A question about cameras...

[jetboy]

Well, I've had the bike up and running for 3 weeks now and been on it nearly every day (had to change calipers over so couldnt ride then) :Punk:

I've done the Whitford/Maraetai/Clevedon/Kawakawa Bay ride about 80% of the time and love it...it's a great bit of road with enough twists to keep me occupied for now and the scenery is fantastic...especially on a sunny day.

I've met a few other bikers whilst on the route and after they pass me I try and follow their lines through corners which, being a relative newbie on a 250 is almost impossible, so I wondered if anyone had put videos on youtube for this run so I could follow the lines from that. I found one or two....if you know where to find some let me know!

This led to me thinking about buying an onboard camera for myself so I can video tape my (motorcycle riding) shenanigans - does anyone use one or can anyone recommend a decent camera? I'm hoping something good exists for under $500.


edit - just noticed typo in heading sorry

[YellowDog]

Cameras out of hong kong are about $350. Not great resolution thou.

[R6_kid]

http://www.youtube.com/gdeaconnz#play/uploads

There are some there, but my lines were pretty average at best. I'm on a 600 in that vid, and the guys im videoing are both on ZXR250C's.. I could keep up with them on my 250, but for some reason I kept freaking out on the R6. I think thats from about 05 or early 06.

[jetboy]

http://www.youtube.com/gdeaconnz#play/uploads

There are some there, but my lines were pretty average at best. I'm on a 600 in that vid, and the guys im videoing are both on ZXR250C's.. I could keep up with them on my 250, but for some reason I kept freaking out on the R6. I think thats from about 05 or early 06.
mint videos man. which camera did you use?

[Usarka]

Hahhahaha you are hooked aren't ya. :wari:

[sil3nt]

Look at the quality of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-opvkW14w easily one of the best quality videos i have seen. He mentions what camera he uses in the comments.

Also check out http://www.youtube.com/user/captainandrey
he is a member here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php?u=12631) so you can try pm him about his camera setup

This site has camera setups for bikes although they are pretty pricey http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/dcs-bike-camera-kits.htm

Have been thinking about putting a camera on my bike but it is rather expensive.

[mossy1200]

This led to me thinking about buying an onboard camera for myself so I can video tape my (motorcycle riding) shenanigans - does anyone use one or can anyone recommend a decent camera? I'm hoping something good exists for under $500.



This is hero gopro cam on my postclassic during an open day.
they are $320 and have 1hr record
Kit comes with 6mounts and a suction mount for car windows and helmet etc so you can move it around your bike etc.
The quality has been reduced to get it on you tube as the info was to big to enter it.Its had to be edited alot in quality to get it on there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPWYmmBIUqo

[Dare]

To put another angle on this I got a very high resolution (960X720) wide FOV camera from logitech, carl zeiss lense, microphone etc for $140. Only problem is it's a webcam. I take my laptop to uni so I am considering having a play with some zipties and a backpack and seeing how it goes.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/webcam_communications/webcams/devices/3056&cl=us,en
http://www.pricespy.co.nz/search.php?q=logitech+9000

[Dare]

Look at the quality of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-opvkW14w easily one of the best quality videos i have seen. He mentions what camera he uses in the comments.

Just to make it easy to find...


It wasn't anything special, just a normal MiniDV camera from JVC GS-something in the mid price range about 3 or 4 years ago. Unfortunately it bust on the way to the Ring last June so now I'm going to use my samsung SD camera thats does 640x480 @30fps and got some pretty good shots from the TT this week but haven't test mounted it yet. The key is mounting the camera well, I use a tank mount from EVOTECH-PERFORMANCE (on ebay uk) which give the camera a nice stable platform. Hope this helps

Imagine a mini-dv cam could be had pretty cheap on tardme, no need for anything fancy just make sure its safely mounted!

[TOTO]

Gopro are very good. have a built in video stabiliser, waterproof and good lenght of recording with good picture.

Google gopro camera. You can buy them from trademe - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchstring=gopro&submit_keyword_search=Search&mcat=0124-&searchregion=100&from=fav&sort_order=default

I am going to buy one very soon. You can also search for gopro futage on youtube to see for yourseft the quality :niceone:


hope this helps.

[sil3nt]

Gopro are very good. have a built in video stabiliser, waterproof and good lenght of recording with good picture.

Google gopro camera. You can buy them from trademe - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchstring=gopro&submit_keyword_search=Search&mcat=0124-&searchregion=100&from=fav&sort_order=default

I am going to buy one very soon. You can also search for gopro futage on youtube to see for yourseft the quality :niceone:


hope this helps.Trouble is they have small SD card size limits. 2GB isn't that much these days! And an hours ride isn't really a ride is it? :bleh:

[crazzed]

moto com make a great one but pricey i have one that works great. quality good and can get the whole coro loop ride from hamilton without changing memory cards

[TOTO]

Trouble is they have small SD card size limits. 2GB isn't that much these days! And an hours ride isn't really a ride is it? :bleh:

Oh yea , just read that when you said it. Well I guess we gotta wait for the next version to come out.

Why is it that things are not made properly the first time :oi-grr:

[captain_andrey]

Also check out http://www.youtube.com/user/captainandrey
he is a member here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php?u=12631) so you can try pm him about his camera setup


Why thank you :)
There are many decent cameras out there. The important things to remember are:
It has to be solid state memory, any moving parts will shake to pieces so no HDD, DVD or minidisk cameras.
It has to be mounted solid. Best mounting point I found, by far is the tank ring. Handle bars are not as good but ok. You can compare my 2 vids on youtube, the hyosung one has a tank mount, honda has a centre stem mount on the bars. There is visibly more shake on the handle bars. (watch the vids in HQ, youtube compresses it quite badly.)
Dont bother mounting on farings or the screen itself. They vibrate like hell. I've never had a bike without a wind shield but I would guess the wind will also affect the camera quite a bit.

[jetboy]

Thanks for the tips guys...I'll be watching some of those vids in a few min :wari:

I thought the best place to mount it would be on the tank...I've seen some on the fairings but the footage isn't as good as tank mounted cams...plus you get to see your speed :Punk:

[jetboy]

Hahhahaha you are hooked aren't ya. :wari:
Hell yes! I ride as often as I can. Rain, wind or shine :-) Rain and wind I don't like so much...went over the harbour bridge on Saturday in 110km/h winds. Im never doing that again.

[sil3nt]

I just purchased a tank bag so i might try and put a camera in there and see if that works :shifty:

[NordieBoy]

I've got an ATC2K and a Panasonic SDR-SW20.
The only thing the ATC has going for it is handlebar/helmet mounting.

The SW20 is also waterproof and takes 16Gb cards.

Not the best for shots from the bike but for shots of bikes it's great.