Action cameras for airsoft?

King John The Last

Do many people use them? What ones are popular for airsoft? Anyone use the the GoPro or is it too bulky? Anyone use the Tachyon Ops being sold by GerK123 in the retailers section? Anyone use the Contour cameras? I was thinking of getting the ContourROAM myself.

Rew

Haven't used my GoPro for Airsoft but I am going to strap it to a paintball gun in the morning. So ill let you know how that goes. I hear a lot of people argue that GoPros are too bulky. I've strapped them to various parts of my body, poles, helmets bikes, trippods etc without any worries. You cant mount a contour on your forehead or chest due to the long body for example. The mounts may have to be higher to get a tilt on the camera in some situations. There is a reson you see so much TV stuff (and now movies) done on GoPro's. Contours are good cameras though and look less obtrusive side mounted on a helmet or on an AEG.

For Airsoft anything other then a GoPro your going to have to make or buy a protective cover for then lens to make sure a BB doesn't smash it. Should be easy enough to rig up.

goblin59

iv seen a few people use them before, theyr pretty cool, but as stated in a previous post, gun cams tend to look at the floor alot,

King John The Last

Haven't used my GoPro for Airsoft but I am going to strap it to a paintball gun in the morning. So ill let you know how that goes. I hear a lot of people argue that GoPros are too bulky. I've strapped them to various parts of my body, poles, helmets bikes, trippods etc without any worries. You cant mount a contour on your forehead or chest due to the long body for example. The mounts may have to be higher to get a tilt on the camera in some situations. There is a reson you see so much TV stuff (and now movies) done on GoPro's. Contours are good cameras though and look less obtrusive side mounted on a helmet or on an AEG.

For Airsoft anything other then a GoPro your going to have to make or buy a protective cover for then lens to make sure a BB doesn't smash it. Should be easy enough to rig up.

I was thinking that the extra bulk would be more relevant airsofting than say, skiing because of crawling around and things like that. I guess you will be able to tell for sure after tomorrow. Will you post a video up?

OddysAirsoft

Having used both the different variants of the GoPro and Tachyon and tinkered with the Contour for airsoft my findings, based on experience, would be that the contour has better ergonomics for blending into the rig/outfit but is way too overpriced! Video quality is ok as is sound but the lens can have a little too much fish eye to it. The GoPro whilst may not look as aesthetically pleasing, wins on all fronts with amazing video quality and great audio. Full range of mounts means it is also the most versatile. It is now the industry standard for tv with most broadcast companies utilising them such as 'I'm a celeb get me out of here' to 'Deadliest Catch'. IMO they are unequalled! The tachyon range have been a big disappointment to me having owned 2 of them - audio is shockingly bad and the HD sensor they employ leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the first to makes. It is the cheaper of the 3 so some may find the poorer quality an acceptable trade off.

Gun cams as Gerrowadat has said elsewhere, have a tendency to be poor due to the user forgetting to walk with his gun horizontal everywhere- it is far better to wear it as a head cam but again that is my personal experience and opinion.

TheDoc

What sort of file size do these record?

Considering putting more airsoft content of me playing on my youtube channel so people can learn how to be awesome

TheDoc

What sort of file size do these record?

Considering putting more airsoft content of me playing on my youtube channel so people can learn how to be awesome

Puding

have the contour myself and would have to agree with oddy, personally I love it but have to agree they're a little over prices new, fortunately I managed to pick mine up at a reduced price

the go pro has pulled ahead in terms of practicality in the last year or so but I still prefer the contour, their is a good bit of rivalry between the two community's

some test and videos from the contour hd, the event stuff is about half point in terms of quality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxAm8My6zdk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkThAm3JXMc

Full HD - 1080p (1920x1080 @ 30fps)
12.3 min per gb

Action HD - 720p (1280x720 @ 60fps)
15.1 min per gb

Tall HD - 960p (1280x960 @ 30fps)
15.0 min per gb

Contour HD - 720p (1280x720 @ 30fps)
19.5 min per gb

Fast SD - WVGA (848x480 @ 60fps)
35.22 min per gb

high bit rate, contrast 60, exposer 1, sharpeness 3

OddysAirsoft

What sort of file size do these record?

Which ones?

The GoPro will take an SD Card all the way up to 32gb. If you want to film HD quality the lowest card you can go is a class 6 with a class 10 being preferred - this allows the card read the data and record the data at a faster speed which ultimately makes for a better recording - The higher the class card - the more expense! A good Class 10 32gb card by Sandisk will sting your pocket for over €200!!!! And that doesn't mean they won't go wallop either! Which has happened to me twice!

King John The Last

OddysAirsoft wrote: »

Having used both the different variants of the GoPro and Tachyon and tinkered with the Contour for airsoft my findings, based on experience, would be that the contour has better ergonomics for blending into the rig/outfit but is way too overpriced! Video quality is ok as is sound but the lens can have a little too much fish eye to it. The GoPro whilst may not look as aesthetically pleasing, wins on all fronts with amazing video quality and great audio. Full range of mounts means it is also the most versatile. It is now the industry standard for tv with most broadcast companies utilising them such as 'I'm a celeb get me out of here' to 'Deadliest Catch'. IMO they are unequalled! The tachyon range have been a big disappointment to me having owned 2 of them - audio is shockingly bad and the HD sensor they employ leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the first to makes. It is the cheaper of the 3 so some may find the poorer quality an acceptable trade off.

Gun cams as Gerrowadat has said elsewhere, have a tendency to be poor due to the user forgetting to walk with his gun horizontal everywhere- it is far better to wear it as a head cam but again that is my personal experience and opinion.

Which model GoPro and Contour were you testing? Also, what price was the Contour?

OddysAirsoft

I had a good play with the Contour (it was the latest version at the time, July 2011) in the States and was able to film and check quality of footage - it handles really well in low light so this would be a great camera for CQB/indoor filming. The features it has are cool and it is really well made - I would love to own one if like Puding, I GOT IT AT THE RIGHT PRICE.

MY GOPRO is the basic HD model but I am currently saving up to buy the new HD2 version purely because it rocks. I love it's simplicity, functionality and most of all, quality of video produced.

Steve

*some posts deleted*

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Rew

King John The Last wrote: »

I was thinking that the extra bulk would be more relevant airsofting than say, skiing because of crawling around and things like that. I guess you will be able to tell for sure after tomorrow. Will you post a video up?

I used the bike mount kit and stuck to the barrel. It was rock solid and made no difference to the handling (hopper is far more awkward!), We had 4 GoPro's between us. The other lads rigged the headstrap mount to the hopper and their arms. Biggest problem was having to constantly wipe paint off the lens!!

In the afternoon we were doing high wires in an adventure center and we used them there to film everything. Again faultless and we used the helmet straps and vented helmet mount to attach them. I did a big rope swing with 2 on my helmet one facing back at my face and one on top of the helmet facing forward The face shot isn't possible with a contour as far as I know.

GoPros are very light so no matter what the mount point you don't really notice it. There used in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, a reporter filmed the Libyan revolution on them and there are vids of SEALs training guys in CQB using them as a training tool as well so I don't think there is any disadvantage to them in a military scenario.

Ill need to make some edits before I throw up any vids.

OddysAirsoft

You can by extra arms for the GoPro to allow you mount it on the helmet and still video the face - once set up properly it works well and is very solid

Rew

Here's a video from the rope swing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_aNztlbC-w