Talk to me about helmet cameras

wolfsbane2k

GreenRoadMachine wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

I'd say all cyclists avoiding getting involved in arguments would do significantly more to the 'safety of the community' than posting angry men in their cars on youtube.

FWIW, I've never had an argument with a motorist, even when the motorist was responsible for the crash (4 times in 40+ years) or close call. It might be different, however, if one of my children was hurt.

Curiosity, is that because they admitted liability, or the police/insurance determined liability quickly?

prawny

There's been a big push by the police locally to educate drivers and they've asked cyclists to report close passes (WM police) that's what made me think about it more than anything.

I think Rick is focusing on his past experiences which I agree, a camera would have made no difference in that situation.

greenroadmachine

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

GreenRoadMachine wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

I'd say all cyclists avoiding getting involved in arguments would do significantly more to the 'safety of the community' than posting angry men in their cars on youtube.

FWIW, I've never had an argument with a motorist, even when the motorist was responsible for the crash (4 times in 40+ years) or close call. It might be different, however, if one of my children was hurt.

Curiosity, is that because they admitted liability, or the police/insurance determined liability quickly?

First crash was a LH hit-and-run. The woman drove off, was stopped by her husband not far down the road, but didn't return to the scene. Luckily a driver behind me caught her registration plate, and her insurance duly paid for a new bike.

Second crash was a driver who hit my rear wheel when pulling out from a side road - just a mis-judgement on his part.

Third was a driver who rear-ended me at a red light - he wasn't paying attention, and admitted liability straight away. Lucky for me, as there were no witnesses.

Fourth was a close pass hit-and-run - the motorist was never identified. That's one reason why I now carry front and rear bike-mounted cameras, and thinking about a helmet camera as well.

There was another crash that was my fault (bad braking in heavy rain), and a recent rear-end thump caused by another cyclist. So 6 crashes in total over 40+ years - not sure if that average is good or bad!

veronese68

Just looking through this because my son wants an action cam for Christmas to take with him on his year off. Priorities are a little different to just using on a bike. Probably be on a chest mount a lot of the time. Reasonable stills will also be important. Not too expensive as there's a good chance of losing it.
Are GoPro still the default choice? The Session looks quite good. Has anyone heard of Olfi? Mass in Wales and more like the GoPro Hero. What about theVeho Muvi? I know nothing about these as they hold no interest for me.
Thanks.

prawny

I had the muvi, but it was really buggy. Swapped it for a session which isn't perfect but is much better. I'd say for general MTB messing it's pretty much perfect. It's really easy to get short clips off using a phone or tablet, and the quality is decent too.

Looking forward to taking it out on my MTB when I get some light!

6wheels

Veronese68 wrote:

Just looking through this because my son wants an action cam for Christmas to take with him on his year off. Priorities are a little different to just using on a bike. Probably be on a chest mount a lot of the time. Reasonable stills will also be important. Not too expensive as there's a good chance of losing it.
Are GoPro still the default choice? The Session looks quite good. Has anyone heard of Olfi? Mass in Wales and more like the GoPro Hero. What about theVeho Muvi? I know nothing about these as they hold no interest for me.
Thanks.

Just bought a Mobius dashcam, and have to say quite impressed. Best feature for me is being able to just plug in and either look at files, use as webcam or charge up. Software gives plenty of setting choices, and with the first use I've got 2 1/2 hours of recording , not bad.

There is a Youtube comparison video and against a Gopro it does ok, for £55 can't complain.

Does stills as well.

wolfsbane2k

6wheels wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Just looking through this because my son wants an action cam for Christmas to take with him on his year off. Priorities are a little different to just using on a bike. Probably be on a chest mount a lot of the time. Reasonable stills will also be important. Not too expensive as there's a good chance of losing it.
Are GoPro still the default choice? The Session looks quite good. Has anyone heard of Olfi? Mass in Wales and more like the GoPro Hero. What about theVeho Muvi? I know nothing about these as they hold no interest for me.
Thanks.

Just bought a Mobius dashcam, and have to say quite impressed. Best feature for me is being able to just plug in and either look at files, use as webcam or charge up. Software gives plenty of setting choices, and with the first use I've got 2 1/2 hours of recording , not bad.

There is a Youtube comparison video and against a Gopro it does ok, for £55 can't complain.

Does stills as well.

I've got 4 mobius's (2B, 2 C2) as dashcams, modified to use supercapacitors but their lack of waterproofness out of the box is a problem. I've not tried the waterproof case, but the case design means that you've got to break the heatsink seal each time it's opened isn't something I like.
However, the form factor is something I love, and means it's much less conspicuous than the gopro style.

There is supposed to be a Mobius 2 out shortly (if it's not already out).

veronese68

Thank you all. The Mobius does look very small and neat, but the shape looks like it would not lend itself very well to a chest mount. Any experience of a chest mount?

prawny

Specifically for a mobius? Or just in general?

Whatever you do make sure you get an elasticated chest mount, first one I had wasn't and it was both useless and painful

veronese68

prawny wrote:

Specifically for a mobius? Or just in general?

Yes, was thinking of the Mobius with the chest mount question. Good tip about being elasticated, thank you.
Another advantage of the GoPro is the amount of different mounts.

prawny

Anything that is tripod mountable is gopro compatible though so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

The cheap sjcam's are good too, I've got one of them but it's battery lasts about 10 minutes less than my commute takes. Decent enough to messing about with.

Up from that I love my session, it's a piece of cake to use, and the quality is good enough for me. Only improvement I would make would be full looping with overwriting. I can understand why they do it they way they do, but I'll like the choice.

For mountain biking though it's perfect, I'm even willing to attach it to my head it's so light