ATC5k Review
The Good: The ATC5K has a 1.5 colour screen for lining up shots and reviewing footage, the buttons are easier to use, it has a wireless remote control and it is still as tough as ever!
The Bad: The remote control works with IR and not with radio frequency, and the menu is not very intuitive.
The Action Cameras Bottom Line: We clearly noticed the higher quality in the picture and were impressed with the photo images. The screen is a first for these all-in-one cameras and we love it. The remote is also a terrific innovation that we found to be quite handy. Overall, it is the best value for money action camera yet.
The helmet cam cameras have been evolving over the past four years as each new version released tries to top all the previous cams. As we at Action Cameras have released each and every version over the years, we have been waiting for a major jump in technology to signify the next generation of helmet cam – and now its here, the Oregon Scientific ATC5K Action Camera.
The ATC5K comes with a built-in 1.5” colour screen which is a first with all-in-one helmet cams. The screen allows you to use the ATC5K the same way as your normal digital camera; you can review your videos straight away and also helps you to align the cam so you are shooting exactly what you want to. Not only are you able to review your videos on the screen, you can also line up, shoot and view photos, yes the ATC5K can also take VGA digital photos.
Another innovation that the ATC5K boasts and that no other all-in-one helmet cam has is a wireless remote control which allows you to take photos and start & stop recording. The remote is very useful once the ATC5K is mounted on your helmet, on your motorbike or in any other position where it might have previously been difficult to activate the recording. You can now simply use the remote to activate the camera.
The one downside of the remote is that it works with infra-red and not radio frequency which basically means that you need to point the remote directly at the I.R receiver which is positioned on the front of the camera above the lens. When we first started using the camera we found that the end of every video clip would have on of our hands caught in the picture pointing the remote at the I.R receiver. But with a little bit of practice we learnt how to do this without getting in the way of the picture. So this issue can be worked around by just familiarising yourself with using the remote.
The only other aspect that we believe could be improved is the menu settings; it could be more intuitive. However, again we just needed a bit of time to get used to it and then it was alright.
The mounts for the camera are very adaptable to many different surfaces and allows you to mount the ATC5K almost anywhere. The mounts that are included are:
? A Webcam Stand,
? Helmet mount,
? Handlebar mount,
? Velcro straps,
? Silicon rubber head strap, &
The package also includes the 2x AA alkaline batteries, wireless I.R remote, a carry bag, plus AV and USB cables.
So once you receive your camera you will have everything included in the package that you need except a memory card, while the ATC5K has a built-in memory of 32Mb this won’t get you too far and so we suggest getting an additional SD card. The cameras memory can be expanded up to 4Gb memory (SD and SDHC Cards) and this will get you 2hrs of continuous recording time at the highest resolution of 640 x 480. You can choose to drop the resolution down to 320 x 240 to get longer recoding time on a single card.
The ATC5K runs off 2 AA batteries. Regular alkaline batteries will give you 1hr of battery life if you have the screen on, if you would like to extend this to 2hrs then you can turn the screen off to save battery life.
All in all Oregon Scientific has done a terrific job by bringing out this new helmet cam that has all these new features. Any shortfall of the user friendliness is overshadowed by the brilliant functionality of the ATC5K and these issues will fade away as you learn to use the camera after playing around with it for a bit.
We are proud to be launching the ATC5K now and we look forward getting to use it for the remainder of summer and can’t wait to take it up to the ski slopes in the winter.
If you love your sports, want to record it with a decent piece of kit and don’t want to break your bank then the ATC5K is a must get for you!