Interesting facts about the FCII Fire Helmet Camera

Hello everyone,

I thought I would give everyone a heads up on why we the FCII Fire Helmet Camera here at Fire Cam. After using the original Fire Helmet Camera / AT18, we were all getting some pretty good footage of interior fires and the cameras were holding up pretty well, internally. There were quite a few concerns with this model that not only I caught, but several of you on the job did also. Finally, we are proud to announce that I think we adhered to almost every problem there was. Here were the problems and the solutions we made with the new FCII Fire Helmet / Dash Camera:

1. PROBLEM: Camera was melting at certain temperatures @ 900 F. but was still capturing video. Spare parts were few and far between, which left you with a melted camera.

SOLUTION: We created a Heat Protection Shell in which the FCII actually slides into and is sealed also making it waterproof. So if the camera shell melts or bubbles, you can unscrew the cap and replace the shell for a minimum amount of money, saving the actual camera.

2. PROBLEM: After watching some videos, it came to our attention that it was like watching "The Blair Witch Project" with a constantly moving camera. You would get a few good glimpses of the incident, but it was shaky.

SOLUTION: Install a stabilizer and a nice true wide angle lens for better field of view which also eliminates the "shaky camera syndrome." This lens also enables you to capture and review a lot more of the interior of the room, or overall incident. Oh, did I mention that the color is absolutely brilliant?

3. PROBLEM: The night or low light videos on the current camera were pretty bad, especially if you were going inside of a structure. Unless you had fire, you didn't have anything.

SOLUTION: We have installed a 0.01 lux rating sensor in the camera, which is close to the best possible low light sensor there is. In fact, if it gets too dark (no light) it switches to black and white mode. We also installed 6 powerful LED lights around the lens for a separate flashlight application. This enables you to use the flashlight anytime you want because it's on a different circuit. It's not like using a Streamlight for cutting thru smoke. It's more for giving the camera some light, like when you're piking ceilings.

4. PROBLEM: The current audio was REALLY bad on the old camera, mono at best. It sounded like you were listening to the inside of a cup. It is real "noisy" too.

SOLUTION: We added full stereo microphones to the right and left side of the camera for better sound performance. It picks up what you or anyone around you is saying A LOT easier now.

5. PROBLEM: With the current camera, you have to buy rechargeable batteries or alkaline.

SOLUTION: The FCII comes with 2 - 3.7v rechargeable batteries that can be recharged via USB or wall outlet in the camera. Record time can be up to 5 hours at a time.

6. PROBLEM: With the old camera, the compression rate was bad and you would get 1 hour of video with a 2GB card. Also the current camera would only support up to 2GB.

SOLUTION: The FCII's compression rate is much better, still shooting at 30 frames per second and recording 1GB per hour. It's expandable up to 8GB, or 8 hours of record time.

7. PROBLEM: The playback on the TV was ok for the current camera, however, it was still mono audio and the controls were a little hard to use.

SOLUTION: The FCII can be plugged in and set next to the TV, then you can take the remote controller it comes with and playback videos, record live via remote, format the SD card on the TV and edit your date and time settings, plus more options.

7. PROBLEM: With the current camera, if the batteries ran out, it DID NOT save what you were recording. So if you had a great fire and ran out of batteries, it was gone. I know this from personal experience...It really sucks.

SOLUTION: We've changed it so that if you run low on battery power, the camera recognizes it and saves the movie, then shuts down the camera. NO MORE LOST FILES!!!!!

8. PROBLEM: Fire Chiefs and Captains were trying to capture video from the dash of their vehicles or fire truck, but no mount was available.

SOLUTION: We have created a windshield suction mount that can fit on any window, even vertical, like the side of an engines window and can be swiveled 360 degrees. You can leave it in for an overall dash / scene camera or slide it out when you get to the scene and snap it into your helmet mount.

9. PROBLEM: The current cameras helmet clip ring was breaking off when firefighters would drop their helmet or bump it the wrong way. There were no replaceable parts for it.

SOLUTION: We have designed a metal "U" helmet clip so the camera can be easily snapped into place. It also is a safety feature in case of entanglement, it would break away like a streamlight flashlight would.

10. PROBLEM: With the current camera, you needed to try and figure out if the camera was straight on the helmet by taking sample videos and reviewing them before finally getting it right.

SOLUTION: We have installed 2 horizontal grooves down the right and left side of the FCII's shell so it is easy to see if it's level with your helmet or windshield mount.


As you can see, we did spend a lot of time in the field trying to create the perfect camera for our extreme situations as firefighters. Video has been a part of law enforcement since the 1980's and now we, in the fire service, are finally catching up. Just by flipping thru several videos on FireVideo.net, you can see some of the most extreme situations caught on video. Watch them, review them, and learn from them. If your dept. needs to adopt SOP's for the use of cameras, we have them available for FREE download below this discussion. You can adhere or change the documents as needed to fit your depts. needs. If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call us so we may help you with the continuing success of your operations.

Enjoy the use of the FCII. I know I am, and have already learned from it.

Rob Schield
Owner
Fire Cam