What cameras are you using

hairyslug

My birthday is fast approaching, a camera is on the list, just looking for recommendations. I would prefer something small as possible, maybe a bullet style. Chances are it'll only be bike mounted so don't need a helmet/body strap. Would like something with a decent resolution. Also, what's the story with sound pick up. I was able to make something fairly basic where I was able to attach an old phone to my chest, picture quality was OK but sound was horrible, all I got was wind blast, is there anyway or minimizing that. Cheers

Paulw

I have a GoPro Session mounted at the front of the bike. All I get (audio wise) is wind noise.

To record audio, I have a GoPro Hero, on a chest harness mount, with an external mic wired in the helmet. I normally use the audio from that, mapped on to the video from the Session. So, I don't wear the Hero very often, only when I want to record a vlog or something.

I also tend to have a Contour Roam3 as my helmet cam.

I had all but the Contour before I started biking.

schaffer

Are you looking at using the camera for safety or vlogging?

Try Innovv.
They're more for bike mounting so voice capture is probably not an option.

I use a chest mounted GoPro but was looking at the Sony X1000V as a helmet mounted option.
You could also opt for the GoPro clones such as Xiaoyi Yi or SJCAM SJ5000. Supposed to be good quality for a fraction of the price of the GoPro.

Riva10

Hi Paulw, Have you the GoPro hard wired or just running off it's own battery.

Chippy01

I have a BulletHD fitted to my bike.
Always there, always on when the bike is running, large memory card, no batteries to forget/charge, well worth the extra dollars.

https://bullethd.com/en/12-cameras

https://www.innovv.com/shop--cart

http://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/dash-cams/nextbase-ride-motorcycle-bikecam

http://www.tachyoninc.com/bikercam.html

Paulw

Riva10 wrote: »

Hi Paulw, Have you the GoPro hard wired or just running off it's own battery.

It's own battery. Lasts nearly 90 min. Never thought about hard wiring it.

cadete

im waiting on the fusar Mohawk, should release soon, expensive but looks like it COULD be really good

hairyslug

Bullethd looks like the one for me, are there Irish suppliers or UK.

Another question, slightly on topic, how do I calculate what load my battery can take comfortably, chances are I'll have phone and or GPS plugged in aswell as maybe camera, could this cause an issue.

Paulw

cadete wrote: »

im waiting on the fusar Mohawk, should release soon, expensive but looks like it COULD be really good

Looks kinda interesting, but expensive. And with the modules ... hmmm. I have a Cardo sho-1 bluetooth headset. Works great, and I can call a pre-programmed number by just three taps on a button. Great for opening our gate without having to stop. It also does communication to other Cardo devices, for bike to bike.

The Mohawk seems to be very US, and no full tech spec available (that I can see). I would like a camera that can do 1080p/100, but would settle for 1080p/50. I shoot all my video at 50fps, and can then downscale to 1080p/24 for TV. Shooting at 50fps also means I can do a slow motion effect on the video. The Mohawk seems to do 30fps, so not brilliant for action.

Also, from watching a video - https://vimeo.com/192640989 - the audio quality seems about the same as a GoPro (without an external mic). Does the Mohawk video connect to the headset for recording audio?????

I do like the shape of the camera, for helmet mounting, and the whole system seems interesting. I would love to see some "real world" samples of video plus audio.

Cian_ok

Chippy01 wrote: »

I have a BulletHD fitted to my bike.
Always there, always on when the bike is running, large memory card, no batteries to forget/charge, well worth the extra dollars.

https://bullethd.com/en/12-cameras

https://www.innovv.com/shop--cart

http://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/dash-cams/nextbase-ride-motorcycle-bikecam

http://www.tachyoninc.com/bikercam.html

Is it good? The reviews tend to the extremes. People either love them or hate them (lots of broken ones).

Chippy01

hairyslug wrote: »

Bullethd looks like the one for me, are there Irish suppliers or UK.

Another question, slightly on topic, how do I calculate what load my battery can take comfortably, chances are I'll have phone and or GPS plugged in aswell as maybe camera, could this cause an issue.

Don't know about Irish or UK suppliers, you might have to do some searching on that. My missus got me mine as a prezzy from CalgaryDashCam.

Does your bike have an accessory outlet? If so, use it to power a relay that will drive a distribution terminal box. These can be bought ready made, or you can build one yourself.
The items you have mentioned however, draw very little power. Just make sure that the circuits your accessories are connected to are not live when the bike is off, so you don't drain the battery accidentally.

Chippy01

Cian_ok wrote: »

Is it good? The reviews tend to the extremes. People either love them or hate them (lots of broken ones).

I find it's ok. Hasn't failed me yet, anyways. The quality straight from the memory card to the PC is top class.

