My First Impressions on HD Extreme Max
The HD Extreme Max is a bit bigger and more of a rectangle shaped compared with the Bullet HD Wide camera, slightly bigger than the palm of my hand, yet still small and portable. And it comes with 2″ LCD screen where you can review the video footage you’ve recorded including accessing the menu to change the settings for the camera.
The first time you power it on; make sure you do NOT look at the len because a very bright, laser beam will shine out of it so take care! It’s the “Targeting Device” where it beams out a horizontal laser line, allowing you to make sure you set up the camera to face the correct way. It will switch off itself after 10 seconds.
Slide out the left cover to reveal the 2” LCD screen with a ‘Live’ video of wherever you’re pointing the camera to. To change the mode, press the ‘MODE’ button and you will see the Movies gallery. Another press of the button, it will show you the photo gallery. Finally the 3rd press will take you to the Setup menu.
The accessories that came with this camera is pretty standard stuff – HDMI cable, wired remote control (to start/stop the recording), 3 mounts, goggles mount, bike mount, headband mount, USB cable, AV out cable, AC wall charger and finally the user manual (who reads this??) – this should be enough to get you started.
In order to mount this camera on the windscreen of my car, I had to use my own suction mount as the box does not come with a suitable mount for me to use. However we need to remember that this is more geared toward extreme sports. I plugged the wired remote control which allows me to start/stop the recording, which is very handy!
Using the HDMI cable, you can plug it to the TV but your TV will need to have the 3 AV ports – red, white and yellow to watch the footage on your TV. There are additional accessories available on the DogCamSport website like spare battery, cables, suction mount ad many more, depending on your needs.
One of the things I really like with this camera is that you are able to rotate the len to the left or to the right, depending on how the camera is mounted so it will still record the correct view. Turned it upside down? No problem, load up the Menu -> Video Rotation and change it to ‘Standard’ or ‘Inverted’ and you’re sorted.
Video Sample – Day & Night footages (Don’t forget to change it to 1080p)
Now, let’s look at the Menu area, and see what it offers me…
Resolution
-
WVGAP60
720p 25fps
720p 30fps
720 50fps
720p 60fps
1080p 25fps
1080p 30fps
Full HD
Quality
-
L (Low)
M (Medium)
H (High)
Video Rotation
-
Standard
Inverted
Record Mode
-
PAL
NTSC
External Mic Vol
-
Off
1 – 7
Internal Mic Vol
-
Off
1 – 7
Record Overwrite
-
Yes
No
Motion Detection
-
No
1 min
3 mins
5 mins
Time stamp
-
Off
Date
Time
Date/Time
TV Type
-
Pal
NTSC
Time Setup
-
Beep Sound
Off
On
Format
-
No
Yes
Language
-
English
François
Firmware Version
-
V12051506
What’s included in the box
-
HDMI cable
Wired remote control (to start/stop the recording)
3 mounts
Goggles mount
Bike mount
Headband mount
USB cable
AV out cable
AC wall charger
User manual (Mini CD-ROM)
Specifications
Image
-
Video resolution: 1920x1080p 30fps / 1280x720p 30fps – 60fps / 848x480p 30fps – 60fps
Video format: MOV (H.264), AVC1
Sensor 1080p: CMOS 5Mp, lens 110degree angle
Sensor 720p: CMOS 5Mp, lens 135degree angle
Targeting device: horizontal laser bean C2 (10 seconds)
Audio: Stereo microphone + Audio In for external microphone
Still picture: 2560x1920p
Embedded LCD 2” screen
Storage
-
Support external MicroSD card up to 32Gb
Storage capacity/hour: HD1080p = 4Gb/h, HD720p = 2Gb/h
File Upload: USB 2.0 port (PC/Mac)
Power
-
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion 1000mAh
Recharge: USB port (PC/Mac or wall charger)
Battery left: About 180 minutes
Working Temperature
-
From -10C to +40C
Sizes and weight
-
Length: 102mm
Height: 57mm
Width: 38mm
Weight: 115g (including battery)
User Manual download (PDF – 1.7MB)
My overall thoughts
The HD Max Extreme is packed with different video format settings to meet your needs. Video recorder and digital camera in one is an extra bonus. I do really like the wired remote control where it allows me to start/stop the recording without having to reach out to the device to turn it on. Oh yeah, and being able to rotate the len.
At the end of the day, I’ve found this pretty easy to use, basically set it up with the correct settings, mount it with the suitable mount and start recording to create a perfect HD footage.
Good
-
2” LCD screen
Full 1080p HD video format
Good choice of video formats
Rotatable len
Bad
-
Can’t see anything bad about it!
Rating – 4.5 out of 5
Link to purchase – http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/camsports-hdmax-extreme-1080p-helmet-camera.html
And if you use the Promotional Code of HTDC05, you will get 10% off from the price.