I wanted to meet interesting people from an old and distinguished culture... and videotape them.

October 18, 2007 4:36 AM

My brother will be going to Iraq eventually. He'd like to film his "war diaries" with a helmet-mounted video camera. He'd like to be able to start and stop recording with a simple remote of some sort. What are his options?

Perhaps this is obvious, but sturdiness and long battery life are also priorities followed by recording length. Thanks.

posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal to technology (9 comments total)

lucas brunelle's website might be a good place to start:
http://digave.com/videos/how.htm

he films street bike races with a home-made helmetcam setup, and offers some basic instructions.
posted by entropone at 5:05 AM on October 18, 2007

i have a friend who has used this site helmetcamera.com. he films street interaction films - festivals, marathons, concerts, and the like, and does it all hands free.
never used them myself, but they're supposed to be relatively indestructible.
posted by rubberfish at 5:14 AM on October 18, 2007

This one is inexpensive. It does not have a remote, but just a little button on the top. Might do the trick.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:42 AM on October 18, 2007

He might risk disciplinary action if he's not careful
posted by doppleradar at 6:24 AM on October 18, 2007

Yeah - if the army doesn't let soldiers have access to personal blogs while in Iraq I do not believe a camera on a headset would fly. I'd have him confirm first before dropping any $.
posted by doorsfan at 6:47 AM on October 18, 2007

Wow, that helmetcamera site is just oozing testosterone, but I think that's just the ticket. Thanks.

I will make sure to tell him to double-check. However, it seems like they are allowed to carry and use cameras, even if they can't necessarily publish the footage.
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 7:05 AM on October 18, 2007

There's this helmet action action cam on Thinkgeek.com, which happens to have some of the coolest stuff anyway.

It is advertised as being # Full-function, hands-free, digital recording
# Waterproof up to 3 meters and shock-resistant for extreme conditions
# Mounts easily on helmets, handlebars, and other sports equipment
# SD card expansion up to 2GB – onboard memory is 32MB

Best of luck to your brother and hope he comes back safe and whole.
posted by worker_bee at 8:24 AM on October 18, 2007

The Sky Tools CamEye II is a simple wired remote for Sony camcorders with LANC ports. It also features an LED indicator light that can be mounted within peripheral vision to confirm power & recording status. http://www.skytools.m.se/cameye2.htm
posted by Tubes at 12:30 PM on October 18, 2007

On review... the CamEye, of course, requires that a normal Sony camcorder be attached to the helmet with a bracket or D-Box (http://www.boneheadcomposites.com/cammount.htm). Not sure if drilling mounting holes and hanging extra stuff off the side of your combat bucket would be a good idea. The little lipstick-cam setups at helmetcamera.com, though expensive, might be a better option.
posted by Tubes at 12:36 PM on October 18, 2007