Whether you’re taking an adventure trip—or a business trip with a sporting trek on the side—it’s not always easy “getting the shot.”  Sometimes, carrying a conventional camcorder is just not practical—or even possible.

That’s where the GoPro Helmet HERO Wide wearable camera comes in.  This tiny and lightweight camera, which takes video and still pictures, would be right at home no matter what the sport—skiing, cycling, racing, skateboarding, surfing, parasailing or riding roller coasters.

Using GoPro’s suction mount, I even clamped it to the hood of my car and it held like glue.  More on the mounting options later.

On the video side, the camera has a built-in microphone and stores nearly one hour of video and audio on a 2GB SD memory card.  There is also 16MB of internal memory.  Batteries will last two to three hours, depending on the type used.

The AVI video format will work well with many editing programs.  The camera shoots at a full 30 frames per second, which means smooth movement.

The still camera has 5MP of resolution—amazing for its size.  It can be set to automatically take a picture every two or five seconds.

The camera only weighs four ounces and comes with a plastic housing that’s waterproof down to 100 feet.  It’s tiny—barely bigger than a small matchbox—though the removable plastic housing adds some to the dimensions.

GoPro really shines in the mounting options.  Besides the suction mount I mentioned, the company offers mounts for helmets and handlebars, a chest harness, a head strap that does not require a helmet, roll-bar mounts and more.

Some of the big boys could even learn a lesson from the designers at GoPro.  At the National Association of Broadcasters recently, I saw a demonstration of a Sony point-of-view camera that’s aimed at the professional market. But for the mounting, I was told they got the materials to make a helmet-mount bracket from a hardware store.

Who’s got two or three hours to spend rummaging around a hardware store and making a camera mount?  With GoPro, they have ready-to-go mounts for just about any situation—and they are well built.

GoPro offers several different models.  The Helmet HERO wide has a 170 degree wide-angle lens.  The wide angle is good to avoid missing any of the action and it avoids the jerkiness of narrower lenses when the action gets fast.  The lens does produce a fisheye effect with some curvature near the edges of the picture.

The list price for the Helmet HERO Wide is $189.99.

GoPro is promising support soon for a 4GB memory card to double recording times.  With the new CMOS sensors now coming to the market, I’d also bet they’re working on future models that will produce even higher-resolution video.

Don’t be fooled by its small size.  The GoPro Helmet HERO Wide is no toy, but a serious sports camera that will bring home some amazing shots.

See the full wearable camera line at the GoPro site

Get the GoPro Helmet HERO Wide at Amazon.