ATC2K Waterproof Action Cam
by Oregon Scientific
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Our Price: $69.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $65.95 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of ATC2K Waterproof Action Cam
Customer Review: Does a great job for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased my ATC2K here on Amazon and took it out for a spin in my 2005 Mustang. The video came out great and was one of a series of video tests that showed me how versatile this little unit can be.
Securing it was not too difficult and I was already well aware of the limitations of the microphone and really didn't expect or want it, since, for my purposes, an MP3 recorder and bone conduction microphone would be a better option for getting voice and to combine the video and audio track later when doing edits.
The interest I had was in getting the camera for was for a range of outdoor sports and also for chase support for motorcycle touring. I do wish there were a series of mounts either documented for the camera or specially built as optional purchases just for the ATC2K. I'm already researching some specialty mounts for the various sorts of missions I'm dreaming up for this neat little camera.
I bought a Kingston 2gb SD card and had no trouble at all using this card with the ATC2K. The unit is easy to turn on, is relatively simple to configure and turn on and, for the price, is at the top of it's genre. I didn't have to do any formatting as noted by others, so the Kingston SD 2gb card is a winner for me with this camera. I'm going to put the camera through it's paces over the winter, but my tests so far indicate the camera is a great little bargain and worth getting.
I won't rehash much more, since any Google search and the other reviewers have covered many of the strengths and weaknesses of the camera. My only observation that might be more of a wish is that I wish that Oregon Scientific would have a simple forum area on their site where people can trade knowledge and tips about the ATC2K and improve the product (and the manual). I found out most everything significant before my purchase from external reviews and Google searches rather than the manual...
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a great and inexpensive way to get into recording video with a rugged and wearable camera that can work almost anywhere, this is the one to get. If you can't handle the audio and other quirks that make it a truly individualistic and temperamental beast it isn't the one for you. For my missions and purposes, it's the right one. I hope this review helps you!
Customer Review: Price/performance that can't be beat, upgraded design.
Summary: 5 Stars
Products like this get me stoked about modern consumer electronics.
Pretty well made solid unit (heavy is means good to me) considering it is a self-contained waterproof tapeless video recorder for 85 bucks. Add a 2 gig card and for about $100 you are ready to go where bulky systems won't.
Other systems require a tether to a video recorder and give much much better quality but you are going to pay much much more, it will be bulky, heavy and probably not waterproof.
As for 30fps, I have yet to measure it but the video is quite choppy (Maybe because it is non-interlaced?). Download sample videos at the oregon scientific website to make sure it will suit your needs. When I watched it online I thought it was that choppy because of the internet or that it was shot at lower quality setting but what you see it what you get.
I don't know what you expect as far as sound quality, but keep in mind that there are limitations on waterproof microphones, especially given the price range. If audio is important then just record it separately and add it in when you edit the video. That's what the pros do anyways.
It comes with several mounting hardware options (all for 85 bucks, I was impressed!) and if those aren't stable enough for you then you can easily adapt your own to the supplied mount.
The SD card issues I read on other posts appear to be resolved. Also, in a pinch you can take the sd card out of your picture camera and put it in this without conflicts: it just writes to a different folder and your other pictures will remain unharmed. Impressive. Plug it into your computer and drag and drop, no hassle with needing to install extra software.
It uses AA batteries rather than proprietary ($$$) batteries. A fresh set will run long enough to fill up a 2 gig card at the highest quality (a little over an hour).
Thank you Oregon Scientific! You have blessed the masses with an affordable shockproof/waterproof helmet/bike/glider/tubing cam.
Customer Review: Great Multipurpose Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, the shipping was FAST! It shipped out Saturday (got the notification Sunday morning) and it showed up on Wednesday, very pleased with that.
This thing is durable, I used it for paintball the same day I got it to test it out. It took a shot to the lens, and two to the back cap (where the card and batteries are) and it still works perfectly. The back cap has O-rings on it so when they said "water proof" they meant it. Im a pilot and im going to be using this same camera when I go flying, and when i go rock climbing.
It comes with a lot of adapters to mount on anything, handle bar mount and a helmet mount and it comes with Velcro straps and rubber straps.
It also comes with a USB adapter to directly link to your computer and even video cables so you can hook it up to a TV, It also comes with silicon grease for the O-Rings on the back cap.
Now you are getting what you are paying for, resolution is pretty low, frame rate bounces around (only noticed it twice in an hour long paintball test) and the sound is kinda pixelated. The mounting and camera adjustment can be a little stiff and could piss you off if your in a hurry. Mode selection is confusing even when looking at the manual (change resolution, frame rate, sound, etc) stock everything is at the highest settings and if you have a 2 gig card in there you really don't need to change settings (hour long video was just under 2 gigs).
Considering the price this camera is a steal, 5/5.
Customer Review: Adequate and works as advertised.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is exactly what I expected. It gets the job done. So far I've taken it on two mountan bike rides, numerous motercycle rides and on a 20 foot snorkleing dive. I bought two 2 gig sticks and have ever only had to use 1 of them. 2 Gig gets you about an hour. The display will nominally show how much time you have remaining on the memory. It alternately shows how much time you have been recording. The smaller buttons are a little tricky and the menus requre you to read the owners maual to figure out how to navigate, but I rarely change anything so I never have to. Press the big button to start (hear 1 beep);see the display count up;press the big button to stop;(hear 2 beeps); the display shows the time remaining. Thats it. Plugging a standard mini USB cord into the back of it makes it act like a standard flash device. So no need to install any software. Transfer is kind of slow, but what do you want? There are some features that let you change the frame rate and the picture quality. It says doing that will make your videos smaller, but I never bothered checking those features out. The audio is crap. I have read that they make the mic insesnsetive to muffle wind noise, this is true. Around the house the audio is muffled but while moving, you hear how the wind kind of takes over. I use Windows movie maker for all editing. It is free and does everything I need it to do. For the price, this camera is probably the best one out there. It is rugged and the quality is fit for youtube.Customer Review: even better than I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on a variety of reviews I've read, I had tempered my expectations quite a bit. But the price was right, so I got it for my Xtreme brother for our (twin) birthday. We had planned a ski trip, so we took it along. We had a blast with this camera. We managed to use the rubber helmet strap to put it on his snowboarding helmet. We did some practicing (at home with a tv) to get the angle right, and then we were off. I can see a little bit of the "waviness" I've read about, but only when we were moving at high speeds. The image could be dark at times, but a sunny day at the ski resort provided plenty of light. We were not at all disappointed with our results. I was expecting basically no sound, but we could actually hear each other talk. The picture quality was decent enough, not incredible but better than we expected. The unit was durable and survived some wipeouts. We did find that when I put it on the helmet and skied, we got better shots because I was able to follow him turn for turn on his snowboard, and I had more freedom to turn my head since I was always facing downhill. Overall, this thing is awesome. A great value for the money. I was really impressed with the solidness and durability of the unit. My brother is totally stoked with his gift and was going on and on about all the things he was going to record when he gets home (backflipping his mountain bike into the river, etc)