Polaroid XS100 Extreme Edition HD 1080p 16MP Waterproof Sports Action Video Camera With Full Mounti

Very happy with the performance and video quality for the week I got to use it. Made a few cool videos riding motorcycles with my son. Unfortunately, the little plastic clip that mounts on the camera broke. There are small plastic "wings" that you have to squeeze to snap it onto the various mounts, and one side snapped off when un-mounting it. Very thin, fragile plastic. The camera is now unusable. I called Polaroid to see if they could send me a new plastic clip. I even offered to pay for it. Their response was for me to contact the company I bought it from and return the entire camera and accessories for a new replacement! Seems a bit drastic for a small plastic accessory, and a bit surprising that Polaroid would refer me back to a vendor instead of attempting to get their own product right.

This is a relatively inexpensive entry into the "Action Camera" market that takes fairly good video, and is worthwhile once you get used to it, but it is not entirely intuitive. After playing around with this for nearly a month, I think I'm pretty familiar with it, and will describe what I like and don't like about it in some detail below. I hope that all this detail is helpful. I do have experience with some of the higher-end action camcorders out there, so I'm basing my description in part on knowing what's possible. Still, this is significantly less expensive than most similar items out there, and still does a pretty good job.

The video -

As I'll explain below there are a few, fixable, bugs in the software, and it's not entirely intuitive in its button design. Once you get through the hurdle of figuring it out (or, if you don't care about changing settings and ignore the software entirely), you can record fairly good photos and video with it. As far as that goes, the story is pretty good. The video is actually surprisingly good quality. It's not as sharp and has more contrast, and, obviously, a lot less flexibility than what I get on my Canon HD camcorder but that cost more than four times what this cost. It's better than what you could get with, say, many standard camcorders in the same price range or for even some camcorders I've tried at double the price. The sound recording is not bad, too, and the advantage over most standard low-end camcorders is the more rugged build and the more flexible mounting options that come with this. It's really aimed for those who want to shoot surfing and underwater and skiing and skating and BMX and motorcycle or mountain biking (more my style) footage, but don't want to shell out the cash for a GoPro or a Drift camcorder. In terms of form and function, it's a lot like the Contour Action cameras, which I haven't tried so I can't compare the quality of the footage directly, but I have seen some of it online and for most purposes I expect this would serve the same needs. Like I said, it's waterproof up to 10 meters right out of the box I haven't tried it at 10 meters, but I have taken it to the beach and done some shooting from a few feet under the water and it works just fine.

Setting up-

First off, you need a microSD card in order to record much on here. When you turn on the Polaroid, it recognizes the card and installs some software on it, which is necessary in order to adjust the settings on the camera.

When you plug it in to a computer via the included USB cable, the microSD card appears as an external HD or Flash memory device, and if you open it up you'll see a folder labelled "DCIM" where the camera writes any photographic or video files you record with the camera. You'll also see the PC software that you can use to change settings. If you are on a Mac, you need to go to Polaroidaction dot com in order to get the Mac software.

Here's where it gets tricky ... I'm on a Mac, and I followed instructions exactly in order to reformat and set up my card for recording. I downloaded the Mac software and installed it on my card, but when I opened the software it would say that the camera wasn't connected when it was. After contacting support, who told me I should try again what I'd already tried several times, I finally had the bright idea to open up the camera on my television via the included HDMI cord. The television software gives you the option to format the card, and when I had done that I was finally able to open up the camera using the Mac software. One funny thing I noticed once I'd done so: there's actually no way to format the card through the Mac or PC software (I tried that out on a computer at work). As far as I can tell, the only way to format the card specifically for the Polaroid camera is through a television.

I read all of the other reviews here to see if anyone had mentioned this problem and can't see any that did but as of this posting I can't see that anyone else even mentions using the software. Anyhow, once you get the software running, it's fairly simple and what it allows you to do is set various settings. You can specify whether you want to shoot video in PAL or NTSC, you can set the date and time, and you can set the shooting resolution. There's a switch on the back of the camera that allows you to shoot in "FHD" or "HD" and you need to software to designate whether you want FHD to mean 1080P or 960P, and whether you want HD to mean 720P60fps or 720p30fps. You can also determine what resolution photos you want it to take (16MP, 5MP, 3MP, or VGA) and whether you want the photo mode to be "single shot" "burst" (10 shots in a second) or "time lapse" (which can be set through the software to shoot at 5, 10, 30 or 60 second intervals).

Using the camera, and design-issues-

The camera is designed to be very simple to use, and streamlined in its function. There's a lens in front, a removable cap in the back, that when sealed protects everything so that you can even shoot underwater. There a slider button and another button on top. There's also an indicator light that is either green or red, and a vibrating buzz that also indicates a change of status.

