Hardened camera for hardcore sports
XX HD Action Camera by JVC Americas Corp.
$349.99 at Bestbuy.com
It’s a wonder that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt didn’t wear one of these during his races at the London Olympics. This handy little HD camera was designed for people with a taste for action sports.
The Action Camera is shock-resistant and designed to tolerate a six-foot fall or a dip in 15 feet of water. Just charge up its battery and slip in an SD memory card -- not included, by the way. The camera does come with clips and brackets for attaching it to a pair of goggles or the handlebars of a bike. Picture quality is quite decent, though it suffers from a fisheye effect. Objects at the edges of the picture look a little funny.
I found the camera’s software controls rather confusing. And I was never able to figure out a feature that uses a built-in Wi-Fi chip to wirelessly transmit your videos to a laptop or smartphone. Try as I might, I never got it to work. Still, you can always fall back on a good old USB transfer cable.
The Action Camera’s a little on the pricey side, but it’s still worth considering if you want to record your own athletic exploits.
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