whats a good head cam for commuting

surreyxc

Any advice on a headcam for commuting, I want something that can work at low light, deal with vibration, and high res enough to stand a chance of capturing car number plate details.

CliveC

I'm getting a MUVI for xmas on a couple of recommendations. I've seen footage from one and it's plenty good enough.

Note, my bike in the bog in my avatar...

Cheers

Clive

Agent57

I'm happy with my Veho Muvi. It's good enough for street-lit nights, but it won't cope with real low-light filming (e.g. just the light from a TV). There are some examples on my YouTube, e.g. here (day) and here (night). It'll capture number plates OK, depending on distance and speed. Hard to see on those videos, though, as they're sped up. I can dig out some original, normal speed stuff if you'd like.

Christophe3967

I've got one from 4Kam - can't remember the details - which works well in all conditions. I've never been able to rig up the mike though. There's footage somewhere on here (helmet cam thread I think) if you want to have a look.

MadammeMarie

Agent57 wrote:

I'm happy with my Veho Muvi. It's good enough for street-lit nights, but it won't cope with real low-light filming (e.g. just the light from a TV). There are some examples on my YouTube, e.g. here (day) and here (night). It'll capture number plates OK, depending on distance and speed. Hard to see on those videos, though, as they're sped up. I can dig out some original, normal speed stuff if you'd like.

How much was it? I'm looking for a head/helmet cam, too.

downfader

Muvi's are aropund the 80 quid mark depending on what kit you buy.

I use a HQ2 bulletcam into a HQR-2 DVR. Expensive and will work in very poor street lighting. Better quality cameras like this tend to be more of an investment.

iPete

Go Pro HD, spanking new camera on the market, unbelievable quality for the price. Not sure the UWA is what your after but you can mount it to anything.

http://www.goprocamera.com/hdheropreview/

I'm saving up to import one from the US, should come in around the 200 mark but you might want more mounts, bigger memory cards etc.

Saying that, I'm buying it more for MTB/car/action sports than my commute.

There is also the new Contour HD to look at, not as wide angle.

Also for less money there are the older non-HD models.

Check the sticky at the top, some people here have some super cheap solutions..
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12609612

symo

Resurrection;

Best helmet Cam for recording time on Batteries, I would like up to eight hours if possible. MuVi good for that long?

bike_addict

symo wrote:

Resurrection;

Best helmet Cam for recording time on Batteries, I would like up to eight hours if possible. MuVi good for that long?

The Muvi cam will only last 3 hours in ideal conditions.

itsbruce

CliveC wrote:

Note, my bike in the bog in my avatar...

Will you be wearing the headcam in there, too?

Kieran_Burns

<whimper> I've almost bought the contour HD 1080 three times now.... :oops:

asprilla

Kieran_Burns wrote:

<whimper> I've almost bought the contour HD 1080 three times now.... :oops:

Why not just get the 720? It's £90 cheaper and I doubt it's going to make much difference in terms of usable images.

Kieran_Burns

Asprilla wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

<whimper> I've almost bought the contour HD 1080 three times now.... :oops:

Why not just get the 720? It's £90 cheaper and I doubt it's going to make much difference in terms of usable images.

because I'm a bloke and want the best model of everything... :roll:

downfader

symo wrote:

Resurrection;

Best helmet Cam for recording time on Batteries, I would like up to eight hours if possible. MuVi good for that long?

Muvi's battery can apparently be changed to give you around 12 hours and a faster charge time. One of the guys on another forum said he'd hacked his with a batttery from one of these electronics sites.

Jamey

Asprilla wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

<whimper> I've almost bought the contour HD 1080 three times now.... :oops:

Why not just get the 720? It's £90 cheaper and I doubt it's going to make much difference in terms of usable images.

Yes and no...

The bitrates for 1080p30 and 720p30 aren't massively different so the quality will be fairly similar (slightly better on 1080p30 but nothing major).

However the ability to capture 720p60 (60 frames per second) at a decent bitrate is the reason why I plumped for the 1080 model, as the cheaper ContourHD can only do 60fps for non-HD resolutions (WVGA).

