chewy Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Helmet Cameras; I am planning some exceptional rides next year and would like to record them , with this in mind I have started looking at helmet cams and am as usual with gadgets overwhelmed by the choices and sales pitches. Is ther any one out there who can reccomend something good for an old git to use. Please take into account the whole use experience you have has , i.e batteries ,charging, fixing to helmet, storing, processing,editing data. etc etc. Thanks in anticipation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Matt and I have both moved to the Contour 1080 p HD for 2011. We will be using these a lot more in FW in May and should give you good results. The camera is small and neat and comes with a lot of optional accessories. We've both got the waterproof cases too. The camera is pretty waterproof but this cover keeps the grime off and also allow for total submersion (think of the rain we usually see). The camera comes is two versions a 720p and 1080p version. The 1080 version is worth the extra money as it can record at 60 frame per second in 720 mode (most do 30 fps). That means better motion tracking and very smooth slow-mo's. 720 HD is more that enough for viewing on the TV or online. We produce our DVDs in standard def anyway as fewer people have HD DVDs yet. Editing 720 is easier to as it doesn't take so much processing power. I'd avoid 1080i or 720i cameras if you can. The i stand for interlaced and removing de-interlacing during edit is a pain in the neck. If you view video on any sort of PC or laptop that was recored as interlaced you'll get terrible ghosting and its almost unwatchable. It can be removed but I've not found a package that will recode nearly interlaced footage without some ghosting or loss in quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Any thoughts on the Midland xtc 100 ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalshell Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 the thread about the gopro the other day had two excellent quality bits of film.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy Posted December 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Thanks for that; the contour was the one I've been using as a benchmark, I guesse one has to bite the bullet and buy spare battery and sd card (s) (one of our rides is for a week inm mountains of Corsica so finding power source and adaptors etc comes into play. Still the main thing is the camera and at least I know to avoid Interlace stuff. Happy Crimble see in May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 the thread about the gopro the other day had two excellent quality bits of film.. The gopro is a great camera with one of the best wide angle lens of all helmet cams but and its a big but for me the thing looks like a Gatso speed camera and appears very vulnerable. The footage from the gopro and the contour will be pretty much the same quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wri5hty Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 (edited) They did a test on the gadget show using the gopro and the contour, gopro got the best review mostly because of the wider angle and being better at dealing with changes in light.gadget show review. the gopro fastens to the top of the helmet and i can imagine a low branch could wipe it out. bigfoot what editing software do you use? i have been looking into getting this onepower director reviews say it is very easy to use and reasonable price. Edited December 22, 2010 by wri5hty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_smf_ Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 I use the goprohd ,I'm a beginner trials rider. I made a little video testing out my bike. I mounted it on my mx helmet on the mouthguard, I don't have a trials helmet. You can mount it to the side of your helmet too with the suction cup attachment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 bigfoot what editing software do you use? i have been looking into getting this onepower director reviews say it is very easy to use and reasonable price. I seem to recall Bigfoot saying he used Corel Videostudio, but I'm sure he'll confirm. I tried that and didn't get on with it. Tried several more, settled with Powerdirector and love it. Very powerful tool, but needs a beefy machine to run well. If I recall correctly you can try before you buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Both Power Director and Corel Video Studio are good powerful packages. Andy's right I tend to use video Studio most. Both will do far more than you are ever likely to use and both can be downloaded on a 30 day trial without any limitations or watermarking so try before you buy. Both are fairly cheap too. I did the first TC SSDT DVD with the trial version of video studio and you'd never know. My mate Matt uses Adobe Premier Pro which is super powerfull but needs a bit of time and experiance to get used to. Its also very expensive if you buy a legal copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wri5hty Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Thanks guys. i will give them a go. the latest version of power director is not out here until the new year anyway, so a bit of time to practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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