camcorder for helmet

[Streethawk]

The significantly better helmet cameras all seem to be £300-500, which i think may be too much, unless you can find another use for them. Having done a little research, the most popular three are:

The GoPro HD Hero which looks like a toy, but gives great quality.

The Contour HD or GPS (GPS is the latest and best model) which looks the aesthetically pleasing and boasts lasers to help you align the camera.

The V.I.O. POV.HD which has the disadvantage of having a wire from the camera to a head unit. Also £500. Although it has a screen on the head unit and you can edit video on that too. Its also got the best battery life and uses AA batteries. The biggest advantage is the remote which you can mount anywhere and press to "tag" your video. The tag will then select an amount of video you;ve preset and save you trawling through the whole thing to find the part you want in post production. For example, a car cuts you up, so you press the tag button, this then tags a 5 minute section backward from when you pressed the button. This also saves card space.

 

[dmcgoldrick]

Another test video here, taken on my real commute this morning, the handlebar mount keeps slipping down, but its still fairly good i think.

Also, i've sorted the helmet mount, using self-adhesive Duotec, which is a little like velco, except much stronger and more durable (also more expensive, but its worth it because this stuff has a million uses!).

Duotec Fastener at Clas Ohlson

I tried the camera with it on the way home, but i didnt get it straight, however if stayed where i put it, so i just need to practice so i get it pointing straight. A wider angle would help, but the cheap camera all seem quite a narrow field of view.

Also, i estimate my camera will take about two and a half hours footage on the 8gb card.

hi streethawk, good video of manchester deansgate area........
thanks for your posts on this subject...now if you can just show us a photo of how you attached onto your casco helmet, that would be very useful....

regards

 

[Streethawk]

Yep, well spotted, its a bit of Deansgate and Victoria Station then across Corporation Street. I work for the Co-op.

Here's another YouTube video using the helmet mount.

Bit of Duotec on the side of the Casco:

And roll some around the camera. Actually it doesnt need as much as i put in the camera, i'll probably remove some and neaten it up now i know it works. It has three loops on, the front one does nothing and i think i could lose the back one too. Currently i can lift the helmet by the camera with no movement at all.

 

[Tex]

Yep, well spotted, its a bit of Deansgate and Victoria Station then across Corporation Street. I work for the Co-op.

Here's another YouTube video using the helmet mount.

Bit of Duotec on the side of the Casco:

And roll some around the camera. Actually it doesnt need as much as i put in the camera, i'll probably remove some and neaten it up now i know it works. It has three loops on, the front one does nothing and i think i could lose the back one too. Currently i can lift the helmet by the camera with no movement at all.

that's a cool helmet: what is it again? who has them?

 

[aseb]

The 3M equivalent to the German manufactured duotec is dual lock velcro

 

[Streethawk]

that's a cool helmet: what is it again? who has them?

Its a Casco eMotion, Evans Cycles and 50Cycles sell them, expensive, but worth it IMO.

 

[morphix]

1) Northwick Park
YouTube - northwick park.av1.mov

2) Welsh Harp
YouTube - welshharp-desktop.m4v

(No-one said these would be interesting, by the way, but at least they're not very long. And do lick the 'full screen' button on youtube - they are marginally better full out on your computer rather than on the tiddly size.)

Both of these videos show the strengths and weaknesses of the helmet-mounted camera (leaving to one side those of the rider/cameraman).

The cameras are fixed focus, and 'automatic' aperture, which means that when you point them at the bright sky, they'll react to it and in a couple of seconds give you a nice picture of blue sky and clouds. If you THEN point the camera at darkened woodland, it will, for the first few seconds, look like dead of night, until the camera reacts to the new light and brightens up.

So, looking from one to the other, as in the second video, the Welsh Harp ride, doesn't give a consistently viewable picture. This doesn't happen that often when riding on roads, but in late autumn and early spring, with the low sun and long shadows, it's more common.

Another point shown up by both videos is that (self-evidently!) if a camera is mounted on your HEAD, then it points where you look. And if you look right, then left, then right, in quick succession (as all good road users often do), you'll get a bit of a blur as the camera tries to find something to focus on, fails, then tries again. It also takes a few goes with the duct-tape (or whatever) until the camera is at the right angle on your head - there is no viewfinder, so you stick it on, walk up and down, watch the film, adjust it, and so on. Once it's fixed, it's fairly static.

You could mount it on your bars, but then you lose the filmed view of the car about to pull out from the side, which (hopefully) you would get from the helmet view.

The first video also shows the sort of sound level you get - that is just me talking, showing my partner her route across a park into a car-park, but if you wish someone a cheery good-morning or shout at a bus-driver, it's all recorded.

For £13 it is amazing, and I'm not sure that the problems shown up in the videos would be much less on an expensive camera - although I suppose it might react more quickly to changes of light level.

(Oh, the reason the DATE is 2 years out is because on a Mac you don't get access to a program to change the time and date on the camera - apparently you do on PCs).

Hope this helps you.


Allen, Wisper 905se.

Hey nice quality video there Allen, amazing for such a cheap camera. Camera movement is not too bad either. I tried filming with my little Toshiba Camileo flip camera once, phew..terrible camera shake and virtually impossible to hold while riding. I did consider making some kind of handlebar mount for it but its good to know you can get smaller cameras so cheap.

