Action Camera's - What are you folk running?

[FlangMasterJ]

I've been looking at alternatives to the GoPro (I'm not fucking made of money) and ordered an Akaso EK7000 thinking it'd be perfect and comparable to the GoPro 4 and at $85 a good buy. It's yet to turn up but yesterday I was looking at reviews on other makes and the ThiEYE T5e was rated very highly, has true 4K (the Akaso has that phony 4K), has image stabilization and great audio as far as action cam audio goes. So with the Akaso stil in transit I went ahead and purchased the ThiEYE off of GearBest for $140. From all the test footage and comparo's it looks just as good as the GoPro 5 if not superior in areas. It was really the image stabilization that had me sold. Something you need when riding a bike.

I'm looking forward to getting on the DRZ and getting some crisp footage.


The ThiEYE T5e (GoPro mount compatible)

<a href="https://imgur.com/JEQxEyT"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/JEQxEyT.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

I also purchased this helmet chin mount from a YouTube vlogger 'A Girland Her Bike' AGHB. Cost roughly $40NZD. Gives a great POV over the bars perspective.

<a href="https://imgur.com/elhtSPK"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/elhtSPK.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

So are you guys using an action cam? What good alternatives to the GoPro have you found?

[GazzaH]

Not running ... yet .... but I like the look of the Innov's - permanently mounted front and rear cigar-tube--style cameras with the recording unit under the seat, connected to the bike so they come on whenever the bike is running, recording on a loop.

https://www.innovv.com/

[FlangMasterJ]

Irrespective of brand for the best results you need either 1080 60p or 4k 60p which is only in the GoPro Hero 6. Anything that has 1080 60p will be fine but unless its a well known opposition brand like Contour or Sony it may become hard to get new batteries for when they die. Having a 60p spec means if you want to freeze it the image will be sharper than if the spec is 30p.

Yeah I'll be shooting in 1080p 60fps mainly since my computer is nearly seven years old and would burst into flames trying to process 4K.

One of the vids displaying 1080p 60fps with the ThiEYE T5e. It really can't get much better.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBbOoO_msqk&t=24s


Not running ... yet .... but I like the look of the Innov's - permanently mounted front and rear cigar-tube--style cameras with the recording unit under the seat, connected to the bike so they come on whenever the bike is running, recording on a loop.

https://www.innovv.com/

Oh yeah. Pretty cool idea. This more for safety reasons?

[GazzaH]

For forensics!

[husaberg]

That video posted looks like a perfect example of what its like speed wise to ride under pressure to keep up. For all those that do not believe such a thing happens.
It seems that your alter ego is having the same problem keeping up....

Boil over?
Fuck off shitforbrains - you haven't even got me hard yet.

[slofox]

I use a Replay XD. Hi res, 30fps or 60fps in various modes.

Two drawbacks:
1. Format is 4x3 not 16x9.
2. File type is hard for Windows computers.

Other than that, I have liked it a lot.

[nzspokes]

Yeah I'll be shooting in 1080p 60fps mainly since my computer is nearly seven years old and would burst into flames trying to process 4K.

One of the vids displaying 1080p 60fps with the ThiEYE T5e. It really can't get much better.





Oh yeah. Pretty cool idea. This more for safety reasons?

Does the world need more vids like this?

Gawd that bike is slow.

Few Lifesavers wouldnt hurt either.

[Scuba_Steve]

I've got the Sony HDR-AS100V
At the time it was better than the equivalent GoPro (might have been the Hero 4 Black?). It is a diff profile which has it's pros & cons, hooks onto standard camera mounts & has an ok selection of "made for" accessories, but you can also get an adaptor so it can utilise the GoPro proprietary mounts.
Couple of things that made it better on the bike too were a big "go" button at the back which is easy to hit with gloves on to start/stop recording & a wrist mount LCD screen which can give you vision of whats being recorded for setup etc & also can control the start/stop

[GazzaH]

Having watched a load of YouToob lane-splitters commuting through the London traffic, I'm having second thoughts about the Innov cams mounted to the bike. Specifically, the helmet-mount cams give a high birds-eye view through the traffic and follow the rider's head movements - glances and lifesavers. I guess the image would be a bit more stable, too, especially on NZ's rocky roads.

[slofox]

Having watched a load of YouToob lane-splitters commuting through the London traffic, I'm having second thoughts about the Innov cams mounted to the bike. Specifically, the helmet-mount cams give a high birds-eye view through the traffic and follow the rider's head movements - glances and lifesavers. I guess the image would be a bit more stable, too, especially on NZ's rocky roads.

I tried bike mounts for a bit. Reverted to helmet mount for the reasons you outline.

[FlangMasterJ]

Yeah the head is always going to be the most stable shot. I do want to try some swingarm and rear fender mounts over the Rimutaka's since it's a pretty smooth road. Image stabilization should help a little.

[Scuba_Steve]

For the commute I often mount it on fairing under headlight & the image stabilization keeps it pretty smooth
for the fun rides I usually put it on the helmet for the higher view & movement ability

[Mike.Gayner]

It depends what you're trying to capture. If you want the most clear, stable shots of your riding then a chest or helmet mount is best. Using this you'll get hours upon hours of stable, boring footage.

