Can anyone recomend me a bike camera?

[crowther7689]

After a recent crash, where it looks like I will be taking 50-50 liability, when it was not my fault at all (I was reversed into while I was stationary), I have decided to get a camera.

I have heard a lot about gopro, and reviews are excellent, but google is coming up blank on the main feature I want, looped recording. I want a zero maintenance system, hook it up and forget about it. I'll charge it off of the bike battery, and I want a camera that will record in say 15 minute chunks, and rewrite over the oldest. On a 32gb card, I'm guessing that would be 8ish hours. The go pro has auto-on, ie it turns itself on when it receives power, which is the other feature I need.

Surely everyone with dash cams mounted aren't pulling it off everyday/week to delete old footage?

Can anyone tell me if any of the go pros have looped recording? Maybe it is called something different? Or if anyone can recommend me a camera that does what I need.

-looped recording

-auto on/off

-waterproof

-bike mountable

Thanks

James

[Fast Eddie]

I'm not sure how you'll run the go pro off the battery as I'm fairly sure it's only water proof if it's in the housing.

Similar situation with the other cameras as the usb socket (charging if it's captive battery) is usually behind a screw on end piece from what i can see.

I'm waiting for a cheap camera to arrive from 7 day shop which does looped recording, but not sure about auto on etc. after that i'll be looking to get a contour roam if i actually get decent footage out of it.

Would it be that much hassle to charge the battery every few days?

[crowther7689]

I'm not sure how you'll run the go pro off the battery as I'm fairly sure it's only water proof if it's in the housing.

Similar situation with the other cameras as the usb socket (charging if it's captive battery) is usually behind a screw on end piece from what i can see.

I'm waiting for a cheap camera to arrive from 7 day shop which does looped recording, but not sure about auto on etc. after that i'll be looking to get a contour roam if i actually get decent footage out of it.

Would it be that much hassle to charge the battery every few days?

 

True, would you mind linking me to the 7 day shop camera your getting?

[Fast Eddie]

Sorry, only just seen your reply.

I bought this one.

It arrived on saturday and so far I am reasonably impressed. I'm just uploading a sample video taken this morning; will link to it when done.

Colours look a little over saturated, but clarity is good for the price; the £150 camera's are not 10x better (based on videos in youtube/manufacturer sites), but i would imagine them to be much tougher and more importantly waterproof. I seriously doubt this one is so it will be for use in the car and a better one bought for the bike.

The only real flaws (for the price) are that the time and date constantly resets to 2008, and that vibrations make the video a little "wavey" I'll use it on the bike next and see how having it bar mounted works as that'll be a better test of how it handles vibrations.

[TC]

That looks a good camera for the money Eddie

My only gripe with it, is the fact that it records in 5 minute sections and misses 2 secs of recording between these sections. Which would put me off getting one.

I had alook at a constant recording one which which gave me the option to record and save or constantly record over previous stuff and found this

http://www.retailgadgets.co.uk/Raider-A ... Black.html

[Fast Eddie]

Here's the video. I've set it to start at (hopefully) 2.27 as before that it's all 30mph's

">

This is a .wmv file from the original .avi (255MB vs 435MB) not noticed much loss in quality if any on my laptop.

I get what you mean about the 2 second gap, but watching a couple of continuous clips it's not too bad, and as others on iirc a different forum commented, it's the time leading up to an incident that is most important so even if you miss the impact itself you should be covered. i guess in your case that means you may have seen the van start to reverse even if you didn't see him hit you.

Continuous recording would be great though, I'm not sure what the more expensive cameras do.

[mattycoops43]

WOW, Thats good quality for what it costs, I was expecting much worse than that! That could tempt me to get one for that money!

[Fast Eddie]

WOW, Thats good quality for what it costs, I was expecting much worse than that! That could tempt me to get one for that money!

Yeah I was really surprised, if you compare it to footage from a contour or gopro, it IS worse, but for the majority or uses not significant enough to worry about imo. As I said earlier maybe watching the raw footage may reveal different but if you are putting it on youtube etc it's pretty much even.

Also unless you can find a way of waterproofing it, I'm not sure how safe this one would be in the weather we are having these days. The LED's and microphone hole around the record button would appear to be weak points for water which could result in a dead camera. I could be wrong.

There are however similar looking cameras for about £30 (i.e. this one) that are waterproof. Sadly I couldn't find a sample video for it so went for the safer test option.

[Throttled]

Ed, were did you mount the camera? It sounds like there is some sound, but can you hear people speak? I am thinking of it recording what is said after an accident.

EDIT - is it in the car?

[Fast Eddie]

Ed, were did you mount the camera? It sounds like there is some sound, but can you hear people speak? I am thinking of it recording what is said after an accident.

EDIT - is it in the car?

 

Yes, this video is taken from the car. Tomorrow, hopefully, i will try it on the bike. I have found that it fits ok onto the bar end on mine but I'm sure with other mounts (search for ram mounts) you could mount it nearly anywhere.

Regarding sound, you can hear Gayle coughing, my talking at times and the acceleration from 30>60mph through out the videos I've taken, what you can't hear is the radio/music that was playing all the time. The microphone is located at the top near the front of the camera so i don't know if it's just not that sensitive or if being in front of the speakers affected it picking up the sound.