Load it up onto youtube, and of course the quality drops due to their compression tech.
Here's a clip from my Bullet from last year ......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAAJj86Qrxg

Wonda-Boy

I have had 3 Go Pros and 1 Drift, every time I get a Go Pro I am excited for the product but in the end its the same old same old. Terrible battery life on any generation Go Pro and constant corruption on any make of memory card you use, and this is the same on the 3 different models I had.

They are by far IMHO the most over rated piece of kit around, you can get the same picture and better battery life from cheap action cams.

The drift I had was good but very bulky and the audio was poor on a bike, the new drift was on paper brilliant and promised 4K but you could only run it at 4K at low FPS and the view was nerfed to bits. So you ended up running it at 1080p so why buy a 4K camera for that price.

Reindeer

Has anyone tried maybe one of those helmet cams like a Drift Innovation Stealth etc? I also was considering getting a cam, but mostly just for my own safety and insurance.

Riva10

I am using the Roadhawk Ride with about 3 years . No bells and whistles like GPS but very good quality playback. It is a bullet type camera and is hardwired to the motorcycle. When the ignition is turned on the recording starts and when it is turned off, the camera saves the last clip. Comes with helmet mounts and is very light and discreet.
https://www.roadhawk.co.uk/roadhawk-ride-r-cycle-camera

BaronVon

Reindeer wrote: »

Has anyone tried maybe one of those helmet cams like a Drift Innovation Stealth etc? I also was considering getting a cam, but mostly just for my own safety and insurance.

I have the Drift Stealth. I don't use it much but it's small and light, and you can reduce the mic sensitivity on it. I can also use it as a dashcam in the car, which is handy. I must actually start using it more......

Stiletto72

Have a look at the Roadhawk Bullet R+. I use it on the side of the helmet and sometimes hard wire it to a battery pack inside my jacket for longer runs. It can take a 64gb card. Very well made and sturdy, and a lot more discrete than a GoPro.

gerrowadat

Drift Ghost S, works grand, replaceable battery and external mic and takes cards up to 64gb which will get you 9 or so hours. I wouldn't go near the 4k one yet as wonda-boy says, seems a bit weak and no properly replaceable battery.

pudzey101

Following this thread now aswel bday is in a few days where are ye guys mounting the cams ?

Stiletto72

I also picked up a TomTom Bandit and have it mounted on the right side mirror stalk. Very good battery life and it also holds a 64gb card. The good thing about these is that the battery can be swapped out in a second and the battery itself holds the SD card, so when you swap the battery you also swap for a fresh SD card. It can also be hard wired.
The down side is that it doesn't loop record but if you have a second battery and card that isn't really an issue.

hairyslug

I ended up going with the TomTom, not allowed use it until my birthday but will try and remember to update when I've had a chance.

Stiletto72

hairyslug wrote: »

I ended up going with the TomTom, not allowed use it until my birthday but will try and remember to update when I've had a chance.

I'm very happy with mine but it's maybe just a bit too bulky to fit to a helmet for my liking. Others have no issue with it though.
I would advise picking up the waterproof lens cover for it as the standard one is only good for the average rain show and not really suited to Irish weather. They're available on Amazon.

thos

This thread prompted me to try the Innovv K1, dual camera system for my bike. Hard wired, dashcam DVR loop recording, with GPS.
I only have it on the bike 3 days, so not much feedback yet, but so far it's been fit and forget. Starts recording automatically on ignition on.
The cameras are quite small and discrete, easy enough to find mounting places. Mine are both mounted off-centre, something I might look at changing as makes you look quite close to some things, and road position can look a little funny when you cant get a reference point off the bike.
I got caught in that downpour on Tuesday, cameras did ok, front has the benefit of wind to clear the view, but the rear got a good bit of tyre spray, and wasnt as clear. The kit comes with lense covers to help protect the cameras. 1080p and quality seems good.
The microphone is part of the front camera, no option to wire seperately. Sound is ok, less wind noise than the helmet mounted GoPro, but being up front it's just my sewing-machine triple whirring away without any real exhaust sound. It picks up general noise off the bike, but cant say if it picks up anything else in traffic.
The GPS details are hardcoded into the video stream, which I don't really like, it can be turned off, but not sure if you can still log the GPS data seperately. It does have a speed cut-out - so once you go above X mph, it stops logging GPS. But I was hoping to be able to pull out some snippets without giving too much away. Also, if it doesnt pickup GPS signal on startup (if in garage or underground car park) it tends to leave GPS off for the first segment (I have 5min segments set - you can do 1,5,10mins) and only enable GPS again for the next video. In fairness, I've got the GPS under the seat, where instructions say it should have clear sky view.
The software doesnt seem to do picture-in-picture, so I havent looked at having Front+Rear overlay yet, it's been viewing front/rear as seperate videos, but I might be missing something here. It shows the route map from GPS, also means you can click on the map to go to that point of the video which is handy.

galwaytt

Stiletto72 wrote: »

hairyslug wrote: »

I ended up going with the TomTom, not allowed use it until my birthday but will try and remember to update when I've had a chance.

