This Tech Squib can make you seem “extreme sports cool” without spending “extreme sports money.”
The little GoPro action camera became inseparable in recent years with professional and amateur extreme sports photography. The $200 cube sits in a high impact plastic case and rides in a number of harnesses and mounts to capture fisheye photos and video of extreme sports and other activities from the perspective of the participant.
The folks at Hitcase realized many of us already carry a high-def camera with us all day long and wouldn’t need to add another piece of camera equipment to our collection if we could safely put our smartphone to use as a camera, So, they want to turn your iPhone 5 into you own action still and video camera.
Hitcase slaps a hard plastic case around your iPhone 5 and plants a wide angle perspective lens over its inbuilt camera. Once in that case, the iPhone can snap into secure mounts that can attach to helmets, handlebars and roll cages. It does serve up a wider profile than dedicated action cameras because the iPhone is essentially a five inch long rectangle. That may not look as slick or cool as a GoPro, but it works just as well.
I used the Hitcase on many of my Harley-Davidson global #HD110 assignments and found the Hitcase reassuringly reliable and easy to use.
During my trip to New Zealand, my GoPro rig lost its connection from a motorcycle and smashed into tiny pieces. From that point forward, I went with Hitcase – never worrying if the iPhone would capture my movements and never afraid it would allow my phone to join that GoPro in the camera afterlife.
At $89, the Hitcase might seem a bit pricey for an item without electronic parts, but — for iPhone 5 users — it’s a prime option to trump GoPro for less than half the cost.
