Flip video cameras

Nachimir

Does anyone here record footage of their rides with one? What do you reckon to them? Anything gone wrong?

I'm messing around with different ways of mounting one. Bar mounts tend to be too wobbly and noisy, and watching a lot of videos on pinkbike, it seems helmet and chest mounts naturally give the best results.

Using a reflector mount at Cannock last week led to footage that's too noisy and makes people feel sick (if you really want a sample there's a minute of it here. It's also modified to hold a wide angle lens). I've made this out of a pair of scope rings and a RIS rail for an airsoft gun, will post the results:



I talked to a few other riders about them at Cannock last week; one said he took a flip out and it stopped working altogether after the first drop. Another said he'd tried the official Flip mount on his bars, and it was a complete pile of sh%t. I've seen people saying the same on snowboard forums.

What are your best ways of mounting cameras?

cat_with_no_tail

I've always found the best quality footage seems to be helmet mounted. Much less trail buzz and wobble if mounted to a helmet, obviously, you've got the added bonus of the bikes suspension and your entire body all absorbing the hits, makes for a smoother vid. Plus the camera always points where you want it to because it's following your head movements.

That said, I've seen some good stuff from frame mounts too. Because it's lower to the ground, you tend to get more of a feeling of speed too and again, because the frame is not moving side-to-side like the bars or forks, you don't get seasick watching the footage either.

The best vids seem to combine a number of different mounts and angles though. Fixed ground shots, helmet shots, rear view, frame mounts etc

toby_winkler

I don't think the footage you posted up is that bad, pretty decent quality and much better than most peoples amateur footage I have seen.

I think helmet and chest mounts make for the best footage overall, my favourite are chest mounts, but this can be quite hard to sort out unless you have something like the go pro chest mount ready kit thingy. Like CWNT said, helmet cams tend to look a bit slow sometimes, but do offer smooth footage.

Just test out some different positions/brackets etc, something will work out that you like in the end.

BenS999

Hi

I dont use a Flip camera but have been experimenting with a GoPro and went throguh the same things as you as where to mount it. I have found (in my limited experience) that the best place to mount a camera is low down, and with a static reference point, i.e. part of the bike. Being low down the speed is increased, and again its increased when you have a static reference point like a wheel, side of frame etc. Also very important is to have the mount very securely fastened. I cant offer much advice on Flip mounts but the GoPro mounts often need some electrical or gaffer tape wrapped around the mount to the frame or whatever its being attached too to take some of the buzz out. Dont be shy with it, wrap away nice and tightly and it should make a big difference.

check some vids i have made below, some angles are good and work really well, others not so. I'm still to find a really good position and it can be a pain in the a£se to spend time on the side of the trail setting up for a shot only to get it wrong, but hopefully no the summer is coming it will be more comfortable to stop and spend a few more minutes setting up the camera.

One more thing to note (at least with the GoPro), if you are following someone, you need to be really close to really benefit, as the subject often seems farther away than they really are. This has caused some hairy moments! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTHjFBvAOsk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUkpX70m28s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbTx73yhS4


*shameless posting of youtube vids for more hits! :shock:

paul20v

Nice vids 8) 8)

MattJWL

Nice vids

+1

Nice angles, good editing, great quality from the green bike, the camera on the red bike isn't as sharp. But you boys are fast too!

t0pc4t

top tip on the gaffer tape I am totally trying that!

Almightydutch

Ben, cant moan at the quality of your vids but sort ya mates out


I mean who wears white socks and tights!!!

Nachimir

BenS999 wrote:

I dont use a Flip camera but have been experimenting with a GoPro and went throguh the same things as you as where to mount it. I have found (in my limited experience) that the best place to mount a camera is low down, and with a static reference point, i.e. part of the bike.

Very nice work!

Good point about static reference points; it makes a huge difference to the video. I think one of the reasons I favour chest mounts is the extra context that the bars and rider's arms give.

Tethering cameras is also worth it; even with a screw mount a big enough impact can rip the camera off whatever you've mounted it to. A lot of skiers and surfers have lost GoPros.

Here's a test in some local woods with the rail mount:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjBVasegnk4

Better, but still wobbly. I think one of the later 60FPS ones would record significantly less wobble.

On a later run, my front skewer had undone itself but the lever was still in the closed position, so I didn't realise until the last corner here. Just as I was entering I thought "Steering's muddy... oh, no brakes either!":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3hsKCooDL8

It ripped the tripod socket out a little, and my next housing/mount design is going to bypass it anyway. The camera was a freebie, and I am basically testing it to destruction before buying a HD one and deciding on a final mount design.

BenS999

Almightydutch wrote:

Ben, cant moan at the quality of your vids but sort ya mates out


I mean who wears white socks and tights!!!

