Liquid Image outs Summit Series Snow Camera goggles ahead of CES
By Laura June 
posted January 2nd 2010 5:28AM
posted January 2nd 2010 5:28AM
Liquid Image has just announced new camera-equipped ski masks, swimming goggles and scuba masks, just in time for them to be unveiled at CES 2010. The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle 335 boasts a 5MP still camera capable of shooting D1 720 x 480 resolution video at 30 frames per second with audio. It's got 16MB of built-in flash memory, expandable to 16GB via its microSD / SDHC slot. Other features include large buttons on the side of the goggles which are easy to press while wearing gloves and a light inside the goggles which indicates when recording. The goggles are estimated to get about 2,200 still images or over 2 hours of video per charge on their lithium ion battery. Liquid Image expects to ship the Summit Series goggles in the summer of 2010, with a price of $149. Full press release is after the break
The Liquid Image Summit Series is the world's first snow goggle with an integrated digital camera. The goggle contains a wide angle lens to capture all the action while skiing, boarding, sledding or snowmobiling. The hands free unit has a 5.0 MP (2560 x 1920) camera mode and a video mode that records D1 video (720x480) at a rate up to 30 frames per second with audio.
The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle is easy to operate. There is a button for On/Off/Mode and another button for the shutter. To record a photo or a video, simply turn on the camera, choose the mode, then press the shutter button. LED lights inside the goggle indicate the mode to the user. Large side buttons along the right side of the frame allow for greater dexterity while wearing gloves.
Liquid Image Summit Series 335 Snow Camera Goggle
The internal memory has 16 MB NAND Flash. The memory is easily expanded to record thousands of photos or hours of videos by adding a Micro SD/SDHC Card up to 16 GB. Files may be downloaded to a computer through the High Speed USB cable
provided, or through a Micro SD/SDHC card.
The Camera operates on an internal rechargeable Lithium Battery
. Estimated battery performance is 2200 still images or 2:20 hrs of video.
The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle model 335 is estimated to ship late summer 2010, in time for the Winter Ski Season and for Holiday shopping. This new model follows the concept of the original Liquid Image Underwater Digital Camera Mask by creating an easier way to record photos and videos. The concept of integrating the camera into the sports equipment allows the user to travel with fewer items and to keep their hands free while performing sports activities. The integrated camera records a view similar to what is seen, allowing the user to share their experience with other people, and to enjoy their activities to a greater extent because they concentrate less on holding and operating the camera.
The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle model number 335 has an estimated US price of $149.00. Specifications and pricing are estimated at this time.
Liquid Image Co, LLC, is a manufacturer of cameras, electronics
, toys and games that target sports and outdoor activities with an emphasis on Sport Technology and POV Cameras. The corporate office is located in Sacramento, CA, with an international office located in Hong Kong.
The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle is easy to operate. There is a button for On/Off/Mode and another button for the shutter. To record a photo or a video, simply turn on the camera, choose the mode, then press the shutter button. LED lights inside the goggle indicate the mode to the user. Large side buttons along the right side of the frame allow for greater dexterity while wearing gloves.
Liquid Image Summit Series 335 Snow Camera Goggle
The internal memory has 16 MB NAND Flash. The memory is easily expanded to record thousands of photos or hours of videos by adding a Micro SD/SDHC Card up to 16 GB. Files may be downloaded to a computer through the High Speed USB cable
provided, or through a Micro SD/SDHC card.
The Camera operates on an internal rechargeable Lithium Battery
. Estimated battery performance is 2200 still images or 2:20 hrs of video.
The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle model 335 is estimated to ship late summer 2010, in time for the Winter Ski Season and for Holiday shopping. This new model follows the concept of the original Liquid Image Underwater Digital Camera Mask by creating an easier way to record photos and videos. The concept of integrating the camera into the sports equipment allows the user to travel with fewer items and to keep their hands free while performing sports activities. The integrated camera records a view similar to what is seen, allowing the user to share their experience with other people, and to enjoy their activities to a greater extent because they concentrate less on holding and operating the camera.
The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle model number 335 has an estimated US price of $149.00. Specifications and pricing are estimated at this time.
Liquid Image Co, LLC, is a manufacturer of cameras, electronics
, toys and games that target sports and outdoor activities with an emphasis on Sport Technology and POV Cameras. The corporate office is located in Sacramento, CA, with an international office located in Hong Kong.
Hmm, not bad. How much goggles with buit-in cameras usually cost? Hopefully they would make one that is more casual style and cheaper. Oh, and features like high speed recording and/or time lapse is a must.
@pika2000
more casual style??
like goggles you can wear just cruising around town? lol
Video quality is quite decent compared to other helmet cams in the same price class.
I will tape an ebay "spy camera" on a pair of goggles, and get the same result. For about $30.
@Needsahaircut
Pointless comment. Imagine how hacky that would be.
@revoltracers
Hacky? Maybe nerdy. But when was that a bad thing?
@revoltracers
Hacky? Ehh
Ineffective? Yes
This thing is it:
The only other option is a helmet cam. The video would look really cool for riding rails and backside airs. Kinda rad
how much video would 16mb hold anyway? pointless internal memory :/ must be for camera software
@Trevsweb
You would think the consumer would like some internal storage? Who am I kidding. I love to go out and buy little memory cards thats Ill lose.
@Needsahaircut just saying that 16mb is useless internal memory. its just a token effort. they couldve put at least 512mb to make it usable. 16mb would do about 5 sec video :P
If they only would have put a mini Gopro HD in there and made the google look good.
The Scott'89 frame looks better than that..
