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We have in recent times been coming across quite a few card issues that customers are experiencing. The big issue is the way that the card is formatted and recognized by the camera. Most cameras now come with an option in the menu to format the card while inserted into the camera. This really needs to be done as gone are the days of being able to generically format the card in a computer then put it in the cameras and go. Each camera will name and format the card slightly differently to best suit it for the particular device. It is also a good idea to reformat your card regularly to make sure that there are no corruptions on the card. Some of the errors that you may find with a corrupt or improperly formatted card are things like video files that are corrupt and cannot be played, the camera may refuse to start recording and glitches through the footage. It is recommended by some manufacturers to format the card each use. But be sure to make a back up of all the footage before formatting as it will delete any data on the card.

The GoPro2 often comes up with SD Err on the screen with new cards inserted. These are super easy to format. Simply navigate through the menu settings on the camera until you get to the symbol of the recycling bin. Select it using the top button and then scroll to reformat. The error message will now go away and you are ready to go.

The Contour is a bit more fiddly. You need to power the camera on with the Micro SD card removed from the camera. It will beep 3 times as it powers up. Then re insert the card and using a paper clip to push down the format button located on the back of the camera. Hold this in until you hear a beep. Then turn the camera off and back on, upon which the camera will be ready for action. More can be viewed at http://help.contour.com/customer/portal/articles/251040-how-do-i-format-...

The Drift is the easiest of the cameras to reformat. Simply go into the menu under camera settings which is the 4th option. Then scroll down to format and hit the record button. Once this is done your camera will be ready again.

There are still other things that may prevent a card from working in your camera. Things such as the wrong class or actual damage to the hardware. But thankfully most of the time things can be resolved by a simple format.

It's that time of year where everyone gets to breath out, relax and enjoy some fun times with friends and family. The crew at Launch are going to take a well deserved break over the Christmas and New Year period and as such we will have limited opening hours:

Friday 23rd: 9am - 3:30pm
Saturday 24th: Closed
Sunday 25th: Closed
Monday 26th: Closed
Tuesday 27th: Closed
Wednesday 28th: 9am - 4pm
Thursday 29th: 9am - 4pm
Friday 30th: Closed
Saturday 31st: Closed
Sunday 1st: Closed
Monday 2nd: Closed
Tuesday 3rd: Normal hours resume, 9am - 5pm

From everyone at Launch Helmet Cams we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Matt recently took advantage of the early snow that has been hitting mountains across the west coast of North America. Matt and some buddies headed up Cypress Mountain in Vancouver, BC after they had their earliest opening day ever to see if they could get some fresh tracks. They took up a Drift HD camera attached to a Drift Monopod to get some cool angles and shots. The Drift HD is an awesome option for snow sports thanks to it's remote control which is easy to use with gloves on. The LCD screen on the Drift HD makes it easy to line up different shots when using the Drift Monopod too. Check out this short edit they put together of snowboarding on Cypress Mountain with the Drift HD camera:

We've put together an open box review of the outdoor edition of the new GoPro HD Hero 2 to show you what comes with the camera and give you a quick overview of some of the new features. Some of the big differences we noticed upon opening the GoPro HD Hero2 were the improved instruction manual which is more comprehensive and easier to read, the inclusion of some free stickers (although they are very hard to get off the backing), the louder status beeps which should make it easier to know when it is recording or not and the improved LCD screen which is much easier to navigate. We used the GoPro HD Hero 2 over the weekend and will put together a video of our findings soon. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy our open box review of the GoPro HD Hero 2:

GoPro have just announced the release of their next generation camera called the GoPro HD Hero2. The GoPro HD Hero2 camera builds on the popular GoPro HD Hero design and introduces a number of new features. The big news that is grabbing a lot of attention for the GoPro Hero2 camera is the yet to be released GoPro Wi-Fi Bacpac and Remote Control. The GoPro Wi-Fi Bacpac will plug in to the back of the GoPro Hero2 camera and allow users to live stream their video via Wi-Fi to any computer or Wi-Fi enabled device which has the GoPro App. Full technical specification of how the GoPro HD Hero2 camera will work over Wi-Fi are yet to be released and the Bacpac is slated for a Winter 2012 release. The GoPro Wi-Fi Bacpac will also come with a remote control that should make operating the GoPro HD Hero2 a lot easier. The new GoPro Wi-Fi Remote Control will work with the existing GoPro HD Hero cameras but the live streaming feature will only work on the newer GoPro HD Hero2 camera.

The GoPro HD Hero 2 camera will come with an updated glass lens that is said to twice as sharp as on the GoPro HD Hero. Video is still shot on the GoPro HD Hero 2 in either 1080p, 960p, 720p or 480 SD however there are now more options for the field of view. For example, in 1080p mode you can now shoot with a 170, 127 or 90 degree field of view. 60 frames per second is still available in 720p mode and in 480 SD mode the GoPro HD Hero 2 will shoot at 120 frames per second. Photo quality is also improved with the GoPro HD Hero 2 with users having the option of 11MP, 9MP and 5MP shots. The time lapse interval has also been improved to shoot as quickly as a photo every 0.5 seconds with the GoPro HD Hero 2.

What else is new? Well, the GoPro Hero2 comes with a 3.5mm microphone input which will allow you to hook up an external microphone. The GoPro Hero2 also gets a mini HDMI output on the side of the camera next to the SD card slot. The information released by GoPro states that the GoPro Hero2 will have LED status lights on all sides to make it easier to know if the camera is recording or not, although the photos only show one extra LED on the rear of the camera (which will be covered up if a GoPro Bacpac is installed). The GoPro Hero2 also has an upgraded LCD screen that looks to be easier to read and have more information displayed.

The GoPro HD Hero2 will come in three different packages - the outdoor, motorsports and surf edition. Each package will have the same camera and will include different mounts to suit each activity. The GoPro HD Hero2 is due for release in Canada in late November and is available for pre-order.