Videoing your rides

[Sillysimon10]

Never really thought about doing so....

Longest ride is around 60 and only ever come close to trouble (touch wood)
But after watching a few videos...for example this shared by my LBS http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/ro...ice-rules-suffers-from-twitter-attacks/014718 I cant help but feel that danger is just around the corner....

So, how many of you video your rides, and if so, what do you feel is the best cost effective way to do so if you believe I, and others should....

 

[Spally]

the trouble with the internet is it's easy to post the nasty videos of encounters with cyclists and therefore everyone immediately thinks about getting fixed up with a camera. I have one, but to be honest i have only used it off road to video us messing around, it has never been on any of my bikes whilst road riding.

That said if you want to get one have a look around there is plenty of choice dependant on your budget. For aroun £80-£100 you can get a fairly decent hd bullet cam or go upwards of a few hundred and there's things like go pro. You then start getting into serious money for serious kit.

 

[Kies]

For every bad incident on youtube,there will be a hundred journeys taken with no incidents. Camera wearing cyclists in London .... Yes maybe,but outside of London is of little benefit.
A camera on your noggin isn't going to keep you safe,better road awareness and positioning will.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I've thought about getting one so I could make fun little videos of rides, but not for my personal protection.

Personally I just can't help but think that there's always some other bike part I could more usefully spend my money on. If I had any.

 

[deanE]

I have just bought a nikon AW110 camera for my JOGLE next month. I have a clamp to fix it to the handlebar and have given it a trial. But as Andrew says its more for a fun record of the trip than any sort of protection.

 

[BSRU]

I get two or three really bad incidents a year and I commute quite alot, so commuting 10,000km(over 6,000 miles) in a year that is not too bad a ratio.

It only seems bad because people do not want to watch hours of boring not much happened cycling so you see very little of the boring videos on YouTube.

Basically the roads are safe and not worth worrying about(too much) .

 

[HLaB]

I got an ATC5K a wee bit back and experimented but found it next to useless and took up too much time set up/processing and for me at least, another thing to think about for not much return and decided it wasn't for me. I dare say upgrading would have balanced the return a wee bit but like Andrew I'd rather spend my cash on something more vital.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I like what my regular digital camera does with movies. I've seen GoPros having problems with Pink footage lately, and frankly, at that price, I'll just keep on using the Sony and the Canon for my movie clips as it were. Still all a miracle to me. I remember when we wound up the movie camera and shot film through it, sent it off and waited a week or two, then screened it and edited. No zoom, just three lens turret.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

I have just bought a nikon AW110 camera for my JOGLE next month. I have a clamp to fix it to the handlebar and have given it a trial. But as Andrew says its more for a fun record of the trip than any sort of protection.

That is probably the most important word in the thread. A helmet camera does not protect you. In order for it to record something, it has to have happened. At which point it hasn't done it's job if you seek protection from it.

 

[CopperCyclist]

I bought mine when I spent 3k on a bike. I know it won't protect me, and there's no guarantee it'll catch an incident, but I know it does give me more chance of a) proving what happened if someone hits me and wrecks the bike and b) identifying them if they decide not to stop.

Like I said, no guarantees, but I'd rather have it and never need it than wish I had one.

 

[korsch]

for safety best is just common sense and understanding that a lot of road users have a deficit of it. For filming rides etc i would recommend gopro camera

 

[ufkacbln]

I use one and simply delete most times.

However I have had a couple of prosecutions and also a driver sacked by his company for lying about the event and dangerous driving.

 

[yello]

I feel it's a shame that some cyclists feel they need one. And, fwiw, I understand and am not at all critical. It's a reflection of the growing 'us and them' attitudes on the road.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I don't know if it's an "Us" and "Them " attitude, so much as it is quite incontrovertible evidence for a court to see such footage , presented in rebuttal to conflicting or otherwise disputable testimony. It makes a case go from a battle of viewpoints to one of hard evidence.

 

[yello]

I don't know if it's an "Us" and "Them " attitude, so much as it is quite incontrovertible evidence for a court to see such footage , presented in rebuttal to conflicting or otherwise disputable testimony. It makes a case go from a battle of viewpoints to one of hard evidence.

Sounds like a definition of 'us and them' to me!

Seriously, I'm not critical of the use of helmet cameras. I'm sympathetic and see, on balance, their purpose and benefit. My point was only that it's a shame that we are were we are, that they are even needed.