Imagine this: you just finished an awesome snowboard run with plenty of stunts, and sweet moves. Suddenly, you find yourself wishing you had access to a wearable camera, and that you had recorded your entire run.
Because if you had one then you could have uploaded the video to YouTube — or another social sharing site — so that your friends, family and the world at large could see your skills.
Expand that idea of filming your snowboard run to pretty much any activity you can think of: swimming, rock climbing, deep water diving, boating, jet skiing, hiking, spelunking. We could go on and on.
Believe it or not, it’s entirely possible to film your activity and in high quality too. You might be even more surprised to know that it’s not all that expensive to acquire the necessary equipment. There is a ton of wearable cameras available that you can strap to your person and film away with.
Maybe you’ve already heard of the massively popular GoPro camera? There are a bunch of other wearable cameras that work just as good — if not better — than the GoPro, too.
The Best Wearable Cameras for Filming Extreme Sports and Activities
We scoured the market and picked out some of the best wearable cameras. Keep in mind, this list is not comprehensive. If there’s a camera or wearable you prefer over the ones listed here, feel free to share it with everyone!
GoPro Hero4
Naturally, we’ll start with one of the most popular brands on the market, GoPro.
The GoPro Hero4 is the latest model of wearable camera from the company, and it boasts a couple of great features. Videos are recorded at a maximum resolution of 4K at 30 frames per second.
The most interesting thing about the GoPro line is that there is already a plethora of mounts and accessories that expand their use. There are body mounts (hands, arms, chest, head), tripods, helmet mounts, vehicle mounts and even dog harnesses — yes, so you can mount the camera to your dog.
There are three models: Hero 4 Session, Hero 4 Black and Hero 4 Silver. The Session and Silver are both $399.99 while the Black includes additional features and is $100 more.
You can purchase the GoPro Hero 4 Black — or the other models — on either GoPro.com or Amazon.
Garmin VIRB XE
Would you believe that Garmin — the company generally known for their GPS devices — has created a wearable action camera? They have a few decent smartwatches too, but we’re getting off-topic now.
Garmin offers both the VIRB X and VIRB XE two HD-capable wearables cameras with a variety of features. There’s an option to film in slow-mo, along with a bunch of integrated sensors that allow you to add additional data to your recordings. Remember those smartwatches we mentioned? The VIRB cameras also work with the Garmin Fenix 3, among several others.
The XE model is more expensive at $399 and is designed for professional cinematographers with 1440p recording at 30 frames per second or full HD 1080p at 60 frames per second.
As with the other models, you can purchase the VIRB cameras through Garmin’s official site or Amazon.
Panasonic HX-A1
The HX-A1 is a small, cylindrical camera that’s designed to be rugged and durable. Seriously, this thing is waterproof (up to 1.5m), dust-resistant, shockproof, and freezeproof (down to 10 degrees below zero). If you’re actively trying to break this thing, you’ll have a rough go of it.
It weighs a mere 45g and captures full HD quality video. A unique slo-mo mode will capture 720p HD at 60 frames per second or 480p SD at 120 frames per second. It’s safe to say you’ll get some pretty good shots with this thing.
Additional features include a Lux Night Mode for low-light capturing and an IR filter, which you can activate provided you have an infrared light attached.
You can pick this bad boy up for $199 from Panasonic directly or through Amazon.
TomTom Bandit
TomTom is another company normally recognized for their GPS tracking devices. They’ve jumped into the fray with the Bandit, an HD camera that’s capable of recording up to 4K videos and snapping 16MP stills.
If you want to capture 1080p HD footage you’ll get up to 60 frames per second, and if you drop down to 720p HD you’ll get 120 frames per second. There’s also a slo-mo mode that can handle 1080o and 720p HD recording, a time-lapse mode with 4K and 1080p recording and even a burst mode.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity means it can connect, and synchronize with other devices wirelessly.
On paper, those specs look the same as most everything else on this list. What makes the Bandit special is that it operates as a media server. All your videos and media is stored on the actual camera, and you can remotely view the content using your smartphone and a compatible app.
The Bandit is $399 through TomTom’s official site, but you can also find it on Amazon.
Drift Stealth 2
The Drift Stealth 2 is another rugged wearable camera, so it should be able to withstand extreme weather conditions and quite a bit of shock. It records 1080p HD at 30 frames per second and includes an internal display so you can see which mode the camera is in.
A variety of modes on offer including HD video recording, photo capture, time lapses, and even dashcam support. A compatible smartphone app allows you to remotely control the camera via your phone too.
You can pick up the Drift Stealth 2 for $199 through the official Drift Innovation website, or through Amazon.
Sony X1000VR
It would be a pretty sad list without Sony somewhere on it. They don’t have a lot to offer when it comes to the HD action camera market, but the X1000VR certainly is a solid entry.
It can handle 4K video recording at 30 frames per second, and includes GPS, NFC and Wi-Fi connectivity. Sony developers integrated shot-steadying tech that allows the camera to withstand strong wind gusts, and even protects the recorded audio.
If you want to tap into the camera remotely, there’s a compatible smartphone app.
It will cost $498 and you can purchase the X1000VR through Sony’s official site.
4GEE Action Cam
The 4GEE Action Cam is particularly interesting because it connects to a 4G cellular network. This allows you to live stream footage right from the camera without any other connected devices, like a smartphone. Sadly, when you live stream you’re limited to 720p HD video at 30 frames per second.
However, the 4GEE Action Cam supports 1080p recording at 30 frames per second or 720p recording at either 30 or 60 frames per second. You can also snap 13MP stills from the camera, as well.
It’s setup so that you pay for the camera, and service, on a monthly basis so it’s quite affordable. Unfortunately, it’s only available in the UK currently.
It will cost you £49.99 per month under contract, and you can pick it up from the official EE shop.
Additional Wearable Cameras for Filming Extreme Sports and Activities
Of course, there are a few other cameras not included in the list above. If you want even more options, check some of these out:
- Polaroid Cube
- iON Air Pro 3 Wi-Fi
- Contour ROAM, ROAM3 and CONTOUR+2
- Narrative Clip