Which Helmet video cam?

[beachcomber]

There have been several posts about capturing video footage of errant motorists. EdinburghFixed, Magnatom etc.
What sort of cameras are you guys using and what sort of price are you paying?

[benm]

I use a Veho Muvi (of which there are many clones - google MD80 Camera) available from ~£50ish. 30 fps and MicroSD memory cards...

EF uses a much more expensive system.

B.

[bogmyrtle]

Aldi had something recently for £49.99 which looked as though it could fit on a helmet. Haven't a clue about the specification though

[thirdcrank]

It seems to me that this is one of those areas where things are improving so much all the time it's hard to keep up - ie par for the course with modern electronic technology.

It seems to me that this could really be the answer to the cyclist's prayer because we are now into the area where it's practical and prices are falling, relative to the improved kit. For years, cyclists who have complained about the conduct of drivers have been dissatisfied with their treatment by the police. As Cunobelin has recently posted on another thread, this offers the missing link.

I really do hope that people with current experience will pool their knowledge for the general benefit. This isn't one of those hardy annuals that can be answered by referring to an earlier thread - last year's "latest thing" is already long in the tooth.

[beachcomber]

Having seen the footage from EF, Magnatom and others I think this might well be the way forward. If motorists start to believe that any cyclist could be operating a video camera which could capture their dangerous driving and later see them having to answer to the courts or employers, it may just possibly alter the mindset of a few.
If we could just reduce the abuse and hostility towards cyclists that would be a start. 'From small acorns.......'

So if cameras are affordable and easy to use I will probably buy one.
I may also use it on our charity rides to capture some of the fun we have.

[gilesjuk]

The biggest thing about it is to be able to report commercial drivers of large companies. I don't think there's much change of getting a car driver prosecuted unless its a really serious offence.

I've reported a TNT delivery driver before now after I was overtaken on a narrow bridge, the depot manager took my complaint very seriously.

[EdinburghFixed]

My camera, which is very old now, is a POV.1 (here's the current incarnation). At the time I got it it was the cheapest thing that ticked the waterproof box (which I wanted for other sports) and also generated good-quality footage.

Although by-and-large I've been happy with it, it does suffer from some issues which would make me recommend *against* getting anything by POV:

- the base unit is quite heavy and the cable awkward, and you can get perfectly good self-enclosed units instead, so why have the hassle? (On the flip side, it takes AAs so batteries are easy to manage).
- it generates a worryingly high proportion of invalid clips. I have a good card, fresh batteries, if I knock the unit just the wrong way it crashes and doesn't clean up what it was recording properly. Both the original unit and my warranty replacement have had the same problem.
- the screen on my original unit just cracked - the plastic LED window on the box was unscratched but underneath the panel itself had shattered. No idea how this could happen (and to be fair, I got a new one without any hassle).

For those on a budget the Veho Muvi looks like a fair bet. I prefer something with a higher frame rate and a wider-angle lens (ultimately, you could splash for a Contour HD wide-angle high-definition headcam for around £200) which will produce much better videos.

But remember that the important functionality of a camera from a commuter's perspective should be fulfilled by anything. For example, it will prove you didn't swerve, it proves the driver did overtake and turn left, and so on. I can't imagine it will very often be the case that a driver entirely denies being at the scene - my understanding is that it's more likely they will admit to being there, but try to pass off their driving as something you did wrong instead. It's very easy for a cheap camera to prove you were hooked, when it might not be considered high enough quality to definitively identify a driver's face as they whizz past.

I think the proliferation of cameras is wholly positive, I know people have different opinions about 'surveillance culture' but IMO, if everybody drove as if they were being videoed we'd have almost ideal conditions for cycling inside a week.

[Raph]

I got a thing by "Oregon Scientific" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oregon-Scientif ... B000M9AXX8

Though it didn't cost that much, I think it was a bit over £50. Amusingly the helmet pic on the lionk above shows it on the side of a helmet, positioned to take vertical vids which will play on their side on a computer - but you can swivel it to any angle in the mount

Takes not-very-high quality vids on its highest setting and truly awful ones on any other setting. It's waterproof... so far... came with a handlebar mount and a helmet mount.

There's no zoom, it's a bit "telephoto" - don't know the actual angle but it's fairly narrow.

The sound seems pretty abysmal - on the handlebars all you get is brake scraping and spoke twanging noises, crescendoing to earthquake noises as you pass the 5mph threshold, and the one time I used it on the helmet the audio was similarly useless.

The buttons are hard to use with gloves on, and if it's on the helmet mount they're almost impossible to switch by feel, also it bleeps extremely quietly to let you know if it's switched on successfully or started recording - and I never quite remember whether it's one bleep for on and two for off, and anyway with a bit of wind noise on the bike there is absolutely NIL chance of hearing the damned thing anyway. Makes it quite hard to use as you never quite know whether it's recording or not - or if you've switched it off or not.

Takes a 2Gb card maximum, which is about an hour on the highest resolution and fastest frame rate setting. Not had any problems with vids not being playable, it's all worked perfectly so far.

Uses two AAs.

I still recommend it though, for £50-odd. Not sure about £99.



PS - purely my own little problem - I can't ever get it positioned on the helmet so it actually catches any useful action - I always get a useless vid of tarmac whizzing past and the occasional flash of treetops and sky. On the handlebar, or on a fork blade usually gives a decent vid, but probably wouldn't be much use for evidence. maybe other users are more, er... "level headed"?

[Redvee]

Aldi had something recently for £49.99 which looked as though it could fit on a helmet. Haven't a clue about the specification though

The camera Aldi sold recently is mentioned above, the Oregon Scientific model AT2K. I've used one in the past and paid £85 inc memory card from ebay. That has been replaced by a Muvi MD80 with extreme sports kit from Tesco for £40 and I'm also using a MD80 clone also from ebay that cost sub £20, another £10 for a decent class 6 micro SD card and a fiver for a modified lamp bracket and I was on the road. Look on youtube for the Redvee2002 channel at the latest vids with the timestamp on them.

[beachcomber]

Thanks chaps

[Raph]

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_12511.htm

There it is for £50 - not sure if it's the one I've got (AT18) but it looks identical and the spec all seems the same I think.

[rgc_911]

the Aldi one = Oregon Scientific = Decathlon

My local Aldi has one for £39.99 - it's about vga quality - I have one and it fits on the indicator stalk of my motobike very well

Next one up in quality is the Dog Cam - but its about £200 IIRC.

[gilesjuk]

Just bought one of these, quite good for the money (£10)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0410036677

Example video:

http://www.urbanracing.net/200sx/test.wmv

Thread about it here:

http://forums.gameon.co.uk/showthread.php?p=439894

[Raph]

Pretty excellent for £10 - the picture's better than the Oregon and the sound is MASSIVELY better. Only issues are how much memory's on it, what does it record onto and how tough is it. Even if the three answers are bad, it still seems good for £10.

PS I've tried the Oregon indoors a couple of times, in total silence, and it still records a load of hiss and rumble. The picture's not bad under indoor lighting though.

[gilesjuk]

It records onto MicroSD (transflash) so it's whatever you can fit into it. Probably maximum 8gb.

Record time is about 1hr in terms of battery life. Internal rechargeable battery.

I've got a camera that cost me about £180 that looks worse than the image from that thing.

Sure, durability, weatherproofing are factors, but I'm sure a DIY casing/mount would be easy for someone who is handy with that sort of thing.