April 13, 201115 yr And here is the video footage... YouTube - shoulder The video is very good! Well, you've gorn and upset someone at YouTube, as they've removed your video as it is 'too long'. How long was it? Or was it just wrong format? I was looking forward to it! Allen.
April 13, 201115 yr Author Well, you've gorn and upset someone at YouTube, as they've removed your video as it is 'too long'. How long was it? Or was it just wrong format? I was looking forward to it! Allen. How annoying! It was like 30 seconds too long and it took 3+ hours to upload (470mb). Should of checked.... ah well, I've trimmed it now and reuploaded overnight so here it is.. YouTube - Vado #3: Camera on shoulder
April 13, 201115 yr You've cracked it! Morphix , you've cracked it! ... That IS excellent. Perhaps you can move to the audio thread and sort out the audio as well and remove the wind noise. The audio actually didn't seem too bad in the sheltered areas . Liked your attempts to tailgate the bus. I like doing that. My tip? Get closer! .. And did you manage to catch up to the cyclist? - Perhaps theres a sequel?
April 13, 201115 yr CAR DVR - Shooting from a TRIBAR I dont think this is quite as good as Morphix's shooting from the shoulder but its not bad. As long as the footage is watchable and doesn't cause sickness or epilepsy then I think it should be considered a success.
April 13, 201115 yr As we are trying different devices and others may join in with their experiences should we have a Camera review thread so that we can see a list of the devices like that bike reviews thread. Can we/should we create one of these?
April 13, 201115 yr Author Morphix , you've cracked it! ... That IS excellent. Perhaps you can move to the audio thread and sort out the audio as well and remove the wind noise. The audio actually didn't seem too bad in the sheltered areas . Liked your attempts to tailgate the bus. I like doing that. My tip? Get closer! .. And did you manage to catch up to the cyclist? - Perhaps theres a sequel? Thanks, it did come out quite steady didn't it. I noticed watching it again that the video is a little washed out. I think I accidentally put the white balance up. That's a problem on this Vado HD camera. It has these annoying touch sensitive controls on the back for zoom and brightness, really easy to brush them before you start recording. I shot that video in "HD" mode which is not quite as good as the HD+ mode, I thought it would reduce file size being a longer test, but still came out nearly 500Mb Yes the audio is not too bad at all, there was a strong headwind yesterday when I was filming which didn't help, but I think in normal conditions the camera would do ok. I love chasing the buses and trying to keep up with them. I do most of my test videos on the bus route lane as it's safer to keep stopping and starting and don't have to keep looking behind. That cyclist was on steroids or super fit because as hard as I tried, even with full power, I couldn't catch him up! Did you see him take that hill?! That's a fairly steep hill too. My battery was struggling a bit though as it was down to 1 bar which is unusual, normally it cuts out on 2 bars.. the battery cut out literally right outside my flat building, how often does that happen?! Edited April 13, 201115 yr by morphix
April 13, 201115 yr Author As long as the footage is watchable and doesn't cause sickness or epilepsy then I think it should be considered a success. Hehe I totally agree. I don't think we'll ever get completely smooth videos on two wheels.. but as you say, providing it doesn't give you nausea watching it, it's considered a success.
April 13, 201115 yr Author As we are trying different devices and others may join in with their experiences should we have a Camera review thread so that we can see a list of the devices like that bike reviews thread. Can we/should we create one of these? Splendid idea. Would you like to do the honours and start the thread? I'd be happy to post some reviews of my cameras and best test footage clips.. I think the thread would be useful to anyone thinking of getting a camera for filming their ebike rides..can be very confusing choosing with so many different cameras available. At least we can show what works for those on a budget. I'm going to order a Panasonic HD-TA1 (they are £50 free delivery on Amazon) to compare it with the Vado HD as it has an external mic and the added benefit of the anti-shake EIS feature..let's see if it has the edge on the Vado! I'm hoping my MD80 mini cam will arrive today so I can test that and compare bike mounting filming to your successful videos, but the weather doesn't look very promising.
