came with it was junk. The POV.1 software compresses the video and makes the great picture quality look more like a utube video. I am using a copy of Adobe Premiere that came with my old camcorder and the quality is so much better. Even Microsoft Movie maker works good.

This is the sickest! Whether a groomer weekend or slaying it on pow days, this setup kills it. There really is not much else out there that has the quality and durability of this camera. It's pretty awesome to come home after a day of skiing and watch the video from the day and get the ooohs and ahhhs, or the laughs as your yardsale is recorded for everyone to see. Get this camera and there will be no regrets.

I really like the wide angle lens - this is the first helmet cam I've used with a fov suitable for skiing/biking. Well put together unit, nice clean menus and fast operation. No fussing and fiddling, just set and shoot. The wireless remote is cool but I wish you could turn the unit on using it. I still have to open up my back and turn on the recorder manually. That is my only issue, everything else is aweseome

I've heard that it's waterproof but can you actually submerge it to record underwater? I only mean approximately 3 to 8 feet.

Wearing a helmet cam is like strapping an extra set of b**ls to the top of your head. You end up hucking things you wouldn't even think about normally because, well, you're wearing a helmet cam. The VIO cam will ensure that when you get back from the hospital, the video you shot will be of the highest quality. Easy to use, easy to attach, tough and durable, a really high quality product. Battery life could be a BIT longer, but hey you can't have everything...

I had the opportunity to use this video recording set up for a couple of days last month and thought it wise to have a couple days to play with it and figure it out. Honestly it was probably the easiest video recorder to set up and use. Everything was straight forward and super simple to operate. On top of that I thought the quality of the video image was excellent and the overall point of view camera dead on. I got some good point of view video of everything that was in my point of view. The guys at V.I.O. have a winner in this easy to use and durable high quality recorder. It's no wonder the pros like Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and the like use it when wanting quality shots. I would highly recomend this to any one looking for a durable high quality recorder to capture your greatest conquests.

POV video capability to the masses. Can it be true?

Definitely and VIO does a great job implementing an overall easy to use system. Recording videos, module or remote-wise is a snap and it can be used in most any sports because of the MANY different mounting options to choose from. Durability is also a thumbs up as I took a few spills with this setup and it came out fine (look for a youtube.com video coming soon).

A few downsides though. When recording a video, the higher the speed of the activity, the higher quality of video needs to be taken. So, be sure to use an 8 GB SD card for those higher speed activities because those 1 GB cards only can go for about 18 min of the highest quality footage.

Bring batteries as well. All 4 AA batteries didn't last a day and a half of low to medium quality videoing and editing. Having 8 rechargeable batteries with 4 on stand-by would work best.

Also, the editing program that comes with the setup is pretty bare-bones. If you want to add music or do any effects, import the movie files (avi format) to at least Windows Movie Maker.

Most of these downsides probably will be addressed in the future though and for a product line that is early in it's life, VIO excels thus far.

Mounted the POV.1 to my goggle strap for a day at the Bird. Works like a champ after we figured out the wireless remote needed to me on channel zero. I like that it uses AA batteries to it's easy have have extras and no charger needed. I wish I had an ear piece so I could hear the "start/stop" beep when skiing at speed. Could also use a default timeout so if you forget to turn off record, it doesn't run for ever.

I haven't really tried any other helmet camera units to compare to this one. I had the chance to borrow one of these for a couple of days I'm convinced that there isn't much to improve on. It's small, easy to use design is great and is barely noticeable while skiing. Oh ya, it also produces really high quality footage! I'm definitely planning on getting one of these things very soon and would recommend it to anyone.

Echoing what many have said, ease of use on this camera is exceptional, as is durability. This model with the wide angle lens is far easier to capture great video with than the first model with standard lens. The durability on these makes you feel comfortable taking out your new expensive toy whenever you want. The two units I work with are constantly being checked out from the Backcountry.com Gear Closet and have held up incredibly well. The only damage I have seen has been a snapped pin the camera cable from someone turning the cable to screw it in instead of just the silver ring, just something to be careful of. The included editing software makes it a cinch to upload your clips and easily share them with friends, it even allows for some basic editing of the clips.

This camera is awesome. It's lightweight enough that when mounted to the elastic band on my ski goggles, I don't even know it's there! The video recording quality is incredible in just about all lighting conditions. The wide lens ensures that you capture a large portion of your eye's natural field of view. The LCD screen is great for reviewing your footage in the field or on the ski lift and fits easily in a jacket pocket. The user interface is super easy to use. Also, battery life in this camera is actually super impressive -- I was using it on a 10-degree, overcast day and all I used were 4 AA rechargeable batteries. Oh, did I mention that it's super rugged too? I brushed a few tree branches while filming and it didn't even affect the video or the camera itself. This thing rocks.