The Oregon Scientific ATC5K brings out your inner action man : Shiny Shiny

Hurtling down the Thames at top speed of 40 mph (but it feels like 400) it's hard enough to hang on let alone try and record the action taking place. That's where the Oregon Scientific ATC5K comes in, as I've strapped it firmly to my hand and it's recording all the excitement. Should I wish I could also attach it to my head, my bike or use it as webcam (it comes with all the mounts you need). My inner wild child has resurfaced with all the wind smashing into my face, and the exhilaration is captured at a resolution of 640x480 at 30fps.

Yes, it's not the highest spec camera on the market, but considering it can handle being immersed in ten foot of water, it's shock proof and has a 1.5 inch LCD screen it's not too bad. The previous action cams didn't have a viewing screen, so this is definitely a step up, and despite a broken fingernail from hooking it up (waterproof means ultra tight fiddly locking mechanisms) it's a nice piece of kit. It comes with a remote so you can activate Ito whilst it's on your head, and is also compatible with Windows and MAC.

And it's also incredibly simple to use. One button for video, one button for stills and three small ones to play it back. The buttons are big enough to be able to use even if your hands are freezing and it supports memory of up to 4GB (on a SD card) which is about 2 hours of footage. The sounds quality is a little fuzzy out and about, but back in the office it was very clear.

I imagine this would be used by extreme sports fans who like to capture their gravity defying bike jumps or snowboarding activity and the added extra of pictures and playback makes this desirable.It's not meant to replace your video cam or digital camera, just provide a touch waterproof option when you're involved in stunts.

Here are two pics I took so you can see the picture quality.

Image 1