DUX

It's been touched on in some other threads before, but I figure some of you techno-geeks wouldn't mind revisiting the topic.

Looking for a good helmet/bike mounted camera to use for snowmobiling and motorcycling. Multiple mount options would be cool if it's easy to swap the lens.

It looks like the flash-drive, self-contained units are starting to improve this year but it seem that the separate camera/lens set-ups still have the advantage?

What are you guys using and what do you recommend?

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SheepOfBlue

None

Sadly the best solution was a camcorder (tape) with a seperate helmet cam with LANC. However no one other than Sony offers LANC anymore . Sony only offers LANC on maybe 2 cams and they don't have A/V in . Most solutions get either hard to use, expensive or lousy quality. Many suffer from more than one of those.

You are correct in that flash based alternatives are getting more interesting but currently there is nothing I could recommend.

That said:
avoid hard drive based solutions
avoid direct to DVD based solutions
480x640 is not that great
be sure any cam you get has A/V in if you are using a bullet cam solution

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DUX

Damn Sheep....you just destroyed my hopes of finding one this year.

Nothing worth it? I've seen guys post decent videos before. What about the one you posted on here?

I'm looking for a good quality set-up. HD isn't that important, but I want something that keeps the frame rate up so that there's no jumping around.

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DUX

I just pulled a Sony cam out of the garage that I have used maybe three times in the past 10yrs.

It's a Handycam Vision SteadyShot Video8.

It does have LANC (whatever that is.) I don't see an A/V in either.

It's big, but would easily fit in a backpack. I guess the other disadvantage would be turning it on and off on the fly.

Any cams worth using on this one?


......disregard. I just read about LANC. With no A/V in I guess it's worthless unless I mount the camera directly to the bike/snowmobile.

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SheepOfBlue

I have a Sony DV VCR (GVD-1000) with a Hoyt 580 line cam in a HelmetCamera.com housing.

The VCR is tape and has been sturdy so far. It also supports LANC but is way expensive. The Hoyt is nice I prefer the other mount and had it from an earlier cam I destroyed (but the housing can REALLY take a pounding)

I do use mine and enjoy it but if I had nothing I am not sure I would get one.

Oh and notice the GVD1000 is discontinued Most cams are made for morons and b'day parties so they go direct to DVD with limited durability and ability to edit. I am hoping the flash based alternatives will be there soon but currently Notice the Hoyt version (currently vaporware) At 500 (really 480) it is so-so quality. The format is not DV so you might have CODEC issues in an editor. Not sure the compatibility on their unit but some even require Windows and/or a propriatary viewer Battery life is 3 hours which is not terrible but I would prefer using AA so I can bring spares. On the good front the recording media is removable. Given all that consider it is one of the better choices and is yet to exist.

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SheepOfBlue

You see my angst. You get new gear that relies on a cam that is no longer available Further LANC is sweet but the alternatives come to about zero and new cams don't have it (remote as you found out). No A/V in no bullet cam. I have seen tank mount systems but would find it to distracting. I have seen rear peg mounts but a low side guarantees the death of your cam....

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DUX

The Vio POV 1 looks interesting.

Change your mind on that one?

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smoothrideronli

I have a Sony HC96 miniDV that has both LANC and AV in. It costs about $500-$700 and it has a lot of features that I have no use for. I use a chasecam.com bullet cam that has 520TVL. It is an excellent combo IMHO and high speed pics come out very clear. Flash is the future but for now I am sticking with my miniDV. The camcorder is a bit on the pricey side but you may have some luck finding older versions that have AV in on Ebay that would be much cheaper.

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SheepOfBlue

I ruined by Sony. The Sony AV plug to a circuit board wiggled the board to much. Other than that I agree is was a nice setup. I think it and the HDef cam are the only two that still have LANC. The HDef had no AV in and I was not willing to spend the $$ for a HC96 after my first Sony died. It might have been my abuse or the RC vibration but....

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smoothrideronli

Yeah the circuit board is a weak point. A friend of mine has been through about 4 cams because of the circuit board. I mount mine using a camera mount with a clamp on the rear footpeg and face the cam rearward so the lens doesnt get hit with debris, then I just run the wire to the bullet cam in the front. So the wire has freedom of movement.

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DUX

Opinions on the Vio POV 1?

I love electronic toys, but while out on the road/trail ease of set-up and use is a high-priority.

