Helmet Cameras

[Mr_Tickle]

I've decided that I'm going to get a helmet camera for my daily london commute but I know nothing about them. On the recommendation of some guys at work, I was going to get a Drift Stealth. Then it was pointed out that you can buy new cameras on ebay or Amazon for a lot less, £40 or so.

So my questions are: are these £40 cameras crap? What's the difference between a £40 one and £100 one? I'm not very technical so as long as it records a videos and I can put it on my laptop. Or am I missing something?

Also, if anyone has some recommendations on decent budget cameras I'd be happy to hear them.

Thanks.

[moanthebairns]

yes, don't buy a £40 one. Because when you crash and you want it to have recorded it never bloody does.

[Reardy Mister]

Mr_Tickle said:

I've decided that I'm going to get a helmet camera for my daily london commute

Thanks.

I am interested in your motivations behind this.

[Gusto]

When is the Shoei Vlog coming out, with cameras fore and aft and integral mike for commentary?

[The Beaver King]

Might be worth having a look at the SJ4000 Camera.

I wanted a cheap one just to get some bike footage and the reviews for the SJ4000 look reasonably positive. Should do the job until you decide you want to upgrade to something fancy.

[moanthebairns]

The Beaver King said:

Might be worth having a look at the SJ4000 Camera.

I wanted a cheap one just to get some bike footage and the reviews for the SJ4000 look reasonably positive. Should do the job until you decide you want to upgrade to something fancy.

I have one, quality of picture is great, however, it has this bloody annoying thing of crashing or corrupting any session you'd want to watch or crashes.

[The Beaver King]

moanthebairns said:

The Beaver King said:

Might be worth having a look at the SJ4000 Camera.

I wanted a cheap one just to get some bike footage and the reviews for the SJ4000 look reasonably positive. Should do the job until you decide you want to upgrade to something fancy.

I have one, quality of picture is great, however, it has this bloody annoying thing of crashing or corrupting any session you'd want to watch or crashes.

So it pretty much fails as a camera then...?

Reading some of the reviews, there are some 'fake' ones in circulation that are dire. They should come with a serial code that you can check on the SJ website to confirm it is genuine.

[fleegle]

Mr_Tickle said:

I've decided that I'm going to get a helmet camera for my daily london commute but I know nothing about them.

Camera wearers crash. It's a well known fact. You only have to go on youtube to see how many wearers crash.

They're a jinx I tell you

[N0ddie]

GoPro 4 Session is down to £159 now. Nae bad when you consider it was £400 only a couple of months ago.

[black-k1]

I have a much greater fear that the camera footage could be "taken into consideration" should I get stopped. While I like to think that way I ride is pretty safe, it isn't necessarily always legal. In times when there is no prosecution of a bin lorry driver who lies to all about blackouts and then goes on to kill six people, yet others are locked up when the only crime they commit is to film themselves travelling at speeds deemed safe and legal in Germany (yes I know, they’ll have pleaded guilty to DD or the like!), I don’t want to hand plod all the evidence for an easy collar. I’ll live (I hope!!) with the risk of not managing to film an accident that wasn’t my fault.

[Steve Bass]

black-k1 said:

I have a much greater fear that the camera footage could be "taken into consideration" should I get stopped. While I like to think that way I ride is pretty safe, it isn't necessarily always legal. In times when there is no prosecution of a bin lorry driver who lies to all about blackouts and then goes on to kill six people, yet others are locked up when the only crime they commit is to film themselves travelling at speeds deemed safe and legal in Germany (yes I know, they’ll have pleaded guilty to DD or the like!), I don’t want to hand plod all the evidence for an easy collar. I’ll live (I hope!!) with the risk of not managing to film an accident that wasn’t my fault.

Agree 100%.

Helmet cams seem like a good defensive idea but they cut both ways. I can se their use in an incident requiring Police intervention, but as K1 says, careful you're not hoisted by your own Petard.
Perhaps camera manufacturers should introduce a feature where only the latest 5 mins is recored on a loop. Then if an incident occurs, there's only a few mins of film prior to the accident.

[Sea Demon]

Steve Bass said:

Agree 100%.

Helmet cams seem like a good defensive idea but they cut both ways. I can se their use in an incident requiring Police intervention, but as K1 says, careful you're not hoisted by your own Petard.
Perhaps camera manufacturers should introduce a feature where only the latest 5 mins is recored on a loop. Then if an incident occurs, there's only a few mins of film prior to the accident.

Most decent camera's (My Hero 3 has it) do have the feature to record, for example 5 mins on a continuous loop:

http://www.carcamwarehouse.com/camera_loop_recordi...

Edited by Sea Demon on Tuesday 8th December 10:31

[Steve Bass]

Sea Demon said:

Most decent camera's (My Hero 3 has it) do have the feature to record, for example 5 mins on a continuous loop:

http://www.carcamwarehouse.com/camera_loop_recordi...

Edited by Sea Demon on Tuesday 8th December 10:31

Not quite my sentiment though.
That seems to say that whilst the clips are 5 mins in length, they are all there, rather than a single 5 minute clip. So it only deletes the older files once the card is full, leaving you with potentially incriminating footage.
I understand the problems of deleting or overwriting an existing file, but even if the file loops were 3 mins and file A was being deleted as File B was being written.

[Mr_Tickle]

Thanks for the replies everyone, that SJ4000 looks a good little starter camera, as long as it works. Sub-£50 on ebay.

[moanthebairns]

Mr_Tickle said:

Thanks for the replies everyone, that SJ4000 looks a good little starter camera, as long as it works. Sub-£50 on ebay.

THATS WHAT I HAVE.

don't get me wrong its fine for recording 2 in ever 3 sessions on track, but the battery compartment is a fking nightmare.

and if your involved in a crash, switch it off because if it goes over 20 minutes it wipes it.

[neelyp]

A twenty minute crash would be spectacular to watch.

[moanthebairns]

neelyp said:

A twenty minute crash would be spectacular to watch.

Switching your camera off as you pick yourself up and the bike from the nearest field isn't the first thing you think off after a crash. You only realise its on when its delivered to your pit.

[Mr_Tickle]

moanthebairns said:

THATS WHAT I HAVE.

don't get me wrong its fine for recording 2 in ever 3 sessions on track, but the battery compartment is a fking nightmare.

and if your involved in a crash, switch it off because if it goes over 20 minutes it wipes it.

I might be reading this wrong, but are you saying that it only records for 20 mins?

[moanthebairns]

Mr_Tickle said:

moanthebairns said:

THATS WHAT I HAVE.

don't get me wrong its fine for recording 2 in ever 3 sessions on track, but the battery compartment is a fking nightmare.

and if your involved in a crash, switch it off because if it goes over 20 minutes it wipes it.

I might be reading this wrong, but are you saying that it only records for 20 mins?

I've found with longer videos it corrupts the memory card.
the battery system is a fking joke you cant remove it.
out of 7 sessions on a track a day, 4 work great, 1 gets corrupt and the other two the battery dies.

Its alright, if your pissing about with a camera go for it, if you actually want something that you can rely on in an accident. Buy a decent one.

[Prof Prolapse]

I'm not a very techy person either. Which is why I try and buy decent stuff that is well reviewed by people in the know.

Fair enough it's a big jump between a £50 budget camera and a £100 base GoPro (or Drift, whatever), but the GoPro is guaranteed not to be junk after six months and has a decent repair/replace network. You can even sell it on eBay if you tire of it.

Seriously if you can't afford the £50 jump to something decent, can you really afford to throw away £50 with a piece of st camera? MTBs doesn't even work!