Helmet Cameras

[mat205125]

Anyone had any experience with these?

I'm tempted to buy this as it seems good value, but would appreciate the PH massive opinion.

Anyone know what kind of quality to expect, or battery / recording life to expect?

www.actioncameras.co.uk/acatalog/Tony_Hawks.html This is the one I'm considering.

I think they were on the gadget show a while bakc, but don't recall any details.

[Fixedwheelnut]

A few people on the cycling forums are getting the ATC 2000 Action Camera and it is getting good feedback, available from Wiggle
[url]www.wiggle.co.uk/default.aspx?cat=cycle&referid=offer7[/url]

[mat205125]

That was the other one I was considering, and it looks to certainly have a better spec (resolution).

Have you seen any footage taken with one of these cameras?

[Moose.]

I've seen footage from the ATC 2000 and whilst it's fine for internet use (i.e. youtube et al), it's not really up to viewing on the TV in decent quality as it's resolution is 640x480. For that you really need a proper camcorder linked to a bullet camera.

[mat205125]

What sort of money are you looking at for one of those?

I'll have to check whether my camcorder supports an AV input or not.

[clonmult]

I'm considering doing on-bike recording, but via a different method.

I've got a Nokia N73, the camera is reasonably good on it, and you can get some decent bike mounts for phones - if i can figure out a way of getting it oriented for imaging on the go, it could be pretty useful.

[Fixedwheelnut]

here is some footage taken over Vauxhall Bridge by a friend of mine;

[url]www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw234ZDcsmw[/url]

[beyond rational]

Anything mounted to the bike is a bad idea offroad unless it is some serious bit of kit, you need to put yourself between the bike and recorder to reduce the vibrations. Most cheapo solid state recorders lack the frame rate needed and adjust weridly to the different lighting when blasting through a forest etc, they can be good, cheap, throwaway fun but it'll look nothing like you hoped.

[Fixedwheelnut]

There is a helmet strap to mount the camera to your head,



edited to add- Here is a quote from Mike and a useful link;


[quote]
Useful review link:
http://helmetcameracentral.com/2006/1

Read particularly through all the comments. There are a number of sample footage links which give you an idea of the quality, and comments on waterproofing and on undoing the microphone cover to get better sound quality.

Then search on youtube.com and videos.google.com for ATC-2000, and you'll get lots more links to videos.

The camera does not have good low light capability, and the sound sucks in the default waterproof setup. I haven't tried undoing the cover to get better quality yet. Also my Windows Vista installation doesn't have quite the right codec because it's not playing the sound, although the sound is defo there in the movie file.[/quote]

Edited by Fixedwheelnut on Wednesday 28th February 17:51

[mat205125]

Thanks for that link.

It appears the UK customer is once again being royally shafted in the price department. When will manufaturers / retailer / whoever quit just swapping the dollar sign for a pound sign and merrily billing the UK customer twice the US customer.

Yadda Yadda Yadda, carriage and import duty ..... IT'S NOT 100% TAX ON IMPORTS!

Might look into ordering one from the US, or getting a work collegue to pick one up whilst on their holidays. That's a bargain then at about £55 - £60

[rameshuk]

For decent quality you need a good res, minimum of 640x480 and 25 frames per second.

Quite a few compact digital cameras offer decent video quality as well.

So if you want a friend to record yourself on the back wheel at the bmx track ,
check the video quality of your digital camera- you might be surprised !


My friend has just spent £380 on a helmet cam and 30GB Archos 404 unit.

Really impressed with the video quality. We just rode 8 miles at night and its pretty good.

In the daylight on some singletrack it works really well.

If you plan on using a helmet cam make sure your camcorder has AV-IN !
This is different from firewire

I can also recommend shopping at www.dogcamsport.co.uk

Good Luck

R

Edited by rameshuk on Wednesday 14th March 11:11