Bullet cams?

[aspen]

Having recently started to get back into mountain biking, I was thinking about getting a camera to capture some of my runs.

Can anyone recommend a good bullet cam that can be mounted to frame or helmet?

[Gooby]

We just went to Afan as a group and borrowed and hired cams. We hired a top of the range bullet cam to helmet mount, a £500 cam, was useless didnt get a single piece of useble footage. We used a £150 quid handlebar mounted cam that was also rubbish. From the 1hr fooage we managed o record, about 40-50 seconds is useable and is so grainy it is just rubbish to watch. Perhaps if we could have helmet mounted the thing it would have been better bu colour and quality were just rubbish.

We mainly used 2 hand held cameras a sony somehing and my cannon ixus. My ixus has provided some excelent footage but I was relying on the helmet cams so I didnt use it enough. The sony thing was ...OK.

I cant recomend a camera, I have not found a bullet / helmet cam that is worth using.

I am in he process of editing together the Afan footage and hope to be complete by the end of the weekend but have a look a my last bike movie.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=15321360...

[Gooby]

Oh yeah ... we have been rying out HD cam corders. What a total PITA. The output format is not compatible with most editing software and without a decent editor there is no point.

[apguy]

What about the GoPro?

http://www.goprocamera.com/

They've got some excellent footage of downhill racing on the site. All the reviews I've read are positive. I don't own one but was looking at the Motorsport Pro from my race car.

[a11y_m]

I've been experimenting with a Muvi Micro DV Camcorder on the bike:

http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-veho-muvi-...

Results are bloody good considering it only costs £55 all-in . I was on the brink of buying a Dogcam sport package around the £200 mark until I stumbled across this. There's also copies of this camera on ebay via Hong Kong for £20, look identical but no idea if they're any good.

I'm in the process of uploading 4 videos to YouTube as we speak and can post them up tomorrow if they'd be of interest? The only one I've uploaded so far is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NldZ9pjXsso but unfortunately it's a night-ride lol so not the best video to show what it can do...

[aspen]

Thanks for the replies.

The HD GoPro looks fantastic but I think the GoPros are a little too expensive and excessive for recording my less than exciting runs. The Muvi looks like a bargain.

Ally, did you upload your latest vids to youtube? I'd be keen to see what they are like.

[hughjayteens]

A mate of mine had one of these which I was always quite impressed by

http://www.vholdr.com/

Some of his footage here:

http://www.vholdr.com/node/5511

He's since sold it and bought a full HD Sanyo camera but is having a nightmare editing any of it.

[-C-]

Get on fleabay, you can pick up a GoPro for not much money at all.

They record to a high quality, the only downside I have noticed is they tend to 'flatten' terrain out a fair bit due to the wide angle lense and the mic is useless as its hidden in the plastic case the camera lives in.

First hand experience is they survive being crashed in pretty well too

[a11y_m]

aspen said:

Ally, did you upload your latest vids to youtube? I'd be keen to see what they are like.

I'm having line speed issues at home , but finally managed to upload several videos over the past couple of days.

I can't access YouTube from work, but if you search for videos by "allygmitchell" you should find 4 vids: Drumlanrig, Kirroughtree, Dalbeattie, and one called McBob night ride. I've still got another vid from Drumlanrig trails to upload too. Let me know if you can't find them and I'll post the link tonight from home...

[AbarthChris]

Get a GoPro Wide, for the money (£180) they're ace. Very versatile mounts, not heavy, and they seem to cope really well with sudden changes of light.

I used mine on the Megavalanche with no problems and got some really good footage, unfortunately I havent edited any of it to show you!

Also, they've just released a software update so you can now use up to 8Gb SD cards which will allow you to shoot up to 4 hours of video, max 2 hours in one take

[B52er]

I definitely think the GoPro wide is the best all round cam you can get, taking price etc into consideration etc.
Got one a couple of months back, mainly use it for biking but filmed a go cart session last week too. The wide angle lens really makes a difference to how much action it captures.

Anyway, the results, with a bit of editing http://www.vimeo.com/6905066

[a11y_m]

B52er said:

I definitely think the GoPro wide is the best all round cam you can get, taking price etc into consideration etc.
Got one a couple of months back, mainly use it for biking but filmed a go cart session last week too. The wide angle lens really makes a difference to how much action it captures.

Anyway, the results, with a bit of editing http://www.vimeo.com/6905066

That is quite good actually. But I don't agree about it being "the best all round cam you can get, taking price etc into consideration". I don't think it's worth 3 times what I paid for my Muvi Veho camera; I don't think the difference in video quality is worth the difference (although it does get exponentially more expensive as you look for tiny increases in quality!).

[AbarthChris]

B52er said:

I definitely think the GoPro wide is the best all round cam you can get, taking price etc into consideration etc.
Got one a couple of months back, mainly use it for biking but filmed a go cart session last week too. The wide angle lens really makes a difference to how much action it captures.

Anyway, the results, with a bit of editing http://www.vimeo.com/6905066

Nice riding!! Where was that shot?

Also, I actually think thats a pretty poor representation of the cameras quality. I think Vimeo has compressed it down too much.

[B52er]

Cheers! it a private place i go to - Hertshore, not really allowed to divulge exact location tho soz!

Yeah vimeo does compress it, and i'm sure imovie did a bit too. the files straight off the cam are defo more impressive.

I had a look at the footage from the Muvi Veho and i'll stick by my comment about GoPro being the best buy..... especially when you get it for £120 from the US

[OilyRagMan]

hughjayteens said:

A mate of mine had one of these which I was always quite impressed by

http://www.vholdr.com/

Some of his footage here:

http://www.vholdr.com/node/5511

He's since sold it and bought a full HD Sanyo camera but is having a nightmare editing any of it.

They are the best cams around!! iv done quite a bit of reasearch lately on them and they have getting awsome reviews ezpecially now they have done a 1080P version

[AbarthChris]

B52er said:

Cheers! it a private place i go to - Hertshore, not really allowed to divulge exact location tho soz!

Yeah vimeo does compress it, and i'm sure imovie did a bit too. the files straight off the cam are defo more impressive.

I had a look at the footage from the Muvi Veho and i'll stick by my comment about GoPro being the best buy..... especially when you get it for £120 from the US

No worries mate, a little bit of googling revealed not the exact location but roundabouts! I may have a look at the skills coaching actually...

Cheers

[B52er]

AbarthChris said:

I may have a look at the skills coaching actually...

Cheers

Defo have a look into it (UK Bike Skills) its unbelievable what a difference that guy can make to your riding!

back on topic, Contour HD does look like a great bit of kit, however from what i read they need to improve the quality and versatility of their mounts.

[OilyRagMan]

B52er said:

Defo have a look into it (UK Bike Skills) its unbelievable what a difference that guy can make to your riding!

back on topic, Contour HD does look like a great bit of kit, however from what i read they need to improve the quality and versatility of their mounts.

The mounts is the only thing that worries me about them

[OilyRagMan]

I got my 1080P Contour HD on friday, really impressed with, had a bit of a play with it at hemmel snowcenter on friday night. the file sizes on full HD are huge and my oldish laptop struggles to play them!!