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GoPro Helmet HERO Wide

• Pros: Can shoot video or stills; Waterproof to 100 feet; Wide variety of mounting options
• Cons: Auto white balance/exposure lags; Camera does little to alert user when memory full/battery dead; Handlebar mount doesn’t hold tight enough
• Bottom Line: The GoPro Helmet HERO Wide is one of the smallest, lightest helmet cameras on the market, and its ability to shoot video or stills makes it a great investment.
• MSRP: $190

GoPro’s Web site

    One problem many helmet cameras have is a lack of still photo capability. That’s one problem the GoPro Helmet HERO Wide doesn’t have.
    The 4.9-ounce (with two AAA batteries and waterproof case) camera can shoot good quality video (great quality for most Web usage), as well as 5-megapixel stills.
    It also has a 10-second self timer, a three-frame burst mode, a mode that shoots a still every two or five seconds and a 170-degree, wide-angle lens.
    That, packaged into a palm-sized camera for less than $200, is a good buy.
    The camera, whether shooting stills or video, has an auto exposure and auto white balance that did merely OK.
    While on a 3-hour mountain bike ride in Sedona, with my back to the sun, the GoPro’s auto exposure and auto white balance couldn’t keep up. It often lagged a couple seconds despite conditions, generally, not changing.

    The camera easily attaches to a vented helmet via the included strap or a handful of included adhesive mounts. It also comes with a headlamp-style headband, which is incredibly grippy for things like a climbing helmet.
    Then, if you want the handlebar, chest, roll bar or suction cup mount, you’ll be shelling out another $20 to $40. I found, though, no matter how much I tightened it, the handlebar mount tilted when riding on rough terrain.
    Despite the GoPro’s 16 megabyte internal memory, it’s pointless to get anything less than a 2 gigabyte SD card. The 2 gig card is said to hold 56 minutes of video (at the standard 30 frames per second) with sound.
    Currently the camera will only accommodate cards up to 2 gigabytes, but the company is in the process of making it 4 gig compatible and allowing users to download the free compatibility software from the GoPro Web site.
    My biggest gripe with the camera is its lackluster beeps letting users know the card is full. I never heard them while mountain biking with the camera in its waterproof case, but the GoPro beeps twice letting users know the card is full.
    Also, much to my dismay, other than a small battery icon, the camera does nothing to let users know the batteries are dead.
    But the negatives are minute when considering how easy the camera is to use, how easily the .avi-format videos can be downloaded to a Mac or PC, the overall quality of the video and the versatility of the camera.