When things move fast

Garmin VIRB Elite is an action camera with Full HD 1080p recording and GPS tracking. You can have fun recording fast action, such as biking, skating, bungee-jumping and sky diving, in crisp and high-resolution video.

It’s water-resistant to one metre deep for about 30 minutes, so you can use it while rafting too.

The Elite is fun to use because it is equipped with high-sensitivity GPS, accelerometer and barometric altimeter for tracking your speed and location. The data can be superimposed onto video clips when you use Garmin VIRB Edit software.

VIRB Elite uses ANT+ wireless connectivity so you pair it with external sensors, such as Gramin tempe (wireless temperature sensor), Garmin speed/cadence bike sensor or Garmin premium heart rate monitor to include data from the sensor in your videos.

For example, when you edit a clip with VIRB edit, you can select one of several templates to display data recorded by the GPS and the sensors. You can use VIRB Edit to create an overlay that indicates speed and elevation in sync with your video. You can add metrics, such as heart rate and cadence. 

You can also view a map of your location in VIRB Edit from either Bing or Google maps. Unfortunately the map cannot be superimposed on the exported video due to Microsoft and Google licensing.

VIRB Elite has Wi-Fi for wireless communication with your smartphone or tablet computer for previewing video, adjusting camera settings, and recording and stopping the camera or remotely snapping photos, even while the camera is filming.

The action cam uses 16 megapixel CMOS image sensor so you can also capture 16 MP, 12 MP or 8 MP still photos. You can capture still photos by pressing a button or choose functions of Photo Burst or Time Lapse at various intervals.

Apart from Full HD of 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second, the action camera is capable of recording clips at slow motion of 1280 x 720@60fps and super slow motion of 848x480@120fps resolution.

The camera uses a fix-focal-length WideV? lens, which in normal recording mode will give you a wide-angle view that’s curved at the edge. Before shooting you can set the field of view wide, 2x zoom or 4x zoom. The Lens Correct shooting mode corrects wide-angle barrel distortion by reducing the field of view.

The VIRB Elite is easy to operate. It comes with 1.4-inch chroma display for navigating through the menu settings and previewing or playing the video. Since the display is mounted on its top, it is difficult to use a viewfinder unless you shoot from a low-angle, but when the camera is mounted on your bike it’s in perfect position for use as a viewfinder.

The camera has only four control buttons. Two are arrow buttons for scrolling through menus and settings. Another button is OK button for choosing options and taking still photos. The last button is power on/off, which is also used for scrolling through modes.

A recording slider switch makes it easy to record a clip. The large slider is on the side so you can slide it to start recording or stop the recording even when the camera is mounted on your crash helmet or you are wearing gloves.

It is not difficult to mount the camera on your bike or helmet. A variety of mounts are available to let you firmly lock the camera in position. You can mount it on a flat deck, a handlebar, helmet, shoulder and multi-use strap mount. The mounts have interlocking joints that grip in place for a more durable anti-vibration performance. The mount can be tilted on your helmet, for example. And there is a mode to let you level the camera by adjusting the degree of roll and degree of pitch on the screen.

The package comes with a cradle, an adapter for popular industrial mounts, a flat surface mount, a curved surface mount, a removable flange base and a threaded collar for assisting you to mount the camera.

Optional mounts that can be purchased include a shoulder harness mount, a head strap mount, a bike/large tube mount and an auto dash suction mount.

Another nice feature of VIRB Elite is its dashboards. A dashboard is a group of data fields, charts or graphs of data from device sensors connected to the camera. For example, the Compass dashboard displays the current heading and partial compass ring. And the Speed dashboard displays the current speed and average speed and maximum speed or your movement with the camera.

The VIRB Elite also has good digital stabilisation technology to ensure smooth recording. I tested the camera while riding my bike in my neighbourhood. The GPS recorded and displayed correct map data and the video clip was clean and sharp.

I also tested recording while riding a bus home at night after work and found that the video clips was also clean and in good quality.

Garmin VIRB Elite retails for Bt14,900.

 

 

KEY SPECS

 

Display size: 1.4-inch (205 x 148)

Image sensor: 16 MP, 1/2.3-inch CMOS

File Type: mp4 

Video resolutions: 1920 ? 1080; 30 fps, 1280 ? 960; 30,60 fps 48fps, 1280 ? 720; 30,60 fps, 854 848 ? 480; 120,60 fps just 120

Still photo resolution: 16 MP (4664*3496); 12 MP (4664*2632); 8 MP (3264*2448)

Internal microphone: Yes

Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n, GPS

Ports: USB 2.0, micro HDMI

Temperature range: -15? to 60? C

Memory: microSD card (up to 64 GB); card not included

Accelerometer: Yes

Altimeter: Yes

Water resistance: IPX7 (1 m/30 min)

Image stabilisation: Yes (digital)

Lens distortion correction: Yes

Battery: 2000mAh Removable Li-ion

Unit size: 32 mm x 53 mm x 111 mm

Unit weight with battery and cradle: 203 grams