More helmet-cammery

[northwind]

I just noticed on Ebay that the Oregon Scientific ATC-2000s are now available very cheap, £68 from the states (though obviously, there's a chance it'll get taxed on import, which I think would add about £20) or around £95 in the UK including a 2gb card. These claim 640x480 and 30fps, and there's no mention of restrictions on video size other than capacity. And battery life of course.

Likewise, the Tony Hawk Helmet Cam is down to around £80 in the UK with a 2gb card... Though it's limited in duration of clips and stops after about 15 minutes, that's still not bad. 320x240 and 15fps though, and nothing like such a good mounting kit.

Obviously, neither has a screen so setup will be an exercise in trial and error, but I reckon I could combine this with my MP3 player, which has a USB dump feature, and can play back some video formats too...

Anyone got any real world experience of these? Neither has amazing spec, but then they're pretty damn cheap. Still just about enough time to get one by the AR from some sellers, too. But I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're utterly rubbish. Still, all they're for is for posting videos on Youtube of us either a) being riding gods or b) riding into a tree.

Originally Posted by northwind

Anyone got any real world experience of these?

Have a search on Youtube & Google video for the camera you're looking for. That's what I did when I wanted to compare quality of different videos. People often put the name of the camera in the text by the video.

Personally, I'd avoid the ATC2000 as it genuinely does look crap (and huge!) and get a dedicated bullet cam/recorder, but that means more money. I can't remember seeing the others you mention though.

420 line TV signal is pretty much the minimum you can live with, and 640x480 is probably ideal. Also, if you're writing to SD cards etc, make sure you get high speed cards, otherwise you'll get bottlenecks & the recording quality will suffer.

Anything less than 20fps will be completely useless.

[Bluepete]

I'd love to be able to justify a dedicated bike camera, but can't. So I managed to find a Ram Mount at £26 and fitted my Fuju F31fd digital stills cam to the handlebars. Video is 640 by 480 @30 fps. Not too bad and can be used for ordinary photography too. Several videos posted on the N v S ride thread in Pennine Massive.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Baph

420 line TV signal is pretty much the minimum you can live with, and 640x480 is probably ideal. Also, if you're writing to SD cards etc, make sure you get high speed cards, otherwise you'll get bottlenecks & the recording quality will suffer.

Yeah, I've got a 2gb Sandisk Ultra 2 in my stills camera, so that ought to do the trick... Pretty rapid.

Hmm. Very tempted to order one today, it looks like I could resell it pretty easily if it doesn't work out...