Team Geared Up

SCI FI Tech Reports

Samsung released its rugged sports camcorder — an extremely compact model that shoots basic, e-mailable video — over a year ago. Its coolest feature was the remote lens unit, which you could mount separately to anything you wanted, letting you capture those ready-for-SportsCenter “helmet cam” moments. The problem was that the remote lens had to be connected to the cam via a USB cable, so a goalie with the lens on his helmet (and the camera presumably strapped somewhere on his body) had an even chance of strangling himself when making a sprawling save. Good thing the latest version, the SC-X210WL, upgrades the lens by making it wireless. It’s just a 15-foot range, so you’ll still have to keep the cam on your person, but at least with no cord you won’t have to worry about it snagging on anything when you crash your Moov bike. It works via tried-and-tested RF technology, keeping the bandwidth high enough for video and the power consumption low enough to actually be useful (sorry, Bluetooth). The 1-GB model costs $679 (there’s an SD card slot if you want to jack up the memory), which is a little more than I’d want to pay for cable-free sports shooting, but there aren’t really a lot of comparable products out there. The SC-X210WL hits store shelves September.

now thats something I could do with!!! especially if waterproof! Imagine putting on the helmet lense and then putting the cam into a pelican box in your pack. Easy mountaineering footage. Pity the res isn’t higher.