What Action Camera Do You Use on Bike?

[portals]

Fed up of bams in cars cutting me up, mainly private hire taxi w@nk3rs and it's happening now every time I'm out.

Key requirement is good price 2nd hand, won't be snorkelling with it or doing much else bar the bike but it should be able to read number plates at night, probably will mount on helmet for flexibility and tracking,

Looking at a go pro black 7 or maybe 9 with the new battery style, what do you all use here?

 

[Az.]

GoPro black 7

 

[guerney]

GoPro Hero 7 Black here too. I've had to delete some of the (higher quality than Youtube) Vimeo vids on the thread below because I ran out of room. Have since moved some vids to unlimited Youtube. Unfortunately posts aren't forever editable here, they are on Endless Sphere.

GoPro 7 Hero Black: Best low light night settings for video capture of number plates while cycling

Night cyclists with GoPro 7 Hero Black action cameras equally frustrated as I was, might find this in a Google search. People with newer GoPros or other new action cameras, may get better results than I did:

www.pedelecs.co.uk

Whoah secondhand prices have dropped. Got mine £195 A Grade, now £120 for B grade.

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=0818279023077B&categoryName=CAMCORDERS&superCatName=ELECTRONICS&title=&queryID=00F56FAE4B5113794537F11F40246DCA&position=1


Bear in mind you'll need new batteries. Buy genuine, they provide more continuous current for 4K, the cheapos crap out. I bought mine from:

Genuine GoPro Rechargeable Battery Hero 7 Hero 6 Hero 5 Black Brand New sealed | eBay

100% Official GoPro Battery.

www.ebay.co.uk

You'll get better results with the (larger and heavier, newer sensor, dual screens) 9 Black, which has also tumbled in price - only £20 more than the 7 Black:

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=0818279023077B&categoryName=CAMCORDERS&superCatName=ELECTRONICS&title=&queryID=00F56FAE4B5113794537F11F40246DCA&position=1


GoPro 10 Black is now only £170, £25 less than I paid for my GoPro 7 Black:

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=818279027211B

V12 Black £240:

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail?id=810116380275B&categoryName=CAMCORDERS&superCatName=ELECTRONICS&title=&queryID=48E0EDDFBAAB47671C37085E665BE1FB&position=1

 

[guerney]

Fed up of bams in cars cutting me up, mainly private hire taxi w@nk3rs and it's happening now every time I'm out.

That doesn't happen to me anymore. Bung on one of these:

Hoping to increase driver passing distance at night, I've glued front and rear reflectors to my wing mirrors.

I can't recall who on this forum mentioned that lights which highlight the width of the handlebars at night, might influence drivers to not cut in ahead so close after overtaking... but I think whoever said that might be right, so I've stuck dual sided white and red reflectors to my wing...

www.pedelecs.co.uk

 

[AndyBike]

Fed up of bams in cars cutting me up, mainly private hire taxi w@nk3rs and it's happening now every time I'm out.

Key requirement is good price 2nd hand, won't be snorkelling with it or doing much else bar the bike but it should be able to read number plates at night, probably will mount on helmet for flexibility and tracking,

Looking at a go pro black 7 or maybe 9 with the new battery style, what do you all use here?

Recording poor driving is probably going to do little, and less to save you from injury. Chances are those driving badly will continue to drive badly, even after the police contact them, if in fact they ever do.

 

[matthewslack]

GoPro Hero Black 10, plus a fair few batteries.

I use 1080p, 24fps, narrow lens for compromise between battery life, number plate capture and microSD card space.

But it can do much more than that, the 10 is the first version with the V2 GoPro processor, so a good point in the range to start.

The 13 has just arrived, and it changes batteries and all, but 9 to 12 are all the same.

Follow @guerney's guides for night time plate capture. Daytime needs no special care.

Phone app support is good, clips and stills can be extracted easily, and various overlays all there for use.

Obviously not the cheapest, but buy once and it will do the job for years.

 

[guerney]

On full auto, the GoPro Hero 7 Black Hero in daylight also shoots plates blurry, unless there's bright sunshine. The settings on the other thread work great night and day, leaving the camera to select between a set range of ISO according to light levels, which it's competent at doing. However, expecting it' programming to work well in all conditions automatically selecting shutter speed aswell as ISO, is expecting too much.

There weren't any close passes at all last night (as usual). Slightly foggy conditions. This is the closest anything ventured. Wasn't close, or fast. Sorry. The handlebar Oxford lollipop is too repulsive.

