Grand Cayman Snorkeling
Welcome back!
As I mentioned in a post, last week, I went on a little snorkeling excursion while I was in Grand Cayman a couple weeks ago. This gave me another opportunity to try out my Epic Stealth Cam, mentioned in a previous post.
I’m finding that I wish the camera had a way to change the orientation of the filming — essentially, to rotate the image being filmed. I do this after the fact with video editing software, but then you end up with a very tall and narrow video image. Many other “helmet” cams like the Epic Stealth allow you to change the orientation based on the position of the camera, whether the top of your head, side of your head, wrist, handlebar, etc. Of course, most of those cameras cost twice as much as the Stealth Cam, too. 
Also, when using the waterproof housing, you pick up a lot of really annoying sounds, such as the splashing of the water against the camera, my breathing, and so on. You do not, however, pick up speech. Not a big issue, as you’re typically not speaking too clearly underwater, anyway. In the video, I muted the soundtrack and added a “sound effect” overlay.
You’ll notice in the video that the image became more cloudy as the day went on. I’m not sure what happened — I’m guessing the waterproof housing became foggy or got something (sunscreen) on the surface of the housing “lens.” I also had an issue with the camera bobbing in the water. Both of these issues are really more user error than mechanical failure. I need to figure out a better placement for the camera and make sure the lens is clean before use.
So far, both trials have been during water sports. I need to try it out, next on some land-based activities. I guess that’s a good reason to dust off the old mountain bike and get to work….well, that and I really need to lose some weight and would love to get out on the trails.
