helmet cam & recorder etc

shogunsteve

Have no clue about this stuff. All I know is I want to be able to record stuff (for a business venture) and not have to fiddle about in a bag stopping and starting a recorder.

Video needs to be good quality so a good camera etc is needed I guess.

Any advice (with samples if poss) gratefully received!

Mancunianfightingcat

I've got one of theses and the image quality is fantastic. You do have to carry the main unit in a back pack, but you get a remote record and stop button which you can zip tie to your bars, or wear on a strap round your wrist.

http://www.vio-pov.com/

shogunsteve

Mancunianfightingcat wrote:

I've got one of theses and the image quality is fantastic. You do have to carry the main unit in a back pack, but you get a remote record and stop button which you can zip tie to your bars, or wear on a strap round your wrist.

http://www.vio-pov.com/

Sounds brilliant. Which model did you go for?

Mancunianfightingcat

Not sure, I've got it on long term loan from a mate who uses it for motorsport. I'll check when I get home later and let you know.

Mancunianfightingcat

I think it's this one


http://www.vio-pov.com/products/pov_1.php

The Northern Monkey

have you seen the prices! IIRC from the gadget show, they're £650+!

Helmet hero 5 wide is the one I want.
5mp camera, small, great mounts and prefect pictures. all for £185.

big list of lots of available helmet cams here
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12617717

mcbazza

I have the POV.1
Amazing bit of kit. Records to SD cards @ DVD quality.
Bought mine from USA when exchange rates were a little more favourable. Saved me close to £100 over UK rrp (which was £550 at the time).

With the latest firmware upgrade, it can handle 8GB SDHC cards. And with the excellent battery life, means you can film (pretty much) all day without stopping. But, the remote is handy, and easily fits around the stem.

If you do think of getting one, I'd recommend the wide-angle head-unit.

shogunsteve

No offence to anyone but I dont plan on spending £600+ !!

I had a budget in mind of about £300.

I realise this might not get me the very very best, but I cannot justify £600+ on a helmet cam.

Otherwise I'll cable tie a webcam to my helmet and put my laptop in a rucksack and edit when I finish!!!!!

Does anyone have any links?

mcbazza

Ah. Ok.
In that case you either go "old skool":
Buy a bullet cam, and link it up to a camcorder with video in.

Or, go digital. In which case I'd recommend the Hero Wide.

Mancunianfightingcat

I'm going to the Peak District tomorrow, if I can persuade myself to carry the camera, I'll get some sample footage.

OwenB

A mate at work uses an Archos system, the picture quality is brilliant. He got his whole system fro mEbay for about £150 which seemed like a bargain

mcbazza

OwenB wrote:

A mate at work uses an Archos system, the picture quality is brilliant. He got his whole system fro mEbay for about £150 which seemed like a bargain

I'm assuming that it's an Archos with a HDD (hard drive) in it - for obvious reasons, I'd advise against using a recorder with a HDD.

It's not that it won't work. It's just that vibration is one sure way to kill a HDD. As is heat/water.

Solid-state (recording to flash cards) is the way to go.
Failing that, the old-skool DV tape method - as if the tape breaks, you just buy another tape.
HDD's aren't as cheap, or as easily to replace.

Like I said, this is a recommendation. I'm sure many people get on fine with them. But, I wouldn't want to risk it.

Mancunianfightingcat

there's a VOI POV on Ebay, £250.

shogunsteve

What are people actuallu USING?

I mean its ok getting recomendations, but I would like it if someone who is actually using something could advise me as I cannot afford to waste money.

I really should be out on my bike instead of sitting in front of my laptop!!!

Mancunianfightingcat

I can only tell you what I'm using, and I have done!!!! I also own a AT3K but it's rubbish, so I'm not recommending it. They are only £100 though.

Sorry my help wasn't much use!!!! :P

Northwind

My main recommendation is a negative one, don't get any of the ATC models, they're fine when they work but if you get one that does the infamous image wobble, you might as well bin it. I did. Hero cam seems the best self-contained option now.

