Solutions to video camera shake

[Victor]

Thanks to the input and advice on this subject I decided to have a go at filming while cycling. I bought a pack of these bungee things ( 4 in a pack) from B&Q for less than £3.00. Straping my Canon Powershot SX1is, to my body off I set with the results seen here YouTube - ‪Filming while cycling‬‏
I am pleased with the results and in particular with the Gepida Dutch style handlebars which lends it's self to this type of filming. This movie was about 7 hours in uploading to youtube and OK it is in HD but is this normal?. Anyway hope you enjoy.

Victor

 

[kitchenman]

These were recommended and not only look pretty good but perform well too! ..
Video to follow ..
GCAM - a set on Flickr

 

[allen-uk]

Victor:

Wonderful film! And I'm glad to see those bungee cords working so well. (I tried them with my Panasonic Lumix, but the big heavy fixed zoom lens makes it tilt downwards, unfortunately).

And as before, what a lovely place to live. But you sound as if you already know that...

Can you get the camera a few inches higher on your body, i.e. more towards the top of your chest? It's fine as it is, but you might get a bit less handlebars if you could raise it.

Oh, and a PS:
that 7 hour upload sounds daft. I use an iMac, with QuickTime 7 (the one you have to pay an extra £20 for - well worth it for editing, etc). Anyway, it has a 'save' function 'Export for Web', where it saves your original film in several ways, one of which being a compressed .mov version which uploads to YouTube in minutes rather than hours. Anyway, if you haven't got QuickTime 7, do look into it, as I'm pretty sure it's for PCs as well...

Allen.

 

[kitchenman]

Thanks to the input and advice on this subject I decided to have a go at filming while cycling. I bought a pack of these bungee things ( 4 in a pack) from B&Q for less than £3.00. Straping my Canon Powershot SX1is, to my body off I set with the results seen here YouTube - ‪Filming while cycling‬‏
I am pleased with the results and in particular with the Gepida Dutch style handlebars which lends it's self to this type of filming. This movie was about 7 hours in uploading to youtube and OK it is in HD but is this normal?. Anyway hope you enjoy.

Victor

Nice one Victor. Can you take a photo of the camera as mounted to you? ...Thanx

 

[kitchenman]

These were recommended and not only look pretty good but perform well too! ..
Video to follow ..
GCAM - a set on Flickr

as promised ... very pleasing results and this RAIN TEST is particularly good.
YouTube - ‪RIDE0308‬‏

 

[kitchenman]

Sorted out a couple of issues with the excellent new google cam. There is a blue light that flashes as its recording which cannot been seen which is a pain when you are evaluating and testing the device. My solution involves wearing 2 goggles. My preferred goggles overlayed with the new goggles having removed the lens. I used a peg, a pen top and some gaffer tape to achieve this:

YouTube - ‪GCAM BLUE LIGHT AND VERTICAL MOVEMENT TESTING‬‏

Though the desired result was to see the blue light I now have the ability to move the goggles vertically which is a bonus.

 

[z0mb13e]

I wasn't sure if this warranted it's own thread, but figured it might be of interest to those bike ride filming buffs. Not strictly related to camera shake though, so sorry if it's a bit off topic.

Basically, it's your usual 'extreme sports' type camera with a very neat feature - you can use an iphone as the view finder for setting up shots (android app is supposedly in the works).

Contour GPS Bluetooth camcorder ? reghardware

 

[kitchenman]

I wasn't sure if this warranted it's own thread, but figured it might be of interest to those bike ride filming buffs. Not strictly related to camera shake though, so sorry if it's a bit off topic.

Basically, it's your usual 'extreme sports' type camera with a very neat feature - you can use an iphone as the view finder for setting up shots (android app is supposedly in the works).

Contour GPS Bluetooth camcorder ? reghardware

Excellent find z0mb13e. A rear view solution and wireless! ... Well done!

 

[z0mb13e]

Excellent find z0mb13e. A rear view solution and wireless! ... Well done!

It is a funky little bit of kit - I hadn't thought about using it as a rear view camera, but yeah, no reason why not!

 

[kitchenman]

This is EXTREME camera shake at its best ...

‪UM/FAST4WARD/CARDVR OFF ROAD TEST - EXTREME CAMERA SHAKE‬‏ - YouTube

Can you feel it? ..

This is the CARDVR torch style cam. I have 2. Both, despite alot of abuse are still working very well ...
The Goggle Cam has died a death due to a recent rain test ... which is a shame ... that would have been useful today ...

 

[Victor]

Thanks Allen-uk and Kitchenman for your reply, have been in France so delay in getting back to the forum. Once I have caught up with my own work will get involved again.

regards Victor

 

[NRG]

I've been trying out one of the keyring no.11 cameras as tested on techmoan and have to say they are bloomin good for the price. Records in true HD (not up scaled) and has a number of firmware upgrades developed by the RC boys to improve the picture and remove the time and date stamp.

Picture is wider so you capture more of the road plus it can record and charge at the same time...USB battery packs are available to get more than the usual 40~50min recording times.

Techmoan - Techmoan - HD808 #11 The Story So Far

 

[kitchenman]

I've been trying out one of the keyring no.11 cameras as tested on techmoan and have to say they are bloomin good for the price. Records in true HD (not up scaled) and has a number of firmware upgrades developed by the RC boys to improve the picture and remove the time and date stamp.

Picture is wider so you capture more of the road plus it can record and charge at the same time...USB battery packs are available to get more than the usual 40~50min recording times.

