What action camera...but not just for cycling...

[Hard-Drive]

That big fat white bearded bloke in a red suit has offered me and the other half an action camera for Christmas. Trouble is, I don't know which one to get and was after a bit of advice. It needs to be multi purpose, skiing, yacht sailing and dinghy racing, horsey riding (her, not me, no bloody way I'd sit on 1/2 ton of wild animal with only tight white trousers and a stupid hat for protection) and of course mountain biking too.

I really like the look of the Veho Muvi, but the waterproofing kit looks a bit suspect, it needs to be able to deal with a full immersion in water, or a proper wipe out on the slopes. The Oregon Scientific is OK, but I've used one before and the quality isn't brilliant. I've used a Predator VX360 on the 18' skiff (huge, scary 25 knot racing dinghy) but I was soon cursing the arm pack and linking cable thing and it's just too expensive for me, although the quality is superb.

Need to keep the budget under £100 really, what's the current favourite? Thought this would be the best forum to ask as I know there's plenty of MTBers on here who ski and do other such stuff. Mounting wise, it would be good if it has options to mount on a bike lid or ski lid, a headband for dinghy sailing, and perhaps a strap or similar for fixing to a boat grabrail/mast base or similar.

Thanks in advance

[Parrot of Doom]

GoPro HD. There's nothing better for the money.

[sjg]

Seconded. There's nothing that touches it at that price, given it's size and waterproofing - would be suitable for everything you list.

[Floor Tom]

Parrot of Doom said:

GoPro HD. There's nothing better for the money.

The HD is sigificantly more than £100! Though you are right it is very good. Might want to look at the non HD GoPro. I think you can get tem for about £150ish.

[summers]

I have a 5mp go pro and it is fantastic, i use it for Downhill, track days, surfing and it is fantastic.
not sure you'd get one for under 100 but you might be able to get the 3mp instead.

[Hard-Drive]

OK...GoPro HD is certainly out of budget. The ATC is sub £100 with a 4Gb card, or there's the standard GoPro for about the same, which are in budget. Or, I can chip in a bit more myself and go for the GoPro Wide. But my concern is that with a 170 degree field of view, there might be a lot of distortion.

Any thoughts?

[Parrot of Doom]

There isn't that much distortion. The ATC cameras always look ste on YouTube.

[Hard-Drive]

GoPro Wide ordered. Will report back! Thanks for the tips!

[Hard-Drive]

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we fly out to the slopes very early on the 2nd Jan, and I have tried the GoPro Wide for the first time today. Basically, it powers up, and that's it. Won't change modes, won't record, won't take photos, won't even power off. Just sits there with a zero on the display and that's it.

I have almost no chance of getting one in time for our ski trip, and just to remind me of all the footage I won't be getting, one of the helmet mounts is now attached very firmly to my brand new ski lid.

GoPro Hero? More like Zero. Gutted.

[PhilLL]

Try aldi- they have an action cam on offer for 59 quid at the moment which I was very tempted by yesterday, when I picked up some merino baselayers

http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_12511.htm

[Parrot of Doom]

Sounds to me as though some kind of 'lock' mode is turned on, so you don't inadvertently interrupt anything while recording.

[Hard-Drive]

OK so take a bow Wiggle for trying everything to offer me an alternative (out of stock on the Hero Wide though) as I was going to be very near their depot on New Year's Eve. And take an even bigger bow Outdoor GB (who are another internet only no visitors setup) for supplying me a replacement face to face (they are very near me). Top customer service there from both, holiday videos are back on!

And nope, it was definitley knackered, and not on any lock mode. The new one works fine.