The new wave of helmet cameras

[mrg46]

Originally Posted by biggles0449

Actioncameras.co.uk

I've had a look at these recently - its actually called a POV.1 by a company called V.I.O.

V.I.O. -- The Leader in Wearable Video Technology, Digital Helmet Cameras and Cam Accessories

In my opinion the quality is better than any other dedicated solution and the widescreen lense gives so much more than the other units.

That price at actioncameras seems pretty steep, you can get them for about half that in the states so might even be worth paying import duties for (or smuggling it). Its still not cheap compared to other solutions but is small, has a great mic, and best of all a remote control that you can mount on your bars to start/stop recording or to tag the video.

Oh and it's also waterproof and shockproof.

[mcgiggle]

Originally Posted by Neil

Given the choice again I'd get myself a GoPro Hero 3/4 (for the same amount of money)

Got a GoPro really please with it, it comes with mounts for helmet and a large sucker thing so you can mount on front mudgard, bonnet, front of surfboard etc, waterproof to 100 ft. max 2GB card so only an hour at a time on vid or thousands of stills.

[swaino]

An Aussie mob called hellcam.com.au do a very good set up.
Also, check out webbikeworld.com, they have reviewed most systems on the market.

[Tomlen]

Hello!

I used a remote lens and a camcorder on our last trip. The result is very good, and it is user friendly as well. I have a LANC remotecontrol and bike powered camera.

I bought the camera from www.helmetcamera.com - Home
I use a camcorder to record, but they have digital mini recording devices as well. I prefere camcorder with DV cassettes.
I'm going to connect this system to my Autocom intercom, and then be able to record the conversations between our bikes.

Tom

[roamingyak]

Although the size might be a barrier that can't be over come, I'd suggest for £300 the Sanyo HD1000 is worth a look. No need to play around with differing bits of kit and wires, all you need in one unit and FULL HD.

Well, kind of, it's heavily compressed Full HD, but you can also take good stills with it as well.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 Review - Camcorder Reviews - TrustedReviews

[V2Sam]

My experience with 4Kam

I would recommend DogCam DV500 Hands down, the 4Kam units are just rebadged highly inflated rubbish

I bought the DV1 which is actually a Goodmans unit that was available from Amazon for £45 before they discontinued it (it's that old)

It only records at 320x240 resolution which they fail to point out on their web site and I'm certain that non of the demo video's are taken with that recorder, you need a minimum of 640x480 resolution for trackday/racing video's.

I returned my DV1 for a refund which they are refusing to give because I have used it (how else do you test an an-board camera !), they are also saying that they haven't received my returned DV1 despite me sending it via Special Delivery and having a signiture.

Looks like I'm going to court, absolute crooks !

[billy_b57]

http://VholdR.com

I bought this outfit for $300.00 at Seattle Bike show.
No wires and a nice set up.
I used it on my recent trip to Death valley and it works great.
Indoors not so good but you can upload to yours and VHOLDR site to shre with friends.

[Alexlebrit]

Originally Posted by billy_b57

http://VholdR.com

I bought this outfit for $300.00 at Seattle Bike show.
No wires and a nice set up.
I used it on my recent trip to Death valley and it works great.
Indoors not so good but you can upload to yours and VHOLDR site to shre with friends.

I don't suppose you have one you could share with us do you?

[billy_b57]

Titus Canyon

Now my language isn't for all but hey I was a bit nervous .
My first off road on my 800GS .

As with most helemt cams there is wind noise.
This camera has the mic in the body and I have a latex glove over the body .
I will make more modifications to eliminate noise.

[photographicsafaris]

I have the Dogcam 420 camera and am quite impressed with the camera unit itself. I found their service to be really good too.
I have mine wired (loads of wires) into my mini DV camera (tape) which has produced very satisfactory results. My technique on the other hand needs allot of attention.
I do have my eye on one of these though. DV500 solid state video recorder but for travelling I would look more towards the Mini DV tape option, as storage is a problem, and tapes as so easy (still.) you need loads of 32 GB CF cards, not cheap or a laptop and external harddrive or DVD burner.

I have wired the lipstick camera into a DV recorder, (A 20GB storage device similar to the Archos) 20Gb Mass storage device (micro) review - Photo.net Filter, Bags, Tripods and Accessories Forum

I have since upgraded computer and have been battling with the video editing software... something to do with older codecs... fun!

