Searching for a reasonably priced helmet cam?

[neil_merseyside]

Looks like they have a newer, better, cheaper model... [Click HERE]

Oh damn, that post may have cost me some money

And so indeed it did cost me money
I bought the new camera, really pleased with the quality on the test ride I did today.
Camera was mounted angled one click down on the side of my top tube, it then easily looked below my bar bag but still gave a good forward view. Quality even on the bumpy frame mounting was still good enough to view registration numbers and also pedestrians faces, though probably not drivers behind a windscreen in most reflections.
Helmet mount would be by a velcro holster - I just need to decide if I want a scalp hole or a temple hole I guess
I don't know if it's normal for bullet cams but the camera records short (but big data) clips between 3 and 6 minutes long (adjustable). A 3 min clip is about half a gig, camera takes 32gb cards out of the (card) box so <3hrs as standard, and takes 64/128gb cards if formatted to fat32, certain card types are recommended. Battery I think does 4hrs but a spare at time of purchase is an extra £6 (date stamp would be wrong or missing if you pull the battery). Tutorials on website.

 

[ColinJ]

A 3 min clip is about half a gig, camera takes 32gb cards out of the (card) box so <3hrs as standard

That sounds an awful lot - I think that Netflix HD streams at around 2.5-3.0 GB/hour!

Could you put an example video on YouTube (or somewhere else handy) for us to examine?

 

[sasquath]

That sounds an awful lot - I think that Netflix HD streams at around 2.5-3.0 GB/hour!

Could you put an example video on YouTube (or somewhere else handy) for us to examine?

My camera must be faulty then, 5 minutes clip is only 300MB and quality is crap.
Decent quality 5 minutes clip should be about 1.5 GB

Netflix streams in x265 which offers same quality at a half bitrate with single pass encoding and quarter or less bitrate in multi pass encoding. At the expense of huge computing requirements to encode it. Besides multi pass encoding can't be done in live recording. Well can be but battery would last about 10 minutes, not 4 hours.

 

[Milzy]

The chilli 2 is at £43 now. You won’t find better bang per buck.
Or unless you buy my Unused GoPro hero with battery extension for £45 inc p&p.

 

[Daninplymouth]

Iv got a drift XL in the classifieds if anyone is interested

 

[BoldonLad]

I have had:

- Drift HD170 - very robust, good battery life, died of old age after about 7 years
- Chilli Tech - Gave it a way to someone on FB, because it was c**p
- AKASO EK7000 off eBay. Had it for two years now, no problems

I use/used all of the above mounted on handlebars. (I actually have two AKASO's one mounted facing back over, using a mount which fixes under seat).

I don't doubt there are better (and more expensive cameras than the AKASO, but, the quality is good enough to. capture close passes etc which is my main objective).

 

[neil_merseyside]

That sounds an awful lot - I think that Netflix HD streams at around 2.5-3.0 GB/hour!

Could you put an example video on YouTube (or somewhere else handy) for us to examine?

That's a directory listing of some of the six minute files, some 609,000kb and others 1,034,025kb - big indeed.
How do I upload a sample to YouTube then?

 

[keithmac]

The chilli 2 is at £43 now. You won’t find better bang per buck.
Or unless you buy my Unused GoPro hero with battery extension for £45 inc p&p.

Is it any good?, do you use one?.

 

[neil_merseyside]

Quality of footage today isn't as good entirely due to the wet lens! I'll try for better dry footage tomorrow, I'm also swapping back to 3 minute file size as the 6 minute clips do drop a second off the end of a clip occasionally.

 

[Milzy]

Is it any good?, do you use one?.

I can’t be bothered setting one up every ride but the Chilli cam is much smaller than the go pro & weighs as much as an energy gel. It has great reviews for the price.

 

[GeekDadZoid]

Here is a sample from a ride I did a few weeks ago, on a dry overcast day of the chillicam. Make sure you set YouTube to show you the 1080p version.


View: https://youtu.be/oUCuDunR86Q

 

[keithmac]

Here is a sample from a ride I did a few weeks ago, on a dry overcast day of the chillicam. Make sure you set YouTube to show you the 1080p version.


View: https://youtu.be/oUCuDunR86Q

Wow!, is that the Mk2 Chillicam?.

 

[neil_merseyside]

Here is a sample from a ride I did a few weeks ago, on a dry overcast day of the chillicam. Make sure you set YouTube to show you the 1080p version.


View: https://youtu.be/oUCuDunR86Q

Well that's saved me a job, that footage is as good as we got yesterday in the dry (clean lens).
I'd say the footage was smoother being body worn too, my footage was smoother than that of my wife (lens muck aside) and I think that might be mounting height above road surface if not just tyre size/pressure.

 

[GeekDadZoid]

Wow!, is that the Mk2 Chillicam?.

Yes it is

Well that's saved me a job, that footage is as good as we got yesterday in the dry (clean lens).
I'd say the footage was smoother being body worn too, my footage was smoother than that of my wife (lens muck aside) and I think that might be mounting height above road surface if not just tyre size/pressure.

I'll link some in the rain footage later. I was wearing it on my head.

 

[ColinJ]

That's not bad for a cheapo camera. It isn't anywhere near GoPro quality, but it isn't anywhere near GoPro price either!