 

[Tex]

Its a Casco eMotion, Evans Cycles and 50Cycles sell them, expensive, but worth it IMO.

thanks for the info streethawk

 

[allen-uk]

Hey nice quality video there Allen, amazing for such a cheap camera. Camera movement is not too bad either.

For thirteen quid, absolutely amazing. Not hand-held, of course - it's duct-taped onto my helmet (you can see a little 'spike' sticking up for the first minute or so of the Northwick Park clip). Possibly makes me look a bit of a burke, but that (as my friends might confirm) has never bothered me!

I'm thinking of taping it to my bars, if I can find some room.


A.

 

[Streethawk]

Got to agree. I strongly suspect mine has the same internals as the Veho Muvi type you have, just shoved into a torch body.

However, i am considering getting something better, i quite like the Vlogging (video blogging) idea that a lot of bikers to do. I could do an electric pushbike Vlog. I dont like hearing my own voice back much though, i dont sound the same as i think i sound!

In my camera research i came across a chap by the username of Svengalie on YouTube who does Vlogs from his motorbikes and review of the cameras he uses. He's got 20,000 people following him by subscription to his videos, interesting i think.

 

[allen-uk]

Well, as soon as you find The Camera, do let us know, as I'd like one too - better automatic operation plus wider field of view (plus better controls and owner's manual) would sell it to me, too.


A

 

[z0mb13e]

I wonder if the internals of the 7dayshop cameras are standard board cameras... If so it may be possible to swap the lens for a wider angle one. They are readily available and cheap enough. Would probably need to modify the case for it to fit though.

 

[Streethawk]

I've taken the plunge and pre-ordered the TOTR helmet camera the VIO POV HD from Helmet camera bullet cameras from dogcamsport who comes highly recommended. They do lots of other cycling solutions from £99 and up, also if you enter the code "wufwuf" at the checkout you get 10% off So thought i should share.

 

[allen-uk]

Well, Street, (or should I say Sir), if you want any help spending the rest of your lottery win, PM me.

You must be really getting into Street Filming in a Big Way. (Calls for capitals, at that price!)

Look forward to seeing results (will it make Manchester look prettier?)


A

 

[Streethawk]

I work hard for my toys I'm actually going to give the company until the end of the month to get the POV.HD in or cancel and order the HDmax Extreme, which is a new French camera that looks very good, combining the best features of several other HD helmet cams.

 

[dmcgoldrick]

I've taken the plunge and pre-ordered the TOTR helmet camera the VIO POV HD from Helmet camera bullet cameras from dogcamsport who comes highly recommended. They do lots of other cycling solutions from £99 and up, also if you enter the code "wufwuf" at the checkout you get 10% off So thought i should share.

look forward to seeing the results....looks very impressive kit........
(ah the days of the annual bonus...long time in the past for me.....)

regards

 

[Streethawk]

I spoke to Dogcamsport.co.uk today. Mark there was very helpful and had to tell me they have about 100 people pre-ordered before me for the POV.HD, so it could be 4-6 weeks until i receive it. They had been expecting a delivery in early february but it's not arrived.

So i'm thinking of cancelling and ordering a CamSports HDmax Extreme. CamSports are a French company, which receive good reviews for their older, more basic models. There's liittle info available for the HDmax so far, probably because it's new for 2011. It does seem to combine the advantages of all the other cameras with no real drawback for my uses.

Its also considerably cheaper, i could have the camera, with an extra battery, external mic and an extra 16gb card for £330 with the discount code. Mark was also telling me how they're using them on Skii Sunday at the moment and getting some great footage.

The only downside i can see is that they're not fully waterproof, just rain/snowproof. So you cant submerge them, but i wasnt planning to do that anyway.

Hmmm, decisions decisions.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

From my experience with both an expensive and cheap helmet cameras, this is what you need to look for:
- Can record whilst being charged, or able to use an external battery supply
- Wide viewing angle (120 deg +)
- Records on a rolling road (no limit to recording time)
- Lightweight (if you want it on your helmet)

The clarity from a wide angle HD camera is about the same as a non HD narrow angle one in the middle of the picture - it just has more picture around the edge. I'll put it the other way round: If you want a wide angle camera, it needs to be HD.

Considering everything, I would say that the £13 camera from 7dayshop is very hard to beat. I would have bought it still if the price had been £100 compared with my £200 HD camera.

 

[Streethawk]

I do like the 7dayshop camera, it was a great buy for the money. It has two drawbacks though, the narrow angle means you miss quite a few things "going on around you" on the road and, its not at all waterproof so cant be used in the rain.

I live in Manchester... it rains a lot!

I think i could live with it though, as a commuting safety camera. In my next camera i want something i can use for Vlogging, both on bicycles and motorbike, so i need to record my voice and i'd like a little more quality for that.

I'd also like to have a shot at recording an MTB video, and trying to make it look quite professional. I'm an ex-photographer, and have a couple of 1080p capable DSLRs which i'm told can give top quality results. Personally i only used them for stills.

 

[morphix]

After seeing this thread and looking at some of the excellent quality of the videos I ordered one of these cams from 7dayshop Cost £16.99 delivered, bargain!