The Camera Bag: Optrix Wide-Angle iPhone Case for Shooting HD Video of Extreme Sports

Here's another Kickstarter project that was born out of necessity. Called the Optrix Wide-Angle, it's a water-resistant, bump-, spill-, splash-, and drop-proof case with a built-in wide-angle lens for the iPhone 4, 4S and iPod Touch.

Optrix creator John Willenborg says he got the idea for the product when he couldn't find a decent, protective solution to shoot point-of-view videos with his iPod Touch for extreme sports such as mountain biking, skateboarding, and skiing. Initially he just duct taped his iPod Touch down but then decided he could come up with a better system.

That system is Optrix, which places your iPhone or iPod Touch into a small rubberized "sled" that slides into a rugged polycarbonate case. The case has a thin membrane across its face that gives you touch access to the phone's functions including 1080p HD video shooting.

You can then attach the Optrix case to a chest mount or a helmet and you're ready to start shooting video. The latest version is Optrix Wide-Angle, which adds a nearly panoramic 175-degree wide-angle lens to help you capture crisp video of an entire action scene.

There are also some very good Optrix telemetry apps for your iPhone/iPod Touch that overlay and record speed, g-force, track maps onto your video.

If you want to get an idea of some of the "extreme" sports situations where Optrix Wide-Angle can be used check out the wild video below.

The Optrix Wide-Angle case is still a Kickstarter project accepting crowd-funding but you can pre-order it by going here.

The previous, non-wide-angle version called Optrix HD sells for $89. More details at the Optrix website here.