Thinking about my first camera due to near miss !!

paulb369uk

Hi guys, I recently had a near miss with white van man so am going to invest in a camera for my helmet/bars. I didnt want to spend over £100 and dont like the bulk of GoPro so am thinking about the Mio Miview M350 but struggling to find many reviews, the ones I have found seem good. Does anyone have one of these ? Are they any good ?

Thanks in advance

styxd

how would a camera prevent another near miss?

paulb369uk

It wouldn't but at least if it was an accident it would provide evidence as to who was at fault !!

just a nickname

It happens too often... Got hit multiple times, luckily I am young and my reflex are good enough to only have my leg struck. Yet it's fairly rare, I imagine the trouble of setting up every time the camera and managing the memory + charging it... That plus door opening right in front of you! Hello adrenaline.
Now I take a bit more my time, it happened only when I was going fast. The driver always underestimate the bicycle speed (always), they think they will make it if they turn fast enough or just don't see you...

pastryboy

I bought a cheap camera off ebay after a 4x4 turned across me and I went into the side of it.

It's ended up a in draw somewhere as it's too much of a faff having to keep charging it (battery only lasts about 100 minutes) and putting up with it being erratic.

veronese68

I had a near miss this morning, another white van, moved into my lane as he was alongside me. I had to brake to avoid him then passed him on the right to inform him that he should pay a bit more attention. Were it not for this thread I'd be well on the way to forgetting about the incident and by tonight I would have completely moved on.
If I had a camera I could look at the footage again tonight, then get wound up by it all over again. If my wife ever sees such footage she'd have kittens and would worry about my riding even more than she does now.
When I did get knocked off there were other witnesses so a camera was not necessary.
There is only one occasion I wish I'd had a camera and that was when I nearly got collected by a large stag with very pointy antlers. Oh, actually two occasions. When I was 12 I fell off my new 10 speed racer and got knocked out. No idea what happened so that would be interesting. But seeing as the only cameras around were super 8 cine cameras it would not have been very practical.
I do not want a camera, and that's without getting into the cam warrior types that get very sanctimonious on Youtube.

surrey_commuter

Veronese68 wrote:

I had a near miss this morning, another white van, moved into my lane as he was alongside me. I had to brake to avoid him then passed him on the right to inform him that he should pay a bit more attention. Were it not for this thread I'd be well on the way to forgetting about the incident and by tonight I would have completely moved on.
If I had a camera I could look at the footage again tonight, then get wound up by it all over again. If my wife ever sees such footage she'd have kittens and would worry about my riding even more than she does now.
When I did get knocked off there were other witnesses so a camera was not necessary.
There is only one occasion I wish I'd had a camera and that was when I nearly got collected by a large stag with very pointy antlers. Oh, actually two occasions. When I was 12 I fell off my new 10 speed racer and got knocked out. No idea what happened so that would be interesting. But seeing as the only cameras around were super 8 cine cameras it would not have been very practical.
I do not want a camera, and that's without getting into the cam warrior types that get very sanctimonious on Youtube.

This is my fear with a helmet cam :shock:

bendertherobot

If you want to decide whether you want a helmet cam............

1. Go to youtube.
2. Watch cycling footage from camera wearers.
3. Get wound up.
4. Watch some more.
5. Get really wound up.
6. Decide whether you are wound up by the motorists or, perhaps, as much by, the operator.
7. Ask yourself do you want to become quite so obsessed?

ugo.santalucia

The majority of near misses are due to a motorists not seeing you... it's genuine, they don't see you because modern cars and vehicles are designed to be pretty rather than to offer 360 degrees vision. Legislation is needed.

There is of course the odd twat, but I wouldn't go on the hunt with a camera... otherwise you might as well go out with a pocket knife and cut his tyres when you catch him at the lights... bypass the lazy cops that won;t do anything about it and be your very own Charles Bronson... much more fun and something I completely approve of...

lakesluddite

OP - might be worthwhile posting on the Commuting section (or even Buying Advice section), I think the use of cameras might be more that sort of thing. It just seems you are getting replies detailing why people don't use them, or think using them is not worthwhile, rather than actual advice in buying an inexpensive camera.

I don't use one either, but that's because I've not had that many near misses (and the one I did have I managed to catch them up and 'have a chat' with them). Then again I commute/ride on quieter roads than urbanites, so am lucky in that respect.
If you want a camera then get one - it certainly won't harm if anything bad happens, and indeed could prove invaluable should you need evidence, even if that likelihood is rare.
Maybe try ebay? I have heard some on here say they have picked up something for little expense.

paulb369uk

Thanks for all your replies guys, my main question which seems to have been somewhat overlooked in the whole should I shouldn't I debate was has anyone git or used the Mio M350 ?

