Innovv H5 4k Helmet Camera Review

[saneagle]

I went out for an hour long ride yesterday to test the camera. It has a lot of good features. I'm still trying to sort out my YouTube channel to post sample footage, but, so far, I'm disappointed with the results. During the ride there was an incident that I didn't notice on the ride, but by chance it was on the first clip that I looked at. It involved an overtaking car. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to read the registration when it was 10ft in front of me, which makes it useless as far as I'm concerned. I'll show you all later. After that, I went through all the settings. It was on 4k. The image stabilisation wasn't switched on. I've changed that now to see if it makes an improvement. If I had just seen the recordings, I'd have said that it was 1080p, and even then, not the best. I have other much cheaper 4k cameras that can get registration numbers at 50 metres.

I'm just going out to test again, after which I'll show samples and the incident I mentioned, and I'll explain the good points.

And before anybody mentions it, I did remove the plastic film from the lens.

 

[guerney]

Costlier than cheap action cameras tend to be programmed to produce video with too much motion blur for clear number plate capture on automatic settings, like my GoPro Hero 7 Black - see if there's a way to manually increase shutter speed and ISO, that did the trick. If there isn't, demand a refund.

A brand new battery for my GPH7B arrived this morning, one of the old ones kept crapping out while recording, despite claiming to be fully charged. Every time it crapped out, it'd switch back on again to attempt repair of the extremely short video file it had recorded damaged, then switch off, on, off etc. Another battery bulges slightly but still works - when it's too wide to fit, I'll throw it away/recycle.

 

[Ghost1951]

And before anybody mentions it, I did remove the plastic film from the lens.

I think image stabilisation might be important. Hope so or you will be very disappointed with the purchase.

I had owned a Huaweh P9 phone for three years before I started to get concerned about the screen. Then I realised it had been knocking about in my pocket for 36 months with a plastic, peel off film on the screen. It was really very good before that. Once peeled off - I was amazed at the clarity of it.

I should probably have kept that to myself for reputational reasons.... What reputation you ask?

 

[guerney]

I think image stabilisation might be important. Hope so or you will be very disappointed with the purchase.

Video cameras stabilise in-camera based on movement data from an internal gyro, or frame by frame stabilisation in real time through analysis by firmware and/or software, then enlarging and discarding unwanted data. The resulting stabilised footage can be slightly blurrier, because frames are being enlarged. If software stablised in post, lossy recompression can increase blur.

I had owned a Huaweh P9 phone for three years before I started to get concerned about the screen. Then I realised it had been knocking about in my pocket for 36 months with a plastic, peel off film on the screen. It was really very good before that. Once peeled off - I was amazed at the clarity of it.

I bought a second hand 32 band graphic equaliser last year, and the previous owner hadn't thrown Huawei the protective screen either.

 

[Saracen]

Be careful you will have people warning you not to attach it to a helmet in case you come off and it kills you

I have 2 DJI Osmos, they are 4K and amazing, more importantly they can be powered from an external supply so with a 250GB card last and last

I am sure the Innovv H5 4k Helmet Camera is good, it has good reviews, do you miss a screen ? to review footage on

 

[Ghost1951]

Video cameras stabilise in-camera based on movement data from an internal gyro, or frame by frame stabilisation in real time through analysis by firmware and/or software, then enlarging and discarding unwanted data. The resulting stabilised footage can be slightly blurrier, because frames are being enlarged. If software stablised in post, lossy recompression can increase blur.




I bought a second hand 32 band graphic equaliser last year, and the previous owner hadn't thrown Huawei the protective screen either.

Interesting. I know next to nothing about video processing.

 

[guerney]

Interesting. I know next to nothing about video processing.

In larger cameras there can be a gryos in the lens as well as the camera body. On many phones and video cameras with small sensors, the lens and/or sensor is physically moved reacting to gyro(s) data in real time, to keep image data processing to a minimum and frames as sharp as possible... it's why cameras with micro four thirds sensors and smaller, produce more stable footage than full frame - when the sensors are bloody huge, moving sensors fast enough isn't viable in a compact package. Larger and large sensored cameras use extenal stabilisation in the form of gimbals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadicam

 

[guerney]

I have 2 DJI Osmos, they are 4K and amazing, more importantly they can be powered from an external supply so with a 250GB card last and last

GoPros do that too - I recorded a timelapse video of my battery's charging temperature the other week, with the camera trained on the STC-1000 display, had to be kept recording for about 6 hours.

Unlike DJI Osmos, the GoPro Hero 7 Black doesn't require online activation via an app before it will function - that's the main reason why I didn't buy an Osmo. When I buy a video camera, I want the damn thing to function as a video camera right out of the box, without the manufacturer's say so after they've slurped my data... which will enable ever more Chinese government slurpage of my data over time. I don't use the GoPro app for anything now, but I did use it to synch the clock, which can be done manually anyway.

