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Recommendations for Bike/Helmet video camera

3K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Xavier6162 
#1 ·
Any recommendations for a bike or Helmet video camera. I’m looking for something to record by daily commute. And to recorded daily as needed.

Anyone?


HELLO Anybody……?








Hmmmmmmm....I am Legend
 
#3 ·
Depends on your budget. If it's big, get a nice HD Camera in a tankbag and a bulletcam mounted. If you want to spend less money, around 150USD, there's the Oregon Scientific, or the Tachyon.

Myself, I'm going to order the Tachyon. Here's a comparison review on youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG5HZuRKLvg

There's loads of comparison vids on Youtube btw
 
#5 ·
I mentioned this a couple months back, a new one from Sony. Here's a link to it's 8 page product PDF.

http://www.stromtrooper.com/showthread.php?t=33059

From said PDF-
1080i Compact HD Camera. Splash-proof Specification Suited for Outdoor Use. Even though it is equipped with a full HD shooting (1920x1080i), 10x optical zoom and built-in microphone, the camera is compact, measuring only 1 1/2 x 1 11/16 x 3 1/2 inch (37 x 42.5 x 86.5 mm). It can take 1080i HD or SD images and sound in places that no ordinary camcorder can access.
It is possible to attach it to various devices such as helmets or arms by utilizing the screw hole at the bottom of the unit*1, and you can obtain HD or SD images from angles that you have never experienced before.
And the camera is splash-proof, making it suitable for outdoor use as well. It can be used at the water’s edge.*2

*1 Sony does not provide any special mounting hardware.
*2 Only the camera unit conforms to IEC60529 IPX2. Under no circumstances must it be used in water. That will cause problems. Do not allow the control unit to get wet, as it has no splash-proof features.


I just checked Amazon and B&H Photo & Video and neither is showing the product yet. 1080i HD, it will probably not be a $200 unit, but it sure looks like it would be about the best thing going. Maybe an e-mail to Sony will provide availability information.
 
#6 ·
I just checked Amazon and B&H Photo & Video and neither is showing the product yet. 1080i HD, it will probably not be a $200 unit, but it sure looks like it would be about the best thing going. Maybe an e-mail to Sony will provide availability information.
Feb. 8 was the date, I think. I already know I'm going to buy one, even with a price estimate of $1950 USD. (I've seen this on a couple of forums.)

Yeah, it's high, but is comparable to the Sony PCM-1 audio recorder, which is the most stunningly accurate recording system I've used in 40 years. I expect B&H to have it for $1750 or so.
 
#8 ·
Maybe I can find some help in here...

What I'm looking to do is make a time lapse video of a long distance trip...

I understand that there are issues with the storage and battery life on most cameras...

Theoretically storage and possibly battery life are not as critical if you are asking it to do 1 frame per second or so.

Technology is here yet?
 
#9 ·
Hi

To actually have a reasonable picture to look out, you need minimum 25fps, this is just around the speed where you can not detect flicker.

So, what you want to do is to record at least 25fps, just to get a picture you can look at. Have a look at the vision supplied to TV when a store is robbed, that is usually recorded at 6-8fps, it is extremely jerky.

I do believe what you want to do is possible, you just need a flash drive and some security software that controls camera images. This can be achieved with an AEEE notebook with a 64Gb flash drive and the linux security software is out there for free, so you can record on the fly. Then record 25frames, wait an interval, record another 25frames. If you do it by recording 1 fps every second, you will have to slow the playback by 25 times to get a clear image and it will not be very good quality. I am just not sure that what you get out of it will be usable, unless a lot of it is in a straight line driving, otherwise it will be meaningless especially through twisty mountains etc. You might as well set up a normal digital camera and have a resetable timer to take a full size image every second, then use some software to turn it into a movie on playback. This will give you excellent picture quality and with a number of 2Gb XD cards, you should have a stack by the end of each day.


That is just my opinion of course, I have worked in both the TV and Security industries.

Cheers
TravellingStrom
 
#14 ·
This video is from my new Tachyon. Vimeo and most others sites compress the video so it's hard to tell the true level of detail. If you're really curious to see what comes out of the camera you can scroll to the bottom right and download the 80Mb avi file. That will give you an accurate view of what you'll see on a cloudy day set to the max resolution.

As far as mounting location, I'm still playing. This video was shot mounted to the crash bars with a Ram mount. I think it came out way too jerky. I've also tried mounting the Ram to the handlebars with similar jumpy video. I also mounted a Ram ball to the frame right above the buddy peg. This shows promise, but right now my leg takes up most of the video frame, so I need to use my longer Ram arm...which may or may not destroy the stability of that location.

It's hard to beat the human body for a camera shock absorber, but I'm less than enthused about mounting that goofy thing up on my helmet.
 
#11 ·
You'll have to find that out yourself. Crashbars, Swingarm, Brake fluid reservoir, handlebar,... All these I've seen on Youtube, just try to find one that vibrates the least.
 
#12 · (Edited)
#13 ·
#15 ·
That’s what I thought. Saw a few vids of different brands on a different helmet types. The square cameras look really goofy. I may have to go with a helmet cam or put up with the jerky pics. I didn’t think your vids were jerky, though I’d like a better placement than on the crash bar.
 
#18 ·
What's a flash cam? Are you talking about flash memory?
 
#20 ·
It is all the type of memory used... Flash, HDD, mini DVD are all the specific storage medium used. I like anything with HDD because I am lazy and don't want to have to look for any additional items when I do something. I want it all self contained......

There is a good wiki write up that I closed out of before I posted here (like an idiot), but you can google it and find it with ease. If you REALLY need me to get it, I can check my history (refer to previous statement about lazy on certain things).

Why do you want a camera to record your daily trips? I can see having one for novelty reasons, but daily trips just seems on the extreme side. Then again, it has been more than proven that I have a different mindset than most. Just curious......
 
#21 ·
Here's my setup.

Fast, Cheap and So-So Quality:



You'll need a Madstad bracket, some 1/4" allthread, locknuts, etc.

Adapts to any camera.

This one, HP R937 is cheap ($250US), has a large touchscreen interface and with a 4GB card will record a nice long commute.

I'm thinking about a similar system with a shockmount like a studio microphone.

Why, pray tell, do you want to record your commute?
 
#22 ·
Here's my setup.

Fast, Cheap and So-So Quality:



You'll need a Madstad bracket, some 1/4" allthread, locknuts, etc.

Adapts to any camera.

This one, HP R937 is cheap ($250US), has a large touchscreen interface and with a 4GB card will record a nice long commute.

I'm thinking about a similar system with a shockmount like a studio microphone.

Why, pray tell, do you want to record your commute?
Just in case something happens.
 
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