cameras

thelawnet

I see that people do front and rear cameras on their bikes. Any suggestions for mounting points and models?

Mr Plum

Get a couple of the MD80 clones from ebay for about £7 each from HK or China. Cheap and cheerful!

EKE_38BPM

Mr Plum wrote:

Get a couple of the MD80 clones from ebay for about £7 each from HK or China. Cheap and cheerful!

Just bought an MD80 clone. Should have bought 2 (front and rear). For the money I think they are brilliant. Smaller than my thumb and come with loads of mounts. I bought the cheapest one I could find on Fleabay and the webcam function and the sound activated function don't work but I don't need those so I don't care.

FYI, the file size is pretty big for the length of recording, so a 4Mb card gives just over an hour but that is OK as the battery life is not much more.

If your commute is much more than an hour, you may need another camera.

antfly

Without the sound activation doesn't it switch off after half an hour?

EKE_38BPM

I don't think it stays on standy-by for as long as that, but it does switch itself off after a while.

jeremyrundle

I have used cameras for years see

http://sirpatrickmooresales.co.uk/Ourpage.aspx

There have been at least six threads on this in the last month

jeremyrundle

antfly wrote:

Without the sound activation doesn't it switch off after half an hour?

why use sound activation, switch on and it will run till the battry is flat, about 80 mins. I have ten of them.

Mr Plum

In the really cold weather I've been struggling to get mine to last much longer than 20 or 25mins in the really bitterly cold mornings.

EKE_38BPM

The sound activation thing is for when you are using it as a spycam. Put it in stand-by mode and leave it in a room. Any noise over 60dB will start it recording for 2 minutes, then back to stand-by unless the noise continues.

Considering the size, this is James Bond stuff IMHO.

antfly

Also, on the original Veho one it reords in 30 minute segments so if the voice activation isn't on it switches off after half an hour. It's quite handy cos you don't get huge files.

EKE_38BPM

antfly wrote:

Also, on the original Veho one it reords in 30 minute segments so if the voice activation isn't on it switches off after half an hour. It's quite handy cos you don't get huge files.

It only records in 30 minute chunks?! Thats pretty crap.

I'm considering getting one of the 'car' recorders as a helmet cam and using the spy cam on my seatpost facing backwards.
The 'car' recorders constantly over write, so you never run out of memory, its just a matter of how long the battery lasts. In a car you can charge it and record (rare for this type of camera), but that is no good on a bike (unless you have a USB generator on your bike). I get the feeling that if it is designed to be constantly charged, the battery life will probably be pretty poor, so maybe no good on a bike after all, but at these prices, its worth a punt.

redvee

EKE_38BPM wrote:

FYI, the file size is pretty big for the length of recording, so a 4Mb card gives just over an hour but that is OK as the battery life is not much more.

Gb :oops:

EKE_38BPM

redvee wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

FYI, the file size is pretty big for the length of recording, so a 4Mb card gives just over an hour but that is OK as the battery life is not much more.

Gb :oops:

Yeah, my bad!

antfly

EKE_38BPM wrote:

antfly wrote:

Also, on the original Veho one it reords in 30 minute segments so if the voice activation isn't on it switches off after half an hour. It's quite handy cos you don't get huge files.

It only records in 30 minute chunks?! Thats pretty crap.
.

It starts again immediately with no gap. Anyway Tesco are picking mine up tomorrow for a refund, the battery is dying and it's still just about in warranty so i'm cashing it in.

jeremyrundle

Who says they only record for 30 minutes, they record until the battery dies, about 80 minutes, none of my ten have stopped before 80 minutes, I carry 2 on the helmet and two spare for long journeys. Where has this 30 minutes come from, I have never used voice activation.

antfly

I'm talking about the metal muvi ones not the plastic e-bay clones. It would appear they work a little differently.

Origamist

If you want to spend a bit of money, here are a few other camera options:


The Drift Innovation X170 or HD 170

http://www.driftinnovation.com/


Go Pro HD Hero

http://www.goprocamera.com/


Contour HD 720 or 1080

http://contour.com/


Vio POV HD or 1.5

http://www.actioncameras.co.uk/VIO_POV_HD

The various manufacturers have different mounting options. I have the GoPro HD Hero and this can be mounted to a helmet, handlebars, stem, frame, seatpost, forks, head, wrist, chest etc.

antfly

I have looked at all of them recently but they are all a bit heavy. The contour looks ok but the vented mount, which costs extra, gets poor reviews.

jeremyrundle

Origamist wrote:

If you want to spend a bit of money, here are a few other camera options:
The Drift Innovation X170 or HD 170
http://www.driftinnovation.com/
Go Pro HD Hero
http://www.goprocamera.com/
Contour HD 720 or 1080
http://contour.com/
Vio POV HD or 1.5
http://www.actioncameras.co.uk/VIO_POV_HD
.

