MCADXmag

Product Review – Viosport POV.1

For the last several years I’ve enjoyed making videos on my motorcycles – mostly at trackdays, a few on the street. I find that it’s a fun way to capture memories with my friends, enjoy a bit of creative expression, and share the experience with friends and family in a way that shows, better than a photograph, just how fun and exciting our sport can be.

The first trackday videos I shot were from an actual camcorder attached to the top of my gas tank. It worked well, but was bulky and limited to just the one position. I then moved on to “helmet cams” (also called bullet cams), that attached to my camcorder via cable, with the camcorder in a tank bag or fanny pack. I’d tried several different helmet cams to this point, from a few different manufacturers, always looking for something smaller, simpler, with the best possible video and audio quality.

The best I’d found so far was made by Sportzshot (http://www.sportzshot.com/index.php), with extremely high quality video and audio far superior to others I’d tried. Still, the whole setup continued to be a bit of a hassle, with multiple cables going to the camcorder – one for audio, one for video, one for the batteries powering the remote cam. Then the hassle of setting the proper camera position, making sure the helmet cam was focused on your intended target, remembering to hit “record” on the camcorder before stuffing it back into the bag, and so on. At one recent trackday I had an absolutely epic session of intense wheel-to-wheel action with three other riders, camera running. I flagged one of the riders down while heading back into the pits at the checkered flag, pointed to the video camera on my bike and told him I couldn’t wait to see the incredible footage we’d just gathered. Imagine my disappointment when I got back to the pits, excitedly pulled out my camcorder, only to find out that somehow a switch got changed on the camera when I was stuffing it into the fanny pack, and I got NOTHING. Grrrrrr. That’s happened to me quite a few times, and it always really ticks me off, as you know that’s footage you’ll never get again.

I decided it was time to try something new. I’d seen a new action-sports oriented setup from Viosport, and it looked intriguing. I had used one of their previous-generation helmet cams, the “Adventure Cam 3,” and had been pretty pleased with it. I particularly had liked their selection of accessories.

The new camera is called the Viosport POV.1 (http://www.vio-pov.com/), and is quite revolutionary in its design, as it doesn’t require a separate camcorder. There is a remote camera, connected by a single cable (with integral microphone), to a small, sturdy box that has a built-in viewing screen. It’s about double the price of the other helmet cams I’ve purchased, but when you consider the fact that it doesn’t require the separate purchase of a camcorder (and eliminates a bunch of the hassle), it makes it seem a bit more reasonable. I’ve noticed that they’ve been dropping the price of it over the last year as well, and that may continue, as it does so often with most electronics.

Instead of the mini-DV tapes I’d been using with my camcorder setup, the POV.1 records the video directly to a very compact SD memory card. It comes with a 1GB card, and can record on cards up to 2GB.

Another unique feature of the POV.1 is the fact that it is highly water-resistant. Both the remote cam and the base unit can actually work underwater! I don’t expect this to be an issue at any upcoming trackdays, but it’s nice to know I don’t need to panic if it happens to rain a bit.

The whole setup comes in a very cool, compact carrying case, complete with pretty much everything you need.

Before purchasing, I read some reviews and saw some sample video on the internet. My thoughts about it before purchasing were along these lines:
·Man, that’s expensive.
·That looks really cool, clean and simple.
·Although they say it offers DVD-quality video (720x480), the sample video I’ve seen on the internet doesn’t look quite as good as what I currently have.
·Being able to transfer video from an SD card into my computer will be almost instant, compared to transferring from video, which takes as long as the raw video footage itself.
·No wide angle lens? How will I do my “throttle cam” or “knee slider cam” setups? (supposedly a wide angle lens is in the works and will be available in the near future)
·How well will my mounting accessories really work with this design?

So, with some trepidation amid the above concerns, but excitement about the possibilities and the cool factor, I placed the order. It came quickly, and my first impression was that it was just as slick as I’d hoped. The case is a really nice touch, and is just the right size to hold everything and keep it well organized (unlike the plastic bin I’ve been using that has a crapload of miscellaneous cables, lenses, camcorder, pouches, etc.

The unit itself is really impressive. Small, light, but very sturdy looking, with a very clear little color LCD screen. Controls couldn’t be more simple and intuitive. All of the accessories seem very well thought out, and construction seems to be of very good quality. So far, so good.

