Action cameras or “action-cam” are digital cameras designed for filming action while deep within it. Action cams are therefore usually compact, rugged, and waterproof Typically recording video over still images, capturing the action without having to interact with the camera. They usually have a waterproof housing, protecting it from the kinds of extreme weather and environments you would expect to find on the snow covered slopes of Ruapehu, or the rugged west coast Surf Beach Piha. Most record via a MicroSD card, and connect to a PC via Micro USB cable

Action cameras are often associated with action-sports, commonly attached to helmets, surfboards or handlebars, becoming an integral part of many exciting extreme sports; such as rock climbing, base jumping or wingsuits. Several cameras are often used to capture different perspectives; for example, a helmet camera may see the perspective of a cyclist, in combination with a second camera attached to the environment of the rider, such as a the bike itself, wingsuit, or chest, or even looking back onto the rider recording his reactions and expressions. Action Cams are sometimes referred to as “Helmet-Cams” or other similar names.

Because the end result of the recorded footage is often exciting, short and highly shareable, the videos are ideal for Youtube, and quickly develop viral status online. This in turn drives the popularity of the action camera and this trend is expected to grow stronger still, as the cameras become more popular outside the extreme sport sector, within the mainstream/consumer channel.

The category is strongly associated GoPro range of cameras, and many action cameras come with a GoPro 3-Prong mount adapter to take advantage of the accessories used by the popular GoPro action cameras

Other popular manufacturers of action cams include the Sony HDR-AS10, HDR-AS15 and HDR-AS30V

Garmin VIRB, Xiaomi YiCamera, Panasonic HX-A500E, Toshiba Camileo X-Sports, Polaroid Cube,Mobius, Ricoh WG-M1, and the TomTom Bandit

 

Common Sports that are popular to film;

Earth:

Skateboarding, Longboarding, Mountain Boarding, Sandboarding, BMX, Motocross, FMX, Aggressive Inline Skating, Mountain Biking, Caving, Slacklining, Absailing, Rock Climbing, Free Climbing, Bouldering, Mountaineering, Parkour, Sand kiting, Zorbing

Water:

Surfing, Long/short, Body boarding, Waterskiing, Wakeboarding, Kitesurfing, Windsurfing, Cave diving, Flowboarding, Paddle surfing / Stand up paddle, Kayaking, Cliff Jumping, Coasteering, Scuba Diving, Knee Boarding, White Water Rafting, Skim Boarding, Jet Skiing

Snow and Ice:

Snowboarding, snow skiing, Ice Climbing, Snowmobiling, Snow Kiting

Air:

Base Jumping, SkyDiving, Wing Suiting, Bungee Jumping, High-lining, Hang Gliding, Paragliding

 

What sport is your favourite?

Do you plan to use your camera for action or adventure?
www.actioncam.nz  brings you the most afforadble of them all, yet maintain an attractive selection of features and a picture quality that is imporessive and hard to fault. Being the camera is built tough to begin with, faults are rare, but the company offer a free return service anyway so concerns should be really down to what colour item you should buy!