The two buttons each serve different functions, and the indicator light has different meanings. That's streamlining at work. The problem is that they're not entirely intuitive and so you have to read the instructions and get to know them before you can feel fully confident that you are shooting properly.

Basically, once it's charged (via the USB cord) and set up with a microSD card, you're ready to shoot. You can turn it on by sliding the slide button from STOP to REC and the light will turn on and flash while it's setting up and then turn red. That means it's recording. If you want to turn it on without recording, you have to slide the button to REC and then back to STOP quickly. Then the green light goes on indicating it's on, but not recording. Then, to record, you need to slide the slider forward to REC and leave it there until you're done and then slide it back to stop recording. When it's in STOP position and not recording, you can shoot a photo by pressing and releasing the power button. If you press and hold the power button for a couple seconds, the camera turns off. Each change of state, from on to off, from off to on, from stop to record, and from record to stop, and as an indicator that a photo has been recorded, brings a short vibration and a flash of the light. Lights flashing from red to green indicates some kind of error like I kept getting before I figured out that I had to format the card via the television even though I was able to record video to the card before I had actually formatted it.

One other problem I had with the camera was when I hooked it up to the computer once and turned it on it seemed to freeze. I couldn't turn it off or on, I couldn't record, I couldn't do anything. The green light was on, indicating the unit was on, but it was totally unresponsive. I even tried resetting with a pin in the reset button and it didn't do anything. I've had the same kind of thing happen to me with my Drift HD170 camcorder once, and with that one I just unplugged it and removed the battery and put it back in and it was fine. With this one, there's no way to remove the battery, so I literally just had to leave it overnight until the battery drained. The next morning the light was off and the battery dead. I charged it up fully before turning it on again and it was just fine. That's why I prefer removable batteries another reason is that as soon as this battery stops accepting charge after several years this item will be no longer useful. I don't worry about that too much, though, because by that time I expect there will be something much better at the same price, which is the way of these things nowadays.

What comes in the box -

1. You get the camera, which already has a non-removable battery built in. The camera has a screw off lid in the back that covers the input ports for a micro-SD card (not included), a mini HDMI input (included is a standard HDMI to mini HDMI adapter), and a mini-USB cord (included is a standard mini-USB to USB cord). There's also a little cord that secures to the bottom of the camera for a handstrap, and a mini-caribiner clip that would fit onto a keychain or belt loop.

2. You get a clip plate that screws into the bottom of the camera, in a 1/4" threaded mount that can also fit onto any standard tripod or other standard mount.

3. The clip plate clips into one of two mounts, each of which has a little ball head that, in turn, fits into one or the other of two separate bases. The ball head allows it to be angled as you like or need it, so that you can orient this thing according to the needs of a particular shoot.

4. One of the bases is intended to secure to the handlebar of a bike or any other bar of comparable size. I mounted it to the emergency brake in my car, for example. The other base secures to a strap, and the kit comes with two separate straps, one that's about 3' long and one about 6' long. With the straps, you could secure the base to just about anything: a motorcycle helmet, a car's bumper or bike rack, or a surfboard or skateboard.

5. It also comes with a pack of two-sided 3M sticker mounts that can be used to secure one of the mounts anywhere you like.

In summaryThis works just fine out of the box, as far as I can tell. If you want to adjust the settings and take advantage of different photo or video modes, you need to figure out how to make the software work. I think the trick of formatting the card through a television is likely to be the best place to start and it's just a defect in the manual that they don't mention that. The buttons are a bit trickier than they really should be for such a seemingly simple and streamlined device, but if you read the manual it's easy enough to figure out how they work. The video is pretty good and the sound is usable for most purposes. For what it is, I think, the price is fair. For better video you'd need to pay more than twice as much, and go with a Drift Ghost or a GoPro. In a nutshell: this is a useful, low-end action camera, with a few bugs that can be worked around.

Note: I was provided this unit by the manufacturer for the purpose of testing and review.

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I bought a Here3 Black Edition for over $400, but let me tell you it was a piece of junk. No, seriously. The video was choppy and finally the camera stopped working. Anyway, being very disappointed with the GoPro( I returned it, of course; and customer service sucks) I started looking around at other action cams, and I was very surprised to discover there are so many other manufacturers out there offering similar products.

