Dying to show off your brag-worthy sports moments? Here are the top pocket-sized, high definition cameras—so your buddies don't think you're exaggerating.
Got some brag-worthy sports moments to share? Here are the best HD cameras—so small they'll fit in your pocket.
We all love adventure, but the best moments are those you can capture and share with others. And with a new generation of high-quality, pocket-sized video cameras that combine usability, ruggedness, and the professional-caliber tools, every adventure has picture-potential of the action movie variety. So whether you’re charging down the wintry slopes, ripping over singletrack, or (hey, why not?) jumping off a mountain face, these five mini HD cameras will help you test your limits—and share your escapades with friends in stunning quality.
You’d like to document your next outing, but your pockets are getting full Not a problem with Sanyo’s Xacti VPC-CS1. One of the lightest and thinnest HD cameras around, the Xacti still packs a punch with a 10x zoom and a 38mm semi-wide-angle lens. But it also follows the action better than many with a sound zoom and a face chaser that tracks up to 12 faces at a time. ($300, sanyo.com)
You’re hard on your toys, and you want the video and photo evidence to prove it. Pentax answers the call with their new WG-2 GPS full HD pocket camcorder. It’s shockproof, waterproof, crushproof, dustproof, and coldproof, which should be proof enough that your next ski, bike, or surf session will make it to the screen without a glitch. But it also includes GPS to geo-tag your photos and video. And Pentax has upped the ante with a soon-to-be-released chest harness to mount the WG-2 for hands-free charging, with bike and helmet mounts also on the way. ($300, pentaximaging.com)
If watersports are your specialty, the Toshiba Camileo BW20 may be your HD camera of choice. Ruggedized to be water-, dust-, and shock-proof, the full HD Camileo captures footage without leaks up to 16 feet underwater. It also offers underwater color correction and video stabilization in rough seas. And, perhaps best of all (aside from the price) this camera won’t sink if you drop it, thanks to a tethered floating wrist strap. ($130, us.toshiba.com)
Variable conditions ahead? No worries. It’s hard to beat Canon’s PowerShot D20, which is shockproof to five feet, waterproof to 33 feet, and temperature-resistant from 14 to 104 degrees. Pair that with full HD video, a wide-angle 28mm lens, underwater macro mode, and a 12.1 megapixel sensor for photos, and you’ve got your next adventure covered. And you can revisit your best photos, tagged with the GPS tracker. ($350, usa.canon.com)
You might be an amateur, but with the new GoPro Hero3 black edition, you’ll look like a professional. A powerful update on GoPro’s Hero2, the third edition boasts an f/2.8 ultra wide angle lens that’s twice as sharp and capable of shooting slow-mo at 60 frames per second in HD (and up to 120 fps at 720 pixels). With built-in Wi-fi, the Hero3 can also snap a photo every five seconds while shooting video simultaneously. Plus, the photo mode takes up to two photos a second for wicked timelapses. And, as always, you can mount it to anything from your surfboard to your wingsuit. If you can do it, the Hero3 can, too. ($399 [black edition], gopro.com)
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Best High Definition Cameras to Capture that Action Shot