I have 2 DJI Osmos, they are 4K and amazing

I'd be interested to see how well your DJI Osmos fare shooting number plates at night, on auto and manual settings.

In bright sunlight, on automatic settings, all action cameras increase shutter speed and reduce ISO, producing sharp frames with good colour. On overcast days, shutter speed is reduced and ISO is increased, depending on what the camera's algorithm is prioritising.

 

[Saracen]

I can assure you I have NO on line activation at all, box to bike it works

Ill shoot some number plates to see, post your night time ones

 

[guerney]

I can assure you I have NO on line activation at all, box to bike it works

Ill shoot some number plates to see

Which versions of the DJI Osmo do you have? Did you buy them new or second hand? Like their drones, I've read all new DJI action cameras require activation online. I've read Insta cameras also require online activation. There's no way I would buy either to find that in effect, I'd bought a brick.

On paper, your large lensed and large sensored Osmos should do well capturing night number plates using manual settings, athough from night footage I've seen, the F2 aperture is too wide, resulting in shallower depth of field than my GoPro Hero 7 Black.

A good fiddle with manual settings for night shooting using the Osmos, would be useful for night cyclists considering action camera options.

 

[saneagle]

OK, here's the link. It normally takes Youtube a couple of hours before you can see it in 4k, but it might be quicker because it's not very long.

Have a look at how it deals with the sunlight in the last 25% of the video. The car numberplates are mainly near the beginning and at the end. Don't forget to set your screen to 4k to see it at its best.

 

[guerney]

Have a look at how it deals with the sunlight in the last 25% of the video.

It's algorithm is ovexposing in bright daylight. You may be able to overcome this, if there are manual controls, but you'd have to provide details of those controls for the photographers among us to make suggestions.

 

[Ghost1951]

OK, here's the link. It normally takes Youtube a couple of hours before you can see it in 4k, but it might be quicker because it's not very long.

Have a look at how it deals with the sunlight in the last 25% of the video. The car numberplates are mainly near the beginning and at the end. Don't forget to set your screen to 4k to see it at its best.

That video is good enough to work out in one minute through Google, that you were riding North East along The Crescent in Lawley, and turned left into Church Road, just after ACH Autos, towards the west where there is a place called New Works, an old coal mine and now a nature reserve.

 

[guerney]

That video is good enough to work out in one minute through Google, that you were riding North East along The Crescent in Lawley, and turned into Church Road towards the west where there is a place called New Works, an old coal mine and now a nature reserve.

Crap at capturing fast number plates clearly though, currently at least:

 

[Ghost1951]

Crap at capturing fast number plates clearly though, currently at least:

My bet is that he can tune it up. His £20 glasses certainly caught number plates so I expect this camera can. Hope so anyway, or there will be disappointment.

I'm wondering about the battery life. I think there were big claims in the online ads, about long battery life, unless I am confused.

 

[guerney]

My bet is that he can tune it up. His £20 glasses certainly caught number plates so I expect this camera can. Hope so anyway, or there will be disappointment.

The aperture of the camera in his video glasses is tiny, ISO is very high because of the tiny sensor with very little available light to it's tiny lens, it has an unsophisticated algorithm which uses a high shutter speed = sharp and noisy with very little motion blur.

 

[Ghost1951]

The other day in Cumbria, I was overtaking a tractor and some lunatic came right up behind me, then as I was indicating to go back into the inside lane, and already beginning to move in, he came blasting past me on the inside. The only reason I had not already gone in by the time he passed me was that I could see he had dodged into the inside lane and was accelerating.

 

[saneagle]

It's algorithm is ovexposing in bright daylight. You may be able to overcome this, if there are manual controls, but you'd have to provide details of those controls for the photographers among us to make suggestions.

There aren't any settings like that. It has:
Video resolution 4k 30 fps and lower
Bit rate high middle and low. I have high
EIS stabilisation on/off
Light source freq 50 hz or 60 hz
Metering mode multi-spot, spot, centre
White balance auto, daylight, cloudy, flourescent, incandescent set to auto
Exposure compensation EV-2, EV -1, EV 0.0, EV 1.0, EV 2.0 set to 0.0

That's it.

 

[saneagle]

This happened to me last Friday on the A66 in Cumbria.

I was overtaking a tractor and some lunatic came right up behind me, then as I was indicating to go back into the inside lane, and already beginning to move in, he came blasting past me on the inside. The only reason I had not already gone in by the time he passed me was that I could see he had dodged into the inside lane and was accelerating.

The bizarre musical accompaniment is to drown out my foul language.

Jeez, why did you have to put that stupid music on it?

 

[Ghost1951]

Jeez, why did you have to put that stupid music on it?

The original has some pretty bad language on it.

I am a youtube and video know nothing so I drowned the swearing in ludicrous Germanic 'music'.