April 13, 201115 yr Morphix I like your latest video with the Vado #3: Shooting from the shoulder, much reduced shake. I have just finished uploading a sort test video to Youtube. I know this is not exactly a cycling video (there is a cyclist in the clip), but I thought you might like to see the comparison between a cheap Chinese HD 720P key ring camera, and the Panasonic HM-TA1 HD 1080P pocket camera. I have the cameras attached to my back pack shoulder straps, in a similar position to the morphix Vado #3. They seem quite firm but as you can see in the vids any movement when walking shows up. Hope I can get out on the bikes soon as my back is getting slightly better, but I am not risking further injury by cycling on the rough roads. The videos have been edited and recompiled. And yes, with the original media there is a noticeable difference in the colour variation especially with the key ring camera (red tinting). Lighting was bright scattered sun light. Sound, there was quite a gusty wind blowing which can be heard with both cameras. So some kind of sound proofing will be needed on the bike; I have some thin grey foam to stick in front of the mic to see if that will work. YouTube - Camera comparison #11 HD keyring cam vs HM-TA-1 If you can, look at the video at HD 720P resolution. Unfortunately the quality of the video is not as good on Youtube as it is with the raw material. I am Just working on different mounting arrangements to use on my bikes. Like Alan (kitchenman) a forward and backward view can be interesting to experiment with. And may be different angles and heights. I have a couple of the HD key ring cameras to play with. Chris
April 13, 201115 yr Would you like to do the honours and start the thread? Yes. Sure. How do I create a sub-forum? Do I need to contact the forum administrator or can I just create one?
April 13, 201115 yr I am Just working on different mounting arrangements to use on my bikes. Chris Nice work Chris. I think you'll find the rear view will be much nicer to watch. Sometimes when I've had an interesting ride home I will watch my ride home while I'm getting cleaned up. Thats one advantage of using a PSP i.e .you can watch it straight away without copying to a pc etc... Regarding a front mount I need to have the camera mounted on the handle bar or my tribar extension so I need to find a device or a device/mount that has the least shake. Although I may also use a body mount i.e have 2 frontview cams! The issue I have with a body mount is that it moves! Look foward to your test results.
April 13, 201115 yr Author Morphix I like your latest video with the Vado #3: Shooting from the shoulder, much reduced shake. I have just finished uploading a sort test video to Youtube. I know this is not exactly a cycling video (there is a cyclist in the clip), but I thought you might like to see the comparison between a cheap Chinese HD 720P key ring camera, and the Panasonic HM-TA1 HD 1080P pocket camera. I have the cameras attached to my back pack shoulder straps, in a similar position to the morphix Vado #3. They seem quite firm but as you can see in the vids any movement when walking shows up. Hope I can get out on the bikes soon as my back is getting slightly better, but I am not risking further injury by cycling on the rough roads. The videos have been edited and recompiled. And yes, with the original media there is a noticeable difference in the colour variation especially with the key ring camera (red tinting). Lighting was bright scattered sun light. Sound, there was quite a gusty wind blowing which can be heard with both cameras. So some kind of sound proofing will be needed on the bike; I have some thin grey foam to stick in front of the mic to see if that will work. YouTube - Camera comparison #11 HD keyring cam vs HM-TA-1 If you can, look at the video at HD 720P resolution. Unfortunately the quality of the video is not as good on Youtube as it is with the raw material. I am Just working on different mounting arrangements to use on my bikes. Like Alan (kitchenman) a forward and backward view can be interesting to experiment with. And may be different angles and heights. I have a couple of the HD key ring cameras to play with. Chris Cool video Chris, thanks for sharing. I'm always interested to see the output from different cameras. I like how you did the little intro I wish mine looked so good The little keyring cam doesn't do a bad job does it for such a tiny cam..resolution and detail looks sharp also the audio pick up is nice and clear too. The Panasonic has very nice video quality indeed. I would be interested to see how you get on with those keyring cams on your bike..should get some reasonably steady footage with them being so small if you can mount them up securely. I was thinking along the same lines as yourself for the wind shielding over the mic, some of that grey packaging foam used on PC components might do the trick. Paul
April 13, 201115 yr I created a thread in the charging post asking how to do it! as I cant see how it can be done ..