Thanks

bendertherobot

I've used both the SJ2000 and 4000 which are excellent. THough, as you say, their form factor is larg(er).

Where can you see the Mio for £100?

cougie

You can get the entry level go pro for £99 now. Looks very similar in quality to the GoPro3 I hired for the alps last year.

I think the lens makes things look closer than they are and I can really only think of a handful of incidents when camera footage might have been useful.

oblongomaculatus

bendertherobot wrote:

If you want to decide whether you want a helmet cam............

1. Go to youtube.
2. Watch cycling footage from camera wearers.
3. Get wound up.
4. Watch some more.
5. Get really wound up.
6. Decide whether you are wound up by the motorists or, perhaps, as much by, the operator.
7. Ask yourself do you want to become quite so obsessed?

This is so true. You can spend hours on You Tube and the like, getting wound up about the crashes, near misses and idiotic things drivers say when the cyclist with the camera "has a chat" with them at the next set of lights. Then you go out for a ride on the lookout for any bad driving, and the first time someone overtakes without leaving enough room, you think, right, I'm going to catch up and explain what they did wrong... and then you don't, because by the time you get alongside, you've realised it's not worth it. Or at least, you do if you're the non-confrontational type like me...

bendertherobot

oblongomaculatus wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

If you want to decide whether you want a helmet cam............

1. Go to youtube.
2. Watch cycling footage from camera wearers.
3. Get wound up.
4. Watch some more.
5. Get really wound up.
6. Decide whether you are wound up by the motorists or, perhaps, as much by, the operator.
7. Ask yourself do you want to become quite so obsessed?

This is so true. You can spend hours on You Tube and the like, getting wound up about the crashes, near misses and idiotic things drivers say when the cyclist with the camera "has a chat" with them at the next set of lights. Then you go out for a ride on the lookout for any bad driving, and the first time someone overtakes without leaving enough room, you think, right, I'm going to catch up and explain what they did wrong... and then you don't, because by the time you get alongside, you've realised it's not worth it. Or at least, you do if you're the non-confrontational type like me...

I spent a single commute trying out a mate's camera. I found myself more looking for incidents to film than actually riding. Don't want to go down that road

Greenbeetle

The one time I wished I had a camera was when a guy in a van forced me to stop, jumped out and poured out a torrent of hysterical eye-popping abuse at me (his theme was cyclists should hug the kerb). He then shouted and swore at another driver trying to get past before driving off.

Alarming at the time, but would have been hilarious reviewing it.

Initialised

ugo.santalucia wrote:

The majority of near misses are due to a motorists not seeing you... it's genuine, they don't see you because modern cars and vehicles are designed to be pretty rather than to offer 360 degrees vision. Legislation is needed.

I'd go a little further than this and legislate for all new vehicles (existing commercial vehicles to be retrofitted by next MOT) to come with collision avoidance technology, front and rear cameras and GPS tracking (all stored and automatically uploaded to police and insurance for an instant decision in the event of a collision).

pinarellokid

I use a camera on my commute, never look at the footage, as I haven't been knocked off yet, when I do I will really want to see the footage, especially if I'm hurt bad, Why else would you want one.. I'm not a loony, I just want to be better prepared in the incidence of a bad off

sigorman85

There will be more so get used to it ...one finger salute works wonders

diy

You can get a keyfob spy cam for about £20, they can attach to a helmet with a velcro sticky pad and are incredibly light. I've been using them for years. The £20 option is 720p and the battery lasts about 45 minutes. The Jumbo one can last about 1h:40, both can take an external USB based power pack (so a simple 18650 based USB pack will get this running for about 6 hours )

Review here:
http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2013/8/11/ ... eview.html

Look on e*bay for an 808#16 or some of the later models:

http://stores.ebay.com/powerdigital898/ ... 34.c0.m322

This is my rather old 808#11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UCcsF1H934
set it 720HD for best quality

The advantage being that its less obviously a camera, which reduces the risk of someone nicking your evidence

mmacavity

"..... recently had a near miss with white van man ......."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohU7USFpLiU

paulb369uk

bendertherobot wrote:

I've used both the SJ2000 and 4000 which are excellent. THough, as you say, their form factor is larg(er).

Where can you see the Mio for £100?

Currently on at Tesco for £99

paulb369uk

Well I have decided to buy one and give it a try, it will also double up as a holiday video camera,

mmacavity

http://road.cc/content/forum/134068-tv- ... ur-footage

http://road.cc/content/news/134042-vide ... -not-wrong