Video cameras and bikes?

[zeocen]

Well my videos are somewhat different, as I use it for my biker friends in other countries, I have a camera in my helmet which allows me to talk about where I am, etc.. Over at livevideo.com there is a nice cosey area of motorcycle video loggers and we all watch each others videos to check out the world's roads etc..

I moved from my bulky Sony DSC-T3 (compact cam that can take video) to a Kodak V570, in my secondary helmet (Nitro) I modified the inside so I am able to slot the camera in snug with the lens just peeking over the chin guard, but not enough to obstruct my vision in any way (one of the Sony's downfalls). Another great plus is that it has 30fps recording, with about 1.40hrs recording at 640x480x30fps on a 2GB stick. Also, it has image stabilisation which keeps the bumps, etc felt from the road to a minimum. It also has two lenses, one for normal video view and one for widescreen, I record on the wide screen to get more of the scenery in.

Anyway, I am currently still testing my set up and did a test video, I don't go on any exciting roads, just a test to see camera placement, etc.. So far this is the best quality video that records the longest, that I have found. Bullet cam's were just too many wires for me, especially since I can just slot this in, turn it on and press record.

I usually talk in my videos, for the overseas folk at livevideo.com, telling them where I am, etc or what I am doing.. the sound quality is phenominal and you get the 'first person' view really well. Although in this particular vid I forgot my 'cat crap' so when I breathe or laugh the visor fogs up :P I chose this set up over bullet cams and things like Hero Cam's etc just because it is inside my visor, so the wind noise is minimal, which lets me hear the bike tone/myself etc, otherwise I would have gotten one of those Flycams or Hero cams.

Thinking of getting a camera mount for my tank which will let me bolt into the tripod screw on the bottom of the cam, to make for a great set up when I don't feel like talking!

[captain_andrey]

erm pretty sure it doesnt do 720p. Are you sure you are not looking at the HS100 or something else?

It records video at 640x480. MPEG2 format so nice and easy post processing.

I specifically wanted a non HD, cheapish solid state camera that I can knock around on a bike or take snowboarding with me.

[captain_andrey]

OH also, battery lasts for 3 hours or a bit more if you turn the LCD off. And its about 1 hour per 4gigs of memory on highest quality so about 4 hours on my 16gig card. (it takes SDHC)

[skelstar]

Ah, review is for the FS10. I have a Panasonic DMC-FX01 (I think) and its a still camera that does normal and widescreen video... widescreen at about 800x480. Its pretty cool, but think I can't do a card bigger than 2GB SD which means only about 20mins of video, albeit at 30fps.

[captain_andrey]

Nah, the DMC-FX01 wont take SDHC cards, so you better stock up on the 2gig ones.
848 x 480 is nice but its not all about resolution. I always find the video quality on Point and Shoot cameras to be very sub par.
Also, whoever invented Motion JPEG format should be shot.

[zeocen]

Nah, the DMC-FX01 wont take SDHC cards, so you better stock up on the 2gig ones.
848 x 480 is nice but its not all about resolution. I always find the video quality on Point and Shoot cameras to be very sub par.
Also, whoever invented Motion JPEG format should be shot.

I'll have to upload one of my videos to youtube's new high quality option then, both the Sony and the Kodak compact still cameras take amazing video. The Kodak being the superior of the two. Sony records in .avi and Kodak records in .mov

Both can do 30fps but the Kodak has wide angle and better image stabilisation and much, much longer recording at higher resolutions.

[captain_andrey]

mov and avi are just containers. Its the compression that actually matters. mov containers are pretty hard to work with unless you want to do all your post processing on a mac. Most compacts use MJPEG which is just a waste of memory.

If you really want a compact that does video, Samsung nv24hd is pretty nice. Its using h.264

[skelstar]

Shit, that Samsung camera is only $599 at DSE... surely can buy cheaper somewhere else.

10 mega pixel still camera. Hmm...

[captain_andrey]

It gets pretty average reviews for stills but very good results for video

[Headbanger]

On an RC car it'd be the thumps that'd be the problem.
Electric or gas?
On or off-road?

I done some filming on an RC car a few days before I tried it on the bike, And to be perfectly honest I was well pleased with the quality, especially as I had a single piece of electrical tape holding the camera to the roof of the car.

Next time I'll mount it so a bit of the car is in the frame to give it some perspective, Going to try it off-road as well, Should be sweet footage when I do it during a race.

[zeocen]

mov and avi are just containers. Its the compression that actually matters. mov containers are pretty hard to work with unless you want to do all your post processing on a mac. Most compacts use MJPEG which is just a waste of memory.

If you really want a compact that does video, Samsung nv24hd is pretty nice. Its using h.264

Ahh true, true. Well I do believe the Kodak and Sony are one of the two best compact ones with non telescopic lenses! I agree with you that .mov is nigh impossible to post process, Vegas is not optimised for it at all, I might have to re-learn premiere just to have fluid preview video so I can edit it

[Headbanger]

righto, In a bid to decrease the amount of bulk required for using my usual Helmet Camera it was decided to buy the DV camera for sale at Helmetcamera.com. Not only would this remove the need to carry a normal size DV cam but when combined with the 9v battery option and the new cable it would mean all the gear would be reduced down to the size of a pocket camera.

Sounds good......but....

The cable (1 cable that replaces about 6 others all with multiple connections), Doesn't fit my helmet camera, Going to see If I can find someone to modify it, So back to using the multiple cables from the old setup.

9v battery, Meant to run the camera for 45 minutes, I doubt I got 4 minutes, Maybe a naff battery but it was only purchased today and had a use by date of 2015, So I had to go back to the old powerpack which is 8 AA batteries.

Now none of fits in the new slick camera case I purchased.....feck.

Anyway, I went for a ride, filmed teh footage, and then discovered the camera records in a format called ASF (which is just a really bastard version of the ultra suck hole WMV) using a codec called M4S2, And nothing I have can do squat with it, Not even a version of virtual dub I found specificley built to handle ASF files. It seems M4S2 is just about the worst codec any video can be encoded into.

I hate propriety video formats, and until this afternoon I hated MOV the most, But this is just as bad in every way, If not worse.

As a last resort I have used Super to encode them into a format I can edit, But I'm not happy, not happy at all.

[NordieBoy]

I use an ATC2K on the SVS, mounted on the end of the handle bar, and do get some kind of weird wavy interference - like a flag waving in slomo.....'twould be good to cure the problem if possible - although I suspect that this is a vain hope...

It's a vain hope with an ATC2K.
You get vibration induced "wave" mainly on vertical lines (trees etc).
As far as I can work out it's a combination of the narrow FOV and the encoder chip interpolating the vibration as movement and trying to smooth it out.

Apparantly if you mod the lens to a wider angle one it reduces the waving.

[slofox]

It's a vain hope with an ATC2K.
You get vibration induced "wave" mainly on vertical lines (trees etc).
As far as I can work out it's a combination of the narrow FOV and the encoder chip interpolating the vibration as movement and trying to smooth it out.

Apparantly if you mod the lens to a wider angle one it reduces the waving.

Ahh Thanks NB - (I have moved the thread BTW....). Verily it is a pain in the arse - get motion sickness watching it...maybe should try a helmet mount....?

[NordieBoy]

Ahh Thanks NB - (I have moved the thread BTW....). Verily it is a pain in the arse - get motion sickness watching it...maybe should try a helmet mount....?

Still a bit of motion sickness with the helmet mount...