Helmet Cams - Talk to me....

[FairfaxPat]

helmet cam

Hey Neill-I built my own helmet cam in January to make various videos. I investigated the commercially available helmet cams, but they mostly use simple lipstick cameras with no advanced features. So I bought a BMX helmet to carry mine because it has a thick shell with few holes on it to make it easier to mount. Then I purchased a Sony HC28 Handycam for about $250 and got Joe Breeze to help me make a nice , stainles steel mount over the left ear, with adjustment cams to aim it. The results we got from Repack are fantastic! The advantage to this camera is that it is fully self-contained, has STEADYSHOT lense tech. which improves the picture shake immensely, has a zoom lense, and has many automatic and manual focus and scene modes. The picture is far better than any of the commercial helmet cams, and the camera weighs only 14 ounces complete!

 

[neilll]

all this is really cool info, thanks guys

 

[neilll]

The system i've got is based on an Archos harddrive jobbie.

What camera are you using with that P20?

 

[P20]

The system i've got is based on an Archos harddrive jobbie.

What camera are you using with that P20?

Not sure, bought it as an ebay 2nd hand...

 

[neilll]

Not much between the two by the time it reaches YouTube....I think I might take a punt on an ATC2K and see how it goes, I've got a portable hard drive thing that reads a myriad of different cards so I can dump the camera contents each time it fills up and wipe the camera.
The card storage thing is not much bigger than a cigarette packet so can go in the CamelBak.

640 x 480 @ 30fps on a ATC2K allows 60 mins of footage which is probably good enough for starters.

I take it mounting the cam anywhere other than your helmet (i.e handlebars) just provides unviewable (due to vibration) footage?

 

[Huntso]

Had a little dabble with my ATC2K and the bar mount isn't as bad as you would think.
Obviously their is bouncing, but the worst bits can be edited out. Its not exactly DVD quality anyway, just more a rough idea of what and where.

If you are anywhwre near Cambridge you are welcome to give my cam the once over and a trial run if you like.

Its still great value for the money and a good bit of fun to mess about with.
My daughter wants to get one of those r/c Helicopters to mount it on, hope its robust

 

[neilll]

Had a little dabble with my ATC2K and the bar mount isn't as bad as you would think.
Obviously their is bouncing, but the worst bits can be edited out. Its not exactly DVD quality anyway, just more a rough idea of what and where.

If you are anywhwre near Cambridge you are welcome to give my cam the once over and a trial run if you like.

Its still great value for the money and a good bit of fun to mess about with.
My daughter wants to get one of those r/c Helicopters to mount it on, hope its robust

I work in Bedford so depends what side of Cambridge you are
Have you any footage online that I could check out?
Last question.... ....How did you get the 'aim' right out in the field or was it all trial and error?

 

[Huntso]

I work to the south of Cambridge (Trumpington) just near J11 of the M11.

No online footage as yet, not sure how to do that to be honest, youtube I presume :?

Aim is trial and error, but pretty simple to get it right. Think I will persevere with the bar mount, not too happy with the feel of the cam attached to my lid.
Although it should film where you are looking its just as prone to movement especially if you are active on a bike.

 

[BenR]

I was given the Oregun helmet cam for Christmas, took it skiing and it's a massive disappointment. You can't review the footage so you can't check it's aimed right, it's heavy and it wobbles around, which only exaggerates any movement making the footage horribly jerky. Even at best definition (gives 1 hour of recording) the picture is grainy. The control buttons are hard to use and it's difficult to know what the cam is doing as the audible beeps are indistinct. We were so disappointed with my skiing videos that I haven't even bothered editing them together into a short movie. A waste of money.

 

[Huntso]

I checked the samples on their website and wasn't expecting anything great,more a record of my biking journeys really
Once its set up on the bars it should stay aimed, but will admit a display would be handy for the original set up

Didn't think it was overly heavy though, suppose that's a bit subjective.

Sorry, but reckon its ok for the money and if I wanted more would expect to pay well over a 100 quid

Possible previously unloved opportunity here then