I spend a good part of my year working in China, which is where I initially got hooked on Ebikes (not surprising).
Inspired by the videos posted by 'Old Timer', I got to thinking, I would like to share my China Ebike experience with you guys.
So as anyone tried and/or can recommend a suitable bike camera. I have been looking at a number of helmet and handlebar mounted cameras and want if possible to keep the cost under £100.
Any advice appreciated.
Hiya
I`ve tried a handlebar mount and it`s just not on, too many bumps and too much background noise from road etc. Plus, I`m sure there was some electronic background noise from the motor on the video.
I`ve seen a lot of videos from those small helmet cams but to be honest I haven`t seen one that was satisfactory.
My advice(for what it`s worth.) I haven`t tried anything that worked as good as fitting a camera to your chest in some way (if you look back over my posts you`ll find a link or two to a video support that is designed specifically for a video camera but can be used for still camera. the strap goes over your neck and the short adjustable monopod type thing hangs down in front, designed for you to support it with a hand but you can just stick a bungie or two around your chest to hold it all in place. Now you have a platform and can set the angles etc up to suit plus you will be able to talk as you go. You might need some cotton wool or foam over the mike to cut down on wind noise.
As far as a camera goes then IMHO there isn`t a substitute for a modern digital still camera that has a video capability( you don`t need HD or anything special becuase most of the quality will be lost unless you are showing your work in a cinema
One thing that makes a big difference is IS (image stabilising)
Now I`m not sure what might be available for your budget but to be honest there are some stunning offers around on the net if you don`t mind not having the very latest spec(which you won`t need anyway) Try to buy a well known make like , panasonic, canon, nikon, casio or any of the top makes. Try to choose a flatish model and it will sit nice and flat against your chest (most are flat anyway) A lens that goes as wide as 24mm (that`s in the old 35mm film terms)would be good but more expensive but 28mm is OK. Once you start to get up to 35mm then you are narrowing the field of view although it should work fine. The good thing about the cheapish digital still cameras is that the chip that takes the picture is going to be fairly small (smaller than a postage stamp) and large still blow ups might look grainy but video (being a moving picture) can cope OK with that plus the small chip cameras give you massive DOF( depth of field) where everything from your handlebars to the moon will be in focus without the camera having to focus all the time (most cheap digital cameras will not auto focus once in video mode but no problem)
Have a look around and come back if you see something you fancy and want advice.
Dave
