Has anyone used a helmet cam to "relive" their rides? I've gone out riding with buddies a number of times but trying to carry a camera and take pictures on a trail ride is a bit difficult. [tracks much easier]. I just started researching helmet cams and figured I'd check here for input.

www.helmet-camera.com

I have one sittin in the kitchin right now. They work great.

I've been using a little gateway digital mini cam for helmet cam footage. Its not a "real" helmet cam...its a digital camera/video camra thats the size of a box of cigarettes. Its not the best quality, but its cheap (about 100.00) and it also takes 2.1 megapixel stills. Normally, I put a piece of velcro on my helmet and stick the camera right to the left side above my cheek. If I crash and kill it...its only a hundred bucks. Heres some video of docstrangelove and my other buddies last friday:

Here's me following my two stroke buddy Dan (cr250) on the intermediate track...then we catch up with docstrange for most of the clip:
http://www.smashfact...e/DanDoccam.ASF

this one is Gxdragon and Dan out on the big track. It was killing me not passing him....I finally caved and roosted him on the inside about 20 sec before the end.
http://www.smashfact...GxandDancam.ASF

yzman400,

how big is the camera you carry with you???
its says you have to record on to a camcorder???
Is the quality very good???
has it held up to all the abuse??

picture seems clear enough, a little choppy, and the wind noise is a bit much, but good for the price you paid, I might think about getting one

TeenRider said:

Its actually my buddies camera.

The camcorder is a sony digital 8 I think a TRV240 is the model. Works great and rarly skips or gets jittery when the trail gets rough.

The video seems very clear.

that first vid at the track was like watching blair witch. i almost got motion sickness.

yzman400,

This was actually the first place (helmet-camera.com) I looked after doing a search. The equipment looked good [nice and compact]. I was a little "sticker-shocked" being that the camera still needs to be connected to a recorder. However, it looks like a very good option.

flyingguitars,

I guess there's something wrong with my browser [or perhaps firewall]. Can't get the videos to load. Bummer!

I'm contemplating a small digital video recorder option also. Hadn't worked out the details of mounting and remote start/stop recording. And of course... falling and breaking the thing concerned me. I know... I just won't fall

I can hear it but can't see it either.

rws said:

My buddy has like $1000 invested in his setup. But if you shop around you can find vid camera's cheeper. Look for an older one that is beeing obsoleted. They still work fine and are a lot cheeper. Also Ebay is a good place to look for cameras. A Cannon ZR series camera worked very well also I hear. You can pick them up pretty resonably

rws said:

The links are to asx. files My camera records in that format. It comes with software that converts it over to mpg format and also comes with editing software that you can use to put music and slow mo and a bunch of different effects. Windows Media player 9 will play the links if you right click and "save as" I didn't convert them yet. I did make a whole movie with footage of my son though....it came out really cool. I used helmet cam and stationary shots. Then with the editing software, I cut the whole thing together and added music. I used Hubastanks's "crawling in the dark" for the sound track. I burned it to disc and he took it into kindergarden with our portable dvd player for show and tell....he was thrilled.

Im going to try to put a cotton ball in front of the condenser mic (as a wind screen) next time.

If your looking for good quality videos, my camera is def not the way to go. But if you just want to spend about a hundred bucks, you can make a little movie and have a half decent still camera too, it might be ok.

OK the low down on Helmet cameras:

There are several companies that resell/rebrand the Sony "lipstick" cameras.

They come in 380 and 480 lines of resoloution, obviously you get a better picture from the 480 unit.

Here are some companies the sell them, Last I heard "Squidward" here on TT was going into the business, but I have not talked to him about them lately.

The most popular:

Helmet camera.com

Bullet Cam

Sportshotz

Sports Camera

Viosport


There are others out there such as Jones cam and some sold over EBAY.

The differences in most will be the mounting/accessories and the warranty.

I would suggest looking for a camera with a "quick disconnect" at the camera, I have the old style camera and I'm basically "hardwired" to the backpack. (As in I have to take off my camera pack if I take off my helmet. Not a big deal but a pain if your stopping for lunch or an extended break.)

***

Now for the Camera, You can go with a mini-DVD recorder but that is $$$$$. And you probably don't want that to be strapped to your back.

Most likely you want to go mini-DV, this is a digital format that can be fire-wired to your PC for editing, adding music etc... THe down side is the tapes are only 60 minutes, so you need to remember to stop and change tapes.

You need a camera with VIDEO IN and I highly suggest LANC (allows for remote start/stop of the camera)

If you go to the VIOSPORT link and click "resources" then "Compatibility" is shows a pretty good list of cameras that have these features. To get both you are pretty much limited to Canon or Sony.

You don't have to spend a fortune on a camera, I just got a Canon ZR10 on Ebay for $130 shipped. It weighs 1.3 lbs and is 5"x5"x2" (I was using a Sony TRV38 but the wife found out I was using our $600 camera and said "no way")

I split the cost w/my riding buddy so if it dies it's OK.


Look for the Canon ZR 10,20,30,40 or 50 (above the 50 there is no Lanc)

The ZR 10-50 are a little older (they were $1k when new) but have the features to do basic editing and are smallish and light and are getting cheap.

You will want to get an upgraded battery ($35 on Ebay) that has some staying power, the stock battery will last an hour or so. I have one that lasts 9 hours.

Flyingguitars, you need to put a small piece of tape over the mic to reduce wind noise. yzman400 sent me a tape with video and I could hear him breathing hard the whole time. I run my mic on the fanny pack strap to reduce wind and breathing noise. Other than that, the video isn't bad.

I have the Helmetcam 380 Extreme kit hooked up to a ZR60. Yeah, I found out afterwards that it was a Pain in the to start recording. Get one of the older one's off Ebay cheap and you'll be very happy. They are small and work great.

Here's a link of a video I posted in the vids section.

http://www.thumperta...&highlight=pigs

Nick (squidward) is working on a setup to eliminate a lot of wires. This would be really nice.

so all i have to have is a regular cam corder right but i dont have to have it on me? What im trying to ask is do i have to have a regular cam corder strapped to me or does it save what yo taped and then you can go home and play it on you regular cam corder.

rMzRiDeR98 said:

You need to have your camcorder.

The "helmet cam" is just a remote lens, about the size of a lipstick. That has a wire out the back that connects to the video recorder in your back pack.

If you buy a helmet cam, you have to have a camcorder to record to. The helmet cam is only a camera.

I have a Sony DRC-HC30 with the 480 resolution helmet cam. I went with Helmetcamera.com because the seem to have the best mounts. The whole setup was pretty expensive about $750 but it works flawless. I converted an old fanny pack tool kit to hold everything inside a block of foam and the whole setup weighs less than two pounds. I dont even know it is there when I am riding and am pretty sure it would hold up to everything but the biggest get off. By the way I attach the mic to the tool kit belt behind me, it still picks up all the sound but cyts way down on the wind noise. It will get its first race test this weekend at A Day in the Dirt.