Helmet mounted cameras

[Doink]

So after getting knocked off today and the cvnt driving off I'm thinking about getting a camera for my lid but don't want to spend and arm and a leg.

What sort of money am I looking at for something that isn't gonna fall off? I'm not looking to use it for anything other than my commute, I'm not a hobby sports bike rider looking to film track days etc I just ride my bike to and from work.

[Mr Fro]

Think I paid about £40 for my (heavily abused) track cam. It'd be just as good for commuting purposes.

There's a lengthy thread on here somewhere on the subject.

[Ricky]

I think I use the same camera as the good man Fro there, decent for the cash

sJ4000 is it? I'm not sure...

I'm glad I could be so much help

[al_stu]

Yep its been discussed. Sjcams are the budget brand to go for. I've got the sj5000. Sj4000 is about 45 quid on ebay (watxh for the dodgy fakes) and comes with all the bits you could ever need to attach it. You will need a micro sd card and batteries only last 90 minutes so I bought a spare 2 online for about 7 quid. Depends how long you're riding.

[NearOn]

I too have been doing quite a bit of research into helmet cams. The SJ4000 is impressive for the money but the one thing it lacks without doing a mod is a mic jack so you can record commentary if doing any vlogging. I don't want to spend more than 100 so to get a good action camera with a mic Jack looked quite difficult.

However I have come across the garmin virb which is 1080p, very robust, has various attachments, and can buy a lead to connect a external mic too. It's usually around 100 to buy but zavi are selling them on their eBay shop for 79.99. I've going to go with one of them, will do a review once got it and used it.

[ossianuk]

Have a look at Techmoan.com reviews quite a few cams suitable for helmets. Very interesting,knows his stuff

[Glorian]

I'm currently using a camera he reviewed,

The TCL SVC 200 cost me £85 with a bunch of mounts, its absolutely tiny and lightweight, about 4-5hour battery life and spare ones are about £2-£4 I am trying to put some videos up at some point but will update when I have.

1080p or 720p. pictures or video, usable in the car as a dash cam as well as on the bike, waterproof case provided. microphone port on the back and charging port that has a rubber seal so yo udon't have to take the entire back off, meaning it's usable while charging in the rain.

https://www.joovuu.com/gb/action-camera ... c-200.html

[NearOn]

I changed my mind after watching numerous reviews of the garmin virb and issues with it dealing with the colours on bright sunny days. Instead I went with a Midland XTC 400 action camera for £115, a bit more than wanted to spend but the reviews are great. It comes with the necessary mounts, waterproof case and external mic port. I've seen it on several sites at its RRP price of £259 so I'm very happy with price I got it at new.

I'll post a review once it's arrived and tried it out.

[onesea]

I saw this and thought of here...

http://www.highvisibility.uk.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=74&product_id=104

No experience of it just saw the advert...

[PendolinoDriver]

I changed my mind after watching numerous reviews of the garmin virb and issues with it dealing with the colours on bright sunny days. Instead I went with a Midland XTC 400 action camera for £115, a bit more than wanted to spend but the reviews are great. It comes with the necessary mounts, waterproof case and external mic port. I've seen it on several sites at its RRP price of £259 so I'm very happy with price I got it at new.

I'll post a review once it's arrived and tried it out.

 

Hi

any feedback on the Midland XTC400 please?

[NearOn]

Hi, in regards to the XTC400 Action Camera

I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm yet to really sit down and look at what you can change on the settings though. So far used it on my commute and watched a few videos back. They have been very good, I'll try break down the different features of it.

Mounts (included in standard package) there are two main mounts that are of most use to bikers, one flat mount which I put on top of one of my helmets and then 1 spider sort of mount which sticks out slightly. That I have put on the side of another helmet. They are very secure and had no issues with them sticking. The camera has grooves on it (both sides and bottom) which lock onto the mount and can be bit fiddly to get the camera back off but easier once get used to it.

Build of the camera is very robust, I've dropped it a couple times albeit indoors but no problem with it. Does feel like it will take a bit of a beating.

Wifi- the camera has wifi and can connect to smart phone app "action connect" to get a view of what you are looking at, very useful for lining up on helmet. Once I have done that I usually switch off the wifi as uses more battery apparently. You can take the clips from the cam using the app over wifi or connect the camera to your pc and get them that way.

Mic- the cam has an internal mic and external mic port, I have used both, naturally the internal mic on bike rides is just wind noise. I connected a external mic and put it in my helmet but that was mainly wind noise too, I need to locate the mic I a better location so that's mostly my fault.

The cam comes with a waterproof case which when fitted you can't access the mic port which is annoying but when raining on my commute I doubt I'll do any vlogging anyway. The case does look pretty watertight but yet to test it.

And lastly and most importantly video quality. I would recommend watching the clips back via a laptop/PC as through the app for some reason they look grainy and pretty awful. I was gutted when saw that but when watched on laptop they were the 1080 HD clips advertised and am impressed. It deals with light changes well and has a nice wide angle when recording. I should mention you can turn the lense round so if it's fitted on your helmet wrong way is easy to sort.

Am sure there are things I've missed but will edit this post as remember and will try sort some sample clips out from the camera.