Helmet Cameras Pros and Cons

[pablooo]

Glad to hear it's working out. Be careful with the velcro. A friend tried to go that route and lets just say that once at highway speeds, it got unstuck, his cam went flying, and turned into a projectile. It was never to be seen again. Not sure how strong even industrial velcro is but just thought I'd let you know.

[Martin]

Pabloo thanks for the warning, even running with the double sided tape I have been running with a tether on it. I will go and buy some 3M Velcro today There is also a slot on the mount that will take a small cable tie, this allows you to secure the camera to the mount and tether. The whole thing is extremely compact and light 3oz (80gr) 2.6"H x .82"W x .74"D (5.6 x 2.1 x 1.9 cm). I will post picture of the camera mounted to a helmet. My long distance helmet is a Nolan flip front which will require a side mount solution which the mounts supplied don't allow for. To mount it to the chin on my full face backup  ( $10.00 brand new dump day helmet) requires modifying the mount to allow it to tilt back enough to get the right angle shot. I had to remove a stop and file it down at an angle to allow it to tilt  back further I also had to use a heat gun to curve the mount to conform with the curve of my helmet. Down loading takes a fair bit of time but when down loaded to the computer, it breaks up the video into small sections which allows you to find sections that you are looking for. Unless you get really close to the vehicle it is hard to make out number plates, but from what I've seen on YouTube this is a common problem.
Regards Martin.

[Martin]

Had to do a few mods to the camera mount to get it pointing at the right angle. Originally the two faces of the mount were parallel, I needed to remove a lock stop and file the mount back to get a better angle. I also bent the mount which was originally flat to conform with the curve of the helmet chin. I'll go for a ride and see if I've got it right and then try a load it up. Had the coldest night in a long time 9C today 24C.
Regards Martin.

[Laitch]

That's a fetching little gizmo, Martin! I hope it works well for you and that you are able to post some interesting, non-life threatening moments here.

[Martin]

Laitch just got back from another test ride looks like I am shooting too low now. Gradually ground down the bracket, but the only way I could get the right angle was to move the camera up so I could tilt it further. This however interfered with the visor closing, I've come to the conclusion I'll have to manufacture the back part of the mount in order to get the visor clearance and the angle correct. A trial run with the visor partially open revealed a problem with picking up number plates clearly. Although it is better than I expected from an $8.50 camera . Once I've got the new bracket sorted how do I go about posting videos? Do I have to get my daughter involved, or is it easy.  :hehehe
Regards Martin.
 

[Martin]

Just tried to load a two minute trial video shot with the new helmet camera unfortunately it must have been to big. While the images are not GO-Pro standard they are good enough to prove who was at fault. The only other problems are that if you are using it to document a trip you would probably have to carry heaps of Micro SD cards and swap before they are rewritten. The other problem is the battery life which I think is about two hours. However one of those battery back up storage devices can be had from around $10.00. If this works out I might eventually upgrade to something better, but this is fine for the moment.
Regards Martin.

[Martin]

The You Tube video seems to have disappeared I will try and get it back.
Regards a perplexed and cheesed off Martin.

[Farmrjohn]

Most impressive, drivers actually using their turn signals rather than relying on ESP as they do here in Cali.

[Filmcamera]

Is there any way of making the field of view wider? The quality is ok, just that the field of view is pretty narrow compared to most action cams so you might risk missing crucial evidence in case of an accident.

[Martin]

You could always get two additional cameras one for either side of your helmet, it would improve the field of view.  :dunno I however have found a flaw with the camera, it seems to run flat after about an hour. It can be fixed with a $10.00 battery bank. Overall I'm still pretty impressed on what you can get for under $10.00 Au. I ended up mounting the camera on the chin with a homemade aluminium angle bracket mounted with extra heavy duty Velcro and a leash. I have also wondered whether mounting it to the bike would reduce a bit of the camera bounce.
Regards Martin.

[Rcgreaves]

this is interesting, thanks.  I aspire to better understand how to cancel wind noise.  I fart around with a Go Pro knock off on my RC planes enough to know how annoying it is.  Won't a bike mounted camera be more subject to shock than on the helmet? 


I agree that a forward facing camera won't catch the plate of someone blindsiding you in a crash but methinks id be looking at him and his license plate by the time we collide.   

[Filmcamera]

I use a Sena 20S communicator and they also make a GoPro pack which connects to the back of the GoPro.That way the sound captured by the GoPro is the sound from Sena helmet mike.  There is basically no wind noise. Almost too much so, you can hardly hear the bike at all - I  have tried using both mikes at at the same time but then the wind noise takes over again.

[Martin]

I did think about taping over the mike, but concluded that having no sound might be a disadvantage at certain times. Sound could come in handy before and after the fact. I've had one woman deny responsibility and then confess, and then turn around and deny it again. A camera with sound would have come in handy. I'm going for a ride today and will investigate the price of a battery bank which seems to me to be the cameras biggest weakness.
Regards Martin.

[riots100]

I have also wondered whether mounting it to the bike would reduce a bit of the camera bounce.

Hard mounting the camera to the bike will increase camera bounce and vibration.  Your body has natural shock absorber/vibration dampening qualities.  I agree with Film Camera in that the field of view is a bit narrow (more telephoto than wide angle) and this only amplifies the camera bounce.

[Martin]

Due to the fact that I would eliminate the ability to track cars I've decided to leave it as is. I not concerned with the wind noise , I think it should still catch my screaming and cussing. Besides getting a battery bank I'm pretty happy with it and will now run it as is. The battery bank will also allow me to attach it to my phone as well as my MP3, so pretty much a win win.
I'll try and fix the You Tube connection and I'll report if and when it fails. I do like it's light weight and compactness, which is going to be hard to replicate if and when I decided to upgrade.
Regards Martin.

[Rcgreaves]

I mounted a GP clone by R/C aircraft vendor hobbyking last week in time to record my accident in minute detail. priceless footage.  Makes so much sense for documenting your next encounter with a rager...

[Martin]

RC where can I view the footage. I ended up purchasing a 8 Gb power supply to run the camera, Mp3 player and as an emergency backup for my phone. The camera is performing well so far, I pickup a brand new full face helmet with incorrect size marking on dump day. Cost of new helmet $5.00 Au including helmet bag. I had mounted the camera to my previous helmet with  heavy duty Velcro, I think this was allowing it to flex and move around. I  might use heavy duty double sided tape this time.
Regards Martin.

[Rcgreaves]

I decided to mount my GoPro Clone of the well known SJ4000 action cam on my helmet chin based on comments here.  THis is my camera I use it on a tricopter an rc planes generally...


https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-hd-actioncam-1080p-full-hd-video-camera-w-waterproof-case.html


This cam is klugey, you get what you pay for but for what it is Ive captured some priceless footage both in the air and of late on my brick.


Behind the Aeroflow touring windscreen there is little buffeting noise.  mounted to my chin it sees what I see so apart from waving my head around it gives a smooth view. 


The weight is a non issue and to my shame I crashed with it on and it survived without a scratch inside the waterproof holder it documented my shunt in amazing fashion.    Controls inside the enclosure are klugey but functional. 


Wide angle camera lense renders fish eye of some images of the horizon etc. I use a free software tool ProDrenelin  to process the footage when it matters. 


It makes a lot of sense to me to have a cam available activated when something gets dicey and just delete the file if there's nothing of note to retain. 

[wmax351]

http://m.sfgate.com/news/article/Hit-and-run-driver-suspected-of-plowing-into-12261942.php

Helmet cam on a motorcyclist leads to arrest of a truck driver that deliberately hit a group of bicyclists near my hometown. So that's another advantage.

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