Hi,

 

Looking to get the Duchess a birthday present (I really owe her at the moment) so thought about a camera she could clip onto the handlebars of her beloved bike, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't wear a helmet one.

 

Don't know too much about them so would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I guess one of the things it would need is a fairly good battery to get a decent recording time.

 

Thanks for any help.

Hi,

 

Looking to get the Duchess a birthday present (I really owe her at the moment) so thought about a camera she could clip onto the handlebars of her beloved bike, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't wear a helmet one.

 

Don't know too much about them so would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I guess one of the things it would need is a fairly good battery to get a decent recording time.

 

Thanks for any help.

Look up techmoan.com. He is a British based reviewer of gadgets including action cams. There is a link dedicated to these on his main page. I bought mine two years ago and it was everything he said it was. These cams have come a way since then so you should be able to find one that meets your needs.

SJCAM M20 is pretty good at £90. It has the giro stabiliser and 2k resolution. the battery lasts about 90 mins recording at 2k 30 fps. I take a spare for 3 hour rides, though you can power it by USB from a separate powerpack if you want. It does rolling-road recording, so you don't need to delete anything.

 

here's some footage I took on my road bike, so it's a bit more bumpy than an MTB with suspension forks, and it's been cut down to 1080P by Youtube. the original is higher resolution at 2k.

 

SJCAM M20 is pretty good at £90. It has the giro stabiliser and 4k resolution. the battery lasts about 90 mins recording at 4k 30 fps.

Looks like 2k:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAyNFg5NTA=/z/ZcAAAOSwQXZZvblm/$_10.JPG?set_id=880000500F

But 1080p@60fps.

Look up techmoan.com. He is a British based reviewer of gadgets including action cams. There is a link dedicated to these on his main page. I bought mine two years ago and it was everything he said it was. These cams have come a way since then so you should be able to find one that meets your needs.

 

Totally agree re Techmoan. Very good impartial reviews based on a lot of experience.

Looks like 2k:

t 1080p@60fps.

Correct. My mistake. Still pretty good though. Best out of all the ones i tried.

I bought one a while back on d8veh recommendation and find it excellent, and much cheaper than a go-pro.

SJCAM M20 is pretty good at £90. It has the giro stabiliser and 2k resolution. the battery lasts about 90 mins recording at 2k 30 fps. I take a spare for 3 hour rides, though you can power it by USB from a separate powerpack if you want. It does rolling-road recording, so you don't need to delete anything.

 

here's some footage I took on my road bike, so it's a bit more bumpy than an MTB with suspension forks, and it's been cut down to 1080P by Youtube. the original is higher resolution at 2k.

 

Oh dear flecc might think you were going to fast close to those pedestrians at the start

SJCAM M20 is pretty good at £90.

 

Ordered one and it's turned up this morning. Nice bit of kit. It didn't like any of the 4gb cards out of my car camera's, so I popped across to a well known electrical retailers and treated it to a 32gb Sandisk and it's much happier. Itching to try it out, but the weather's dreadful. Am I wrong, or, in the multitude of adapters, is there no quick release plate that mates with the handle bar mount?

 

Gaz

if you use this to render the video then you tube wont put it down to 1080p.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/davinciresolve/

 

if you have say 4k video files and use the youtube editor then it will convert them to 1080p if it is more than 1 file.

Had a closer than comfortable one on the way home:

 

 

I'm wondering if I should change the camera settings to improve the resolution to get number plates. To be fair it was wet and the light was fading.

 

Can any experienced M20 users advise what settings they've found best?

 

Ta

 

Gaz

Personally I wouldn't get stressed and hung up over trying to prosecute every shit car driver you come across. Just accept they are out there on the road and you will come across them from time to time, and enjoy your ride.

there is plenty of room on the pavement and no speed limit

I'm wondering if I should change the camera settings to improve the resolution to get number plates. To be fair it was wet and the light was fading.

The picture seems worse than the resolution would suggest. Do you have the camera in a crappy plastic housing perhaps? Maybe it's just the mist and moisture that's the problem.

I dare say 120fps would help with fast movement as well...

problem is the poor light and the conditions at night even with a light my action cam is useless.

Saw a nice one in my LBS today - a combined light/camera. Looked to have excellent video quality on it. 400 lumens light too... thought it was a good idea. Can't remember the make though, or the price!

Saw a nice one in my LBS today - a combined light/camera. Looked to have excellent video quality on it. 400 lumens light too... thought it was a good idea. Can't remember the make though, or the price!

 

Cycliq Fly 12 Circa £250/275 ?

That's it! Ta...

Personally I wouldn't get stressed and hung up over trying to prosecute every **** car driver you come across. Just accept they are out there on the road and you will come across them from time to time, and enjoy your ride.

 

Neither stressed, nor hung up on it. As a very new and inexperienced user of this type of camera, I'd like to ensure I've got the camera settings at their optimal on the off chance that if an event happens that could do with recorded evidence it's the best it could be. This clip suggests I haven't quite sussed it yet. I've had front and rear Blackvue's in my cars for over five years, and haven't reported anyone yet.

 

Do you have the camera in a crappy plastic housing perhaps? Maybe it's just the mist and moisture that's the problem.

 

It is in a plastic housing, although I wouldn't describe it as crappy. The plastic that's in front of the camera's lens is very clear indeed, but the moisture undoubtedly had an effect on the overall quality.

 

The camera resolution is currently set at 1080P 60fps, but I wondered if 2k 30fps, or 4k 24fps would be better? 120fps is only optioned at 720P, which I'm guessing would be a sharper image at a reduced pixel quality - or have I got that round the wrong way?

 

Whatever happened to the nice choices of low, medium and high, for the luddites like me?

 

Gaz

That's it! Ta...

 

20% off at the mo, £219.99 @Wiggle.

there is plenty of room on the pavement and no speed limit

 

You might be onto something there SW. That particular bit of road isn't good at the best of times for cyclists due to the curve, parked cars, and it's a busy rat-run. The footpath has however just been re-surfaced and is pretty good now, all the way along

 

Gaz

I wouldn't pay an excessive amount for a bike cam (£100 max for me). You've all seen my vids and, as d8veh mentioned, youtube does a max of 1080p resolution. 30 fps (frames per second) is plenty for smooth play to the human eye. My current bike cams cost 80 quid when new out. They went down to £25 before they disappeared off the market.

 

 

Mine still work, but they're falling to bits now. They're easily rattled lose, bumped or lost on bikes and the most expensive isn't necessarily the best either, in my humble opinion.

https://www.tomtop.com/p-d4621b.html

https://www.tomtop.com/p-d4621b.html

 

4k resolution uses massive amounts of data, saps battery life and takes forever to convert or upload / download. I'm using 2k on a 30" screen, which is plenty at that size. On a bike, as a traffic cam, it's a bit overkill. However, if you're into video editing and movie making, it might be worth the shekels.