I will try and take a video talking at different distances, but for speech after an accident I would suggest using the voice recorder on your phone if it has that function.

[Fast Eddie]

Hello again everyone. I know you've been waiting with baited breath for my review of the camera on the bike.....!

I have good news and bad news. The good is that everything from the car video still holds true regarding quality etc. a little more vibration due to being bar end mounted but I'm sure helmet mounting would sort that. Also the mildly uninspiring handlebar attachment that comes with it actually held no problems up to about 80.

The bad news is that battery lasted about 40 minutes. I remember reading somewhere that vibration causes the battery life to drop (Gayle tells me it was about this camera; i couldn't remember), hopefully a more stable mount would lead to a longer battery life.

Here are 3 videos.

1. this morning Lennoxtown to Strathblane (dry but kind of subdued light)

Check out 2.15 just after the bus!

">

2. Strathblane to Lennoxtown this afternoon (shown as example of bright light to shade)

">

3. Idiot thinking it's only a bike lets just go through.

http://youtu.be/6Q-vT0AaOpY

1 & 2 are at 2x speed. All saved as wmv instead of the avi it records in to save space.

[Throttled]

That is superb Ed, though I did think you were living up to your nickname till I saw it was at 2x speed! I am going to take a hit for the forum and get and review the waterproof one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220768087550? ... 1438.l2649

[crowther7689]

That is superb Ed, though I did think you were living up to your nickname till I saw it was at 2x speed! I am going to take a hit for the forum and get and review the waterproof one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220768087550? ... 1438.l2649

 

I ordered this one, tried it out yesterday, now uploading vids to youtube, will post them when they're up. It doesn't rewrite when its full, but good apart from that.

[Throttled]

Daft questions, do I need to by a memory card or does it come with one? When the card is full is it easy to delete what is there and start again? I can delete my cameras memory card in seconds without having to plug it into anything.

[crowther7689]

Daft questions, do I need to by a memory card or does it come with one? When the card is full is it easy to delete what is there and start again? I can delete my cameras memory card in seconds without having to plug it into anything.

 

Need a memory card, I got a 16gb for about 8 quid. Can do nothing on the camera, have to plug it into PC. Its got one button, for on, record, stop, off. I reckon I'll get something better down the line, but for now its fine.

[Fast Eddie]

How long does the battery last?

I'm thinking that i(we) need to buy one more cheap one an small memory card for Gayle's car and then look to get a better (waterproof) one with either replaceable batteries or aa/aaa batteries for on the bikes.

[crowther7689]

Here's my journey too and from work, need to make a more secure mount, as at the minute I'm using an elasticated strap, shakes quite a lot.

">

">

Qualities not too bad, but will do for insurance purposes. Sound is ridiculous, bike sounds like a jet.

edit - battery should last 3 hours, haven't tested this.

[Fast Eddie]

just watching them now. looks good to start with.

have you dunked it in water yet to see if it's really waterproof?

[peejay1977]

The GoPro Hero is definately waterproof down to 60m but it's not cheap. I've just bought the Hero 2 and messed about mounting it on the bike, the quality is awesome considering. Bought a 32Gb SD card which will take 4h at 1080p but the battery will probably last 2h 30m.

Unfortunately it doesn't do looped recording, not that I'm aware of and you can't run it off the battery while it's in it's protective housing.

Personally for me it's the perfect option.

[Throttled]

Here's my journey too and from work, need to make a more secure mount, as at the minute I'm using an elasticated strap, shakes quite a lot.

">

">

Qualities not too bad, but will do for insurance purposes. Sound is ridiculous, bike sounds like a jet.

edit - battery should last 3 hours, haven't tested this.

 

Good enough for me. I want it for safety not making videos of my latest trip.

[Throttled]

I have got the same one as crowther. It is mounted to the rubber bottom of the o/s wingmirror. A quick test finds it works fine and downloading to the videos is easy. Next is to use it on a run and see how it copes with that.

I am not sure about waterproofness as the plastic lens cover moves and looks like it would let water in.

[rushwind]

Hello again

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that battery lasted about 40 minutes. I remember reading somewhere that vibration causes the battery life to drop (Gayle tells me it was about this camera; i couldn't remember), hopefully a more stable mount would lead to a longer battery life.

F/Ed,

I hav the bulletcam from 7day shop

i also hav a 12v accessory ( cig lighter) attatched to my bird,

one can connect the cam via a usb cable , so to hav continuous charge,

just needs waterproofing at the back,easy

[Throttled]

I videoed to and from work yesterday. I am pretty pleased with the results, especially the return journey in the dark. The sound has a crackle to it, but you can still hear the engine. The one issue is that even though the image is stable, I don't think the quality is good enough to capture car reg numbers unless they are right in front of you.

Can anyone suggest some simple editing software? Is there a way of deleting what is on the memory card without having to download it onto the computer first?

[Fast Eddie]

Windows movie maker. it's free and i think comes bundled with windows 7.

with regard deleting stuff, just plug it into your computer and delete it from the memory card?

[Throttled]

Thanks Ed.