Helmet cameras - again.

[woodboats]

Well after the last burst of helmet cam discussions I went and bought myself an Xtreme Recall System. Not cheap, from the USA around $700 NZ all up.
We are planning a 7 week India bike tour in around 18 months and wanted something reasonably good and the reviews on their system were pretty good.
The external mic was expecially complimented on as being one of the best.
And here lies my problem! The darn thing picks up everything, expecially wind noise. At the moment I am using a tank bag to keep everything in. I have stuffed the mic in a bit of bed foam but am still getting wind noise with motor noise. Today I put it (still in the foam) behind my back under the leather jacket. That helped but not enough.

Anyone have ideas on this? Are ther better types of foam or some sort of suppressing material? I 've got a bit of time to work this out so any thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers.

[Headbanger]

I stash mine in the pocket of my backpack, close enough to pick up the howl of the exhaust but out of the wind. I'm surprised yours is picking up wind noise from within the tank bag.

You have any footage we can view?

[discotex]

You have any footage we can view?

+1 +1 +1

I've been thinking of springing for something like this myself so would love to hear/see footage and how you ended up mounting it.

Is there an external mic plug so you can narrate as you go?

[Headbanger]

+1 +1 +1

I've been thinking of springing for something like this myself so would love to hear/see footage and how you ended up mounting it.

Is there an external mic plug so you can narrate as you go?

If you look at their page they have a mounting kit that looks to have 2 or 3 different mounts.

http://www.xtremerecall.com/


I bought my system from http://www.helmetcamera.com and have recently purchased their DV camera to compliment my setup, I can now fit the entire system in my jacket pocket, With just the wire out to the camera/lens that is stuck to my helmet.

[Starky307]

Not sure what you plan to hear but unless you can get the mic into a place where wind noise doesn't exist it is something you will live with.
I suggest having the mic in your helmet, i ran mine in there with the unit i had for my dirt bike and it worked best there. It picked me up saying something and all the engine noise etc but kept the wind noise down as well.
Trial and error is the best way of fixing this issue.

[woodboats]

Thanks for your replies folks.
Mounting the helmet cam is quite easy. The camera part has it's own holder on a bit of velcro and you just attach the other velcro pads wherever you want them. I stuck one on my helmet and another on the side of my tank to try out.
The mic is external and comes with plenty of cord so I guess I will try different locations for sound. You certainly could use it for speaking into although I was just trying to get the bike noise.

I will post my first go with the system but remember I have a bit of work to do to get things better. Half the vid is from the helmet position and the other half on the tank. Some of the sound was that bad that I used music over it.
Editing was done with Windows Movie Maker which is bundled with XP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnmRsUr2rGk

[discotex]

I will post my first go with the system but remember I have a bit of work to do to get things better. Half the vid is from the helmet position and the other half on the tank. Some of the sound was that bad that I used music over it.
Editing was done with Windows Movie Maker which is bundled with XP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnmRsUr2rGk

Nice. Good widish angle lens too. I'm guessing it looks way better before YouTube lowers the quality. Are you using a handicam or a DVR?

If you have a mic gain setting on your recorder you might find turning it way down helps a lot as the sound is clipping.

[woodboats]

Thanks for that, yes it did look better on the computer.
I recently purchased a Sony Handicam DCR-HC30E from Trade Me. It didn't come with a manual but I managed to get some info from the net.
The video camera needed to have AV in/out, Lanc and external mic port.
I don't know too much about these machines yet, is the mic gain setting the volume control? If so , I will turn that right down.
Cheers

Oh, by the way, the system came with a remote button that I have just stuck onto the top of the tank bag. Seems handy to turn on/off as needed without having to do to much. That was the reason for the LANC port.

PS I have found Audio Mode which gives the choise of 12 or 16 bit?

[discotex]

I don't know too much about these machines yet, is the mic gain setting the volume control? If so , I will turn that right down.
Cheers

Probably worth a try. Can't hurt :)



Oh, by the way, the system came with a remote button that I have just stuck onto the top of the tank bag. Seems handy to turn on/off as needed without having to do to much. That was the reason for the LANC port.

PS I have found Audio Mode which gives the choise of 12 or 16 bit?

LANC looks really handy. I'm tempted to go with a DVR so I can fit it under the seat or something. Dunno yet.

Definitely go with 16bit sound. If it's on 12bit that might be half the problem.