Cyclops Sports Cam: Budget Helmet Camera for Extreme Sports Fans

One of the amazing things about Chinese manufacturers is that they may well make OEM products for overseas companies, then modify the OEM to their own specification and sell it throughout Asia, but leave off any identifying branding.

Apparently this ‘Cyclops’ action camera is the perfect example of made and modified in China. The advertising blurb for this bullet cam claims that this is a modified version of an Oregon Scientific ATC3K.

The modifications aren’t just cosmetic however, which is generally the case. The company producing these units have actually changed some of the hard-ware too.
The body of the camera is made in a ‘mark resistant material’ probably a high grade plastic, the lens is obviously at the front of the unit, while at the back there is the one function button plus a charge and power LED. The button is part of a screw on cap. When removed you have access to the mini usb port for charging and transferring footage, an AV out, and also the mini SD card slot. On the threads of the unit are 2 rubber ‘O’ ring seals making the unit water tight in up to 10 meters of water.
The mount on the camera will look familiar to current Oregan user’s as it looks like a carbon copy.

Mounting kits for both handlebars and helmet are included in the box as are the usual cables, software, optional sticky tape for those not so smooth areas, and a small tub of grease! The grease is for the ‘O’ ring seals, and must be applied before using in the water (or a dusty environment).

The unit will allow up to an 8Gb mini SD card to be used, which will probably out last the built in battery’s run time of 2 hours.

Just like the Oregon, the ‘Cyclops’ films at 30fps at a resolution of either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240. The sensor is of interest as the manufacturer claims its a 1.3 and a 3.0 mega-pixel CMOS unit from Sony! We’ve sent them an email to sort the confusion out.

The price is an amazingly low 380RMB+ ($57) The price increases if you order the unit with the SD card and then again depending on the cards memory.

If you’re thinking of picking one up and are worried about the instructions never fear, the user manual is in English, and the instructions on the box are Japanese!

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