Cheap Cyclecam

[Cyclezee]

OK, I'm interested, but being to lazy to shop around for a Micro SD card Therefore to save me doing the trawling, is it cheaper to buy a camera with card included or source one seperately

J hn

 

[NRG]

Probably, unless you can find an SD card with free shipping of ebay....

 

[Caph]

I notice this later version has a replaceable battery.

New Mini DV DVR Video Camera Sports Recorder Camcorder - eBay (item 330469272165 end time Oct-05-10 18:31:51 PDT)

That seller also does a video camera integrated into a pair of sunglasses! I guess it makes sense to combine two cycling accessories/gadgets in to one.

New Mini DV DVR Sun glasses Camera Audio Video Recorder - eBay (item 390235512895 end time Oct-05-10 18:24:05 PDT)

 

[NRG]

Some pics of the insides of the cheap cam:

230mAh battery, measures about 40x15x5mm and gives just under an hour of filming....

Blue LED is easily seen in daylight but not the red one, it's simply too dim...

So I thought I'd drill a hole in the case to enable me to see it....

The hole is not quite in the right position I should have drilled it a little futher forward but at least I can now see the LED!

The plastic is really soft and those tiny screws strip the threads easily so beware.

 

[allen-uk]

Brilliant! And having seen the film (superb quality, even with your comments about YouTube), I want one too.

My problem seems to be that (having had a quick glance at those on ebay) is Operating System for the drivers - they all seem to be for PCs (inevitable, of course). So now my hunt begins for one that works on Mac OS X.

Might be cheaper to buy a PC!


A.

 

[NRG]

You only need a driver if you want to use it as a web cam, other wise it appears to the system as a USB drive, it should work on any Mac....

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks nrg, makes sense.

I shall report back...


A

 

[tillson]

Brilliant! And having seen the film (superb quality, even with your comments about YouTube), I want one too.

My problem seems to be that (having had a quick glance at those on ebay) is Operating System for the drivers - they all seem to be for PCs (inevitable, of course). So now my hunt begins for one that works on Mac OS X.

Might be cheaper to buy a PC!


A.

My camera works on my iMac. It just shows up as an external memory device.

 

[allen-uk]

Thanks for the info Tillson; always good to meet another iMac user.


A

 

[tillson]

Thanks for the info Tillson; always good to meet another iMac user.


A

I made the change to a Mac earlier in the year. After many years of Windows usage, my patients finally ran out. The endless security updates, re-boots, lock ups and other crud made it a hateful experience.

I have had to install Parallels and Windows 7 on the Mac though as I occasionally need to use Memory Map and some accounting software that won't run under Mac OS.

If you haven't already done so, it's worth installing Windows on your Mac. Every time you boot to Windows, it reminds you that the outlay for a Mac was well worth it.

 

[allen-uk]

I am one of life's fortunates; I have NEVER used or owned a PC. Well, almost; we had one at work which I didn't get involved with, used for accounts, but even SHE switched to a Mac in later years.

I started on Macs in the late 80s (graphic design company) and when I retired about 12 years back I took my Mac home with me, later replacing it with an iMac. So, no Windows round this way!

A

 

[NRG]

Word of warning regarding these cheap cameras, make sure you delete your vids from the SD card. I've found that the vid that uses up the last space available on the card is not playable afterwards. IE I had 3 good vids on the card and I forgot to copy them off, space available was 3GB...so when there was no more capacity left my vid from yesterday terminated at 3GB but was not playable afterwards.

 

[CeeGee]

...space available was 3GB...so when there was no more capacity left my vid from yesterday terminated at 3GB but was not playable afterwards.

From that I would imagine that if you let the camera fill an SD card with just one video you will lose the whole thing if you excede the card limit.
For example, at 1gb per 10 minutes: if you try to film for 50 minutes on a 4gb card you will get nothing. Or, do you only lose it if there is more than one file on the card?

Colin

 

[NRG]

No the file was there, all 3GB of it but it would not play...the other 3 vids played OK.

 

[daniel.weck]

From that I would imagine that if you let the camera fill an SD card with just one video you will lose the whole thing if you excede the card limit.
For example, at 1gb per 10 minutes: if you try to film for 50 minutes on a 4gb card you will get nothing. Or, do you only lose it if there is more than one file on the card?

Colin

The video clip that gets abruptly interrupted due to lack of room on the memory card probably isn't "closed" properly by the recording software, resulting in an unreadable AVI/MJPEG file. The other video clips present on the Micro-SD card should remain unaffected.

 

[CeeGee]

The video clip that gets abruptly interrupted due to lack of room on the memory card probably isn't "closed" properly by the recording software, resulting in an unreadable AVI/MJPEG file. The other video clips present on the Micro-SD card should remain unaffected.

Thanks, the closure issue of the file makes complete sense to me; pity I didn't think of that.
Therefore it may be possible to recover it (especially as it seems to retain its size rather than show as 0kb), if it is really important - but best to heed the warning now that it has been given.

Colin

 

[z0mb13e]

You might want to try opening it in a program called Virtualdub - it's free and is very good at fixing truncated video files as long as you have a codec to suit.

 

[carpetbagger]

i got one...but i am waiting for memory card....pity because yesterday winding around the country roads of Pendle hill, i was being careful...25mph in case a car came around a corner....guess what....a woman on the wrong side of the road !!!! Two feet from a major pile up....Who said they can't drive.....and ride !!! .If only i'd had a working cam

 

[allen-uk]

What are these cheap ones like for sound, or is that asking too much? And if they DO do sound, how do you get round the inevitable wind noise?


Allen.

 

[daniel.weck]

Found here:

Air Command Water Rockets MD-80 camera clone

Via here:

MD80instructions.co.uk | All the information you need about the MD80 mini camcorder.