Cheers G

[jenros]

hi there,
a few of us purchased the "drift x170" this comes with all the bits n bobs.
you get a helmet mount,bike bar mount,which will fit on your push bike,you get a velcro strap mount that fits through your vented push bike helmet,a remote on/off switch which is on a velcro strap which you can wear around your wrist,onr on your handlebars.
we had a 4gig card with it as well,the camera lens rotates to line up your footage however your position your mount is in.
You can also review what you have recorded on the built in screen,also delete the bits you dont want.
we use it mainly for off roading,the picture quality is very good with no vibrations,the kit also includes accessories to put straight in to a tv to watch as you come back from a ride with your mates,also the leads to fit straight into your pc.
THE DOWN SIDE!--it eats aa batteries!dont use rechargables,they dont last no where as long as lithiumn,typical running time,although we have not run them from a start to finish ride,due to the fact that it is mixed riding,ie,road sections in between off road parts,they would proberly last about 1 hour,tops!
That is the only down side we have found,they are curently on sale from action cameras at around £200.00.,we paid £150.00 which included the 4 gig card.
if you look on you tube,my mate put a small clip of us out on the first ride with it,,,youtube,put in drift x170 off road,its only a few minutes long but it will give you a taster,oh two more things---the remotes,if a few of you are using them,either turn them on and off manually,on the camera its self,or just one of you use the remote,,,,ha ha,hense only one clip of our days riding,because as each of us was turning the camera on and off at different times it was activating ALL of our cameras,when one had switch on,the next was switching off.
As you will see that because i was last to start off,they were in front of me,and so mine worked ok!the remotes work up to 5 meters.
hope this is helpful.we have had great fun with these,even on my road bike,fitted behind a screen its excellent bit of kit a i think good value compared to other cameras.

[AndyWx]

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I wanted to make one thing clear here. When it comes to Video there are two formats: PAL and NTSC. PAL means that you're recording with 25 frames per second and is used in all of Europe. NTSC is an American format and means that you're recording 30 frames per second. This makes a great difference for me (UK Based). I bought a Canon HF100 full HD camcorder for my walking around and video diaries for our trip RTW. It is a PAL camera since I bought it in Europe. Now I want to buy a helmet camera which will be able to take good quality footage from onboard the bike. When I say good footage I mean HD quality. This is another thing that I would like to make clear. The main thing that reflects on the quality of your video is the resolution that you're recording in (not to mention the sensor size, lense type and quality etc.). Most of the cameras here mentioned by people is a poor 480p, 520p - these are resolutions that you get on older TVs 640x480, youtube quality etc. - for me not good enough! next step up is the 720p which I'd be happy with as this represents the first step into HD quality - internet HD is mostly 1270x720 (720p), but what I'm really looking for is a camera that will be able to record to a Full HD quality 1920x1080 (1080p). There are cameras out there that do this - the problem is that they're all NTSC format (30 frames per second) - good for the US but not for Europe.

If you're in the US I would recommend either ContourHD or GoPro cameras as they in my opinion give you the best quality of footage and seem to be reasonably priced when compared to the 4Kam garbage!

When in Europe there isn't really much to play with and that's where I'm at now I've got no idea what to buy as there are no HD cameras available in PAL format. I phoned around and there is a chance that there will be Drift X170 Full HD camera available in July 2010.

Will keep my eye out but really am thinking of getting and american based NTSC full HD cmacorder + helmet camera after selling my PAL one.

Any comments,

Give me a shout!
Andy

[joiben]

Hello all
I have been using the Tachyon XC camera. I got one in 2008 and the I upgraded to the 2010 version in January.
The improvements are very noticeable between these two models
I have tried taking video underwater in a swimmingpool and that works fine but I mainly use it fixed to my helmet.
The package comes with several different brackets and fastenings to fix the camera to almost anything.
I am very happy with mine and I recommend it highly
Here is the latest video I took with it mixed with some still pictures from my other camera. This is a video of the volcanic eruption in Iceland.
YouTube - Hjólaferð að eldgosi.mov

Please check out my other videos on Youtube

Here is a link to the manufacturer
Helmet Cam and Helmet Camera | Tachyon XC - Worldwide Shipping on all Helmet Cams

Hope this was helpful
Regards
Johann

[edteamslr]

Helmet cameras are a nice addition to your filming setup but don't confuse the ease of being able to 'hoover up' the scenery with a helmet cam with the real challenge of creating engaging, meaningful stories. To put it another way, you could spend 1000AUD on a helmet cam and bore everyone senseless or spend 200AUD on a standard def camcorder to film a couple of drive-past's and a bit of well-researched 'talk-to-cam' that leaves the viewers feeling interested and engaged. Sadly that all sounds a bit more challenging and people just don't take the time. No wonder people just smile politely when we show them our motorbike 'shorts'.

[PatHorne]

Ladies of the Trail on Vimeo

Thought some of you might like to see this little DVD i have made from our weekend away in North Wales last weekend.

I use the following cameras

POV VIO
GOPRO HERO
ATC 3k
Sanyo Xacti E1
Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1
Kodac Z18

Hope you like the DVD?

Just enjoy and make dirty movies....

Pat