Helmet Cams GoPro or Alternatives?

STONEY! · Brolly Dolly Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Karma :

I'm riding to Croatia next month and thinking a helmet cam would be good.

I am happy to spend a decent amount of money as long as it's not just paying for a name.

after something with decent battery life and video quality, a bar mount remote would be nice and so would the ability to take still photos.

any suggestions, recommendations, advice or what to avoid would be good.

chris-red · Have you considered a TDM? Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Karma :

STONEY! · Brolly Dolly Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Karma :

want to sell it? Very Happy

stonesie · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Jul 2010 Karma :

Depending on your budget, they've just lowered the price of the drift ghost s and stealth 2, I would get the ghost as it has removable batteries so you can have a few and a travel charger under the seat.

Personally I have the Sony AS100V and that's different to the ghost.
pro
pro mode records in super fine quality, eats battery and memory though.
it has image stabilization.
smaller than the ghost

Cons
no rotating lens,
the remote is extra and hasn't got the best battery life, also uses WiFi so shortens the camera battery life too.
Not shower proof if you plug a microphone in. The waterproof case has no provision for a microphone.
slightly more hassle to mount.

Picture quality is harder to judge, the drift uses a Sony image sensor so they should be close.

EDIT

https://imageshack.com/a/img901/1184/Hj1UEP.jpg
https://imageshack.com/a/img537/4666/cmL2nP.jpg

Mounted on a perspex block sanded to shape on one side to match the helmet and make it sit straight, attached with 3M dual lock

doggone · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 May 2004 Karma :

The ghost is just about the best helmet cam for video but the stills from it are poor, often you might just as well grab a video frame later.
If you have a phone or other small cam for stills it would be OK.

It's all quite a faf about, beware letting the demands of trying to get good video or pics become the main objective of the trip - unless you want it to be.

notbike · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Apr 2014 Karma :

Drift Ghost S is good, I have one and it does 1080p at 60fps crystal clear. Havent taken stills with it though.

SinceNow · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Karma :

The Drift Ghost S is now only £250 and the The Drift Stealth 2 is £150.

The Ghost S come with the remote the Stealth doesn't but you can buy the same one and use it on the Stealth for £25.

Both allow you to switch modes from record to pictures with the remote.

I find with my Ghost S the battery life is just under the 3 hours mark.

Hope that helps

Snop Doog · Brolly Dolly Joined: 29 Jul 2014 Karma :

+1 for the Drift Ghost S

c-m · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :

In terms of image quality the Sony AS100 beats them all (expect the newer Sonys) at 1080p in 50mbps mode. Better in low light than the gopro models and has better sound quality.

Of course it doesn't do 4k video though.

In the UK is should always come with the remote i.e liveview wrist thingy. The Camera will run for 2 hours with wifi and gps on, but can be run powered via usb even without the battery in.

The liveview remote lasts 3-4 hours.

The sony is the only one with image stabilisation.
It's waterproof without a case, but needs a case to be fully submerged.

Now for the negatives.

- It's near impossible to turn it off and on whist riding, especially if using a chest or shoulder mount. Unlike the Polariod Extreme HD which has a massive button for on/off/rec etc..
- The distortion is more extreme than the go pro (with no software correction in the supplied package)
- The GPS function isn't that great
- No auto image rotation (just mount it the right way up ffs)
- Curved lens is poor underwater

P.S Don't buy the skeleton mount for the Sony. It's shit. 1) you can't use the lens protector with it, 2) the L bracket is weak will wobble.

STONEY! · Brolly Dolly Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Karma :

Anyone got any real life experience of the sj4000 or svc200 aaction camera's?

flikers · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 16 Feb 2015 Karma :

I have a Contour ROAM2. £90 new from Amazon.

Rotating lens. Waterproof out the box. Takes 32GB SDHC. Battery is good for 3.5 hours. Perfect design for helmet (unlike the GoPro).

Only downside for me is that it is only 720p HD at super wide angle, 1080p is a but more narrow.

wr6133 · World Chat Champion Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Karma :

ScaredyCat · World Chat Champion Joined: 19 May 2012 Karma :

I have 2 Contour Roam 2's but the other day I was watching this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaVeVvob0Mw) video and the quality of the Sony AS100V it streets ahead of the GoPro / Roam2 - The KTM rider has a go pro, the other rider the AS100V - when they flick from shot to shot you can see the difference clearly.
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c-m · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :

Yeah the AS100 destroys whatever the other camera is they used in terms of sharpness, detail, and colour, but some people prefer the warmth of the Gopro. Looks like the production team didn't bother to even to equalise the footage between the two either.

Why the hell have they recorded it at 60fps.

Everyone knows unless you're doing slow-mo stick to 24/25 fps. It looks more natural. 60fps is looks like bad tv, or computer generated stuff.