Action Cams

Does anyone here use action cams? I am looking for one to use on my mountain bike and my crotch rocket. I have seriously considered the Oregon Scientific ATC-2000, but the problem is that it can only support a maximum of 2 gigs of memory. I have also looked at the VHoldR cam, which can support much more memory.

 

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Any camera that has a automatic setting will be able to catch a bike in action. Many cameras today have a manual mose as well so that if you really need to stop the action you can adjust at what speed you want to take the picture at. Usually 1/500 of a sec will do but as I say the automatic setting will do just fine most of the time. Just buy a digital.

 

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Nope, but I have taped my phone to my head for a 20 mile bike ride through the woods before.
It's OK because it has 6 hours worth of memory, but the resolution is shite.
I'd recommend you give it a go.

 

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I've hinted at that very same Oregon Scientific model as a birthday present, ... recording time with 2Gb I think I read was 1hr45mins, which would seem about right, and I reckon is long enough, considering on my old camcorder the tapes lasted 1hr.

Being waterproof and robust is thekey for me, I want to make some surfing movies, and I'm off swimming with sharks, so want to capture that.

 

1hr 45 mins on 2GB is really low resolution and most a small frame size. I would look into a small HDV hand held camera, they are very good and much higher resolution. I would also use one that records onto tape but maybe that is not mandatory.

Let me see what i can find.

 

1. Canon HV30 324.64 1/2.7 10.00 $747.00
2. Canon HV20 322.36 1/2.7 10.00 $724.97
3. Canon HF10 317.08 1/3.2 12.00 $759.99
4. Canon HF100 310.26 1/3.2 12.00 $623.90
5. Canon HG10 294.95 1/2.7 10.00 $604.99
6. Sony HDR-SR12 283.96 1/3.13 12.00 $1194.99
7. Sony HDR-HC9 277.36 1/2.9 10.00 $713.00
8. Sony HDR-HC7 275.76 1/2.9 10.00 $1099.99
9. Canon HR10 268.76 1/2.7 10.00 $817.88
10. Sony HDR-UX7 251.52 1/2.9 10.00 $714.55
11. Sony HDR-HC5 246.38 1/3 10.00 $799.00
12. Panasonic HDC-SD1 239.75 1/4 12.00 $799.95
13. Sony HDR-CX7 237.48 1/2.9 10.00 $759.99
14. Panasonic HDC-DX1 233.85 1/4 12.00 $691.09
15. JVC GZ-MG555 231.86 1/2.5 10.00 $399.99
16. Sony HDR-UX20 230.99 1/5 15.00 $693.00
17. Panasonic HDC-SX5 230.93 1/6 10.00 $
18. JVC GZ-HD6 227.87 1/5 10.00 $850.00
19. Panasonic HDC-HS9 227.59 1/6 10.00 $699.99
20. Panasonic HDC-SD9 225.30 1/6 10.00 $544.99
21. Canon DC50 222.48 1/2.7 10.00 $369.00
22. JVC GZ-HD7 221.01 1/5 10.00 $849.95
23. Sony DCR-SR300 219.65 1/2.9 10.00 $819.00
24. Sony DCR-DVD508 218.61 1/2.9 10.00 $580.78
25. JVC GZ-HD3 213.29 1/5 10.00 $699.99
26. Panasonic PV-GS320 208.40 1/6 10.00 $308.00
27. Canon FS11 205.87 1/6 37.00 $426.00
28. Hitachi DZ-BD7HA 205.77 1/2.8 10.00 $799.95
29. Panasonic VDR-D310 203.94 1/6 10.00 $613.95
30. Panasonic SDR-H200 197.85 1/6 10.00 $459.96
31. Samsung SC-HMX10 194.56 1/4.5 10.00 $399.90
32. Panasonic PV-GS85 194.35 1/6 32.00 $229.96
33. Sanyo VPC-HD2 194.03 1/2.5 10.00 $484.76
34. JVC GZ-MG255 189.26 1/3.9 10.00 $389.95
35. Canon ZR850 187.42 1/6 35.00 $179.00
36. JVC GZ-MS100 185.83 1/6 35.00 $
37. Panasonic VDR-D230 183.43 1/6 32.00 $383.95
38. Canon DC210 174.90 1/6 35.00 $215.00
39. Canon ZR830 174.09 1/6 35.00 $185.95
40. Canon DC220 173.10 1/6 35.00 $279.95
41. Sony DCR-SR42 169.47 1/6 40.00 $447.00
42. Sony DCR-DVD108 167.27 1/6 40.00 $285.78
43. JVC GZ-MG155 163.27 1/6 32.00 $399.00
44. Panasonic SDR-SW20 157.66 1/6 10.00 $349.99
45. JVC GZ-MG130 152.97 1/6 34.00 $309.95
46. Sony DCR-HC38 151.96 1/6 40.00 $299.99
47. Samsung SC-DC173U 151.03 1/6 34.00 $189.95
48. Hitachi DZ-HS300A 143.05 1/6 25.00 $68.93
49. Pure Digital Flip Mino 142.05 1/4 0.00 $179.99
50. Pure Digital Flip Ultra 91.83 1/4 0.00 $


http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

 

It's 1hr 45 mins at VGA, ie 640x480 30fps, which is pretty good.

A waterproof and rugged one, that can be easily attached to a helmet, or bike handlebars?

Tapes lasts what, an hour? The action cam lasts for 1hr45.

Oh, and the action cam costs about £100.

 

I got one for my recent birthday, and so far I'm quite happy with the quality of the video, it's comparable to VHS. The sound is lacking to be honest, but as I envisage adding totally rocking soundtracks to the stuff I film, that isn't going to be much of a pain.

I just need to get used to the field of view, as there is no viewfinder or screen, you aren't quite sure of how close up or far away to be to get a well framed shot. I guess on the handle bars of a bike, or when snowboarding though, it will just capture what it captures, and I can use my DV cam for zoomed shots etc. It's part of the arsenal, not the complete solution to capturing video.

I'm going to add a cheap laser to the rig, with a pressure activated switch, as used on rifles. I'll extend the switch to be in my glove, so I can spot my target to keep on track when the cam is mounted on my helmet (Giro Bad Lieutentant, it's going to look pretty damn scary, esp with the headtorch I already have on there!)

 

The thought came to my mind about using my diving camera. It is sealed in the diving case which is also shock resistant, and it is expandable to 4 GB of memory.

 

Sounds like all you'll need is the Oregon Scientific handlebar mount then, and a quick release tripod mount for your existing camera, and you're good to go. The mount on the Oregon Scientific is a standard quick release, so it will be compatible.

I would guess other mounts are available too. Google time!