Bike cam testing (boring video inside!)

[zeocen]

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought a well sweet camera off trademe, for the sole purpose of sticking it into my helmet and doing, how would you say... uh, moving journals? Or just a camera to log the days events.

Everytime I hop on a bike something usually happens, usually something bad (idiot cages etc) but something nevertheless, I thought it would be good to get some of these escapades on film.

Well yesterday I thought I'd just see how well this camera actually is with moving images so I crudely taped it onto the front fairing of my bike, and then taped it a little more hehe. Then I put some tape over the mic which seemed to cut the wind resistance to 0.

The video turned out pretty well, I should have put a cloth in between the camera and the fairing because when I start going it rattles and drowns out the exhaust, so I put some music over it so it wasn't *too* bad. My next step is to get some foam and velcro (any ideas where?) and mount it behind my visor, just under the chin guard so the lens pops over but leaving my sight in tact. That way I can talk shit while going on group rides etc and upload them for fellow group riders to have a gander at what they had just done.

Anywho here's one of the first tests, pretty good for a first test, the camera is a corker.. once I find a way to get it into my helmet (Donor, Joe? Mancave modification tonight perhaps !?) I'll be out and about with more tests and then I'll show you how to truely master twilight road*

*if by master you mean crawl at 5kmph through the whole track

The test was cut short due to light rain so I quickly turned around and headed back, so sadly it's mostly suburban riding with about a minute of open road

http://www.livevideo.com/video/B12AE...8E/test-2.aspx

[Chisanga]

Very good quality - but you should have taken the other bike in the garage

[Fatjim]

Pretty cool, be good to get the audio sorted.

I've been looking into the wireless cams and they are getting pretty cheap, but just with any technology, do I wait for a hi def wireless camera.

[yod]

what was the camera you got? link?

cheers dude

[zeocen]

Yeah the audio will be fine, I might actually do the same thing after work today, putting some cloth inbetween the fairing and the camera to stop the rattling. I was told that putting tape over the mic cuts the wind noise completely and that has seemed to be the case, so I'm pretty happy with it, especially since my helmet can get pretty loud from the wind.

Bullet cams and the like are getting especially cheap, but I opted for a small slim digital camera since I'll only be doing video logs for uploading to the net, no super hi def bullet cam racing for me hehe

yod: the camera is a Sony DSC T-3, the best one for doing these would be the T-5. And moving out of Sony, the best camera all round for helmet video logging would be the Kodak V570. Check out http://www.livevideo.com/MotorcycleVlogs , a great bunch of guys. Most of them use the Kodak v570 with the exception of a few (namely mordeth, who I think most would have heard of by now).
A lot of them can seem a bit same ol' same ol' because American is fairly flat and the scenery isn't much to look at, but there are some good video loggers in that crew.

I chose the sony over the kodak mainly because for the kodak to work in the helmet, you have to put the whole thing infront of the visor... where as the sony has the lense at the top of the camera so you can just have most of the camera by the chin guard, out of view obsutrction. Safety first !

Hopefully I get the helmet thing going soon and will get some regular video logging going, then you can all see what it's like to be an 8 month old rider who's terrible at corners and a top speed of 150kmph! :P

[Donor]

Anywho here's one of the first tests, pretty good for a first test, the camera is a corker.. once I find a way to get it into my helmet (Donor, Joe? Mancave modification tonight perhaps !?)

Mmmm... man cave...

[zeocen]

Got any foam and velcro au cuzzy bro?

[Donor]

Quite possibly...

[zeocen]

Grats on 1000 posts you whore

I want that velcro and foam, now.

[zeocen]

Well I've been fiddling around and the likes, and I think I can safetly say, success!
I have a short series up here http://www.livevideo.com/zeocen , the wet urban ride one.. the angle is good and aside from the foam on the bottom right sticking out (which is fixed now!) it seems all good!

Part 3 has me giving the ol ninja 250 some evasive action due to me riding a bit too close to a car and having some boards of wood come from under it, nothing a countersteer couldn't save me from though.

But yeah, view if you wish, it's geared towards my international biker friends so it's not terribly interesting for fellow NZ'ers (or anyone, for that matter!) but when I go on group rides chances are I'll have this stuffed in my face, so I can log the day's events for everyone who attended to see !

[delusionz]

i was looking at getting a mounting arm for my ninja which mounts to the left handle bar in the space next to the clutch switchblock. my nokia cell and 1 gig memory card should be suffice for a video like that. hope this weather clears though, this bike is dangerous in the wet as you must already know.


PS. WTF bicycle bell WTF mcdonalds

PPS. My indicator is green aswell :P

[vamr]

PS. WTF bicycle bell

See mordeth13's vblog for your answer.

[zeocen]

i was looking at getting a mounting arm for my ninja which mounts to the left handle bar in the space next to the clutch switchblock. my nokia cell and 1 gig memory card should be suffice for a video like that. hope this weather clears though, this bike is dangerous in the wet as you must already know.


PS. WTF bicycle bell WTF mcdonalds

PPS. My indicator is green aswell :P

No shit? It must be the new GPX's then.. that's freaking crazy man. I wonder why they changed it from orange to green? Damn Kwaka's, they just love their green! hehe.

Yeah, I actually started a few video logs since then but didn't feel comfortable videoing in the weather (it's not the visibility, I can see fine with the camera, it's the talking and thinking of topics that distracts me) so I took it out and just enjoyed the ride.

Thinking of taking it to Maraetai next time it's sunny out, hopefully with other bikers so people can get a gauge on how much people lean etc, with my head almost always keeping parallel to the ground it's difficult to know (eg. countersteering like crazy to miss that plank of wood) how much I lean etc..

I know of one video logger who logs his trail rides with a nokia cam, they come out great for all that's going on off-road, go to livevideo.com and search the channels for 'brotherblonde'. It's an aussie bloke with a dirt bike.


//edit: 100% true story, I rode slowly past a couple of girls and rang my bicycle bell, they totally copped their breasts for me. The bell stays.

[delusionz]

haha funny shit, i like your urban ride, cant wait till the next dry day very keen to hit some empty motorways, some country roads, etc. Does yours have ninja or GPX on the side? I wanna get some ninja decals

[zeocen]

I think 88 - 90 has Ninja on it and 90 + have GPX, not 100% sure on that though.. mines a battered and broken 1990 so it says Ninja, so I call it a ninja, hehe.

You should come on some 250 rides (looking a little slim though, McJim!?! Donor!!??! Chickadee !?!?!?!??!, damn winter!). I'm yet to see a fellow GPX/Ninja'er on a group ride even though there's so many with the new models here on KB! It would be a laugh to match my poor battered (due to lowside from first week of riding heh) ninja next to the new model GPX's !