Wolfcom may not be a household name, but the company is well known in the security and law enforcement markets. It sells thousands of body cameras every year to police departments around the country, and now it’s entering the consumer market with the Wolfcom Venture, a wearable and mountable camera that gains some unique features not usually found in action cameras.
Made of aircraft grade aluminum, the Venture has a modest industrial design that puts function above form. Battery life is good with an advertised 2.5 hours of record time and can be extended to 23 hours with an optional battery pack. The lens can be titled 90-degrees, allowing the camera to be mounted vertically or horizontally, keeping a low profile whether you’re clipping it to a jacket or mounting it on a helmet. Four LED lights surround the lens for shooting at night, or to simply use as a flashlight. It’s not designed for underwater use, but it is splash proof. Mounting options are versatile thanks to an included 360-degree rotating clip. A magnetic clip and handlebar mount are optional.
Another unique function of the Wolfcom Venture is the ability to connect other cameras to it. Wolfcom offers a variety of single-purpose cameras, like night vision and headset cameras, that can be used in conjunction with the Venture. And should one of these attached cameras become disengaged, the Venture is smart enough to continue recording on its own.
The Venture is marketed as a body camera for every day life, emphasizing safety and security. As such, it doesn’t have the most high-end filmmaking specifications, but does support live-streaming to Facebook and YouTube over 4G via an Android or iOS app. While it shoots in just Full HD 1080p — short of the 4K resolution offered in action cameras like the GoPro Hero5 Black — it does feature a 120-degree wide angle lens with “no fisheye effect,” according to Wolfcom. In the sample videos, the Venture did indeed seem to shoot footage free of the distortion common to action cameras, although this may be of limited benefit as most cameras today include digital distortion correction.
Wolfcom is currently running an Indiegogo campaign for the camera with a $25,000 goal. Backers can take advantage of early bird special pricing of just $149, about 60-percent off the planned retail price of $359.
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