I find the extra frame rate really handy both for capturing number plates and also for being able to slo-mo the footage but still keep it fluid. Although you do have to switch back to 30fps when the light levels drop as forcing it to record at 60fps means the images get even darker at night time.

symo

It's a bit expensive though isnt it?

Jamey

Well, it costs more money than a Muvi but less money than an HQR-2 setup like downfader uses.

Whether it's expensive comes down to whether you think it's worth the money.

I do, but that's due to a combination of two things... (A) I'm a video editor by trade and I know what sort of quality I'm looking for and roughly what technology is involved in capturing it, and (B) I know I might one day have to rely on this footage in court and if it's dark and the only shot of the number plate was when the car sped off into the distance I want the best possible chance of having a clear image.

If it was a grand then maybe I'd think twice about whether my peace of mind was worth that much but for £280 then no, I don't think that's too much to pay for the quality you get out of the camera. It's a very well made piece of kit and the company give good support and seem like nice people.

AndyManc

surreyxc wrote:

Any advice on a headcam for commuting, I want something that can work at low light, deal with vibration, and high res enough to stand a chance of capturing car number plate details.

Muvi's are good in low light, in fact they are better than many camera's costing 3x as much.

The footage I've seen it may be difficult to identify number plates but what many bikers do is call out the plate number so the inbuilt mic on the camera can pick it up.

I've just bought one with the extreme sports pack, though I'm not impressed with the fixing gear supplied, there is a decent bar mount you can buy for £25.

I'd go for the Muvi, overall I think it's the best value, if you get the headcam bug, you can always splash out on a pro system later on.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/veho/muvi-camera-with-extreme-sports-pack-bundle-ec022127


.

symo

What about this hack of the Muvi/MD80 for longer battery life. What source is that you are citing downfader?

Jamey

Do note that the Muvi and the MD80 (and all the other cheap eBay cams) aren't exactly the same thing.

Proper, genuine Muvis are actually better quality, especially in low light.

nielsamd

Anyone use any post-processing image stabilizing software, whether paid-for or free (apparently)?
e.g.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCoaJDIrmCM


----

g00se

Jamey wrote:

Do note that the Muvi and the MD80 (and all the other cheap eBay cams) aren't exactly the same thing.

Proper, genuine Muvis are actually better quality, especially in low light.

Sorry - I'm going to be pedantic...

<PEDANT>
Actually, the 'real' MD80 is identical to the Muvi Veho. It's just an unbranded OEM one - though sometimes it does have the AEE logo on it.

it's the Chinese clones of these unbranded MD80s that are worse in low light. To tell them apart, the 'real' ones have metal cases and sliding switches - the clones are plastic with push-switches.
</PEDANT>

symo

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/World-Smallest-Hi ... _802wt_924

So is that the one I want with the sliding switches?

bails87

symo
No, look at the other 'real' photos, rather than the 'studio' one that initially appears. That has the plastic case and push buttons.

I've had two now, I love bargain stuff (DX lights for example) and I'd really like to love these, but the battery life has been pretty poor IME. No more than 30 mins, which means you have to really ration when you use it. No good if you want backup in case of an incident on the roads, where it needs to be on constantly.

Jamey

Cheers g00se, I stand corrected.

symo

Can someone point me in the direction of the ebay MD80 what I need to buy then,

symo

Anyone with an eBay link?

g00se

Can'r be too sure about getting a real MD80 on ebay. The plastic ones will set you back about £20. For a real MD80 try:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=285263

g00se

if you search MD80 AEE on ebay, you might have more luck - though they tend to be £45-£50 and still come from China. i would stick with UK shops just in case they are the clones.

Jamey

DogCam used to sell MD80s and the updated version (MD91) but they don't seem to anymore.

mtb-idle

I've got the GoPro HD and it is the mutt's nuts for quality, variable mounting position, battery life, up to 32GB card (yes thirty TWO!) etc. BUT if you actually want to wear it on your lid and not mount on your frame it's quite heavy and if you mount it to the side rather than on top it pulls your lid over to the side and makes it uncomfortable.

Here's my latest (non-commuting) effort. Best viewed with sound

Uncle Fester and the Rabbit