April 13, 201115 yr Author I created a thread in the charging post asking how to do it! as I cant see how it can be done .. Ah sorry I misread, I didn't realise you wanted to create a new sub-forum! I thought you meant just a new thread :o Edited April 13, 201115 yr by morphix
April 14, 201115 yr Todays testing Mounted the CAR DVR for a rear view and my PSP USB cam on the front. Results are as I thought. The CAR DVR is excellent and the PSP is very good. I will upload the evidence this evening. These results show that having a light cam on the front is the way to go. I'll weigh the cams but I know that the PSP USB cam is much lighter than the CAR DVR. Will ensure that Weight is part of the new sub forum template , along with Shake. (can you think of anything else? ) So for example we would in the case of the PSP CAM have the following: Product: PSP CAM/CABLE Price: £40.00 Mount Location: Tribar Mount brakets: Velcro straps Review:A very light weight device. Good quality images. Utube Ref: Photo:[ATTACH]1968.vB[/ATTACH] Weight: 1g Shake: Very Good HD: No File Type: AVI File Dimensions:480 * 272 File Bit rate: 352 kbps Conversion needed before upload to UTUBE? Yes
April 14, 201115 yr Author Mounted the CAR DVR for a rear view and my PSP USB cam on the front. Results are as I thought. The CAR DVR is excellent and the PSP is very good. I will upload the evidence this evening. These results show that having a light cam on the front is the way to go. I'll weigh the cams but I know that the PSP USB cam is much lighter than the CAR DVR. Will ensure that Weight is part of the new sub forum template , along with Shake. (can you think of anything else? ) So for example we would in the case of the PSP CAM have the following: Product: PSP CAM/CABLE Price: £40.00 Mount Location: Tribar Mount brakets: Velcro straps Review:A very light weight device. Good quality images. Utube Ref: Photo:[ATTACH]1968[/ATTACH] Weight: 1g Shake: Very Good HD: No File Type: AVI File Dimensions:480 * 272 File Bit rate: 352 kbps Conversion needed before upload to UTUBE? Yes Good work Alan, looks good to me..lots of info there. If I could offer a suggestion, maybe we could have an agreed rating system for camera shake.. something like: poor = very jerky video not watchable acceptable = some shake, but still ok to watch good = fairly stable image, some bumps and maybe some vibration exellent = very stable and smooth Or maybe a rating from 1 to 5 with 1 being extremely poor and 5 being excellent, displayed like this: *** or 3/5
April 14, 201115 yr Author MD80 Mini-DVR cam here for review Well the replacement MD80 arrived today from 7dayshop and this one actually works! I took it out earlier to shoot some test footage... Tried it in a variety of mounts, clipped to hi vis pocket, clipped to my fleece, clipped to brake cable, and finally sellotaped securely to front reflector. I will save doing a full review until our new cam review sub-forum is up and running, but I will post the best test footage on YouTube this evening.. Like kitchenman I had a real problem setting the time and date which seems to use the same method as the Car DVR cam (I think the two cameras are made using the same technology and maybe by same factory even). I finally worked out how to set the date and time, it was just a question of putting the TAG.TXT file in the right directory. http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/1831/md80.jpg Edited April 14, 201115 yr by morphix
April 14, 201115 yr I finally worked out how to set the date and time, it was just a question of putting the TAG.TXT file in the right directory. If any fellow Mac users ever work out how to change date/time on OSX, I'd be ever so grateful, as we haven't got things like .txt .exe etc. files to put anywhere... A
April 14, 201115 yr Author If any fellow Mac users ever work out how to change date/time on OSX, I'd be ever so grateful, as we haven't got things like .txt .exe etc. files to put anywhere... A Hi Allen, dunno if this might be helpful to you... Regards, Paul;
April 14, 201115 yr I have looked into this for the bike and motorbike and the best solution I have found is the GoPro Hero HD. Affordable if you are seious about it. Steve
April 14, 201115 yr Author I have looked into this for the bike and motorbike and the best solution I have found is the GoPro Hero HD. Affordable if you are seious about it. Steve Hi Steve, I have looked at that camera and the footage it produces and agree it's probably the best solution for super stable video but I think the price is prohibitive still for many people at £300. I could afford it, but I really can't justify spending that much on a bike camera. Are you going to get one yourself? Paul
April 14, 201115 yr Hi Allen, dunno if this might be helpful to you... Regards, Paul; Paul: it is PERFECT, thanks! Same camera, same operating system - soon as I get half an hour tomorrow, I'll do it and report. A
April 14, 201115 yr Mounted the CAR DVR for a rear view and my PSP USB cam on the front This is the PSP on the front doing the CAR DVR rear next!
April 14, 201115 yr This is the PSP on the front doing the CAR DVR rear next! and the CAR DVR: Had some problems mounting it hence the sideways view. But good enough to check of camera shake. Will sort out the mount before the ride in the morning if I get up early enough!
April 14, 201115 yr Author Car Dvr This is the PSP on the front doing the CAR DVR rear next! Not bad at all for a little camera is it! I actually quite enjoyed watching that, moving along at a nice speed.
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