Liquid Image may have actually finally hit the nail on the head when it comes to getting even more POV cameras into the lift-lines of your local resort. Taking away the whole "needing to mount it to a camera/google and having it hang off the side of your head" issue by just integrating the whole camera unit into your goggles, they've made POV-style shooting easy enough for my mom to handle.
Is that a good thing? Combining the dead-in-the-center-of-your-forehead angle which I don't tend to love (get hot POV shooting tips in an exclusive 33MAG article here!) with the shear ease-of-use, which will no doubt lead to even more unwatchable 30-minute Youtube epics of your grandmother cruising the groomers of Ontario, I am a bit afraid of the results of this product. That said, I think it's a great idea and am kinda surprised no one thought to do it sooner.
Style-wise, these things are a different story. They not exactly as steezy as what most of us have become accustomed to rocking, but some sacrifices need to be made in the name of getting the shot, right? And it's not like they'll be in the shot either, haha!
I haven't had a chance to test out these babies yet but cruising around their website, it seems like there are three basic models. The bottom one shoots on 30 frames a second at 720p but the other two do the old 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps trick we've come to rely on for smooth slow-mo shots. Quality-wise, I haven't used it myself so can't really say but with the level sensor technology is at, at the end of the day I am sure the quality of this thing is more than sufficient for 99% of us out here.
Their marketing material could probably use a bit of a bump as well, not sure if this photo really makes you wanna run out and grab a pair.
More info from the manufacturer:
Wi-Fi equipped Full HD VIDEO CAMERA SNOW GOGGLE
The Liquid Image APEX HD+ is a snow goggle with an integrated Full HD camera that is also Wi-Fi enabled. With a free app, the camera can stream live view, let you view recorded photos and videos, or act as a remote control to activate the camera. The goggle contains a 135 degree wide angle lens to capture all the action from the user’s point of view. This Apex HD+ features a rotating camera lens to dial in the best angle for your stance while skiing, boarding, sledding or snowmobiling. The hands free unit has a 12.0MP (4000 x 3000) still image camera mode, a continuous shot photo mode, and a video mode that records either HD1080P Video (1920×1080) at a rate up to 30 frames per second or the High Action mode of HD720P video (1280×720) at a rate up to 60 frames per second. The APEX HD+ can hold a Micro SDHC Class 6+ Card up to 32 GB to record thousands of photos or hours of HD video. Product includes an 8GB Class 10 Micro SDHC card. The camera has Wind Guard Audio recording for crisp sound while in motion. Files may be downloaded to a computer through the High Speed USB cable provided, or through a Micro SDHC card. Rechargeable lithium battery records approximately 2 hours of video. Extra batteries sold separately. Colors: Black or White with Grey Hydro.
Check out the Liquid Image site at www.liquidimageco.com/pages/snow and check out some sample footage below:
