Helmet Cam

[Patch]

Hi all.I am considering buying a helmet camera and whould appreciate any advice on make and type from anyone on this forum who owns one,I have looked at a few and am drawn towards the Drift but will consider any advice you  may wish to add .Thanks

[Patch]

Thanks for your detailed reply Ali,very helpful I  will certainly take a look at GoPro before making my decision on which to buy.

[Caribbean Rider]

It depends what your budget is and what you want it to do.

GoPro are still head and shoulders above the rest but the others are catching up. The new H3+ has a few improvements over the H3 but not sufficient to warrant the price difference IMHO. The smaller cases of the H3+ will accommodate the older H3 as the camera bodies are identical. The H3's can now be found for a very good price.

The Hero 2 is still a very good camera and my choice on the bike.

The new GoPro software has a simple function to remove Fisheye quite effectively.

I have had Drifts for some years. The Drift HD does a very good job. Its downside is battery life and the hit and miss remote. This has been improved with The Ghost. My only experience of The Ghost is editing some footage from a friends camera while he was out here. I have no idea what settings he had but the picture quality wasn't good, it was dark and it suffered badly from "Jello". It may be he had a loose mount but this isn't something I experience with my Drift HD or even the older HD170's and I have only seen it on GoPro footage when mounted to a Quad Copter with unbalanced props.

Most modern cameras of this nature can suffer from Jello due to the way they record. It is caused by vibration and and bright sunlight will makes it worse.

Some other manufacturers such as Sony and JVC now have image stabilisation built in to their Action Cameras but for me GoPro is still the best.

There are many other cameras out there that are far cheaper and do a reasonable job. It all depends what you want it for and what you want from it.

The additional benifit of a GoPro for me when travelling is I can carry a "Steadicam Smoothee" http://www.tiffen.com/steadicam_smoothee_home2.html and have a very stable hand held video camera just using my GoPro. The new "Curve" due for release is more compact and easy to pack.

Solid suggestions.

I just bought a full GoPro3 Black rig including a 64gb card & LCD back-pack and a ton of accessories & mounts from a friend moving up to a 3+...for US$250. I had a bunch of things from a Hero2, but the camera broke off and was never found.

I posted some videos recently taken with the 3 Black in the video forum, and will post another later today.

I have become some handshake when taking videos by hand. To combat that, I just ordered a Flycam Flyboy steadycam for the GoPro, about US$55:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281244527503?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649



The little GoPro is an amazing camera. I use 720/60fps settings and the video quality is stellar.

[willbo]

While go pro maybe slightly ahead on image, drift ghost is ahead on functuality.  The sheer simple ease of use and positioning in my eyes can't be dismissed.

[Caribbean Rider]

While go pro maybe slightly ahead on image, drift ghost is ahead on functuality.  The sheer simple ease of use and positioning in my eyes can't be dismissed.

Image should be the #1 consideration, IMO.

My GoPro3 Black has a bluetooth remote that controls the camera. I'm putting the camera on my helmet and have the remote on the bars. One button operation.

[willbo]

My GoPro3 Black has a bluetooth remote that controls the camera. I'm putting the camera on my helmet and have the remote on the bars. One button operation.

there isn't a world of difference between image quality really, infact barely a nats whisker. drift ghost also have a remote control to activate/deactivate, pause and switch modes. they have a side screen to view recordings built in and the ability to rotate the lense to you don't need to move the camera. lastly, they don't look like your wearing a box on your head when mounted to a helmet






I've borrowed the images, one off stevee_p vstrom member. but they show an example of what I mean

[bat-kam]

lastly, they don't look like your wearing a box on your head when mounted to a helmet

This is exactly why I won't buy gopro or the hitachi from argos. I will keep saving money and buy drift ghost

[IanP]

Have a look at my You Tube page, I use a Drift HD, main reasons
 waterproof out of the box - easy to use remote - rotating lenses - lightweight slim design.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthVMGPurn3WRAdouSd-5Lg



Ian

[kirky1298]

Why would you want a camera on your helmet unless you were going off-road ??

