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Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 13th 09, 07:09 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Josey[_3_]
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Posts: 8
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

I'd like to buy a video camera to mount on Handlebars and/or helmet.

Must run for 1hour + and record on to SD card ideally, be small, light. Wide
angle wood be ideal.

I am aware of the ATC range - any recommendations from this range or any
others?

Thanks.

Jc.


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  #2  
Old March 14th 09, 09:22 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Doug[_3_]
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Posts: 5,927
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

On 13 Mar, 18:09, "Josey" wrote:
I'd like to buy a video camera to mount on Handlebars and/or helmet.

Must run for 1hour + and record on to SD card ideally, be small, light. Wide
angle wood be ideal.

I am aware of the ATC range - any recommendations from this range or any
others?

Thanks.

With both mounts there is jerkiness. It is amazing how much handlebars
and heads move about. Better to mount it on the frame somehow but even
then there is still a lot of movement. Having tried both I prefer
handheld for smoother and more versatile results, though it does make
cycling a tad more difficult and was once told off by a cop for doing
it.

--
Critical Mass London
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
"More bikes, fewer cars!".

  #3  
Old March 14th 09, 09:42 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Josey[_4_]
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Posts: 14
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

"Doug" wrote in message
With both mounts there is jerkiness. It is amazing how much handlebars
and heads move about. Better to mount it on the frame somehow but even
then there is still a lot of movement. Having tried both I prefer
handheld for smoother and more versatile results, though it does make
cycling a tad more difficult and was once told off by a cop for doing
it.


OK but I don't have a camera yet, so are any models better than others? When
I view bike camera pictures on youtube there is often a kind of "warping"
effect, is that caused by vibrations?

I definitely won't be able to hand hold it.

Jc

  #4  
Old March 14th 09, 12:59 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Chris Gerhard
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Posts: 203
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

Josey wrote:
I'd like to buy a video camera to mount on Handlebars and/or helmet.

Must run for 1hour + and record on to SD card ideally, be small, light. Wide
angle wood be ideal.

I am aware of the ATC range - any recommendations from this range or any
others?


I have an Oregan Scientific 2K Helmet Camera. I gave up with helmet
mounting for few reasons:

1) I don't generally wear a helmet and strapping to to my head a was a pain.
2) Since the controls are on the top you have to start it running and
then put it on your head which meant you lost some of the recording to
putting it on. Not a big issue but it also means you can't stop
recording without taking it off.
3) Getting it pointing in the right direction was harder than I thought
it would be. Fine if you do this occasionally not so great if you want
to record your journey to work.
4) My head bobs around a lot when cycling.

Instead I opted for handlebar mount, which gets a different view but I
found less wobbly. However it is more prone to vibration when going fast
or on poor roads.

However on super smooth roads in France the quality is not bad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1bKEA3wM9w

all the pixalation you see in that is down to youtube transcoding the
raw video.

Makes me want to ride up that mountain again!

--chris
  #5  
Old March 16th 09, 08:51 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Doug[_3_]
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Posts: 5,927
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

On 14 Mar, 11:59, Chris Gerhard wrote:
Josey wrote:
I'd like to buy a video camera to mount on Handlebars and/or helmet.


Must run for 1hour + and record on to SD card ideally, be small, light. Wide
angle wood be ideal.


I am aware of the ATC range - any recommendations from this range or any
others?


I have an Oregan Scientific 2K Helmet Camera. I gave up with helmet
mounting for few reasons:

1) I don't generally wear a helmet and strapping to to my head a was a pain.
2) Since the controls are on the top you have to start it running and
then put it on your head which meant you lost some of the recording to
putting it on. Not a big issue but it also means you can't stop
recording without taking it off.
3) Getting it pointing in the right direction was harder than I thought
it would be. Fine if you do this occasionally not so great if you want
to record your journey to work.
4) My head bobs around a lot when cycling.

Its amazing how much the head does bob around and you are not normally
aware of it. Also, there are sidelong glances without moving the head
which leaves the camera pointing in the wrong direction. Maybe though
with enough practice these could be corrected.

Instead I opted for handlebar mount, which gets a different view but I
found less wobbly. However it is more prone to vibration when going fast
or on poor roads.

The problem is, balance is maintained by movement of the handlebars
especially at slow speeds. If I had a choice at bike mounting I would
use a unipod clamped to the frame in front of me near the handlebars
to give an elevated view with less wobble, though there would still be
a problem with road bumps.

