Helmet camera recommendations please

[KirstinS]

That’s it – due to recent close shave and this happening to one of my mates I’m in the market for a helmet cam. (he is ok btw, or at least he just needed time and physio, he was back on the bike after 3 months)

I just want cheap, waterproof recording (on a loop is fine) purely as evidence if anything like this ever happens to me. I’m not looking to create videos for consumption

There are threads on here but all rather old – and this stuff moves fast.

Any pointers appreciated and under 50 quid ideal as this is totally outside my field of knowledge.

BTW I accept there are risks to having a camera strapped to your head but plenty are designed to break on impact so let’s go with those.

Thanks all
Kirstin

 

[Emo Rider]

If you go to techmoan.com, he does very good independent reviews of both car and action cams. I purchased my cam after reading one of his reviews. It did everything he said it would. It was a TCL SVC200 that cost £100. There are many reviewed that are cheaper and more expensive. You get decide what is right for you.

 

[tillson]

SJCAM 4000 http://www.banggood.com/SJcam-SJ4000-HD-1_5-Inch-Car-DVR-Camera-Sport-DV-p-942459.html

These are very good.

 

[KirstinS]

Thanks both, I'm stuck with iPhone only access at moment and techmoan isn't very mobile friendly. Good tip and I shall check over the weekend

Thanks tilson also but I want something smaller/unobtrusive and cheaper really. Tube style rather than box

 

[selrahc1992]

SJCAM 4000 http://www.banggood.com/SJcam-SJ4000-HD-1_5-Inch-Car-DVR-Camera-Sport-DV-p-942459.html

These are very good.

it does look good - and affordable http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SJ4000-30M-Waterproof-HD-1080P-Sports-Video-WiFi-Camera-and-Accessories-Silver-/171639325210?pt=Digital_Cameras&hash=item27f680421a

but does it really weigh 582grams? could use it to head-butt motorists if that's the case

 

[Nealh]

Not a recommend but on ebay less than £40 and tubular, dosen't say about batt life but if it were 10 -15 min per GB than it would be quite good.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111181617297#ht_11714wt_952 or same one here for less.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-HD-1080P-DV-Mini-Waterproof-Sports-Camera-Bike-Helmet-Action-DVR-Video-Cam-/201157253331?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276#ht_7040wt_1173

 

[newboater]

i bought the muvi hd comes with loads of attachments cost around £100 i have used it for about 3 months, picture quality is very good and a good battery life.there are lots of cams out there ,but just check how long battery will last. on some its only 30 mins

 

[tillson]

The SJ4000 is a GoPro clone which costs many times more. The camera is about the size of a matchbox and is very light, nowhere near 500 g, more like 50g. Battery life is 90 - 120 mins and you can buy spare batteries cheaply. I use a GoPro HERO 4 Black (£370) at work and they produce TV broadcast quality footage. A lot of TV production companies are using them.

The SJCAM SJ4000 produces full 1080P footage and I would say that it is slightly inferior to the GoPro, but still excellent. It lags behind the GoPro slightly in terms of colour, the GoPro looking a bit more natural, and responsiveness to low light. The SJCAM doesn't quite work as well in low light conditions.

Be warned, there are a lot of SJ4000 copies around. If you are thinking of getting one, make sure that it says SJCAM across the front. Bangoood tend to sell the genuine SJ4000 article.

The video output is .mov format. If you look on Techmoan, there is a good impartial review. For £60, you will be hard pushed to find something better. The WiFi version doesn't cost much more.

 

[Kinninvie]

I use an sj4000 and its as good as my mates gopro and £42 on ebay.
They come with lots of different mounts,mine is on the handlebars but it has helmet and chest mounts as well.
You want a class 10 card for it to get the best quality recording.
I got a spare battery for mine so it can record for at least 6 hours at 720p.
Glad to hear your friend is ok.

 

[baldylox]

+1 for the SJ4000 comes in many guises, such as;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JA0LQ2C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3RN60X9Z6WCTR&coliid=I3BT7DDHSRHDEP&psc=1

 

[selrahc1992]

+1 for the SJ4000 comes in many guises, such as;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JA0LQ2C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3RN60X9Z6WCTR&coliid=I3BT7DDHSRHDEP&psc=1

I'm hovering on buying another version on amazon (from mercurymall) that seems a good copy for very cheap given that Tillson mentioned its a gopro copy it seems pretty good value

 

[tillson]

Be careful if you are thinking of buying an SJ4000, there are many copies of this very good camera. The fakes do not have SJCAM written across the front and some of the fakes are rubbish.

I would suggest only buying an original SJCAM if you are thinking of buying this style of camera

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2014/2/3/the-sj4000-action-camera-review.html

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2014/9/22/at-last-its-the-real-sj4000-wifi-review.html

 

[jonathan75]

£22.75 for an SJ4000 clone from Singapore although seems to be of the type Tillson warned against. If inferior, could always sell on Amazon and make a profit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sport-Camera-SJ4000-A8-DV-Action-Bicycle-Helmet-Cam-Car-Recorder-720P-Waterproof-/221631098878?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_Camcorders&hash=item339a3e2ffe

 

[Nealh]

Have emailed seller of the one I linked too, to see what answer I get about battery life if favourable may get one.

 

[KirstinS]

Have emailed seller of the one I linked too, to see what answer I get about battery life if favourable may get one.

Hiya

I'd be grateful to know the response, 30 mins is a bit short, hour would be fine for me

 

[RobF]

Worth thinking about mounting position, particularly if you want to get some fun out of the camera as well.

Helmet is fine, but tends to be a bit high - lots of footage of your front wheel.

Handlebars is good, but may not get the footage you require if you are separated from the bike and in a confrontation with Mr Angry.

A compromise would be a camera you could clip on your, er, breast - good footage of your rides but still there to catch the moment you are decked.

 

[tillson]

A compromise would be a camera you could clip on your, er, breast - good footage of your rides but still there to catch the moment you are decked.

http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/gopro_chest_mount_camera_harness/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=directory&utm_content=GBR&currency=GBP&country=GBR&SelectedBundle=162650&gclid=Cj0KEQiAreilBRDzrNfb6uqX4fwBEiQAk-MRY6NG0Mgmp-uWDs9t5ipqXJ_fi8NHo_fQc9cRJu350Q0aAj-T8P8HAQ

Bangood sell a chest harness for £10

 

[NZgeek]

I was going to upload a video from my SJ4000 to flickr so you could see it, but it's 5 minutes, and 600mb

They are very good. The colours aren't stunning, as mentioned above, but it's good enough.

I have it helmet mounted, and think it's brilliant. The wide angle lens means mounting it anywhere captures a lot of stuff - I'd go helmet, as if anything goes wrong, you tend to at least glance that way.

Here is a couple snapshots off videos it's taken on my ride home - shows the wide angle:

 

[pdarnett]

here's some footage from my sj4000

watch in hd for full effect.

 

[Nealh]

Nice clear film. Not so nice when you tried to kill that young girl.