Shot 1080P @1/480s ISO 800. Zoom in for the plate.







This is best for fast moving plates, there's less motion blur at 1/960s. I normally use these settings, but because I was recording something else with different settings earlier, I set it to 1/480s by mistake because the display is so damned tiny. I could have connected to the camera using the GoPro app on my phone, to set with a better view, but I didn't.

Not as clear nearer the edge of the frame.







Closer the pass, clearer the plate. The above is 1/480s shutter. 1/960s shutter speed removes most of the motion blur. ISO800 (camera selects this when dark) isn't too grainy, and produces frames sharp enough for stabilisation to work at night.

It's worth bearing in mind that my bright headlights help illuminate night number plates for recording.

 

[guerney]

Daytime at 1/960s:

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/gopro-7-hero-black-best-low-light-night-settings-for-video-capture-of-number-plates-while-cycling.44739/page-3#post-723422

Set the GoPro Hero 7 Black up once and forget... unless the camera is completely deprived of power between battery changes for too long, in which case shutter speed defaults to auto, which is a bit of a hassle because you have to remember set it to 1/960s again. But other than that, it's the cheapest GoPro worth buying for night and day number plate recording. The newer ones will do better.

 

[guerney]

I've edited the above post #7, because while editing video, I noticed that I had accidentally shot at 1/480s (Mediainfo is useful to see frame rate, free), because I was shooting 1/24s shortly before. The display is small, hard to see without removing from my helmet's jawguard. I shot 1/480s for ages, and most of the time it was fast enough, but 1/960s removes nearly all motion blur. Anyway, here's video the framegrabs above are from. You can tell by looking at the streetlamps it was a slightly foggy night. Of course, newer GoPro sensors are more sensitive to light.

 

[Bikes4two]

Recording poor driving is probably going to do little, and less to save you from injury. Chances are those driving badly will continue to drive badly, even after the police contact them, if in fact they ever do.

+1 for all of that.

Anyone considering spending serious money on a camera needs to (a) be clear on what they hope to achieve and (b) make a realistic apraisal of the liklyhood of achieving those objectives.

I am fortunate to NOT have to commute or travel (much) on busy roads and I feel for those that do have to do so.

Pesonally I'd start with a dummy camera (or 2) and one of those rather naff CCTV/Recording signs on the back and see if that reduces 'cut-ins'. If it doesn't then I'd be rather pleased in a strange sort of way that I hadn't wasted money on something more expensive.

Or of course if my local Constabularly were known to take CCTV recordings seriously..........?

 

[anniesboy]

I use a bullet camera by Chilli Tech the quality is very good for the price £80.00 ,they also do a rear camera with rear light incorporated.

Bullet Cam with Wireless Connectivity via an App

www.chilli-tech.com

 

[guerney]

Chilli cam does look good for daytime, and twilight (this dude doesn't show any video shot late in the deep dark of night), but is defeated by the fast passing car a little after the 10m 2s mark in the video below. I think my GoPro would have recorded that plate at 1/960s shutter speed.

Quite honestly, I think a lot of cheaper cameras would be capable of recording clear night number plates, if only they had been programmed to provide user access to shutter speed and ISO to reduce motion blur, and I find it wildly frustrating that they haven't been. They've prioritised point and shoot ease of use, rather than provide for useful versatility. Even my old Crosstour Action 4K could have, but the manufacturer copied GoPro's earlier user interface (V6 and earlier), rather than the newer ones, which allow access to shutter speed and ISO. Annoying I had to spend so much more on a GoPro Hero 7 Black to do the job. The GoPro Hero 7 Black is not perfect - I have to choose between clear number plate recording and colour accuracy, clear view of the car's make and model at night - unless it's not a black or dark coloured car, that task is made challenging by the small lens and limitations of the sensor. But such cameras will only improve and be available for less money, so there's that to look forward too.

Because of my handlebar affixed Oxford lollipop, fast close passes don't happen to me anymore, fortunately and unfortunately. Unfortunately, because I no longer can show things like this occurring:

(Crosstour Action 4k)

 

[Moss5]

A USB power bank allows me to use all of these, but not at the same time.

 

[jamesporritt]

A USB power bank allows me to use all of these, but not at the same time.

Why three?

 

[Moss5]

I could say Why Not?
But to answer a question you could possibly answer yourself: -
One is a helmet-mounted camera that I mount on the handlebars.
Another is a dashcam that I can wear on my chest.
Another provides eye protection and was my most-preferred until I got a Robo-Cop visor passed to me (free of charge).
The beauty of dashcams is the way they start recording when the USB power is supplied. They overwrite when the SD card is full. They are portable, so long as the USB power bank is worn on your body, and the cheapest method costs £18.
The attached files are from my video eyeware.
Audi rules apply at roundabouts in UK.