I checkout out JVC, Contour, Drift, you name it. I finally settled for this Polaroid. It seemed like a great little camera, with decent performance for the buck. The image quality is pretty good, and the videos are fluid (720HD @ 60fps). The software however, which you have to download from their website is not very polished. Speaking of software, if you rename your microSD card anything else other than "NO NAME" the software won't recognized it and you won't be able to start the application(at least not on OS X); so make sure that the card you use with the camera is named "NO NAME". Also, if you look at the credits section for the OS X app you'll see some funny things there :)

Now, things I don't like about the camera: the battery is not replaceable and the number of choices when it comes to accessories is quite limited. But at least the camera comes with a handlebar and helmet mounts.

Overall, I thinks it's a 5 start product.

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Thanks to YouTube there has been an explosion in the number of "Action Cameras" that are on the market. They all have several things in common... they are rugged, at least water resistant, and are made for capturing fast paced action. The Polaroid XS100 certainly has all of those features... and several more. Any many ways the Polaroid XS100 is the perfect action camera it is easy to use, takes high quality video, is versatile enough for a wide variety of sports.

In the video portion of the review you can see the you can see the Polaroid XS100 in action. Please note strapping a camera on the top of a remote controlled vehicle is a pretty challenging application.

Notes

Self adjusting rotation on the camera which helps to keep the picture permanently upright despite the orientation of the camera. This is allows the camera to flip in any direction while maintaining an upright view.

The Polaroid XS100 comes with a variety of mount, straps, and adhesive patches that will allow you to mount your XS100 to nearly anything... helmets, canoes, handlebars, remote control cars, and etc.

Does come with a handlebar mount that allows you to mount ton any tube that is less than about 1" in diameter.

Uses (but does not come with) a micro SD memory card.

With a push of the button you can take snap shots.

Completely rechargeable and offers nice battery life (2.5 hours)

Water resistant to 10M (33 feet)

Ultrawide lens offers 170 degrees of view

One word of caution if the winged mounting system breaks (not that it will, but you do need to use some caution) then the camera will be much harder to mount to anything

Final VerdictThe Polaroid XS100 is a solid option for anyone who is looking for high definition action camera. In the video portion I show the video quality in a very demanding application (while strapped to a remote control vehicle). There really is a lot to like with this camera.

4 1/2 Stars

Please NoteI was provided this product for reviewing purposes

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I've used a few other sports cameras similar to this Polaroid in the past for various activities. My husband has one that comes with mounts similar to this one. He uses the cameras mounted to his bow when out hunting, to his boat when he's fishing and to his hat when he's out hunting with a shotgun or riffle. This Polaroid is design with the same all-in-one main power button design, with a large main power button that is made so that one can easily find it by feeling for it, to take photos and videos, without actually being able to see it. Because these kinds of cameras are designed to be mounted to something like your hat or helmet, the large button is even made so that you can find it and use it with large thick gloves on.

Like most sports cameras, it takes footage in a fisheye type view. However this camera stands apart from others I've owned in three aspects. The first, it not only takes video, but also still photos. Also, it's very simple to switch between the two. You slide the button one way and the camera immediately starts recording. You know you're in record mode because the camera produces one long vibration (not beeps, which is good for hunters who want to use this camera). When you slide the button the other way, it notifies you that you're successfully in still-photo taking mode by producing a sequence of a few short vibrations (again, no beeps or chimes). To take photos you just press a single button that's located in the front of the sliding power button. You know you've successfully taken a photo by a small vibration after each image is captured.

The second big difference between this camera and the others I've used is that it's waterproof. Many cameras are water resistant, but this camera can be fully submerged in water for taking photos.

The third big difference is the photo quality, especially in low light. In bright light, colors are vibrant and everything is extremely detailed for a waterproof sports camera. These kinds of cameras usually sacrifice image quality for other things, like the included mounting kits and such. Not only does this camera take great bright light images, but it even works in low light, something not one of our other sports cameras can do. Low light is the enemy of mounting sports cameras like these, but this one takes great video even in low light conditions. Most of the video and still photos shown in my attached video review is taken on cloudy and even dark rainy days. Footage taken with these kinds of cameras on rainy days is usually very grainy and not worth even bothering, but this Polaroid handles it like a champ, and the images are still clear and detailed.

This camera comes with a ton of accessories. Lots of mounts for everything you could want to put it on, a neoprene case for carrying it (that even has a metal clip to attach it to bags and belf loops) and a thin nylon wrist strap for keeping a hold of it. It comes with everything you will need except for a Micro SD card. I've used several of these kinds of cameras and so has my husband, and this one by far takes the best photos and video. For the hunters, just a few shots of spray paint over the white glossy casing and it's good-to-go for using in the duck blind, your tree stand or anywhere else you might need to knock down the white color of the casing.

A sample was provided for reviewing purposes.