OREGON SCIENTIFIC ATC2K WATERPROOF ACTION CAMERA

by Mick Hodge

The Oregon Scientific ATC2k: mini marvel

Wrong Way Down

Support Crew Story: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

Rider's Story: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

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Every now and again I get given something (to test) that really puts a smile on my dial, and the Oregon Scientific ATC2k Waterproof Action Camera is one of them. I live in a world of $250,000 movie cameras and that's before you buy a lens! Huge big heavy monsters that have three or four people with eyes in the back of their heads permanently hovering around them to shoo people like me, who have permanently sticky fingers and like to play with the gamma levels, away.

When this little light weight wireless cam turned up in the post it was action stations. Visions of four of them placed inconspicuously around the boudoir and Mrs Mick all plied with copious amounts of red wine and all fired up and ready for action were swiftly shot down in flames when she saw me not so discreetly pointing it down the front of her pants. She uttered one word.

"Outside".

Am I really that predictable?

So with the aid of our super patient DOP and a handful of other cameras we whizzed it through its paces.

Now let me tell you straight away this thing shoots a 640 x 480 pixel resolution shot, which is not broadcast quality but which IS right up there with what you see on the MotoGP on-board cameras. It will shoot for an hour and with a quick twist of the end cap will eject its 2GB chip, so it's just shoot and forget.

The ATC2k includes mounting hardware...

...which makes it possible to mount it...

...just about anywhere

We ran two chips and because we were being sophisticated had the ability to upload one into a computer, whilst yours truly went about his business of screaming around the local BIKE ME! test circuit recording even more stuff. I know they were secretly hoping I'd bin it and they'd have it recorded for one and all to see, but I'm sorry to disappoint. If you were out for a ride you'd just set your phone's alarm and let the vibrations tell you that you are coming to the end of your chip's storage capacity, chuck in another one, and away you go again.

The Oregon Scientific ATC2k Waterproof Action Camera costs $300-ish. It weights about the same as your mobile phone (under 300g with batteries), and the ease of set up is certainly no harder than a mobile phone. The placement possibilities are endless.

As you can see from the photos, with judicial amounts of Velcro, or the brilliant straps, you can mount the ATC-2K about anywhere. The kit was second to none for all the extra straps and Velcro sticky bits and mounts it came with, this was a godsend (and I now know what to buy Klink for Christmas).

The instruction manual, which I read, but which the smart-arsed DOP didn't, says it's water proof to 3 m. We didn't try it, but I would have no hesitation slapping it on a dirt bike and riding happily into the wet and sloppy stuff. This is the beauty of a self-contained robust little unit that doesn't break the bank. You're not too precious over it, you consequently put it places you wouldn't normally dare, and that's when you get your magical shot.

If you ride with your mates on the bitumen or the dirt, we all know catching that moment when your mate pulls the best mono ever or dumps his enduro in the drink is absolute gold in the canâ?¦ if and only if, you catch it on a camera. If there is a bunch of you, it would not take much to organise one each so you all cover each other, this will add to the fun because it is very hard to forget you are being filmed, so you try that little bit harder!

Coming back and uploading can sometimes be even more hilarious than when it actually happened, and sharing with four or four thousand with a Youtube account, means that friends and family get to see from the other side of the world exactly how brilliant or what a total plonker you really can be.

Don't you just love technology?