Recently I was given the chance to try out Pivothead’s Durango video eyewear. Winner of the 2011 3M In-New-Vation award, Pivothead brings a fresh new look to POV recording. The combinatin of the built in HD camera, lens angle and location give a whole new perspective to the video recording experience.
Unlike their bulky competitors, these glasses are light and fit in with almost anyone’s style. Although it’s pretty obvious where the lens is, it’s there to make sure you get the best angle possible. With the lens sitting directly between your eyes, you are guarantted to capture anything you’re looking at it (and its still more discrete than other brands).
Comfort is a huge factor in what I wear, and these fit the bill perfectly. The recording LED is a little hard to see when you are out in the sun, but that’s my only complaint. After all, you can only do so much when trying to put this kind of technology into something so small.
With 8GB of memory, you can record up to sixty minutes of video. Once you’ve completed your video recording, you can plug the glasses into your computer to check out your handy work. You don’t have to install any software to watch or enjoy your videos, so you can just plug and play (literally).
I have to admit it was a little weird wearing a video camera on my eyes, but it was cool, too. The quality of the images and video I was able to capture was really good.
While searching the internet to get another perspective on the glasses, I found that many people thought the price (retail $349) for the video quality a little hard to swallow. For the most part though, that wasn’t a deal breaker. It should also be noted that these have the highest video quality of anything currently available. In my opinion, that makes them worth the cost.
When it comes to POV recording, you really need to shop for what you need. If you don’t mind the bulky mounts and a lower image quality, there’s another solution out there for you.
If you’re like me and you want the best quality with the least amount of bulk, then the Pivothead glasses are the ones you’re looking for. I would highly recommend these glasses for the sports/outdoors enthusiast.
The glasses are available on PivotHead’s website and at select retailers.
I like to write my reviews for the basic user. So, for those of you who might be more tech savvy, here are the specs and other technical details:
- Brilliant 1080p HD Video & Audio Recording
- 8MP image Sensor
- Four Focus Options: Auto, Fixed, Continuous, Macro
- 8GB on-board Memory
- 2GB SDRAM
- Still Image Capture During Video
- Burst Still Image Capture
- Exposure & ISO Settings
- Time Lapse Settings
- Ultra Light Weight Impact – Resistant Frames
- Black & White Video/ Photo Settings
- Polarized, Revo, and Photochromic lenses
- Numerous Control Setting Options
- Control Setting Software for MAC, PC, IOS with optional Air Pivothead
- View and Transfer files wirelessly on all mobile devices with Air Pivothead WiFi Drive accessory
