It’s been a few years since the first low priced, commercially available skiing helmet cameras hit the market – and a lot has changed since then. In November 2007, the GoPro Helmet Hero was a phenomenal deal at just $175 – but it had some major limitations, as anyone who has used it can tell you. The battery life was extremely short in cold temperatures, the quality was pretty mediocre, and it wasn’t all that easy to use.

This year’s helmet cameras are far better at capturing high quality video, audio, and still photos of your runs, and are incredibly intuitive. Read our roundup of the most popular models of what’s sure to be another one of the hottest Christmas gifts this year.

GoPro Helmet Hero Wide
$190 at REI.com
If the GoPro Helmet Hero Wide has one thing going for it, it’s the wide angle lens. By capturing a wider field of vision than most of its competitors, the video it shoots is smoother, and not as affected by natural movement of your head (narrower view cameras seem to zero in on the ground, trees on the sides of trails, etc.)
Video quality is on par with the other models in this series, and there are a multitude of mounting options available (the “Chesty” strap worked best for us.) Battery life is poor, though, and you’ll need to invest in an additional 2GB card, which will hold about 60 minutes of video.

Oregon Scientific ATC5K Action Cam
$199 at REI.com
The lowest price model that sports an LCD viewing screen, the Oregon Scientific ATC5K has its positives and negatives. Positive: attachments for just about every mounting situation are included, and it comes with an infrared remote to start & stop recording. Negative: Video quality is only mediocre (but fine for YouTube), and audio is pretty poor compared to similar models. While this thing is built to take a beating, the buttons are very difficult to depress and navigating the menus isn’t all that easy.

Oregon Scientific ATC-3000
$139 at REI.com
The lowest price model in our test, the ATC 3000 is a well armored camera that offers up only mediocre quality VGA video. It’s considerably larger and its weight isn’t distributed all that evenly, making it difficult to mount steadily. Overall, it isn’t a terrible choice for the price, especially if you are looking for something likely to be lost or destroyed. Unfortunately, the video and audio quality put it at the bottom of our list.

VIO POV 1.5 Camera
$649 at REI.com
Considerably more expensive than every other helmet camera in our test, the VIO POV camera records video that is inarguably near DVD quality, and it appears to be just as rugged as every other model we have tested. The remote recorder & LCD screen make it easier to control the camera and watch video playback while you are wearing the camera – a significant advantage over every other model in our test.At $649, it’s more than double the price of every other camera in our test, so all of this is expected. A great camera for serious shooters & quasi-professionals, but prohibitively expensive for just about everyone else.

VHoldr Contour HD Video Camera // Best Skiing Helmet Camera!
$279 at REI.com
The VHoldr Contour HD has a lot going for it. It’s sturdy, looks great, and shoots fantastic quality video (far better than the GoPro and Oregon Scientific models.) The buttons are incredibly simple – one switch sets it to record or shut off – which means it’s both easy to turn on, and tell what it’s doing while you are actually skiing.
The dual laser beams that supposedly help you tell where it’s aimed are nearly impossible to see in normal lighting conditions, so don’t be sold on that. All in all, shoots the best video at a semi-reasonable price.