Cheapo alternatives to a GO Pro?
Discussion
mrmr96 said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
just to reiterate my budget that i posted above-ideally i like to spend under £100 (not £200).
i also have a panasonic lumix digital camera that i think can take movies & never gets used-i suspect this wont be up to recording footage inside a car though?
Sorry mate, I must have misread your post as I thought it said £200. Apologies.i also have a panasonic lumix digital camera that i think can take movies & never gets used-i suspect this wont be up to recording footage inside a car though?
I used to use a P&S digital camera in the car, and it was ok in so far as it "worked" but the problem I had was i) mounting it and ii) the lens not being wide enough angled to capture what I wanted it to.
Would be interested to know if anyone knows what the focal lenght equivalent of the GoPros (and other action cameras) is compared with the min on a P&S digital camera.
julian64 said:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Newest-LCD-Dual-Lens-Das...
I got one of these.
Can't complain the video is very good. Records front and rear. It allows you to do easy playback from within the car, edit/delete. No gaps between recordings
But best of all its very very small, and throwaway cheap.
I have one on each motorcycle and each car I have. Fire and forget.
any links to any videos you've taken? thats the kind of cheapo thing i was thinking about. shame it doesn't have a standard threaded mount attatchmentI got one of these.
Can't complain the video is very good. Records front and rear. It allows you to do easy playback from within the car, edit/delete. No gaps between recordings
But best of all its very very small, and throwaway cheap.
I have one on each motorcycle and each car I have. Fire and forget.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
julian64 said:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Newest-LCD-Dual-Lens-Das...
I got one of these.
Can't complain the video is very good. Records front and rear. It allows you to do easy playback from within the car, edit/delete. No gaps between recordings
But best of all its very very small, and throwaway cheap.
I have one on each motorcycle and each car I have. Fire and forget.
any links to any videos you've taken? thats the kind of cheapo thing i was thinking about. shame it doesn't have a standard threaded mount attatchmentI got one of these.
Can't complain the video is very good. Records front and rear. It allows you to do easy playback from within the car, edit/delete. No gaps between recordings
But best of all its very very small, and throwaway cheap.
I have one on each motorcycle and each car I have. Fire and forget.
As for the video there are a few sites showing demo videos of them. I'll see if I can find one. The front camera is good HD, the rear less so. Mine just sits in my, turns on with the engine and stores on a small 32gig microhd card that I bought on line for £11.
If I remember I'll take it out tonight and download a demo for you.
Did you look at any of these?
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/dogcam-bullet-hd-helm...
I've never used them so can't say how good they are but they are in budget.
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/dogcam-bullet-hd-helm...
I've never used them so can't say how good they are but they are in budget.
Gopros and the like are very wide angle, 127 or 170 degrees depending on mode for the gopro. A standard compact camera will be less than 90, so you'll get a good view along the road, but not much to the sides at all and will give a very blinkered view to a video.
If you only want to use it in dry weather then it might be worth looking at the dashcams thread in General Gassing. there's quite a lot of in car cameras for less than £100. I've got a roadrunner HD1 in the car which isn't bad quality for £70ish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wRZ0GeZ2kE&lis...
Alternatively you cvould go really cheap with an MD80, the quality takes a fairly bit hit (loads of videos on youtube) but at £10 they're pretty much disposable
If you only want to use it in dry weather then it might be worth looking at the dashcams thread in General Gassing. there's quite a lot of in car cameras for less than £100. I've got a roadrunner HD1 in the car which isn't bad quality for £70ish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wRZ0GeZ2kE&lis...
Alternatively you cvould go really cheap with an MD80, the quality takes a fairly bit hit (loads of videos on youtube) but at £10 they're pretty much disposable
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Monday 21st January 15:17
julian64 said:
Many thanks, gets a pretty good review from that guy. Not such good reviews from the people who commented on the video!HereBeMonsters said:
I bought a £20 housing and mount for my iPhone. Full HD video and as I already had the phone, saved me £200...
If you don't have something that can already do it though, the GoPro is the leader for a reason.
This was my first thought but I'm fairly tight on memory with the iPhone, how do you find it?If you don't have something that can already do it though, the GoPro is the leader for a reason.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
julian64 said:
Many thanks, gets a pretty good review from that guy. Not such good reviews from the people who commented on the video!LaurasOtherHalf said:
This was my first thought but I'm fairly tight on memory with the iPhone, how do you find it?
I do have to clear it out of music and vids before I use it for recording videos, but it seems pretty good.I will definitely go for a higher capacity one next time though - 16GB really is pushing it for recording HD video.