This is what it looks like when it goes wrong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH3Z-xQY ... annel_page
At the time I thought it was engine interference or vibtration, but it still happens with the engine off and bike parked :P

I've not done any MTB footage yet with my bullet cam kit, just motorbike use, but it'd come well under your budget. Dogcam supplied the camera, a Viosport aventure cam, but really anything decent quality will work. Remember it's like buying a digital camera, it's not all about the resolution or lines- generally better cameras have better anti-vibration, and that's essential. if you want audio, you'll need to pay more, wind noise is a killer and good baffles don't come cheap.

The recorder I used was a JXD 960 personal music player. It's better to use a video camera but they're so bulky, it was a nonstarter for me. These wee players are brilliant, they take SD cards (dirt cheap now) and run for ages on their internal batteries, and they're not expensive. There's various others doing the same thing. Unfortunately, I killed it- it got squashed into a Honda CBR600RR and there wasn't enough space, crushed the screen So now I use a little Aiptek video recorder/camera, which is basically exactly as good. 640x480 and 30fps is a decent spec.

This vid's compressed to hell but it shows how good stability and image quality you can get with this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kSN8R5EG14&feature=channel_page

If you're doing uploads etc it'll generally be heavily compressed but it's still worth starting out with a good quality video, compressing bad quality vid makes it far worse, you get artifacts and blocky edges etc. This vid is actually more compressed than the ATC videos on my youtube but still looks better.

k2rider

not trying to be funny but if youve got a sony psp get the camera (go!cam) accessory for it for about £30 and use that, image quality is more than reasonable and you can play it straight back on your console, only downside is you need to carry your psp in your back pack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHDqbpsjZyw

Davy-g

have a look here http://www.4kam.com/ I don't personally have one but I have been reading up on their products and I will probably purchase one in the near future.

Northwind

k2rider wrote:

not trying to be funny but if youve got a sony psp get the camera (go!cam) accessory for it for about £30 and use that, image quality is more than reasonable and you can play it straight back on your console, only downside is you need to carry your psp in your back pack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHDqbpsjZyw

That's a really good idea actually, a mate of mine did that on a ridout a while back, the footage was surprisingly good.

shogunsteve

Mancunianfightingcat wrote:

I can only tell you what I'm using, and I have done!!!! I also own a AT3K but it's rubbish, so I'm not recommending it. They are only £100 though.

Sorry my help wasn't much use!!!! :P

:P It was.....and if I didnt have so many expences at the moment I'd buy one today

Mark_K

k2rider wrote:

not trying to be funny but if youve got a sony psp get the camera (go!cam) accessory for it for about £30 and use that, image quality is more than reasonable and you can play it straight back on your console, only downside is you need to carry your psp in your back pack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHDqbpsjZyw

Wow thats realy good, and i have got a psp i could use but i thought that the go cam mounted directly onto the psp ?

grantway

Thanx Davy-g The 4kam looks a very versitle piece of kit and with a wide angle lense
and very cheap 8)

Daz555

Mark_K wrote:

Wow thats realy good, and i have got a psp i could use but i thought that the go cam mounted directly onto the psp ?

It does, but sticking it on the end of a usb cable instead would not be a problem.

You'd just need a mini-usb extension cable.

Video mode is at PSP native resolution of 480x272 so not going to look great when played on larger screens. It's widescreen though, which is nice.

For other cheapish options, the Tachyon XC looks pretty decent if video samples are anything to go by: http://www.tachyoninc.com/main.html

Bobbinboy

I bought an AT-1 from dogcam.com which is a wireless system. I used it in the Sierra Nevada last month and the video came out fine for playback on a PC screen. You get all the kit you need although I would also buy the armband so you can access it easily. The only downside is battery life on the recording unit which is only about 2 hrs before you need to recharge the built in battery.