Action Camera's - What are you folk running?

[FlangMasterJ]

I've been looking at alternatives to the GoPro (I'm not fucking made of money) and ordered an Akaso EK7000 thinking it'd be perfect and comparable to the GoPro 4 and at $85 a good buy. It's yet to turn up but yesterday I was looking at reviews on other makes and the ThiEYE T5e was rated very highly, has true 4K (the Akaso has that phony 4K), has image stabilization and great audio as far as action cam audio goes. So with the Akaso stil in transit I went ahead and purchased the ThiEYE off of GearBest for $140. From all the test footage and comparo's it looks just as good as the GoPro 5 if not superior in areas. It was really the image stabilization that had me sold. Something you need when riding a bike.

I'm looking forward to getting on the DRZ and getting some crisp footage.


The ThiEYE T5e (GoPro mount compatible)



I also purchased this helmet chin mount from a YouTube vlogger 'A Girland Her Bike' AGHB. Cost roughly $40NZD. Gives a great POV over the bars perspective.



So are you guys using an action cam? What good alternatives to the GoPro have you found?

[GazzaH]

Not running ... yet .... but I like the look of the Innov's - permanently mounted front and rear cigar-tube--style cameras with the recording unit under the seat, connected to the bike so they come on whenever the bike is running, recording on a loop.

https://www.innovv.com/

[FlangMasterJ]

Irrespective of brand for the best results you need either 1080 60p or 4k 60p which is only in the GoPro Hero 6. Anything that has 1080 60p will be fine but unless its a well known opposition brand like Contour or Sony it may become hard to get new batteries for when they die. Having a 60p spec means if you want to freeze it the image will be sharper than if the spec is 30p.

Yeah I'll be shooting in 1080p 60fps mainly since my computer is nearly seven years old and would burst into flames trying to process 4K.

One of the vids displaying 1080p 60fps with the ThiEYE T5e. It really can't get much better.

Not running ... yet .... but I like the look of the Innov's - permanently mounted front and rear cigar-tube--style cameras with the recording unit under the seat, connected to the bike so they come on whenever the bike is running, recording on a loop.

https://www.innovv.com/

Oh yeah. Pretty cool idea. This more for safety reasons?

[GazzaH]

For forensics!

[husaberg]

That video posted looks like a perfect example of what its like speed wise to ride under pressure to keep up. For all those that do not believe such a thing happens.

It seems that your alter ego is having the same problem keeping up....

Boil over?
Fuck off shitforbrains - you haven't even got me hard yet.

[slofox]

I use a Replay XD. Hi res, 30fps or 60fps in various modes.

Two drawbacks:
1. Format is 4x3 not 16x9.
2. File type is hard for Windows computers.

Other than that, I have liked it a lot.

[nzspokes]

Yeah I'll be shooting in 1080p 60fps mainly since my computer is nearly seven years old and would burst into flames trying to process 4K.

One of the vids displaying 1080p 60fps with the ThiEYE T5e. It really can't get much better.





Oh yeah. Pretty cool idea. This more for safety reasons?

Does the world need more vids like this?

Gawd that bike is slow.

Few Lifesavers wouldnt hurt either.

[Scuba_Steve]

I've got the Sony HDR-AS100V
At the time it was better than the equivalent GoPro (might have been the Hero 4 Black?). It is a diff profile which has it's pros & cons, hooks onto standard camera mounts & has an ok selection of "made for" accessories, but you can also get an adaptor so it can utilise the GoPro proprietary mounts.
Couple of things that made it better on the bike too were a big "go" button at the back which is easy to hit with gloves on to start/stop recording & a wrist mount LCD screen which can give you vision of whats being recorded for setup etc & also can control the start/stop

[GazzaH]

Having watched a load of YouToob lane-splitters commuting through the London traffic, I'm having second thoughts about the Innov cams mounted to the bike. Specifically, the helmet-mount cams give a high birds-eye view through the traffic and follow the rider's head movements - glances and lifesavers. I guess the image would be a bit more stable, too, especially on NZ's rocky roads.

[slofox]

Having watched a load of YouToob lane-splitters commuting through the London traffic, I'm having second thoughts about the Innov cams mounted to the bike. Specifically, the helmet-mount cams give a high birds-eye view through the traffic and follow the rider's head movements - glances and lifesavers. I guess the image would be a bit more stable, too, especially on NZ's rocky roads.

I tried bike mounts for a bit. Reverted to helmet mount for the reasons you outline.

[FlangMasterJ]

Yeah the head is always going to be the most stable shot. I do want to try some swingarm and rear fender mounts over the Rimutaka's since it's a pretty smooth road. Image stabilization should help a little.

[Scuba_Steve]

For the commute I often mount it on fairing under headlight & the image stabilization keeps it pretty smooth
for the fun rides I usually put it on the helmet for the higher view & movement ability

[Mike.Gayner]

It depends what you're trying to capture. If you want the most clear, stable shots of your riding then a chest or helmet mount is best. Using this you'll get hours upon hours of stable, boring footage.

I suggest making short videos with quick cuts, and cutting in plenty of bike-mounted footage. Bike mounted shots are best when you capture a stationery part of the bike and a moving part of the bike (with respect to the camera). E.g. mounted on the swing arm, the swing arm and wheel will be stationery with respect to the camera, and the rear shock will be moving. These shots are interesting to watch, and break up the monotony of POV footage.

The beauty of action cameras is their size - with a handful of mounts and stickies you can place them in cool innovative angles and positions.

[slofox]

The beauty of action cameras is their size - with a handful of mounts and stickies you can place them in cool innovative angles and positions.

The Xp is very good at that. They give you a bunch of mounts to stick on all over the place.
Have to say I rarely use it on the bike anymore. Most of the footage is indeed boring to death... Unless I watch it when I'm pissed...

[WALRUS]

I've got a couple of GoPro Hero Sessions; a Session 4 and a Session 5. I usually just have them on a chest mount when I do/did riding videos.

They both do 1080p 60fps but I got the Session 5 to be able to do 4k videos.


(Session 5)


(Session 4)

I've also got a pair of Pivot Head Durango sunglasses which are good for a decent POV type video.. The mic doesn't really handle wind noise so it clips to buggery but the picture quality is passable. I used it for the PIP in this video..

(Main camera Session 4, PIP Pivot Head Durango)

When I do track sessions, you're not allowed to have any cameras mounted on your body or helmet anywhere so I just have a regular GoPro clip and tether on the fuel tank or tail fairing (or wherever else I can find which looks good haha)