cameras

ianbar

my birthday is coming up and the wife has said what would i like? so i thought i might like a camera, seems there are 2 routes the go pro and a garmin. what are peoples experiences maybe more on the garmin ones as i knwo someone with a go pro. thanks in advance

NeXXus

Shimano Sport Camera. It doesn't have a replaceable battery like the Gopro or Garmin but it's a very tiny full 1080p unit.

northpole

I have a Virbe which I have used a few times. The daunting bit is the prospect of sitting down to work through the hours of video files and knock them into shape.

When I got mine you had to buy the mounting kit separately - not sure if that is still the case.

The batteries don't last very long so i would suggest provision is needed for one or two spares which are not expensive (but all the bits add up)

A bit of research is needed on the web regarding the microphone - I only realised this after my Dolomites/ Maratona rides - the sound of rushing air isn't all that interesting if left in default setting!

Image quality is reasonable but I wonder if the go pro moved the resolution game on a bit beyond the Virbe?

The handle bar mounting bracket needs to be checked regularly to make sure it isn't working it's way loose. Nothing fundamentally wrong with it, just prudent to take care.

The size/ shape makes it quite easy to carry about however, if you want to use it off bike ie handheld, I'm not sure that the go pro shape wouldn't be more natural.

Peter

cattytown

The amazon deal is a good one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EWJQ0Y0/r ... words=virb Stock due Friday.

The camera, a second battery, and a handlebar mount for £109. If you also have a garmin GPS, some can be used as a remote for the camera. Virbedit will also nicely marry up the GPX file and the video.

Paul.

rudivoller22

cattytown wrote:

The amazon deal is a good one. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EWJQ0Y0/r ... words=virb Stock due Friday.

The camera, a second battery, and a handlebar mount for £109. If you also have a garmin GPS, some can be used as a remote for the camera. Virbedit will also nicely marry up the GPX file and the video.

Paul.

Does the virb always break a longer ride up into 20odd minute sections or have I got it on some kind of setting? Makes it difficult to marry up the GPS file

cattytown

File size - just short of 4G. They took the decision to run a file system on it that is compatible with pretty much anything which then has a smaller max file size.

djp66

I had a go pro hero 3 but found the buttons a bit fiddly and felt it was the wrong shape - too wide, traditional camera style.

I now have a virb which to me has two advantages; the stop/start button is a big switch which is easy to use with gloves on and that it integrates well with my Edge cycle computer.

I currently have it mounted on the handlebar but think it'll work reasonably well fitted on a helmet although the video settings only allow you to flip it (mount camera upright or upside down) but doesn't allow you to rotate by 90 degrees which would be my preference for mounting to the side of a bike/skiing helmet. Go pro doesn't do that either.

Battery life seems to be a bit short, I reckon it might last 4 hrs - I have used it for 2.5 hrs max so far and it was down to about 35%. However, the go pro was no better.

I use a mac and the virbedit software works well.

Hope that helps.

ianbar

thanks for the replies, the virb is sounding my thing and pairing up with my 810 sounds pretty cool. i am going to look at wether its worth getting the elite or not,the bundle on amazon does look a good package!

cattytown

I thought about the elite and decided against. For me it didn't offer much but put the cost up significantly.

spasypaddy

the virb is excellent, being able to take photos from my 810 is brilliant

tomisitt

New VIRB (the X and XE) coming soon, more like a GoPro in shape, so expect even better deals on current VIRBs soon. Think you need the VIRB Elite if you want to pair it with you 810 (best to check). Garmin handlebar mount is OK, but K-Edge out-front one is better (made for GoPro, but the Garmin comes with a GoPro mount adaptor).

cattytown

My Virb standard pairs with my 810, no problem. AFAIK The elite basically adds inbuilt GPS, an accelerometer and WiFI.

spasypaddy

it also allows pictures to be taken at the same time as recording which as far as i could tell isnt possible with the standard version

the_cyclist_of_catan

Pretty happy with my Virb; main selling point is the 3hr20min battery life and waterproof without an extra case. Plus compatibility with the 800 to start/stop it and take photos. It's currently on a K-Edge mount with the 800 on one side and the camera underneath - very tidy.

Though there are some frustrations - like the inability to set the white balance or colour temperature, that 4GB file size limit, it does a better job of exposing the picture on a cloudy day than a sunny one (well, duh!) and you need to use 60FPS to avoid rolling shutter issues (AKA "the jello effect"). But the same can be said of many cameras.

mamil314

Depends on your priorities also. Sony AS100V produces better quality video than both and is pretty compact, but more costly and less mounting options.