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

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

HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:36:26 -0800

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.

By: entropone

entropone — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:05:12 -0800

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.

By: rubberfish

rubberfish — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:14:20 -0800

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.

By: Medieval Maven

Medieval Maven — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:42:28 -0800

This one is inexpensive. It does not have a remote, but just a little button on the top. Might do the trick.

By: doppleradar

doppleradar — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:24:48 -0800

He might risk disciplinary action if he's not careful

By: doorsfan

doorsfan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:47:36 -0800

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 $.

By: HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal

HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:05:46 -0800

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.

By: worker_bee

worker_bee — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:24:56 -0800

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.

By: Tubes

Tubes — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:30:39 -0800

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

By: Tubes

Tubes — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:36:50 -0800

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.