One of the first things I noticed while checking it out and reviewing the manual is that because of the waterproof feature, there is no way to open up the lens to change the focal point. With other helmet cams I’ve used, you unscrew the lens cap and then twist the lens element to change the focus. This is good for shots like the “throttle cam,” where I point the camera backwards at my throttle/front brake hand. The cam is inches from my hand, so I need to change the focal point from where it would be if I was pointing the cam toward a bike in front of me, as an example, where the focal point might be six feet away or so.

I must say that for me, given the choice between the cam being waterproof or having adjustable focus, I’ll take the focus option, thanks. This is not a limit I’m very happy with. Hopefully, future lenses will give this option.

Of course, that made me wonder exactly what the focal point would be. If I couldn’t set it, where had they set it? Upon using it a bit around the neighborhood, I found that it was actually unacceptably close. By pointing it at a poster with some lettering on it, and then moving from about 20 feet away, right up to it, I found in reviewing the footage that it actually came into clear focus at about three feet away or less. When objects were further away than that, they were actually somewhat blurry. Obviously this wasn’t going to work. I contacted the manufacturer (in Michigan) and told them of the problem, also sending them some video footage. They agreed that this wasn’t proper, and said they would send a new lens. I appreciated the customer service.

Oddly, they contacted me a day or two later, and said that they determined that the replacement lenses they could give me wouldn’t be any better, so they recommended I just wait until their next-generation lens comes out in May, which they agreed to send me. I decided to accept this option.

Other than the lens issue (which is certainly significant, and I can only hope will be completely resolved), the camera is really cool! I’m very impressed with the unit itself and its ease of operation. Having one cable to deal with is a HUGE improvement. I can use a very small pouch and attach it to my triple clamp or some other location that is unobtrusive. With my previous setup I had to use a tank bag (which made it impossible to fully tuck in on the straights), or wear a fanny pack, which was a hassle and always felt unsafe.

I have a nice Sony stereo remote microphone from a previous setup which I can attach to the unit for improved audio quality. The microphone that comes with the base unit is pretty poor for loud, high speed motorcycle applications. It’s great that they provided a plug for this option, as I like having clear motorcycle sounds in my videos.

The video I made a few weeks ago at a trackday in Pahrump was the first time I really had a chance to use it on the track. Again, ease of use was brilliant. It would be nice if I could set up the little remote it comes with to turn on or off as action on the track dictated, to avoid wasted footage, but because there is no little light on the remote that indicates if it’s actually recording or not, I’d be worried about not engaging the button properly.



The actual footage turned out as well as could be expected given the focus issue. Because most videos these days are just going to YouTube, as opposed to big files for download or DVD, the quality of the footage winds up being “dumbed down” to be small enough for YouTube. As a result, DVD quality base footage is somewhat irrelevant if YouTube is where you plan on sending the footage (or finished movie) anyway. Keep in mind when you watch the video, that, although the base footage wasn’t completely crisp due to the focus issue, YouTube reduces the quality even further to reduce the file size.

Transfer of files to the computer was practically instant. Pop the SD card into the card reader on my notebook computer, and move it to the hard drive. This is a huge time saver.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the device (pending the outcome of the fuzzy-focus lens issue, of course). Assuming that this is corrected to my satisfaction, I’ll be very pleased with it. Everything other than the focus quality is as good, or better than I expected. Do I recommend that others buy one now? That depends. If you can wait for them to come out with a better quality lens, and different lens options, I would do so. If they do as they say they will, it will be worth the considerable expense, otherwise not.

Pros:
·All-in-one system, with single cable
·Compact, lightweight
·Simple controls
·Easy video transfer
·Cool factor

Cons:
·Expensive (although it replaces the camcorder and helmet cam)
·Lack of lens options (wide-angle, telephoto, etc.)
·Lack of ability to change lens focal point
·Mounting setup comparatively cumbersome
·Fuzzy optics on current lens

If you want to learn more, you'll find a really huge, detailed review here: http://helmetcameracentral.com/2007/09/26/the-holy-grail-of-helmet-cams-the-new-vio-pov1-integrated-video-system/.

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CBR929RE

good write up. I've been thinking of buying one since I read the other review you linked to about 5 or 6 months ago. Good to know they are coming out with a new lens as they said would happen. guess I'll wait for your review with the new lens before I plop down my money.

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less than a year till Grattan

DUX

I used the POV for snowmobiling this winter and had focus issues as well.

