Newbie Helmet Camera Questions

[Chriss]

Hi all,

Does anyone use the VIO POV camera? Just looking to see if anyone has any issues with it. Is it very water proof? Most things motorcycle seem to claim water proof, but this doesn't include the heavy British rain we get occasionally. I'm looking to record my commute to cover myself.

Thanks for any thoughts and experiences.
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[imanupstart]

I have the non HD 1.5 but its pretty much the same unit. Dropped it several times, it can really take a bashing. It is waterproof, you can drop it in a puddle no worries Biggest weak point are the pins that attach the camera to the unit, they can break really easily if your constantly disconnecting the camera. A lot of money for just recording your commute though!

[G]

Sven has one and did a video review of it.

I've got the non-HD one and generally happy with it.
Biggest gripe is that ideally I'd want a 2 way remote that shows you if it's recording.

As above, expensive to record your commute. The go pro's wider angle of view might be better for that sort of thing, not sure if you can wire it in to the bike's power however.

[Chriss]

Go-pro is a cracking piece of kit, really like it, one downside for me is if I smash my helmet on the floor and it comes pinging off it could potentially be easily destroyed/lost. What I really like about this is the fact you could rip the camera out and the recording unit is still there. I realise this is the least of my worries in the event of an accident, but my excess for my bike is £500, this could very quickly and easily pay for itself.

Recently had an accident on a bicycle, white van just drove off from the scene, I saw the plate, but was in shock so remembered it wrong. Again, this could be easily moved from helmet to bicycle lid.

Know of other devices that do the same thing cheaper? Must be waterproof, with a recording brick and separate camera?
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[Chriss]

Sorry, what is Sven's user name?
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[truslack]

Svengalie

[edit]

Actually it doesn't seem to be that on this forum, not sure if he's still around.
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Current: Suzuki RG 125 Gamma, Honda H100, Triumph Tiger 800XC, Suzuki SV650 (minitwin)

[imanupstart]

[truslack]

This is the one I'm thinking of going with, looks perfect!

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=221384
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Current: Suzuki RG 125 Gamma, Honda H100, Triumph Tiger 800XC, Suzuki SV650 (minitwin)

[Chriss]

[G]

Sven's name on here is 'S'.

For recording a commute, personally I wouldn't want it helmet mounted with a seperate recording unit - seems far too much hassle (having used a helmet mounted VIO before - remember your helmet is now attached to your jacket, basically.)
I'd be going for a bike mounted solution. Ok, you can't look around with the camera, but the price you could get several cheaper recorders.

What about the countour HD? I really like the idea of the GPS version - but I'd worry slightly that it could be 'used in evidence' for on road stuff. However, could also work both ways if it shows you WERE doing under the speed limit when they claimed you were doing twice - pointing to their even worse observations, etc.

[olionel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj26JjSiazQ&feature=player_embedded
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1989 CG125 - Childhood Sweetheart (she got kidnapped by baddies)
1998 ZXR400 - Teenage Love (lasted three years, then she turned lesbian and left me)
2001 XRV750 - Wife Material (still getting to know her but head over heels in love)

[Chriss]

[Chriss]

[G]

[Marmalade]

Eggs B is happy with his, I'm still trying to coax the MB per hour info out of him.

It does video continuously but one thing is, if i had a major prang and was carted off to hospital, the recorder would just keep going and record over the incident.
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Nobby the Bastard: How yo tell the difference between the actual japanese and her just screaming because she's had live fish stuck up her arse? [url=https://www.nicks-shop.co.uk/bcf-goodies-15-c.aspGet BCF stickers and things here[/url] Reflective helmet stickers - Legal requirement in france - Clicky

[Chriss]

[Marmalade]

Eggs says it is 260mb for a 30 min clip.

Seems a bit low to me.

As for the low res, he's got it set at a lower than maximum to conserve memory.
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Nobby the Bastard: How yo tell the difference between the actual japanese and her just screaming because she's had live fish stuck up her arse? [url=https://www.nicks-shop.co.uk/bcf-goodies-15-c.aspGet BCF stickers and things here[/url] Reflective helmet stickers - Legal requirement in france - Clicky

[Chriss]

[G]

Resolution and frame rate aren't massively important.

Presuming you'll be riding at night at some points, I'd look for a camera that can handle that ok first.

A 320*240 15fps video taken with excellent kit will still be better than a 1920*1080 60fps video taken with terrible kit.

Similarly, I wouldn't get overly worried on bit rate personally, unless it's too high to fit enough on to a big card usefully.
While a very low bit rate will limit quality, often a high bit rate just records your poor quality image in excellent detail. Also, different codecs have different quality per mb values; so two with the same number may give vastly different outputs with the same source.

[Chriss]

[G]

Have a look through some of the options on here for a start: https://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/products.htm - though of course remember they are going to choose videos that make their cameras look good.

[ms51ves3]

[G]

Power just saves some hassle and means it's easier to just leave it on the bike.

[ms51ves3]

[iooi]