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smoothrideronli

Dont know much about it, but it seems like plug and play so that may be your best bet.

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JimmyNeutral

I picked up a used Sony HC42 on eBay for just under $200 earlier this year. LANC and A/V IN. It has worked great so far.

The only problem I had was after buying an Energizer high capacity battery. It seems there are two different voltages. When I replaced it with the correct voltage battery every thing worked fine.

bwhip

The Viosport has pretty good video quality, but the audio is very poor, if you want bike/sled sounds to be clear in the vids. They do have excellent accessories and mounts.

Best I've found is the one made by Helmet Camera and Helmet Cam Accessories by Sportzshot. Outstanding video and audio quality, lots of good accessories.

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bwhip

LANC is nice for remote on/off of the record function, otherwise you have to turn on the cam before you stuff it in the pouch and take off. You wind up with a lot less wasted footage that way. I always find it hard, though, to figure out if that little light is showing red or green when I'm out on the track trying to push a little button with my glove. Kind of distracting. Also, it's hard to find cams that take it anymore, so it's not that big a deal to not have LANC capability.

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Purpdust

Thats Sheepcrilege

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Purpdust

what about this?

OnBike.TV Helmet cameras and accessories for onboard video recording.

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SheepOfBlue

VERY interesting. Lots of features I like. The only 2 knocks I can make is mono audio in and 720x480 strange res. Both are minor though and I might have to look at this beastie. Lots of other items on that site also.... Curse you Purp!

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slickwill

Is that standard for Youtube? Playing to the stunna's?

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SheepOfBlue

I doubt it. My bet is something to do with the underlying h/w.

As to the POV1:
Nice cam also. The downs I can see are the cam is limited to their device with an inline mic. Not terrible but ALL cam systems seem to have strong and weak points thus mix and match is a nice option. I would prefer a format other than SD card but AA battery power is nice (dead/shorted batteries just run to any store ) The wireless remote is nice but the concept sounds like it needs a version 2. For a fairly complete write up (though I believe this is not even close to a neutral party) Oh and this is also 720x480 so my h/w guess is likely a good one.

Another review from a more neutral source

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playfull

Thought i would chime in, since i just bought the BULLET DVR setup for my CBR. Let me start by saying it's a great little gizmo, looks very sturdy and well made. It does have a connector for a LANC remote, so it's not just a Sony thing. Regarding the 720x480 resolution, that's not youtube format or anything like that, that's what they call D1 resolution in the broadcasting business and that's what you get when you view a DVD full screen, 720x480 pixels. The popular format 640x480 (a.k.a. VGA resolution) is used for the internet mostly.
The nice thing with this recorder is that you can choose between mpeg-4 and mpeg-2 formats. The latter is native DVD, meaning highest possible quality and direct burn to disc, then playback on your home dvd player. mpeg-4 is better suited for the internet and streaming videos, and is a lesser quality format.
One thing you need to look for when shopping for a solid-state (flash) recorder is the maximum bitrate. This one allows me to go up to 8 mb/s which is the highest i've found, all the other "cheap" ones like motocomm, Archos, and similar ones are only capable of 200-300 kb/s at best! That means the videos are compressed maybe 20 times more, resulting in a lot of artifacts in your videos and crappy quality.
Another praise for the BULLET DVR is the optional lap timer kit. I haven't tested it other than in my back yard so far, while walking in front of the unit with my AIMSPORTS beacon, but it seems to work really well and records the laptimes on the CF card, or i can select to display the laptimes information on-screen, over the video! pretty cool, and i have a friend who is a pro racer and is going to get one for the race school where he works at, so he can make some extra $$ giving private lessons using the laptimer with video.
Trust me i have been doing track days for a long time, and been doing onboard videos on my bike for a while too, and this is hands down the best setup i've come across. Finally a unit that is made for the racetrack, not just some el cheapo recorder with a lot of duct tape.
Now if winter could just go away and i can start testing it on the track where it belongs!!!

smoothrideronli

Do you have a link for the Bullet DVR?

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Purpdust

Bullet DVR

BTW Welcome Playfull

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SheepOfBlue

Cool to hear Playfull it looks like a great unit. On the throughput that is part of why the spec ExtremeII cards (though a III or IV and some other brands would be fine)

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playfull

Link Bullet DVR Video Recorder + Lap Timer is the manufacturer but i bought it from OnBoard TV Helmet cameras and Digital Video Recorders.