| Gone are the days of Dad holding the family | | | | some remotes have a special 'tag' feature which |
| camcorder in one hand, both ski poles in the other | | | | allows you to digitally mark great footage. Due to |
| and trying not to fall over while capturing those | | | | the very nature of skiing, you are likely to have a lot |
| would-be magic moments. Helmet Cameras are here | | | | of footage on ski lifts so this tag feature really cuts |
| and provide the ability to film your family ski holidays | | | | down on the editing time back at the chalet or |
| hands-free while you just focus on having a great | | | | home. A quick tip - make sure the buttons on the |
| time! | | | | remote are large enough to press with ski gloves or |
| When looking for a helmet camera for skiing and | | | | mittens if possible. Some remotes work on radio |
| snow boarding a few features rise in priority above | | | | frequency (as opposed to infra-red) so they don't |
| others. First of all you need something that is going | | | | need to be line-of-sight to operate which can also be |
| to give decent quality video and not over-expose in | | | | an advantage. |
| the bright conditions - you don't want to spend hours | | | | A wide angled lens also provides great advantages: |
| filming and then not be able to identify people or | | | | with previous narrower angled cameras it was |
| places when you play your footage back. | | | | difficult to gain perspective of the speed because the |
| Clearly, small is beautiful here and the smaller the | | | | lens only saw the slope in front of you. With a wider |
| better. No-one wants so lug too much kit up and | | | | field of view you will not only see what is in front of |
| down the slopes and what can seem quite light in | | | | you but also the scenery around you. This truly puts |
| your hand can actually be fairly weighty when | | | | the speed in to perspective and with a beautiful |
| mounted on your head. Having said that, attaching | | | | panorama your footage will be much more watchable. |
| the helmet cam to your helmet or goggles are the | | | | Finally, if you aren’t likely to stay upright all day, |
| obvious choices but some great footage can also be | | | | make sure it is waterproof! |
| achieved by mounting it on to a ski poles or the | | | | Irrespective of which helmet camera you choose, it |
| front of a ski or snowboard. | | | | is best to buy lithium batteries – they last longer |
| Remote control of the camera is really useful: just a | | | | than other batteries, they weigh less and are built to |
| simple record and stop button saves lots of fiddling | | | | perform in extreme temperatures. Regular batteries |
| about the main helmet camera all day. In addition, | | | | can freeze at the top of a mountain. |