HereBeMonsters said:
I bought a £20 housing and mount for my iPhone. Full HD video and as I already had the phone, saved me £200...
Was it a specific iPod/Phone mount or a generic mount? Given the decent quality video on my £90 Nokia 710 (video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-hZDG63NWI - no doubt someone will be along to tell me it's s
t - I'd be happy with that quality though!) I'm surprised there's no mid-range camera between the £200+ GoPro and £20 Chinese jobbies.julian64 said:
Seems pretty good for the money - how do you go about mounting it on your bikes, and what's the audio like?RizzoTheRat said:
One point though, the HD1 and HD2 had a case with a domed front lens cover, this sheds water and insects fairly well, but gives distortion underwater. The HD3 varients have a flat front which gives better underwater pictures, but I'd have thought it's not as good in the rain and more prone to insect splats.
You would be spot on there. The HD3 is a much better camera but the case does make it susceptible to muck. MarkRSi said:
julian64 said:
Seems pretty good for the money - how do you go about mounting it on your bikes, and what's the audio like?The second is the one I use. Its a simple flat plastic clip with double sided tape. IT mounts the device flat to a screen, then you can rotate the camera to where you want it. It the one I use in the bikes so the camera is tucked down away from the wind in the clear front visor. Its a very neat installation. I thin kyou can see it in the links I posted.
What about one of the cameras from Chinavasion:
http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Digital...
I have the Crocolis 1080 HD (second down on the page) and have been very happy with it as a cheapo camera for potentially sacrificial situations (e.g. under the car). It comes with mounts, accessories and ext mic. You can see these for sale under varying other brand names on Ebay and Amazon. These resellers are buying direct from Chinavasion.
Chinavasion is a China dropshipper/wholesaler so if anything goes wrong their response may not be your usual retailer standard. Order is shipped by mail from China and takes a few weeks to arrive. However, I know 5 other people who have ordered action cams from here and had no issues. Google and you will find those who had issues.
Video quality is not what I would GoPro HD standard but it is close enough for a lot of people. Sound recorded is no good unless the external mic is used. Test footage here without external mic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p34KmzDuamI&fea...
http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Digital...
I have the Crocolis 1080 HD (second down on the page) and have been very happy with it as a cheapo camera for potentially sacrificial situations (e.g. under the car). It comes with mounts, accessories and ext mic. You can see these for sale under varying other brand names on Ebay and Amazon. These resellers are buying direct from Chinavasion.
Chinavasion is a China dropshipper/wholesaler so if anything goes wrong their response may not be your usual retailer standard. Order is shipped by mail from China and takes a few weeks to arrive. However, I know 5 other people who have ordered action cams from here and had no issues. Google and you will find those who had issues.
Video quality is not what I would GoPro HD standard but it is close enough for a lot of people. Sound recorded is no good unless the external mic is used. Test footage here without external mic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p34KmzDuamI&fea...
julian64 said:
It comes with two differnt mounts. The first is teh conventional plastic gimble affair that most of them have.
The second is the one I use. Its a simple flat plastic clip with double sided tape. IT mounts the device flat to a screen, then you can rotate the camera to where you want it. It the one I use in the bikes so the camera is tucked down away from the wind in the clear front visor. Its a very neat installation. I thin kyou can see it in the links I posted.
It would be on a naked Street Triple so would be exposed, unless I go for some MotoGP style butt shots The second is the one I use. Its a simple flat plastic clip with double sided tape. IT mounts the device flat to a screen, then you can rotate the camera to where you want it. It the one I use in the bikes so the camera is tucked down away from the wind in the clear front visor. Its a very neat installation. I thin kyou can see it in the links I posted.
What's the audio like? I don't think I saw an audio line-in on the camera?
MarkRSi said:
julian64 said:
It comes with two differnt mounts. The first is teh conventional plastic gimble affair that most of them have.
The second is the one I use. Its a simple flat plastic clip with double sided tape. IT mounts the device flat to a screen, then you can rotate the camera to where you want it. It the one I use in the bikes so the camera is tucked down away from the wind in the clear front visor. Its a very neat installation. I thin kyou can see it in the links I posted.
It would be on a naked Street Triple so would be exposed, unless I go for some MotoGP style butt shots The second is the one I use. Its a simple flat plastic clip with double sided tape. IT mounts the device flat to a screen, then you can rotate the camera to where you want it. It the one I use in the bikes so the camera is tucked down away from the wind in the clear front visor. Its a very neat installation. I thin kyou can see it in the links I posted.
What's the audio like? I don't think I saw an audio line-in on the camera?
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