With a hand held camera you can point it in any direction, including
backwards, hold it high, and your body weight tends to smooth out the
bumps.

--
Critical Mass London
http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk
"More bikes, fewer cars!".
  #6  
Old March 16th 09, 12:32 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Ian Jackson
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Posts: 484
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

In article ,
Doug wrote:
The problem is, balance is maintained by movement of the handlebars
especially at slow speeds.


When I ran a camera mounted on my handlebars this was irrelevant as a
source of camera shake. Mounting the camera on the handlebars rather
than the frame has the massive advantage that it points where you're
going.

I did have problems with mostly vertical shake due to road unevenness.
Surprisingly the road bumps were being amplified rather than smoothed
out by the flex in the mount, so making the mount more rigid made a
huge improvement. The rear camera which was much more solidly fixed
had a much better picture.

You can see my videos at
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/

I'm thinking of putting the cameras back on. If I do I'll have to
remember to resign myself to not making complaints to the police, as
battling the police as well as the drivers was doing very bad things
to my general my state of mind.

--
Ian Jackson personal email:
These opinions are my own. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/
PGP2 key 1024R/0x23f5addb, fingerprint 5906F687 BD03ACAD 0D8E602E FCF37657
  #7  
Old March 17th 09, 05:10 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Nick L Plate
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Posts: 1,114
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

On 17 Mar, 01:47, Phil W Lee phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk wrote:
Nick L Plate considered Mon, 16 Mar 2009
11:29:13 -0700 (PDT) the perfect time to write:



On 14 Mar, 08:42, "Josey" wrote:
"Doug" wrote in message
With both mounts there is jerkiness. It is amazing how much handlebars
and heads move about. Better to mount it on the frame somehow but even
then there is still a lot of movement. Having tried both I prefer
handheld for smoother and more versatile results, though it does make
cycling a tad more difficult and was once told off by a cop for doing
it.


OK but I don't have a camera yet, so are any models better than others? When
I view bike camera pictures on youtube there is often a kind of "warping"
effect, is that caused by vibrations?


I definitely won't be able to hand hold it.


Jc


View ing of some motorbike camera work, the best position seems to be
on the shoulder, the camera tracks with the body rather than sweeping
with the head.
TJ


That's a good idea for riders who keep to a stable posture.
Most users of drops or butterflies keep changing the amount of forward
lean, so I doubt it would work for them.
Someone must have come up with a vibration damped mounting, surely?
If not, there must be a lot of sales waiting for whoever does (at
reasonable cost).


The OP is requesting a wide anle camera which would minimise the
effect of the verticular angular change. Most cyclists are using flat
bars , so there is no significant body position change. When using
drop bars, unless climbing a long hill, most of the time is spent on
the brake hoods. Within traffic, it is unusual to ever use the hooks
of a drop bar. Only if the proposed user spends significant periods
of time in the drops when camera work is required should the effect of
vertical displacement be considered.

TJ
  #8  
Old March 18th 09, 12:14 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
anern[_2_]
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Posts: 27
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

I'd like to buy a video camera to mount on Handlebars and/or helmet.

Must run for 1hour + and record on to SD card ideally, be small, light.
Wide angle wood be ideal.

I am aware of the ATC range - any recommendations from this range or any
others?

Thanks.

Jc.


I looked at this recently - info on ATC3K
http://www.phase7.org/DodgeyDrivers/ATC3K/ATC3K.html. Hope this helps.


  #9  
Old March 18th 09, 01:48 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
TerryJ
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Posts: 428
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?


Someone must have come up with a vibration damped mounting, surely?
If not, there must be a lot of sales waiting for whoever does (at
reasonable cost).


i have a dim memory of reading on the web a design for mounting a rather
large camera a few years ago which looked clever, but I cannot remember
where.
Hope that helps
TerryJ
  #10  
Old March 18th 09, 02:55 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Marz
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Posts: 610
Default Handlebar/helmet mount camera recommendations?

On Mar 18, 7:48*am, terryj wrote:
Someone must have come up with a vibration damped mounting, surely?
If not, there must be a lot of sales waiting for whoever does (at
reasonable cost).


i have a dim memory of reading on the web a design for mounting a rather
large camera a few years ago which looked clever, but I cannot remember
where.
Hope that helps
TerryJ


There's a good write up on this site...

http://www.petefagerlin.com/helmetcam_video_how_to.htm

And there's a good example here of just strapping an old point'n'shoot
digital camera to a helmet...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=500844
 




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