Helmet cams, Now you too can be a Proper Charley! ( or Ewan)
 

These look brilliant, reasonable prices and work with "most" video cameras alledgedly.

Helmet Cameras

Martyn

If you want a cheap self contained option I know a few people who use the ATC2000. It'll do a max of 30fps at 640x480, and will manage an hour on a 2GB SD card at that resolution. If you have a search on youtube for ATC2000 (or ATC2k) there's loads examples of video from them.

Hmmm just seen the "examples"
 

Yep, the examples are dog rough. shaky,and to be blunt, CRAP quality.
the same is said by one of the reviewers on the site you posted.
you get what you pay for! the videos on the one I posted do seem to be better quality.
Im not knocking it, aint seen one, and they look OK, lightweight etc.
saying that if I had a spare 90 quid I would probably buy one!

Martyn

You may wish to check out this site to

Helmet camera bullet cameras

That says it all really.

Quite a few of the vids on youtube are compressed to go on the web so a lot aren't as good a quality as they an achieve, this vid is about the best quality I've seen out of one. An ATC is cheap self contained unit, giving about the same quality video as you'd expect from a digital compact still camera in video mode. You can get a much better camera like the stuff on the site you posted, or the dogcam site, for similar money, but that's only a camera, you then need something to record it on, generally a conventional camcorder with associated bulk, power requirements, and susceptability to vibration damage. The best solution is presumably a bullet cam with a solid state recorder (used one on a trial that took a pair of 4GB Compact flash cards, connected to a 320x240 thermal imager though so dunno how long it would last on a decent resolution camera), but you're talking big money.

Helmet cams
 

I've been looking at helmet cams for a while now, from my experience most will only work with a camcorder with an a/v in connection . The site linked to above has a list of compatible camcorders. For what it's worth my mate bought a cam from here
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/?kw=bul...FQgsQwodInqL-A the video is of pretty good quality, adapts well going from light to dark ie in and out of tunnels etc. Quite an impressive bit of kit for the money.

The camcorder should also have a LANC connection so you can stop and start the recording while on the move.

I keep the camcorder in the tankbag (along with the mic). Generally sucker the bullet cam to the tank/fairing/pannier. I run two flying power leads to the tankbag to run the camcorder and bullet cam.

Works fine.

I find that the cam on the helmet is not so good as it points where you are looking - see long way down footage. If you want to to do sideways shots, velcro the cam to the tankbag top and point it with your left hand while riding.

Front facing shots get boring after a while and they really flatten the road. We rode some really rough off road sections in Kazakhstan and its not as dramatic looking as it was to ride it:(
Good things though.

J

Most of those
 

are very low quality and you get what you pay for.

A good one can be found here :thumbup1:
I use the DV500 solid state recorder with the DogCam Pro which is IP67 rated and has been tested at depths of up to 10m.
An 8GB card gives me roughly 7hours filming.
Ask for Mark -

Vio Pov
 

Just had a quick look at the site, couldn't see the DV500?

David

As an alternative, don't discount the GoPro camera - it's self contained and very compact - ideal for mounting on all sorts of places on the bike or you (including your helmet) - but can also be mounted on a chest harness for a very good view of the road ahead, or even on a ram mount (for example) on the handlebars, facing you for filming your piece to camera...

My friend Julie uses one all the time, and gets some fantastic results... mind you, she also has the POV and a couple of hand-helds too - but the GoPro (wide) is arguably the most versatile...

Check out this recent movie as a good example of the versatility:

Ladies of the Trail on Vimeo

J xx

THe cameras i use are
POV VIO
GOPRO HERO WIDE
ATC 3k
Sanyo Xacti E1
Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1
Kodac Z18

You couldnt use the Gopro to film a piece to camera as it wouldn't pick up the sound of your voice - You would have to use the VIO POV for that with external mic attached as the mic in the wire would be in the wrong place.

The chesty is great for the gopro a must have i feel - However i do not think you need the HD go pro as no one really has the softwear to process HD footage so the extra money one spends is pointless.

Pat

Anyone tried the b-twin camera in decathlon, 640x400 resolution (although not sure what that means in terms of dpi!) and 70 GBP. I am guessing that it will be crap but might be surprised....

I've got a Gopro HD for snowboarding. Great wee waterproof camera, very good quality images. Would be good for biking too though I've not tried it yet. $300 though.

:)