What camera?

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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colclimber
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Joined: 25 Aug 2007, 12:38am

Re: What camera?

Post by colclimber »

I bought the Kodak Zx1 a couple of weeks ago, and I'm very impressed. It survived two hours of torrential rain, a few days ago. I've mounted it on my T bar extension using camera tripod adapters, bolts, and bike light mounts. To reduce camera shake, the camera's lanyard is stretched over the stem.

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drsquirrel
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Re: What camera?

Post by drsquirrel »

Some of the camera shake is because it's fitted TOO rigid to the frame - as your frame vibrates about.

These cameras are good value it seems, just sucks if you want to mount it to your helmet for a better view.
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colclimber
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Joined: 25 Aug 2007, 12:38am

Re: What camera?

Post by colclimber »

I've tried other methods of attaching the camera to the handlebars, and this one is the best so far, and it's easy to take on and off the bars. Do you you have a better method I could try, drsquirrel?
snibgo
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Re: What camera?

Post by snibgo »

Unless you go the steadicam route (eg http://www.instructables.com/id/Updated ... steadicam/), you might strap the camera to a brick, and strap that via rubber to the frame. No, I haven't tried this myself.
Kiltie12
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Re: What camera?

Post by Kiltie12 »

Hmmmmmmmmm!! This may be a tricky one. I was going to do this before and spoke about it to my local bobby after something happened in the street outside about putting a camera looking out from the window and it seems although you could do it, legally you cannot use it for proof, AND, you could gat done for abusing people's privacy. It seems it is ok for governments to do it to us but we can't do it for ourselves.

If you are using the bike a bullet cam is the best and it has a harness to fit over your helmet, some can take 8gb cards which could even do a weeks tour used sparingly.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: What camera?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

It's good for evidence of anything in public - not for things overlooking private property IF it's a fixed camera.

As bike cameras aren't then it's all fair evidence.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
gilesjuk
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Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 10:10pm

Re: What camera?

Post by gilesjuk »

The body is the best anti-shake. But it also helps if when you mount it to the bike frame to have a non-moving reference point. The brain can deal with the movement better.
Geriatrix
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Re: What camera?

Post by Geriatrix »

I had a bullet cam which attached to a separate recorder. It produced good quality video but it was too fiddly. Too many cables and components that need to be connected and secured.

I suggest a cam/recorder that is self contained and mounts easily on the handle bars or helmet.
The more expensive units like the ContourHD, GoPro give good quality HD image and operate well in low light conditions which is important, especially if you want to capture registration numbers.
I use a Camsports HDmax which I believe uses the GoPro electronics but in a more conveniently shaped package. It looks like a brick in the side of the helmet but that's not so bad. If the cam visibility changes driver behaviour and makes them more cautious its an added bonus.

The Camsports has few useful features.
It has a LCD so you can review video on the device. Most don't.
The lens can be rotated so the camera can be mounted in a number of positions.
It has a laser pointer which produces a line rather than a point so it can be used to aim as well as level the camera.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled - Richard Feynman
Geriatrix
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Re: What camera?

Post by Geriatrix »

Kiltie12 wrote:Hmmmmmmmmm!! This may be a tricky one. I was going to do this before and spoke about it to my local bobby after something happened in the street outside about putting a camera looking out from the window and it seems although you could do it, legally you cannot use it for proof, AND, you could gat done for abusing people's privacy. It seems it is ok for governments to do it to us but we can't do it for ourselves.


It's not illegal to photograph of film anything that's in the public domain. Cam footage was used recently to track down and convict a motorist who assaulted a cyclist so I don't think there is any issues in the courts either.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled - Richard Feynman
san0
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Re: What camera?

Post by san0 »

I first bought a cheapo Muvvi / MD80 clone for £20 - it's only good for 30 min rides before the battery runs out. Footage is Ok as you will see on YouTube http://youtu.be/daldSDKL5oc. The camera shake put me off the most as well as the battery life.

So after more reading and research, and luck that I would travel to the USA, I bought a GoPro 960 and a body strap at Amazon.COM and had it shipped to a friends workplace in US. The SanDisk Extreme 16GB memory card SDHC is cheaper bought on amazon.CO.UK.

The cam performs admirably and can record over 2 hours worth on a single charge. Pict quality is excellent although fairly fisheye effect but gets in a lot of area. Sound is not so good. But it is waterproof. http://helmetcameracentral.com/2010/10/12/gopro-hd-hero-960-review/
I now strap to the chest when riding through heavy traffic for best results. http://gopro.com/camera-mounts/chest-mount-harness/
My video doesn't do it justice as I sped up the footage thus making it a little shakey and blurry. http://youtu.be/ZphpytAw1GQ
iviehoff
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Re: What camera?

Post by iviehoff »

Geriatrix wrote:It's not illegal to photograph of film anything that's in the public domain. Cam footage was used recently to track down and convict a motorist who assaulted a cyclist so I don't think there is any issues in the courts either.

It's been a bit of a battle to get the police and CPS to accept these films as evidence, but there are now a handful of cases that have gone through the courts with guilty verdicts coming in, so the police/CPS are going to have a trickier job in future denying that this is good evidence. But according to Martin Porter, cycling barrister who has filmed a couple of serious incidents he has suffered, Thames Valley police are still holding out against it, and won't listen to you unless you have an independent 3rd party witness as well. http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.com/

Given the number of cases that have been filmed in the last few months, and the very small proportion of cyclists using cameras, there must be a lot of incidents that motorists just get away with. The filmed cases that ended up in court seem to have been disproportionately road-rage assault cases, rather than collisions.
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gaz545
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Re: What camera?

Post by gaz545 »

iviehoff wrote:Given the number of cases that have been filmed in the last few months, and the very small proportion of cyclists using cameras, there must be a lot of incidents that motorists just get away with. The filmed cases that ended up in court seem to have been disproportionately road-rage assault cases, rather than collisions.

I have a list of all the cyclists i know of that use cameras and upload footage online
I was involved in anRTC last year which recently went to court, the driver fined and given 6 points on his license.
thirdcrank
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Re: What camera?

Post by thirdcrank »

Turn up at your local police station with video footage of something like a bank being robbed and you'll soon see how highly the evidence is rated.

It seems to me there are two things here. The first is that police forces in England and Wales have progressively withdrawn from enforcement of swathes of road traffic law (although the standard of investigation - as in search for evidence - following serious collisions seems to have been raised.) It's pointless having the best evidence in the world of an offence if the police won't deal with it. Then, the rules of evidence are quite complicated and I could imagine some people receiving reports not having much idea what to do and finding fobbing off being the easiest approach.

I was depressed by the lengths Martin Porter had to go to but as he has now withdrawn all his commentary from his blog pending the court hearing, we can only await the result.

Something like this needs a national approach. Individuals will often get nowhere, so it needs a national organisation to take the lead in tackling ACPO. There may be things going on in private but I doubt it. The national cycling organisations seem to be supine on this matter.
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Graham
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Re: What camera?

Post by Graham »

Five years after the start of this topic. I would expect products to have advanced significantly.

I haven't bought one yet, but recently a specific purpose has emerged.

The Kodak PIXPRO SP1 has caught my attention. . . . .. What !! never heard of it ???

I can only find it through an Ebay shop in Germany or widely available in the USA.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kodak-PIXPRO- ... Swk5FUxnJi

Has anyone got one or heard about it.

Otherwise what is the "sweet-spot" camera, freely-available in the UK ??
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[XAP]Bob
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Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: What camera?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Personally I want a dual bullet camera wired to a central recorder.

But I want a bike 'dashcam', not an action camera
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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