1st time - replaced entire unit.

Result - 2nd unit wouldn't even power-on.

3rd unit - worked OK for a while. Picture got worse as day progressed.

VIO blames the cold for the focus problems. They gave me two options:

1) full refund
2) wait for new (free) wide-angle lens that should fix the problem

The recording unit itself is impressive. VIO's customer service has been outstanding. I opted to give them the benefit of the doubt and am now waiting for the new lens. I'll post a follow-up too once it arrives.

Here's some other opinions, including my own:

POV.1 camera mini review - ADVrider

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Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

CBR929RE

ok the wide angle lens is out. anyone try it yet?

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less than a year till Grattan

DUX

VIO was supposed to ship mine on Friday.

I have seen one video online, it looks pretty good.

The concept is that it has no focal point like the first lens. Unfortunately I won't be able to test it in the cold until next year.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

CBR929RE

cold doesn't really matter to me since it'll be for track video. I'm really close to just buying it anyway. Gotta use it a couple times to get used to it before any trackdays.

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less than a year till Grattan

bwhip

They told me this morning the wide-angle lens ship wouldn't be until June now.

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DUX

Yeah, I called them yesterday when they didn't ship mine earlier this month as promised. He blamed it on the earthquake in China.

They have them in stock as part of the units that they are selling to people now, but they won't open one up to send me the one that was promised.

They say mid June now. Kinda pissed b/c they've had my money for months now and I don't have a fully working product.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

CBR929RE

my system should be here on the 28th.

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less than a year till Grattan

DUX

My wide angle lens finally got here a few days ago.

I took it out for a test-ride yesterday and it worked pretty well. It washed out a bit when looking into the direction of the sun, but usually recovered quickly. Unfortunately I have no idea how it will perform in the cold, which is the reason for the new lens to begin with.

Cheers to V.I.O. for finally making things right. To top it off, they forgot to send a call tag for the old lens and told me to keep it for all the trouble that I've gone through.

I'll work on getting a video posted. They are saved as AVI on my computer. Can anyone help me convert it to a format that works here?

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

bwhip

Do you have Windows Movie Maker? You can convert a DVI to a WMV using that.

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DUX

Nope, Mac.

I managed to save it as a quicktime movie today but the compression was terrible.

I cut it down to 1 minute-ish and saved it as full-quality. The only problem is that IMovie saved it as a ".dv" file. I have no idea what to do with that.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

CBR929RE

haha welcome to my world. been having trouble with it since I got back from Grattan. now I'm using windows movie maker on my sister's comp and its giving me other kinds of problems.

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less than a year till Grattan

SheepOfBlue

.dv is dv tape format. Choose options and select H264 for a great compressor

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DUX

Sorry Sheep, need you to elaborate a bit.

I build and watch my stuff on IMOVIE, so it's never a problem. What program are you talking about?

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

CBR929RE

ok I got all my Grattan videos to work in iMovie and have played around with it a bunch today. your .dv file is just an iMovie project probably. When you first opened iMovie it asked what format but thats really unimportant now.

So what you wanna do is open the project in iMovie. then under File choose export and you can pick whatever format you want to save the movie in such as .mov or .divx or whatever you prefer.

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less than a year till Grattan

DUX

Yep, but when I exported to .mov it compressed the video. Still watchable, but worthless for showing everyone here the quality of the V.I.O.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

DUX

I couldn't post video in this thread so I put it here: V.I.O. POV1 footage

CBR929RE, thanks for the export idea. When I compressed for CD instead of the WEB, the footage is a bit better.

The frame rate is still slow, so things look a bit choppy. If you watch the movie in a small window however, you get a decent representation of the video quality from the old lens.

__________________
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

-Reggie Leach

SheepOfBlue

Sorry I did not notice this. .dv is the native format of DV tape and thus a great format to work in before final composition (little or no loss of quality) however unless you are dumping back to tape it is not a good final choice. In iMovie do File menu:Export then in the PopUp change Compress movie for: CD ROM to Expert Settings when a new dialog comes up looking like a save dialog you can choose various export formats including Quicktime to Quicktime movie. Next to that there is a Options button which you can then choose the various compression codecs. H264 is one of them. In that you can also select options such as bit rate, size, audio, etc. Play with there to find ones you like. I find that H264 with a bitrate of 1500K or less makes a decent web quality bike video.

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