Twenty20 VholdR

The Twenty20 VholdR is a wearable video camera designed to shoot action sports. The self-contained unit is about the size of a pill bottle and weighs just a fraction of a pound. It records almost two-hours of video—with sound—on a two-gigabyte MicroSD card, and runs off a Lithium-ion battery. There are similar cameras out there for less than $100, but the $350 VholdR is a little more serious approach.

The camera is housed within an aluminum body and the other major components are made from glass, rubber and fiberglass. Because there’s no on-camera playback, the camera’s sighting is adjusted by rotating the lens and a pair of horizontally spaced lasers. Yep, lasers. It shoots video at TV-quality 30 frames per second, and 640×480 pixels is big enough for full-screen viewing.

I’ve had the VholdR for about two months now, and regular blog readers have probably seen some of the footage I’ve captured, including this one and this one from my recent trip to NYC. I’ve used Adobe Premiere Pro on a PC to edit my footage, which was much higher quality before YouTube compressed the video. The camera doesn’t have image stabilization, so there’s usually going to be some camera shake, but it does have a hardware-based processor that minimizes “smear” or flickering.

The camera can be attached to a variety of surfaces using the different mounts, though only the “flat surface” mount comes standard. If you want the vented helmet, goggle strap, handle bar or roll bar mount, you’ll have to buy them separately. The flat surface mount is a two-piece affair that uses a combination of snap-together plastic, hook and loop fastener (similar to Velcro) and automotive-grade adhesive. The system is secure, durable and adjustable by design, but the adhesive element has its drawbacks. It makes the mount semi-permanent, which could either damage the mounting surface or come unglued without warning. And it simply costs more money to reinstall, so you had better be sure about your placement.

The video above was recorded from two different camera angles on the same right-side mount. Operating the camera is incredibly easy, as it only has two buttons. The large, rubberized sliding button starts and stops recording. It’s big enough to operate with gloves on, and simple enough to operate while moving. The power button does double duty, controlling the laser sighting and functioning as the on/off switch. Audible beeps help indicate power and recording status. It takes the camera quite a while to warm up, so you definitely need to prepare and be ready to shoot ahead of time.

Battery life is very subjective, in that how you use the camera will have a lot to do with how long your battery lasts. One charge is certainly enough to capture a memory card’s worth of video, but you can’t ride around with the camera idling all day long. I was fortunate to have a second battery, which gave me the ability to keep the camera on nearly all day long. The VholdR charges via the included USB cable, but a stand-alone charger is available.

The camera doesn’t include a memory card, so you’ll need to buy your own. Thankfully a 2GB card is about $15 (or less). As of right now the VholdR does not support 4GB cards, but they are working to iron out that compatibility issue. Speaking of compatibility issues, there are some common issues. First off, the native video files don’t play well with Mac software, so you’ll need a video player like VLC to watch your videos, or a conversion program that will create files your Mac can edit. PC users can install the VholdR software, or view and edit the video in Windows, providing you have the right codec and software installed.

The VholdR is dustproof and water-resistant, but you can’t take it scuba diving. The camera doen’t have a lens cover, which would be good for travel. It might also be nice if the lens could accept filters, but I’m sure an enterprising videographer could find a way to hook up a polarizer if they needed to.

Twenty20’s documentation and customer support are top notch. Their site includes demonstration videos to help get you started, and friendly, knowledgeable humans are available should you run into technical difficulties. In fact, I wound up talking to Drew, the guy you’ll see in the introduction video. About the only thing they can’t help you with is the fact that you’ll look like a big dork riding around town with a video camera stuck to the side of your helmet. Hopefully you don’t mind.

In conclusion, the VholdR is pretty cool. It’s not perfect, but the good points far outweigh the bad. The price makes it a bit expensive for the average person who wants to make some fun videos for the Internet, but then again it’s not as expensive as a lot of things. For event promoters and other outdoor organizations, the VholdR could be an excellent tool for promotion and documentation. And if $350 is in your budget and a wearable camcorder is something you’ve always wanted, the VholdR is worth checking out.

Visit www.vholdr.com for more information.