INTRODUCTION

   Action cameras are just about the only gadget available to Xtreme sports enthusiasts that allow them to keep a record of their achievements with ease thanks to their tiny sizes and quite impressive capabilities (always for their size). It's no wonder many people refer to these portable devices as the future of video recording/streaming and although i don't think we will be around (hope I’m wrong) to witness the "extinction" of full sized camcorders i think that no one can deny that they have evolved quite a bit over the years both in features and specifications. A few weeks ago we received the very first pair of glasses packing a Full HD action camera by Rollei and although in the end we found them lacking in some areas we were quite impressed with the innovative path manufacturers are taking as of late. Well it seems that Oregon Scientific has also something to offer since they are the first manufacturer to release a dual lens action camera called the ATC Chameleon.

   Oregon Scientific is a global brand and creator of electronic products for today’s lifestyles. Its innovative products are the combination of cutting-edge US technology and stylish European design that build a bridge between people and technology, helping them understand their environment and enhance their daily lives. Established in the US in 1989, Oregon Scientific is both the inventor and market leader for Smart Clocks and Home Weather Stations. These two principal areas of expertise remain at the center of Oregon Scientific’s core competencies. Besides the award-winning Time and Weather collection, Oregon Scientific has successfully developed four other lifestyle enhancing product collections : Sports and Fitness, Telecommunications, Digital Media and Electronic Learning collections.

   The ATC Chameleon features a splash-proof rugged casing housing two individual lens capable of recording video up to 720p resolution (1280x720) at 30fps with a 180 degree pan/tilt function and a quite remarkable horizontal FOV of 170 degrees for each. For your recordings the ATC Chameleon features an card slot with which you can use micro SD cards up to 32GB in capacity, an 1000mAh lithium-polymer rechargeable batter giving it up to 2 hours of recording and to make things even more interesting Oregon Scientific has also implemented an switch that allows the recording to be split in two screens either horizontally or vertically according to the total resolution one may want for both screens. Unfortunately the ATC Chameleon lacks built-in Wi-Fi and GPS (nor does it have a mounting space for a GPS transmitter like the ATC9K we reviewed in the past) something which we were hoping to see (the GPS mostly). Image quality however is the number 1 thing we always care most when testing and using action cameras so let’s see what the ATC Chameleon is capable of.