Camera suggestions?

[The Disapproving Brit]

I'm thinking of putting in a multiple camera setup for day-to-day riding - helmet mounted, rear and front facing.

There's plenty of choice in the Helmet mount options, which will probably end up being a GoPro (although I'm open to suggestions). I could do the same with the rear facing camera, but I'd prefer one that I can wire in and starts recording automatically when I start the bike.

For the front camera, I really want something with a GPS overlay, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvGSODbhO2U. The BlackSys CW100 seems to do the trick, but it's intended for mirror mounting in a car.

Anyone have any suggestions for the rear and front facing options?
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Current Bikes: 1983 Honda VF400FD / 2003 Honda VT750 Shadow
Bike Test Passed 18/03/09, Car Test Passed 14/05/13

[daemonoid]

Helmet alternative...
I've just bought a liquid image ego. Quality is rather good (720 60fps or 1080/30) and is one of the cheapest on the market. also uses standard 1/4 20 mounts so you don't need to pay the earth for them. It's also a better shape than the gopro and has wifi so you can start and stop it with your iPhone/android.

With 3 cameras though you're starting to get quite expensive. You can at that point consider having a racelogic system fitted. A vbox will cost around £1200 fully fitted and has gps to the nearest cm + G meters etc. The good thing about them is they retain their value so if you get bored of it will get you most of the money back on eBay. They're a full race system so have laptimers etc - can you imagine that trip to work with a predicted arrival time to the nearest s? take one corner a little better to shave a few 10ths
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current: ducati monster 750
past: hyosung gt250r, bajaj pulsar 180, hyosung gt 125 comet
@thomasgarrard | www.straitjkt.com | www.racingseven.com

[Marmaduke]

[The Disapproving Brit]

Shame, it looks like a decent camera, but a quick Google of MattAlton suggests that he's astroturfing for them, contrary to The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

Sadly, I make a point not to buy from spammers, so it looks like its the GoPro.
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Current Bikes: 1983 Honda VF400FD / 2003 Honda VT750 Shadow
Bike Test Passed 18/03/09, Car Test Passed 14/05/13

[Thorn]

Contour Roam
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Skyjet SJ125-26 (Dead) || Yamaha FZS600 (Dead) || Kawasaki ZX-9R C2

"Everything you touch turns to disappointment."

[daemonoid]

[Golgarth]

For helmet mounting I wouldn't recommend the GoPro, the wind drag is intense (but I will concede that's only at motorway speeds).

The Contour has GPS built in and is bullet cam designed.

Best way to answer your question is to know your budget.....

[The Disapproving Brit]

[Rogerborg]

Lest we forget.

Bad mouthing Go Pro? They gunna censor a bitch.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[smithyithy]

Drift all day

[Eddie Hitler]

After owning the GoPro, I wouldn't ever buy one again. It's just too intrusive and lardy. I would recommend the Drift.

[Golgarth]

Basic rule of thumb for action cameras:

GoPro Hero 3 Black Ed = best quality you will ever see, but lardy and shite battery
Drift Ghost = smaller form factor and good quality with some nice additions, but not the quality of design of the GoPro, better battery life
Contour = similar quality to the Drift, GPS layering, small form factor, good battery.

In an ideal world I would have a GoPro mounted on the bike for and aft, then a drift on my lid, I don't need or want GPS layering.

The GoPro is the more waterproof unit (60m) in case where the Drift is (from memory) something in the single digits until you buy the optional case.

[smithyithy]

True but the Drift is water (rain) proof right outta the box, wheras the GoPro, iirc, has to be inside that silly looking box?

I'm saving up for a Drift Ghost, but still can't see the point in it having WiFi?

[The Disapproving Brit]

[Jim Mc]

[daemonoid]

[smithyithy]

Regarding the Drift WiFi, according to some reviews and blogs the idea is basically a way to connect to phones etc, rather than using Bluetooth, the Drift creates it's own WiFi zone.

So I imagine when you park up, you can view your footage or photos on your phone (or iPad even) via the Drift app.

I'm not sure, though it would be very useful, if you can get live streaming to the phone, for example if your phone is mounted on your bars, you can use it to make adjustments to the Drift's lens angle to suit where you're mounting it.

The drift also takes photos and photo bursts, which could be good, as you could send them to your phone via it's WiFi then use local WiFi or your 3G to upload / share photos when you're out and about.

I want one even more now, and I've just been paid but my car's MOT is tomorrow and I'm a bit worried about it lol

[Golgarth]

Just incase you aren't aware, the wifi on the GoPro is ONLY for setting up/using the camera. You can't even view footage on the GoPro until it's downloaded (unless that is something the LCD screen does, but I ain't sure)

The photo burst modes on the GoPro are pretty decent, added to the timelapse as well.

One thing to note is that you can change the focal length of the GoPro from wide to middle to narrow, which means you can tailer the shots you want (something you can't on the Drift). Sounds like a nothing, but on widescreen you don't see any action well that is more than 15 foot away.

IIRC the remote on the drift has one slight issue, and that is that it can be activated from any other remote. So if you were in an area where there are two drift users, one can inadvertantly switch your video on/off, this doesn't happen on the GoPro as it creates a wireless network with passphrase protection.