@Engagged
Yeah as far as straight up goggles go they look pretty entry level. I would def not want to use them all the time. Just pop them on for your filming session then switch out for your real goggles afterwards. I'm a big fan of the Smith I/Os myself - super easy to swap out lenses so you can actually see properly under varied conditions.
@ChuChu I think the design rocks :) Good use of large finger-friendly buttons (though as you said maybe an upgrade on the frame would offer more slope-cred :) ).
Still thing the look great though!
@MXY23
Design wise it looks like they made some good decisions in terms of usability/operating the camera but I am talking about their functionality as goggles. I can't tell if those lenses are replaceable from the pic or the press release but it looks like prob not which means you are stuck with a cheap amber lens with not the greatest FoV that can't be changed out. Still in terms of price/feature tradeoff it's prob better that they went with a low end goggle to keep the price point down and make it more accessible as opposed to a really nice goggle/high price point which very few people would go for.
Woot! another way to nauseate the family with your vacation shots due to poor image stabilization (which is inevitable)
Nice concept, nice price, I would certainly be interested in shooting some video with these while snowboarding, I cannot see a use for the built in 5MP still camera, I tend to carry a 10MP point and shoot in my pocket, or my 12.8MP DSLR in my backpack when I am snowboarding in the back country. Improvements that I would like to see, 1080/24p video recording, and standard SDHC Memory slot, even if it added $100 to the price.
I hope it's not a crappy CMOS camera. Rolling shutter and skiing don't mix.
150$ that's cheaper than a ANON one without cam!
@DeviantmacG
cheaper than anon?
cheaper than every decent goggle out there... which means the googles themselves probably suck. good luck with flat light.
@DeviantmacG
Dude most premium goggles hover +/- $10 around the $150 mark...EG2's, Pheenoms, Feenoms (yes i know), I/O's, Apollo's, Crowbars...it's standard pricing
@yulebellow
the ultra-premium are like $210-250 which are basically just polarized oakleys.
i have polarized crowbar, and will never get a non-polarized goggle after having these.
What about the cold temperatures and I-Ion batteries ? They don't go too well together autonomy-wise.
@Slaarg They're releasing it during the summer. Cold weather isn't an issue.
great price range, would be cool to see in paintball goggles too.
@(Unverified)
+1 For paintballing, but at that point, they really need to boost frame rate to about allow for 120FPS, so you can really see all the action.
Hmm... not bad. PartsExpress.com sells some cheap sunglasses with an embedded video camera for about $100. I have a pair. Similar tech specs, except I think onboard storage is only 4GB. Video quality isn't great, but good enough for YouTube.
This is exactly what we don't need, more shaky helmet-cam stuff. Why not come up with better mounting systems for existing cameras that make it easier/safer to shoot video on the move?
After all, the Warren Miller guys just use cameras on the end of a long pole and they seem to get some good results. How about a rock-steady gyroscope/gimbaled mount on a shoulder harness?
@(Unverified)
B/C Most of us aren't being paid to film like the Warren Miller guys, so we don't want to be 'that guy' heading down the mountain with a rock-steady gyroscope/gimbaled mount on a shoulder harness strapped to our person. And this won't necessarily be that bad. If it has any form of decent image stabilization, coupled with that of most video editing softwares, it should be fine.
@(Unverified) Newsflash: Warren Miller Entertainment is the worst ski production company in the industry. Warren Miller isn't even a part of the company anymore.
Aren't they missing out on winter Olympics in Vancouver?
I wish I had a pair of these in Iraq when I was there in 2008.
I like this one it would be great capturing under water and it is cheap too
How's the UI inside the goggles? Does it lock onto enemy targets?
Bed time with the girlfriend is about to take on a whole new dimension! WOOT!
@Chaosdivine
Is your avatar supposed to be a trick?
@(Unverified)
That depends on who's asking! It IS a lamp first and foremost...but I have heard dogs like to stick their noses in the area also...choose your own adventure ;)
"boasts a 5MP still camera capable of shooting D1 720 x 480 resolution video at 30 frames per second"
This is gonna sound snarky but I think I may be uneducated on cameras:
If it does 30 fps why do they point out that it is a "still" camera? When does it become a video camera?
Is there a differentiation?
Looks good for motocross. The idea is good but the camera isnt good enough.
You could shred the gnar in these shades
Sick
Wow
this is pretty cool. You should think about attending a new kind of event I heard about at CES - check it out at theresaprizeforthat.com
I attached my Point-and-shoot camera, a Panasonic ZS3/TZ7, to a bike helmet and went skiing with it today. The camera takes 720p30 HD video with stereo sound and image stabilization. The helmet mount is a piece of sheet metal attached to a bike helmet with wire ties and a 1/4" bolt in the tripod mount. The video turned out OK, but not great. Between my body and the IS, the video is not too shaky, but you can tell when I hit larger bumps. The biggest problem is that I tend to turn my head every time I turn on skis. I tried to look straight ahead, but apparently it didn't work, and the video is a little nauseating looking back and forth so much. The sound is mostly unusable because of wind noise. I might be able to put some kind of foam over the microphones to reduce it, and since the sound is stereo, I can reduce it a bit in post processing by taking only what is the same between the L and R channels. The camera has a wind cut feature that I assume does the same thing. Even with reduced wind noise, I don't think the audio will be very good (mostly just skis scraping on ice), and I will probably just replace the sound with music.
I'm glad I tried it, but I definitely wouldn't pay $150 for a dedicated setup, especially since it will have worse image quality. Hopefully my video will turn out well once I'm done editing it. I am going to leave the camera mount on the helmet so I can use it in the summer for mountain biking and hopefully get some better, less nauseating video.
Ah yes, where would we be without our very own pair of James Bond snow spy goggles?