I'm very happy with mine but it's maybe just a bit too bulky to fit to a helmet for my liking. Others have no issue with it though.
I would advise picking up the waterproof lens cover for it as the standard one is only good for the average rain show and not really suited to Irish weather. They're available on Amazon.

I have mine mounted on the side of my Shark EvoOne One and I thought it would be distracting or annoying or cause wond noise or just be generally awkward or something.

Has turned out to be none of the above and can't fault it. I do wish it had loop record as an option though. I do find the remote a bit hit & miss as well .

Stiletto72

galwaytt wrote: »

I have mine mounted on the side of my Shark EvoOne One and I thought it would be distracting or annoying or cause wond noise or just be generally awkward or something.

Has turned out to be none of the above and can't fault it. I do wish it had loop record as an option though. I do find the remote a bit hit & miss as well .

I'm happy with the Roadhawk Bullet R+ on the side of my helmet. It's fairly discrete compared to some options out there. But if I didn't have that I would probably use the TomTom there.
Loop record would be a nice addition I must admit.
Here's a clip from my trip to France last week. As you will hear, the sound quality is not great as the waterproof lens cover completely blocks the mic. You would need to add an external mic for good sound. Video quality is pretty good though.

duskyjoe

Stiletto, on your advise I pressed the big magic road hawk eBay button! I see demon tweaks do a battery pack add on, but I've spent enough for one morning. Ps bought the battery pack....

Have a go pro hero, nice for short videos not looping. Think the road hawk will do the job re safety etc.

hairyslug

Am off to Wales tomorrow so will be able to review the tomtom after that, I only feel safe with it mounted to the helmet, I have a fear of it falling off the swing arm or removing paint.

Stiletto72

duskyjoe wrote: »

Stiletto, on your advise I pressed the big magic road hawk eBay button! I see demon tweaks do a battery pack add on, but I've spent enough for one morning. Ps bought the battery pack....

Have a go pro hero, nice for short videos not looping. Think the road hawk will do the job re safety etc.

You can get a cable from Roadhawk the screws on to the back of the camera. It has a full size USB male on it which I connect to a small battery pack located in my jacket inside pocket. For transferring video files to your PC I would recommend using a standard USB cable rather than this one though as it's very slow to transfer.
The battery pack that they provide effectively doubles the size of the camera footprint.

EDIT: One more piece of advice. The adhesive used on the mounts is utter ****e, under no circumstance rely on it. If you go to Woodies you should be able to find some No More Nails tape that is much better. It has a red back to it.

duskyjoe

Thanks a million Stiletto, your advice is really appreciated.

Stiletto72

duskyjoe wrote: »

Thanks a million Stiletto, your advice is really appreciated.

No problem at all.
This is the cable I picked up for it.

ED E

thos wrote: »

This thread prompted me to try the Innovv K1, dual camera system for my bike. Hard wired, dashcam DVR loop recording, with GPS.
I only have it on the bike 3 days, so not much feedback yet, but so far it's been fit and forget. Starts recording automatically on ignition on.
The cameras are quite small and discrete, easy enough to find mounting places. Mine are both mounted off-centre, something I might look at changing as makes you look quite close to some things, and road position can look a little funny when you cant get a reference point off the bike.
I got caught in that downpour on Tuesday, cameras did ok, front has the benefit of wind to clear the view, but the rear got a good bit of tyre spray, and wasnt as clear. The kit comes with lense covers to help protect the cameras. 1080p and quality seems good.
The microphone is part of the front camera, no option to wire seperately. Sound is ok, less wind noise than the helmet mounted GoPro, but being up front it's just my sewing-machine triple whirring away without any real exhaust sound. It picks up general noise off the bike, but cant say if it picks up anything else in traffic.
The GPS details are hardcoded into the video stream, which I don't really like, it can be turned off, but not sure if you can still log the GPS data seperately. It does have a speed cut-out - so once you go above X mph, it stops logging GPS. But I was hoping to be able to pull out some snippets without giving too much away. Also, if it doesnt pickup GPS signal on startup (if in garage or underground car park) it tends to leave GPS off for the first segment (I have 5min segments set - you can do 1,5,10mins) and only enable GPS again for the next video. In fairness, I've got the GPS under the seat, where instructions say it should have clear sky view.
The software doesnt seem to do picture-in-picture, so I havent looked at having Front+Rear overlay yet, it's been viewing front/rear as seperate videos, but I might be missing something here. It shows the route map from GPS, also means you can click on the map to go to that point of the video which is handy.

If you want to have more control over the data you can separately capture the GPS data as a GPX with an app on your phone then merge the two with Garmin VIRB editor (free for all cameras, not just Garmin).