All £200+ when compared to a £7 720 camera on ebay, I wouldl rather have 4 at £7 that record for 1h20m at 720 res which if get lost/break/pack up are no ooss than a £300 that I would be afraid of losing.

mroli

jeremyrundle wrote:

All £200+ when compared to a £7 720 camera on ebay, I wouldl rather have 4 at £7 that record for 1h20m at 720 res which if get lost/break/pack up are no ooss than a £300 that I would be afraid of losing.

And do you ride a £50 bike that you could have 4 of, rather than a £800 that you would be afraid of having nicked?

The Muvi cameras are great, but basic. The other cameras referred to are much more superior in quality. They will also have a much better warranty system should something go wrong.

Its a balance isn't it - budget v need v desire.

Origamist

antfly wrote:

I have looked at all of them recently but they are all a bit heavy. The contour looks ok but the vented mount, which costs extra, gets poor reviews.

The weight of the GoPro (167g including waterproof housing), Contour, or Drift is barely noticeable when actually mounted on a properly fitted helmet (it doesn't take long to fine-tune the cam position). However, the form factor of the GoPro makes it look cumbersome and I mount mine on my stem. The camera head of the Vio is very light 50g or so (and you can put the recording unit in a jersey pocket).

If I wanted a second camera I would get Vio Pov HD.

EKE_38BPM

If you have a look on youtube at the videos of the MD80 and their clones and compare them to a video of a GoPro or one of Gaz545's videos, you will see the massive difference in quality.
The more expensive ones are broadcast quality. It looks like they have image stabilisation, much better resolution, better contrast, low light filming etc

If you plan to make a film, buy an expensive camera. If you just want a record of any accidents, get an MD80 or one of the clones.
Maplin are phasing out the MD80s, but still have stock in some stores. £30 reduced from £60, metal casing (I think) and warranty (I don't think they come with a memory card), but for what you spend at Maplin you could buy at least two clones off Fleabay.

JB83

I would go for the Go Pro HD, seems to be the most widely used with Pros as well as Ams! The range of mounts and extras you can get is unbeatable.

antfly

The best thing about the cheapo ones is the size and weight and ease of use, you can forget about them. The gopro is just too ungainly.

Origamist

antfly wrote:

The best thing about the cheapo ones is the size and weight and ease of use, you can forget about them. The gopro is just too ungainly.

If you want to film covertly or want a more discreet, cheap camera an MD80 clone is the way to go. However, you have to trade that off against reliability and performance issues when compared to more expensive offerings. If you just want to record shortish commutes, a cheaper set-up makes sense.

As for ease of use, I have to press two buttons on my GoPro and it records. What's more, I often forget about my camera - evinced by the number of times I fail to switch it off and film our corridor at home...

I'd agree that the GoPro is an ugly duckling, but the Contour and Drift are rather more elegant and refined when helmet mounted, but certainly more obvious than the Muvi for example, and a little heavier.

Each to their own...

jeremyrundle

mroli wrote:

jeremyrundle wrote:

All £200+ when compared to a £7 720 camera on ebay, I wouldl rather have 4 at £7 that record for 1h20m at 720 res which if get lost/break/pack up are no ooss than a £300 that I would be afraid of losing.

And do you ride a £50 bike that you could have 4 of, rather than a £800 that you would be afraid of having nicked?

The Muvi cameras are great, but basic. The other cameras referred to are much more superior in quality. They will also have a much better warranty system should something go wrong.

Its a balance isn't it - budget v need v desire.

Actually I have 3 x £800 customized Saracen bikes rather than one £3000 I would be afraid of using.

gaz545

I use ContourHD's and have mounted one of them to my seat post by using the universal adapter which gives you a standard camera attachment screw and then a 3 part RAM mount kit. It's very sturdy but it wouldn't work for something like a muvi.

In the past i used a muvi in the past and it does work, but you have to make sure the camera is very secure to the frame otherwise the picture looks really wobbily.