Techalogic CF-1 Front Camera/Light

[PM999]

Techalogic CF-1 front camera/light. £104 June 2023, Amazon.

Bought to replace a 5 year old Roadhawk bullet camera that had served me well but died of old age. Roadhawk are no longer making the bullet cam.

The CF-1 is slightly bigger than a box of matches. Top to bottom front face: camera, riding light, LED status light. Right side has 3 rubberised buttons: on/off, light toggle, camera/wifi button. Left side: rubber flap hiding micro USB socket and micro SD card port.

It comes with 2 bar clamps and has a standard GoPro mount. 2 different clamps: 25.4mm and 31.8mm. I needed a 3rd clamp for bike no. 3. The quality of the Techalogic mounts shone through in comparison to my fleabay extra one. A single thumb wheel bolt is supplied to secure the camera, plus a cute little anodized spanner to fit the thumb wheel for cold/wet finger days.

The camera can be used without the riding light (my own choice), or with the light on in either constant or blinking mode. The light is reasonably bright (400 lumens claimed), but I prefer a separate light which can be angled down.

I’m achieving better than 6 hours on a full charge with camera only. The unit recharges in about 2 hours, but can be used while charging on the fly via a battery pack. Unfortunately this is only a fair weather option as USB/SD ports are exposed when charging.

File format is .mp4, and I have it set to record 5 minute sequences. 5 mins comes in at about 435 MB, so a 32 GB SD card that I use will hold > 6 hours of footage. 2 file folders are available: “Emergency” and “Loop”. Emergency is over-write protected, and files go there if a G sensor is triggered (e.g. a collision). Sensitivity of this can be changed, but I have it switched off. All my footage goes to Loop, which is over-written oldest first.

Footage is good. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and stability for a bar mounted camera. 5 minute clip here https://tinyurl.com/5az3ckyw but Google processing does degrade it slightly. (Select 1080 HD playback to watch. For best results, download & then watch). I have no trouble reading number plates in playback of daylight footage, all light conditions. Untested by me at night – I do very little night riding.

We ride in all weathers, and the CF-1 has already been out in a couple of downpours. There’s no sign of water ingress or fogging so far. Techalogic claim IPX5 protection.

To access files you can go old school 2 ways: pop out the SD card & read directly, or connect the camera to a PC via USB cable. The more modern option is to use a camera app (generic, not Techalogic’s own) and link the camera to a phone or tablet. The link is by wifi (no internet required) and it works well. Once linked to a phone (I’m using a basic Android phone) the app gives multiple options. You can change camera settings, review footage or download footage to your phone. A 5 minute clip (435 MB) downloads in just over 2 minutes. I had initially considered this gimmicky, but it is really quite useful, especially if on tour and a phone is the only option to copy footage from the SD card.

A shout out for Techalogic support too. In my early use of the CF-1 I thought I had a charging problem. (I hadn’t – I suspect operator error). A few emails back and forth with Techalogic and they were prepared to exchange the camera without fuss. Thankfully, it wasn’t needed.

Overall, a good piece of kit and value for money at just over £100.

[TrevA]

I also have a Techalogic CF-1 and can echo all of the above comments. I run the camera with the light on mostly and get about 4 hours run time. I can download or view the footage on my phone - I use the Viidure App on my iPhone and iPad, which makes it very easy to view. I’ve not had to send any footage off to the police yet, but it should be a doodle using this camera and App, much easier than my old ChilliTech camera.