After the GPS and Multisport watches, TomTom is entering the market action cameras with a product technically well designed.
What Next ? This was the name given to the great annual event that TomTom has just taken place in Amsterdam. It is on this occasion that the French leader in GPS unveils new products that will occupy linear in the year 2015. If he had retained an announcement, it would be that of marketing in the month of May of the very first action-cam brand, named Bandit.
The Bandit: a true definition 4K?
Even enter into a market dominated by historical actors such as GoPro and coveted by strong brands such as Sony, Panasonic ... and even with the new Garmin ViRB X Elite, as well be by using the « new standards ». A philosophy that TomTom tries to control by integrating a 16 megapixel sensor capable of shooting 4K, is in theory 4096 x 2160 pixels. If we say in theory, is that there is likely whether it makes an image Ultra HD, therefore a definition of 3840 x 2160 pixels. We will check this during the tests.
Saccades to fear in high definition
This choice could pose a real problem as this definition « 4K » is limited to a flow of 15 frames per second. It is then necessary to fear that, as the GoPro Hero 3, the rendering is not very nice, especially when shooting fast moving scenes. This should therefore be more suitable for panorama shooting. Order to obtain very high definition a little more fluid, it will come back down to a 2.7 K. Mode (2704 x 1528 pixels) that when films in 30 frames per second. Naturally found in the Bandit Full HD 60p Mode and a Mode 720p at 120 frames per second for smooth slow (slow motion) in post processing.
A comprehensive mobile application
Among the many sensors and technologies (accelerometer, GPS, compass, etc.) integrated into the Bandit also included Wi-Fi to connect the camera to a smartphone. A well known method (especially in GoPro, Sony, Garmin) and well directed by TomTom. The Sport TomTom application, for now only compatible with iOS, allows viewing the image back to the camera, the pilot, but also to make edits directly from the smartphone or tablet. Smarter still, different accelerations measured by the accelerometer can be used as markers in the videos. The system then allows the application to easily find the scenes « with strong feelings » and automatically perform a montage, to share it on your social networks. Amusing this editing function is performed by shaking the smartphone. The application also allows you to add music that is stored in the smartphone.
Finally, the last two strengths: the TomTom Bandit is waterproof to 50 meters without box and battery, rechargeable via USB, offer him an autonomy of 3 hours. The action-cam will be available in May at the high price of $ 429.