I suggest making short videos with quick cuts, and cutting in plenty of bike-mounted footage. Bike mounted shots are best when you capture a stationery part of the bike and a moving part of the bike (with respect to the camera). E.g. mounted on the swing arm, the swing arm and wheel will be stationery with respect to the camera, and the rear shock will be moving. These shots are interesting to watch, and break up the monotony of POV footage.

The beauty of action cameras is their size - with a handful of mounts and stickies you can place them in cool innovative angles and positions.

[slofox]

The beauty of action cameras is their size - with a handful of mounts and stickies you can place them in cool innovative angles and positions.

The Xp is very good at that. They give you a bunch of mounts to stick on all over the place.
Have to say I rarely use it on the bike anymore. Most of the footage is indeed boring to death...:yawn: Unless I watch it when I'm pissed...

[WALRUS]

I've got a couple of GoPro Hero Sessions; a Session 4 and a Session 5. I usually just have them on a chest mount when I do/did riding videos.

They both do 1080p 60fps but I got the Session 5 to be able to do 4k videos.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf8TTyF9S8s
(Session 5)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIM-4SrJ22w
(Session 4)

I've also got a pair of Pivot Head (http://www.pivothead.com/?_ga=2.42541218.622234351.1513910996-262473478.1513910996) Durango sunglasses (http://shop.pivothead.com/eyewear/originals/durango.html) which are good for a decent POV type video.. The mic doesn't really handle wind noise so it clips to buggery but the picture quality is passable. I used it for the PIP in this video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2HDK6Ebcws
(Main camera Session 4, PIP Pivot Head Durango)

When I do track sessions, you're not allowed to have any cameras mounted on your body or helmet anywhere so I just have a regular GoPro clip and tether on the fuel tank or tail fairing (or wherever else I can find which looks good haha)

[FlangMasterJ]

Damn I was thinking that POV footage in the third vid looked great then realized it was the Pivothead glasses you mentioned. Very impressive for the price.

[WALRUS]

Damn I was thinking that POV footage in the third vid looked great then realized it was the Pivothead glasses you mentioned. Very impressive for the price.


@WALRUS Looks very impressive, wouldn't think you can get such high image quality in that price range! Much better than my 2-year old premium recorder.

They're decent enough, they've brought out better ones since I bought the Durangos though, I think. I'll have a look through my hard drives when I get home from work and see if I can find any raw footage from them so you get a good idea about how they sound and look without a bit of mixing and colour correction haha!

[WALRUS]

I totally forgot to get this footage uploaded. This was a mate of mine on a first gen' Street Triple R a couple of years ago. The two main problems with pivothead style POV glasses on bikes are firstly, they point wherever the bridge of your nose points so if you're normally riding with our head tilted down, all you can see is the road directly in front of the bike. Secondly is the aforementioned crappy microphone. Even at the relatively low speeds in this video, it seriously struggles. Walking around is fine, driving a car is fine.. Bikes? Noooooope! So if you want to use this footage online, either dub over it with some tunes, or use an external mic and sync it up in post.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvV6fl0rt5M

[FlangMasterJ]

My ThiEye T5E came in yesterday. Originally mounted with the thumbscrews supplied but remembered I had a bunch of M5 20mm screws. Looks far cleaner :drool:

<a href="https://imgur.com/JK45kmk"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/JK45kmk.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

[Cosmik de Bris]

I have a Sena 10C because chin or front mounted cameras look stupid whilst side helmet mounted cameras are definitely cool. Drift has a new side mount camera which looks pretty good. Before the Sena I had a Tachyon which is a very nice small package but didn't have a seperate mic input.

Cheers

[FlangMasterJ]

chin or front mounted cameras look stupid

Cutting me deep here fella.

[FlangMasterJ]

A bit of footage from a small scoot today. I'm pretty happy with the camera. I just have a slight issue where the battery comes unseated when out of the waterproof case. No biggie just a slight hindrance.

I found I had to drop the exposure value so the sky wasn't blowing out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8DcTO1iOTE

[Shiny side up]

any current advise on a good but relatively inexpensive camera for a flip face helmet? I run cheap dash cams in my vehicles and feel naked without one on the bike. (I post the best bits on "obliviout drivers NZ" on youtube.

[FlangMasterJ]

any current advise on a good but relatively inexpensive camera for a flip face helmet? I run cheap dash cams in my vehicles and feel naked without one on the bike. (I post the best bits on "obliviout drivers NZ" on youtube.

Yeah these guys make a great line of cams http://www.thieye.com/action_cameras.html. Mine that captured the footage above is the T5e model. They now do the T5 Edge which has stabilized 4K. I bought mine from Gearbest. Rivals GoPro.

[release_the_bees]

I finally found an acceptable solution for bike mounted camera vibration: a free video editing tool called Shotcut. It has a stabilisation filter that works miracles. Basically, it made footage from the bike that was totally unwatchable and turned it into something that's fine for my own purposes.

Here's an example of some updated footage. I'll try to find the before footage and upload it too at some point:

https://youtu.be/szNly3v23o0

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