Actually, thats me. The guys i rode with that day ripped the sh!t out of me for my (lack of ) fashion sense. In my defense it was damn cold and I refused to get the tights off, even though I looked a Michael Jackson... :oops: :oops:

BenS999

Nachimir wrote:

BenS999 wrote:

I dont use a Flip camera but have been experimenting with a GoPro and went throguh the same things as you as where to mount it. I have found (in my limited experience) that the best place to mount a camera is low down, and with a static reference point, i.e. part of the bike.

Very nice work!

Good point about static reference points; it makes a huge difference to the video. I think one of the reasons I favour chest mounts is the extra context that the bars and rider's arms give.

Tethering cameras is also worth it; even with a screw mount a big enough impact can rip the camera off whatever you've mounted it to. A lot of skiers and surfers have lost GoPros.

Here's a test in some local woods with the rail mount:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjBVasegnk4

Better, but still wobbly. I think one of the later 60FPS ones would record significantly less wobble.

On a later run, my front skewer had undone itself but the lever was still in the closed position, so I didn't realise until the last corner here. Just as I was entering I thought "Steering's muddy... oh, no brakes either!":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3hsKCooDL8

It ripped the tripod socket out a little, and my next housing/mount design is going to bypass it anyway. The camera was a freebie, and I am basically testing it to destruction before buying a HD one and deciding on a final mount design.

Great stack! lol sorry...

The vids look great, if a little shaky, but this is the problem i have been facing for a while and cant seem to find a perfect solution to. Tape works well but is a hassle and looks terrible, not that that really matters. It can be a pain trying to wrap tape anywhere were gear cables and brake hoses are though.

One thing a friend tried (and it worked very well, but requires time and patience to get right) is to use a sponge (bath sponge) and push that against the fork lower, then push the camera up against it and wrap with tape just leaving the lens clear and the button to start filming. it takes time to get it right, and easiest to do with the wheel removed. This setup worked very well, but its the kind of thing you do at home, then rip off when you have had enough of that angle. Also - it can be applied pretty much anywhere on the bike and does not need aflat surface as the sponge will take care of that. Be prepared to waste half a roll of tape on this one though!

Regarding shooting at 60fps, and I'm no pro at this as i have only been using a video camera for a couple of months now, I have a feeling Im not actually benefiting from it. I shoot in 60fps, but I use iMovie to edit the vid and it converts to 30fps max. I need to look into this further but cant for the life of me find a higher fps setting in iMovie. I fear it may only be available in more high end software such as Final Cut or something similar, in which case I will stick with 30fps. Do you have any knowledge of this?

Its nice and sunny down in London at the moment and hoping it stay this way for more filming fun this weekend! 8)

Nachimir

BenS999 wrote:

Great stack! lol sorry...

Hah! I recommend any martial art that teaches you to roll, very useful for any situation where you're being thrown a few metres

Thanks for your compliments on the vids. I'm pretty sure I can get more out of the cameras.

With regard to 60FPS, you're right in that most sites like youtube and vimeo will only play videos at 30FPS, so yes, you don't benefit much in that respect.

What will probably help is that the sensor has a faster scan. To illustrate, this shot was taken with an old phone from a moving car:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubberdreamfeet/710528578/

It records each horizontal row of pixels from the top of the frame down, so as the car moves and the camera scans down to the bottom of the frame, each line is displaced slightly to the left of where it should be.

With the flip on the MTB, you can see similar artefacts, but usually from backwards and forwards movement, which compresses bits of the shot and makes it look like the world is wobbling. A 60FPS scan should work well against that. I think. Maybe (Even with the first high end DSLRs that could record video, you'd see similar wobbling on HD footage they made).

Thanks for the tip on the sponge too, hadn't thought of that as a material but I can see it being insanely useful with zip ties.

BenS999

What will probably help is that the sensor has a faster scan. To illustrate, this shot was taken with an old phone from a moving car:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubberdreamfeet/710528578/

It records each horizontal row of pixels from the top of the frame down, so as the car moves and the camera scans down to the bottom of the frame, each line is displaced slightly to the left of where it should be.

Aah ok I understand a bit more now, thanks very much for the explanation! I am massive noob in the world of photo's and vid's. I'm keen to learn more though and reckon i just need to experiment with different options on the gopro and also brush up on some reading. Any advice is welcome!

Nachimir

Bit of a noob myself when it comes to sports cameras, but the bits of freelance photography I've done before are helping a bit. It seems to mostly be in the setup, and lots of attempts at first.

Easy to get a mount wrong and as a result not quite get the shot you think you're getting. Was with a guy in February who was trying a helmet mounted gopro while skiing. He was an excellent skier and maneuvered all around us as we were boarding, but it was pointing too far down so on the first day just got a lot of our feet and snow rushing by.

The tips (and vids) you've put up are f*cking mint