[james.t]

Have a look at my You Tube page, I use a Drift HD, main reasons
 waterproof out of the box - easy to use remote - rotating lenses - lightweight slim design.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthVMGPurn3WRAdouSd-5Lg



Ian

hi ian can't get you dropbox link thing to work.
like your other video  
j

[kirky1298]

£40 or £300 ??    Nuff said .



Thanks for embedding  the video Martin , but now the footage looks rubbish . And you can't double tap it to go to YouTube . I'll stick the direct link back up too if that's OK mate .

[bat-kam]

Ian,
Quality looks really good. Do you know if it's worth spending more for the latest drift ghost s hd, or older drift hd will do the job?

[skinny5216]

I have the Go Pro 3, as for comparing picture quality don't always believe what you read or see. The go pro has so many different picture settings once in the editing you can make the picture look as dull or as bright as you want so comparing it to a £40 one ain't really a viable comparison. But saying that if you've done your research and the 40 dabber will do then fair enough go for it.  

[IanP]

Ian,
Quality looks really good. Do you know if it's worth spending more for the latest drift ghost s hd, or older drift hd will do the job?

Mines the Ghost, bought second hand off this forum, I also had the earlier model , but this one is much better.

As for why would you want one. 2 main reasons.
1. When I commuting, as evidence should I need it
2. Recording interesting and  enjoyable rides and views.

[Caribbean Rider]

Why would you want a camera on your helmet unless you were going off-road ??

Great POV and a whole lot less shake & vibration...

[Caribbean Rider]

I have an LCD back-pac for my GoPro Hero 3, as well as a battery back-pac and many mounting possibilities.

I also have the GoPro Android app that lets be see what I'm shooting as well as control the camera from my cell phone through wifi. Makes the GP easy to set up. Once set, I use the remote on the handle bars to turn it on and off, very simple with the bluetooth remote.

The GP 3/3+ black series is a huge evolution from the 2 series and 3 white/silver series.

My one complaint is battery life. So I bought the battery back-pack and three spare batteries.

[kirky1298]

I have the Go Pro 3, as for comparing picture quality don't always believe what you read or see. The go pro has so many different picture settings once in the editing you can make the picture look as dull or as bright as you want so comparing it to a £40 one ain't really a viable comparison. But saying that if you've done your research and the 40 dabber will do then fair enough go for it.  

The £ 40 camera blows the arse off the other 2 mentioned .Its half the size , half the weight , records 1080p video for over 2 hours continuously on a single charge , has all the settings of the others too .  I know because I own it . I may be biased though because I have more sense than money  

[skinny5216]

 
Hero must be quaking in their shoes

[Descolada]

As for why would you want one. 2 main reasons.
1. When I commuting, as evidence should I need it
2. Recording interesting and  enjoyable rides and views.

Spot on, that's exactly why I use one every day.

[Descolada]

I use a Contour ROAM. In my humble opinion all the major players are taking the piss with the asking price. They are nice cameras sure enough, but are they really worth that much money.

I like the fact that the Contour ROAM was the first of this kind to actually be shaped like they had thought about riders and Aerodynamics. Only problem is that as with so many other they completely missed the point by placing the mic on the front so all you can hear is wind noise, they never corrected this and it was a major factor in why people didn't buy more or their products. They went into administration late last year but have since had their company bought by an investment firm and are on the way back.

My ROAM is about two years old now and does a good job with 1080p. Given that (if your objective is to YouTube your videos) YouTube will do things to your upload that will lower the resolution it somewhat levels the field.

If money was no object today I would go for one of the new Drift Ghost S models. They have (finally) got the size under control and are improving the product. In the meantime I am getting a second camera to hard wire to the bike, one of these for £50. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterproof-Portable-Sports-Camera-Meters/dp/B00ENF3C5S/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ph_1/279-7926399-3301566