Launch Helmet Cams - Blog

Drift HD Under Water

launch — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:07:29 +1100

The new Drift HD has an optional housing that is waterproof to 30 meters which features a flat lens offering a nice crisp shot under water. Here is a video that I shot locally in WA on the south coast. The conditions are quite rough on the south coast and the visibility often isn't great but the Drift HD still comes out producing some quality full HD video.

Card Format Issues

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:49:30 +1100

We have in recent times been coming across quite a few card issues that customers are experiencing. The big issue is the way that the card is formatted and recognized by the camera. Most cameras now come with an option in the menu to format the card while inserted into the camera. This really needs to be done as gone are the days of being able to generically format the card in a computer then put it in the cameras and go. Each camera will name and format the card slightly differently to best suit it for the particular device. It is also a good idea to reformat your card regularly to make sure that there are no corruptions on the card. Some of the errors that you may find with a corrupt or improperly formatted card are things like video files that are corrupt and cannot be played, the camera may refuse to start recording and glitches through the footage. It is recommended by some manufacturers to format the card each use. But be sure to make a back up of all the footage before formatting as it will delete any data on the card.

LAUNCH HELMET CAMS CHRISTMAS HOURS

markland — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:25:15 +1100

Launch Helmet Cams wishes all our customers a safe and happy Christmas and New Years.

We will be open for the following hours over the Christmas period:
Mon - Fri (up to the 23rd of Dec): 8am - 5:30pm.
Saturday the 17th: 8:30am - 1pm.

We'll be closed over the Christmas/New Years break, reopening on Tuesday the 3rd of January.

Here's to an awesome 2012!

Early snowboarding session with the Drift HD camera

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:03:09 +1100

Matt from Drift Cameras Canada recently took advantage of the early snow that has been hitting mountains across the west coast of North America. Matt and some buddies headed up Cypress Mountain in Vancouver, BC after they had their earliest opening day ever to see if they could get some fresh tracks. They took up a Drift HD camera attached to a Drift Monopod to get some cool angles and shots. The Drift HD is an awesome option for snow sports thanks to it's remote control which is easy to use with gloves on. The LCD screen on the Drift HD makes it easy to line up different shots when using the Drift Monopod too. Check out this short edit they put together of snowboarding on Cypress Mountain with the Drift HD camera:

GoPro HD Hero 2 open box review

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:12:40 +1100

We've put together an open box review of the outdoor edition of the new GoPro HD Hero 2 to show you what comes with the camera and give you a quick overview of some of the new features. Some of the big differences we noticed upon opening the GoPro HD Hero2 were the improved instruction manual which is more comprehensive and easier to read, the inclusion of some free stickers (although they are very hard to get off the backing), the louder status beeps which should make it easier to know when it is recording or not and the improved LCD screen which is much easier to navigate. We used the GoPro HD Hero 2 over the weekend and will put together a video of our findings soon. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy our open box review of the GoPro HD Hero 2:

Gopro Hero2 camera with GoPro Hero2 Wi-Fi announced.

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:31:36 +1100

GoPro have just announced the release of their next generation camera called the GoPro HD Hero2. The GoPro HD Hero2 camera builds on the popular GoPro HD Hero design and introduces a number of new features. The big news that is grabbing a lot of attention for the GoPro Hero2 camera is the yet to be released GoPro Wi-Fi Bacpac and Remote Control. The GoPro Wi-Fi Bacpac will plug in to the back of the GoPro Hero2 camera and allow users to live stream their video via Wi-Fi to any computer or Wi-Fi enabled device which has the GoPro App. Full technical specification of how the GoPro HD Hero2 camera will work over Wi-Fi are yet to be released and the Bacpac is slated for a Winter 2012 release. The GoPro Wi-Fi Bacpac will also come with a remote control that should make operating the GoPro HD Hero2 a lot easier. The new GoPro Wi-Fi Remote Control will work with the existing GoPro HD Hero cameras but the live streaming feature will only work on the newer GoPro HD Hero2 camera.

PWC and boating cameras

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:36:44 +1100

We often get asked what is a good camera for boating and personal watercraft (PWC) use. There is a pretty wide range of options available for boat and personal watercraft users with all the major helmet cams being either waterproof or having waterproof housing options. One camera that does stand out as being particularly good for boating and PWC use though is the Drift HD170 Stealth. The reason the Drift HD 170 Stealth is such a great boating camera is that it is really easy to use (thanks to a wireless remote control for starting/ stopping and an LCD screen for setup and review). With the remote control you can set up the Drift camera anywhere on your boat or PWC (such as on the mast of your boat or rear of your PWC) to get some really unique angles. The Drift HD170 Stealth is water resistant and you can wash it under a tap after use to get any salt water off it. If you plan to go underwater you can get a Drift Waterproof Case.

GoPro flotation device

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 08:25:31 +1100

Unfortunately a lot of people over time have discovered that GoPro HD Hero cameras are negatively bouyant, which is a fancy way of saying they sink when they are dropped in water. GoPro have finally recognized this issue and come up with a GoPro flotation device which they call the GoPro Floaty Back Door. The new GoPro flotation device is about as simple as it gets - it's a chunk of bright orange waterproof foam with an adhesive backing that you can stick to your GoPro camera.

The GoPro Floaty Back Door comes with a spare HD Hero rear door, so you can swap out doors when you're not using your GoPro camera around water. If you have one of the older standard definition GoPro cameras you can still use the foam, but the replacement door wont fit so you'll either need to get a spare housing or be stuck wit the flotation device foam on your camera housing. One other thing to note is that this flotation device from GoPro will only float the camera on it's own; if you have the GoPro Suction Cup or any other heavy mount attached then your GoPro camera will still sink.

Contour Chest Mount (part 2)

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:48:05 +1100

A couple of weeks ago we posted the Contour Chest Mount (part 1) blog story which showed an easy way to create a chest mount for any Contour camera. The Contour Chest Mount is now available in our store for a special bundle price. This week we've put together an instructional video on how to get the most out of your Contour Chest Mount.

If you find your Contour camera is sitting too far out from the Contour Chest Mount, you can swap out the J-mount that comes on the GoPro Chest Harness for the smaller standard GoPro clip which is available in the GoPro Grab Bag of mounts. The GoPro white rubber plug also comes inside the grab bag of mounts and is handy to eliminate any shake from the GoPro mounts. Check out the video below for more details and to see some example footage shot with the Contour Chest Mount with a Contour GPS camera attached.

Contour Roam Suzuki AusZookers forum trip

launch — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:13:56 +1000

Here is a quick video shot with the new Contour Roam action camera. This footage was shot on the Auszookers year trip in Dwellingup WA. We had just shy of 30 Suzuki's buzzing around in the hills.

The new camera from Contour is killing it. It is the easiest camera that I've ever used and the footage quality has improved leaps and bounds over its predecessor the 1080p HD.