23 years ago an individual called Mark Schulze decided to put together the world's first "helmet camera" to make an action video. His subject was mountain biking.
As the chip camera had just come out, he obtained one and proceeded to affix it to a motorcycle helmet. What he did then was to attach a cable to both the camera and the VCR which he placed in the biker's backpack. The biker, of course, found this whole apparatus both unwieldy and heavy! Modern sophisticated cameras might not exist were it not for this pioneering experiment. I do not know how much everything weighed but compare this with the contour HD 1080p which weighs just 4.3 ounces!
Lots more mountain biking videos followed plus BMX videos as well and hot on the heels of these followed action films by skiers, skydivers and surfers. Coaches in professional football also tried to fix helmet cameras on their players' headgear for training purposes.
As the digital revolution gathered pace, so helmet cameras got ever smaller. So much so that they are very often referred to as 'bullet' or 'lipstick' cameras. Additionally, these days, they can be mounted on to just about any body part, even feet, enabling the enthusiast to obtain those coveted and out-of-the-ordinary shots that you see on TV. An example of how diminutive these cameras are can be seen by looking at the contour HD helmet camera.
The armed forces of a lot of countries have taken to using helmet cams in situations from combat to surveillance. Air forces in many countries put them on to fighter pilots' helmets. These recordings have proved to be of great value in various ways, from improving techniques to performance.
Fire fighting services the world over placed these cameras on to fire fighters' helmets to record action inside buildings. The best helmet cameras are water-resistant, dirt and dust resistant and shock-proof. It is worth noting that just one gulp of thick smoke can disorient a person with the result that he or she simply will not get to the outside. The videos that are made by the fire services are used not just to train their own men but also to educate the wider public.
Construction staff now use helmet cameras to video work as it progresses, helping problems to be diagnosed and shots of both good work and poor work to be used for later training.
All over the world, police forces now use helmet cameras. Helmet cameras have been crucial in helping the police to successfully prosecute violent criminals, record anti-social behavior, control crowds and violence in the streets. Only the other day there was a program on TV showing police wearing helmet cameras during a raid on a suspected drug pusher's house. Before police started to use helmet cameras they were very often in danger of the occupants filming them on cell-phones and the footage later selectively used to compromise them. With the helmet cameras, the police can negate any such use and also use their recordings for training.
Everything that I have written above should, I hope, be useful to you if you are thinking about investing in your first helmet camera with which to re-live your action experiences. The above explanation of the birth and current uses of the bullet camera will hopefully encourage you to invest in one and increase your enjoyment of whatever activity or sport is close to your heart. Quite simply, if the military, the police and the fire service have invested millions of dollars in this technology, then there's a considerable probability that you, too, will benefit when investing your hard-gained dollars in one.
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