Best action and sports cameras

Looking to document the thrills and spills of your adventures? An action camera is the perfect device for the task.

Also known as helmet or sports cameras, these little snappers take full HD video and still images. They often come with a range of accessories to make sure that they can be strapped onto your sporting tool of choice, or go underwater for some diving fun.

Click through to our reviews below to read more on how each camera performs and how easy they are to use in real-world situations. If you want to check out some of the raw footage shot using the cameras covered in the comparison video, see the uncut GoPro HD Hero 2, Contour+2 and Sony Action Cam videos on YouTube.

Editor's note: the comparison video above tests out the GoPro HD Hero 2, though we will update once we have a review unit of the GoPro Hero 3 available. We'll also update the list of cameras below progressively, as more models make their way to the CNET Australia labs.