Bicycle video cameras

[hozn]

@vvill 93853 wrote:

A friend of mine uses http://www.dashware.net/ I think with his GoPro

Some cool footage.

That looks perfect – thanks!

[PeteD]

Whichever you buy, wherever you buy, make sure they have a no-issue return policy. my bad experience with GoPro was made super easy because I bought it at REI and not Amazon.

[Supermau]

@americancyclo 93854 wrote:

that’s a bit of a circuitous route to get to Fed Center SW!

It’s the only one I know. I’ve refined it a bit since that ride but it’s basically the same. Just shy of 15 miles.

[n18]

Just in case you need cheap as eBay MicroSD cards that you can buy locally:

Class 10 MicroSD 32 GB $12.99($8 for 16 GB):
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&N=4294966791+4294965736+4294944346&cat=0008%3C%3E%3C%3EMicro-SDHC-%3a-Micro-Center-%3a-Flash-Memory-%3a-Flash-Memory-%26-Card-Readers-%3a-Electronics-%3a-Micro-Center

These you find them at the checkout counter, may not be fast enough for some high quality videos. If so, you need to look for UHS-1 MicroSD cards.

[Dickie]

@hozn 93840 wrote:

The Garmin Virb and the Shimano Action Cam both look great — the former for its ability to be controlled by my Garmin GPS (Edge 510) and the latter due to its super compact size. I would want them mounted with out-front mounts on the road bike (K-Edge or similar, ideally under the GPS). The GoPro doesn’t look too bad in this setup, but the Shimano is very attractively tiny. It’s hard to think of anything that looks dorkier than a helmet mounted GoPro. OTOH, the GoPro chest mounts make for some decent bike videos and probably work better off-road than bar mounts (due to constantly twitching steering, not stability/security of unit).

Does anyone know which editing suite allows for combining in the TCX/GPX tracks to overlay speed, cadence, etc. I haven’t investigated this at all, but that would definitely be a feature I’d want — and probably my choice in camera could be swayed if it was easier with one [bundled] software suite.

I’ve read a few reviews on the Shimano product but one of the complaints so far is the lack of editing software being packaged and the concern that timely updates will not be available… only time will tell I guess.

[PotomacCyclist]

@n18 93863 wrote:

Just in case you need cheap as eBay MicroSD cards that you can buy locally:

Class 10 MicroSD 32 GB $12.99($8 for 16 GB):
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntk=all&N=4294966791+4294965736+4294944346&cat=0008%3C%3E%3C%3EMicro-SDHC-%3a-Micro-Center-%3a-Flash-Memory-%3a-Flash-Memory-%26-Card-Readers-%3a-Electronics-%3a-Micro-Center

These you find them at the checkout counter, may not be fast enough for some high quality videos. If so, you need to look for UHS-1 MicroSD cards.

Best Buy has the Samsung 64GB microSD cards on sale for $49.99 right now. I happened to find out about it when I recently upgraded my smartphone. I almost bought a more expensive SanDisk card for $59.99. Both brands seem to have good reviews. The card also comes with an adapter if you ever need to use it with a standard SD card slot/reader.

[PotomacCyclist]

While looking up info on Contour (after reading in this thread that the company is back, under new ownership and management), I found an article about Contour’s founder. He is currently working on a new start-up/Kickstarter project called Moment. They are working on producing high-quality and accessible telephoto lenses that attach to smartphones (both Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhones, the two most popular lines).

I believe some people have already been using prototypes and the product is supposed to be available for delivery soon.

Perhaps the Moment lenses wouldn’t work as a replacement for a video action camera, but it could be handy for those with modern smartphones that have quality cameras. Newer smartphones can take very good photos, but they don’t zoom as well as a stand-alone digital camera does. If the Moment lenses actually work, then that could make smartphone cameras even more useful, for taking panoramic pictures out on the trails or in the cities (National Mall, etc.).

I just read about it now so I’m going to have to do a little more research on it. If I like what I read, I may just have to try out one of the smartphone telephoto lenses.

EDIT – I see that it only has 2x optical zoom. That’s not really that much. A decent digital camera might have 10x or 20x optical zoom. I’ll have to think about this.

---

I also find the thread useful in learning about recent developments in the action camera market. Interesting to read about Contour’s attempted comeback, and about reviews for the Garmin and Shimano models. I’ve already read and seen a lot about the GoPros.

http://www.geekwire.com/2014/marc-barros-starts-moment-maker-mini-photographic-lenses-smartphone/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/584288471/moment-amazing-lenses-for-mobile-photography

http://momentlens.co/

[rcannon100]

Ug. After todays commute, I is getting one of dem Contour Roams again

Car at Mini-Intersection-of-Doom (Lorcom and Old Dumb), turning right on red, that just never bothered to look right. When he saw me dead in front of him, he jamed on his brakes so hard he almost went through his own windshield. Another driver father down Lee that did exactly the same thing. And then a car on 25 mph, traffic circles to keep you from speeding, children everywhere, Utah street – who blue thru buzzing me by say 3 inches not 3 feet.

I’m not one for “missed connections” but I think I might be gitting me one of those cameras again

[Terpfan]

I’m tempted to ask my wife for a camera for Christmas. Really I just want to film all of the people running the red at Rt 1 near my house. I suppose I could do it with my camera phone, but it’s pretty consistent that I see at least one person run it a day. Combine all the video to make a youtube stream that I could put up every time someone complains about unsafe cyclists.

[rcannon100]

New GoPros, starting in October, entry level at $130

http://www.wired.com/2014/09/go-pro-hero-4/

[DCAKen]

More coverage here about the new line of GoPros

[rcannon100]

Bouncy bouncy. What do the experts of this institution now ponder – if you want to buy a good camera to do cool things – where would you waste your money.

[83b]

I just got the GoPro Hero (the $120 version), which I’ve been very happy with so far. You can make out license plates easily enough and the sound pickup is better than expected. Battery life is…fine…I guess, relative to what the internet tells me most of these little cameras can do.

What I could really use now is advice on editing software. Does anybody use anything other than the stock stuff that came with your camera?

[rcannon100]

Have you tried iMovie?

[hozn]

The Virb Elite is ok. You can probably get one of the older ones cheap now. The Virb Edit software is surprisingly good; they must have acquired that from some other developers. (You maybe able to just download that to use with any camera’s video?) The integrated telemetry stuff is slick. Having the camera track rides (GPS) and pair with all the data sensors makes it almost a Garmin GPS replacement — if you dont want to see speed/hr/power etc. while riding.

The form factor makes it a bit hard to do things like chest harness mounting. And the shoulder mount doesn’t really work for cycling. But under the Garmin out front works well for road (not off-road). A little shaky still. I will try a helmet mount off-road sometime and see how well that works.

I do really like the big slider that starts the recording. And the ability to take single photos while recording. I dislike that it randomly stops recording sometimes, freezes up, and other such Garminy things.

Oh, and I dropped my camera on the street and scratched the lens. But I got the official replacement lens with the tools for $18, so I was happy about that.

I would probably buy a Hero if it were my money. This one was a gift, though, so I can’t complain!

[Author]

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