Techmoan - Techmoan - HD808 #11 The Story So*Far

I'm currently using 2 CARDVRs out front to capture a wide view! ... Be nice to have one device that can do this! ... Look forward to some videos ..

As an aside ... I was cycling to work yesterday morning and had not charged my devices due to my previous nights escapades ... A large female deer followed by her fawn crossed my path at about 10 meters ! ..I've been accused of being a bit anal with regards to my bike preparation but this just goes to show that it IS worth it ... you never know what is going to happen ...

 

[kitchenman]

Making use of some old tech that my brother had. Its an ARCHOS 404 which he picked up for £40.00 second hand. I had to buy a travel adapter so that I can plug in a camera. That cost about £15.00 on ebay ..
The good thing about the ARCHOS 404 is that it has a 30gb hard drive. Be interesting to see how it copes on bike! ... Here is an initial photo to wet the appetitie:

DSC00449 - ARCHOS 404 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Going to take some initial footage on the way home tonight using my Sony Camcorder connected via the AV out connector.

 

[kitchenman]

Making use of some old tech that my brother had. Its an ARCHOS 404 which he picked up for £40.00 second hand. I had to buy a travel adapter so that I can plug in a camera. That cost about £15.00 on ebay ..
The good thing about the ARCHOS 404 is that it has a 30gb hard drive. Be interesting to see how it copes on bike! ... Here is an initial photo to wet the appetitie:

DSC00449 - ARCHOS 404 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Going to take some initial footage on the way home tonight using my Sony Camcorder connected via the AV out connector.

And a short video showing the rear view:
SPIRIT/ARCHOS 404/SONY HDR-HC3 REAR VIEW TEST - YouTube

Conclusion. The ARCHOS 404 is going to be fine as a rear view device. I'll need to get a light weight camera with an AV OUT connector. Mounting will be similar to the PSP. Its the same weight (200g). The screen is clear but I'll need to test it in various light conditions. There is a waterproof case available which I'll need to get!

 

[kitchenman]

Here is my latest mount position for my CARDVR (still going strong after much abuse):


I'm making use of my "side table" to which I have attached a leg from a camera tripod that I dismantled. Hoping for some nice close ups of the rhs of my head! ...As its adjustable and right next to me I should be able to adjust as I ride. Be interesting to see how the camera shake is affected as I extend the telescopic arms. Also, thinking about getting another pannier rack "side table" for the other side. Which means I should be able to shoot the rhs and lhs of head which is what I believe Danny Boyle would call a stereo shot.

 

[kitchenman]

Here is my latest mount position for my CARDVR (still going strong after much abuse):
View attachment 3047

I'm making use of my "side table" to which I have attached a leg from a camera tripod that I dismantled. Hoping for some nice close ups of the rhs of my head! ...As its adjustable and right next to me I should be able to adjust as I ride. Be interesting to see how the camera shake is affected as I extend the telescopic arms. Also, thinking about getting another pannier rack "side table" for the other side. Which means I should be able to shoot the rhs and lhs of head which is what I believe Danny Boyle would call a stereo shot.

And the results:

STREET MACHINE/STOKE MONKEY SIDE TABLE MOUNTED (RHS) CARDVR1 TEST1 - YouTube
STREET MACHINE/STOKE MONKEY SIDE TABLE MOUNTED (RHS) CARDVR1 TEST2 - YouTube

Surprisingly there is quite a lot to say about this type of mount in general and stuff to talk about in the videos. The mount I feared was going to suffer from extreme camera shake but even though the camera was shaking the results are surprising good. The addition of facial expressions is great! .. scary, joyful, mad, etc ...Combined with the usual views makes for some interesting video making. Having the mount adjustable using telescopic legs for vertical movement and single threaded bolt for horizontal movement is going to be great. This will enable a range of cock pit shots to be explored. The audio performance of the CARDVR is poor but for those moments where I stop moving the quality is very good.
TEST1: Shot in 14 mph winds. You can see I enjoyed myself. Waving at the kids on the school bus who all seemed to stand up and wave back. Pit stop at Bradley with some of the mums with their dogs. Running with the bike. Shouting "keep the gate up" to the security man at work.
TEST2: Not so windy and sun in my eyes. More smiling while overtaking someone. Changed the angle of the camera to shoot my new PSP mount which has been performing brilliantly. Had a forced stop when my chain tube/hose shredded!

 

[kitchenman]

The mount I feared was going to suffer from extreme camera shake but even though the camera was shaking the results are surprising good ...

Inspired by these results I am now trying the PSP cam as its much lighter. Also, I am positioning it such that it acts as a rear view as well as a face cam. Whilst thinking about this I also came up with an interesting mount position for my bike computer. This was also partly inspired by the check list thread and the need to add something to clean hands

 

[kitchenman]

Inspired by these results I am now trying the PSP cam as its much lighter.

Pretty pleased with the result:
STREET MACHINE/PSP REAR and HEAD view - YouTube
The audio quality is excellent. Even at high speed you can still just about make out what I'm saying.

In the video I speak of a squeaking. Well, this is what was causing it:


I forgot to secure the upper hose to the beam. The whole lot moved and the bottom hose was snagging on the rear chain wheel causing the squeaking.

 

[kitchenman]

Here is the result of my initial testing with PSP games consoles and PSP USB cameras mounted in coca cola bottles threaded onto tent poles. One secured with masking tape (RIGHT) the other not (LEFT)

STREET MACHINE/PSP1_PSP2/TEST-01 Hanging from tentpoles in coca cola bottles - YouTube