what camera; Helmet v bike mount

Mark Alexander

Hi, I've never had a camera attached to my bike but recently I have been giving it thought for commuting etc.
I was looking at the Gopro Hero 4 Session, Drift Stealth 2 or Cycliq Fly12. The Hero 4 seems great for bike mounting, a bit awkward if attached to the helmet. The Drift seems best for helmet mounting and the Cycliq seems to be for bike only due to it's weight.

Is having a camera on the helmet worth it over a bike mounted only camera?
Is bike mounted better for evidence in a crash or helmet best?
Thanks

redvee

Helmet mounted will give you a better POV, it will show where you look. PBK are doing a Shimano camera for £55 and it's quite lightweight making it better than some for helmet mounting.

redvision

Avoid the hero 4 session, go for the hero 5 session instead. Night and day difference.

redvee wrote:

PBK are doing a Shimano camera for £55 and it's quite lightweight making it better than some for helmet mounting.

This is a good call.

kingrollo

Depends what you want it for - if its only for commuting than, unless you have a 1 hour + commute all will do a job for you. If you want to create you-tube epic video's in 4k quality then your getting into go-pro territory.

I have the fly12 - mainly due to the battery life (10 hours) don't get me wrong it has its flaws, and the first one went back - the picture quality is actually pretty good - the sound recording is pretty much non existent. Its probably to large to put on a helmet - but with such a wide field of vision captured not sure why you would put it there. see here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35BgtaKn86I



The Garmin Virb is another well rated camera that I considered - but I really couldn't be bothered swapping batteries mid ride - and user projections of battery life vary from 45 minutes to 5 hours (so work on about 3)

There isn't yet a do it all camera - so its important to figure whats important to you. If its battery life then then the fly12 is a strong contender. Also bear in mind for £165 its ready to go, bike bracket, sd card , the lot.

-Dash

It's worth looking into the Xiaomi YI action camera range too... good value and might fit your needs.

I just missed an Amazon lightning deal on a YI 4K for £120 the other day but Amazon currently has promotions on for the YI and YI Lite too.

redvee

I've got a Hero5 Session and my only gripe is battery life but by playing with settings I've tweaked it to last for the 90 minutes I need for the daily commuting.
Garmin Virbs have had decent battery life in my experience. Sometimes lasting 9 hours because I've forgotten to turn it off when I get into work.

adlopa

Hero 4 Session with a helmet mount works well as a commuting camera for me, whatever the perceived shortfalls compared with the 5 (the 4 was much cheaper). Battery life is poor, though (barely enough for a daily 2x 45-minute ride) and the lack of proper loop recording is a PITA.

bendertherobot

Adlopa wrote:

Hero 4 Session with a helmet mount works well as a commuting camera for me, whatever the perceived shortfalls compared with the 5 (the 4 was much cheaper). Battery life is poor, though (barely enough for a daily 2x 45-minute ride) and the lack of proper loop recording is a PITA.

Dunno if 4 same as 5 but:

64GB card takes loads of 1080p 60fps video. About 4.5 hours from memory.

Deletion on cam easy, about 5 button presses.