 

[portals]

Some interesting posts above, thank you all, still mulling, go pro 10 out though as not spending that for a camera that will not get much use.

Anyone seen this action camera, looks bit like the Chilli Mk2, suspicious though as nothing on interweb about it and looks too good to be true? There is a video at night down the page that look suspicious?

Best-value helmet cam - WillCycle

Grab a bargain! A 4K, waterproof helmet cam, with anti-shaking, WiFi connectivity and around 2.5 hours of battery, for much cheaper than anywhere else!

www.willcycle.com

 

[Bikes4two]

@guerney ,
As a very experienced user of action cameras for biking, could you for the sake of others considering a similar approach, tell us whether having a camera has increased safety on the road for you and how.

BTW I think the other measures you've taken to improve your safety on the road such as the lollypop lights, reflectors on mirrors et al, are great.

Many years ago a fellow rider had a simple bamboo cane with a small triangular flag on the end mounted on the front handlebars such that he could slide it in/out as needed depending on the riding/road conditions and it was extremely effective in reducing close passes and all at a cost of pennies.

 

[guerney]

@guerney ,
As a very experienced user of action cameras for biking, could you for the sake of others considering a similar approach, tell us whether having a camera has increased safety on the road for you and how.

In my experience, PassPixies and cameras don't dissuade close passing or other objectionable or dangerous driver behaviours. An Oxford lollipop on the rear rack doesn't work either, neither does the 1800LM rear red flasher (at least, not on it's own). I record everything in case of accident - you can't count on there being witnesses, and these days people aren't generally honest, you're better off with a "Flight recorder". Last month, one of my customers didn't notice a cyclist to his left while he was turning left, cyclist got his head bashed, no helmet, blood all over the place. Who's account are the cops/insurance companies/courts going to believe? That mess is still rattling on. In my opinion, cyclists are better off recording video. You can do what you what you think best for yourself.

BTW I think the other measures you've taken to improve your safety on the road such as the lollypop lights, reflectors on mirrors et al, are great.

The Oxford lollipop on my handlebar has made my camera almost redundant for recording close passing etc. Such is it's repulsiveness. In fact, I haven't experienced a close pass since. Still, I record every journey and delete immediately afterwards, if nothing interesting has happened. I snip out the odd short bit to keep. It isn't always about myself: I recorded a collision between two cars last year, was able to help someone out by emailing footage.

Many years ago a fellow rider had a simple bamboo cane with a small triangular flag on the end mounted on the front handlebars such that he could slide it in/out as needed depending on the riding/road conditions and it was extremely effective in reducing close passes and all at a cost of pennies.

I hope the cane gave way when it collided with railings, posts, hedges etc. and not altered the bike's steering as it did so - I've tested mine and it's fine in that regard. Oodles of ways to make something repulsive, a few of us on the forum have: @WheezyRider (3D printed) @matthewslack (pipe lagging) @trevor brooker (plastic pipe) @Cadence (assortment of GoPro mounts). How will you make yours? Perhaps you don't need to.

 

[guerney]

Some interesting posts above, thank you all, still mulling, go pro 10 out though as not spending that for a camera that will not get much use.

Anyone seen this action camera, looks bit like the Chilli Mk2, suspicious though as nothing on interweb about it and looks too good to be true? There is a video at night down the page that look suspicious?

Best-value helmet cam - WillCycle

Grab a bargain! A 4K, waterproof helmet cam, with anti-shaking, WiFi connectivity and around 2.5 hours of battery, for much cheaper than anywhere else!

www.willcycle.com

Looks as though the camera is mounted atop lid, tellytubby stylee? Plate views get really ropey as cars travel faster. If you decide to try a GoPro: my bright lights enable me to record 1/960s shutter speed, I reckon other people should shoot 1/480s or 1/384s - good for most night plates. See what works best with your lights. The GoPro 9 Black has a 23.6MP sensor vs the GoPro 7 Black's 12MP. I'd avoid V8, because the lens cover isn't easy to replace if scratched.

 

[matthewslack]

I started using a camera to overcome the feeling of helplessness I had without the evidence it provides.

I keep all my footage and one day it might make an interesting research project: 20,000 miles of overtakes categorised in various ways!

And there are some extraordinary images I could not get any other way.