I would like to get a helmet cam. I did a search but these things change so fast I need to know what is best at the time. Below are my priorities. Under $300 since I would be too worried about breaking anything more expensive. Ability to take decent video in the shade. The trees are thick where I ride so it needs to be able to go from sun to shade. It is wet where I ride. I would not be filming during downpours but it should be able to take a few splashes. Strong enough to take a few swipes from branches and other brush. Due to the vegitation it would be best if it did not mount on top of the helmet. Decent battery life and storage. Ability to mount to motorcycle, bicycle, and snowboard helmet. Thanks
I've owned both the Vholdr full HD and the GoPro full HD. Both have their virtues and pitfalls. In the end, I sold the Vholdr. Pros and cons of both (IMO) below: VHOLDR: Pros: Better sound Easier to mount in places that won't get whacked by trees Cons: Cheap mounting hardware Lower video quality at full HD when compared to GoPro Not water proof Lower battery life than GoPro GoPro: Pros: Excellent video quality Waaaaay more robust build quality than Vholdr Can be made completely waterproof Mounting hardware is bulletproof Better battery life Cons: Sound sucks when enclosed in the fully waterproof shell Controls are less user friendly than Vholdr Depending on your mounting configuration, camera may be fodder for tree limbs
I will attest to GoPro sound being poor in waterproof shell. The GoPro shows up as a Canon in my iMovie software.
I use the VHOLDR full HD not tried anything else. With the camera set on full HD it takes some serious computing power to playback the video. One trick I've found is to use Xilisoft's conversion software and convert it to a MPEG4 copy it to a USB thumb drive and play it back on the PS3 looks awesome on the flatscreen. If you just plan on uploading I don't see any reason to bother with HD just set the camera to a lower resolution. Battery life is pretty sad, 15 minutes continuous maybe.... The good part is that I'm told the battery is generic and can be matched up ( Not tried it since I bought 2 with the camera) File format is .MOV and can't be changed. It is nice and small and simple to use, the aiming laser comes in handy too.
I would replace your battery if you are only getting 15 minutes out of a charge. I get around an hour at full 1080P HD and almost two hours at the lower resolution. The battery is a Nokia. Edit: They do make a waterproof enclosure for the VholdR also.
That's strange. I got about 3 hours of footage from the OEM battery yesterday on my 720P Contour shooting HD. And they take Nokia BL-5C batteries, which I bought 2 of for $5 shipped on ebay. Love the cam. Superb image quality and sound (up to about 50mph and then wind noise gets loud). It does suffer when going from light to dark, but they all do to some extent.
There was a bad batch of batterys for the vholdr. My hd was dying then they gave me new one. Lasts 3 plus hours now easy.
I've enjoyed my GoPro standard wide....It was inexpensive. But if I had it to do again, I would not have been so cheap & got the GoPro HD Wide.
Update on the battery life......... charged it all night on the USB port. Turned it on and it lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes continuous 1080p video. I suspect the car charger may be the culprit here.
I'd go with the gopro HD, you can get them for $213 shipped at www.superbikesupply.com I've ordered over $1500 worth of stuff from them without any issues, they ship fast too.
it comes down to how you want to mount it, the vholder mounts like a bulletcam the gopro uses a chest, or top of the helmet mount, some people mount it under the visor If your cheap, there's this, I posted this on another forum last week If anyone is looking for a super cheap helmet cam, these things from ebay are the ticket, they are called MD80, they are knock off's of a more expensive camera, but they upped the specs! Mine is a 720x480 version, they sell for 15 $, mine was 11 $ + 4 $ to ship from china. These are not gopro/vholdr quality, they will suffer from "rolling shutter" as do gopro/vholder, because they are cmos cameras. CCD/lipstick cameras are the only ones that do a full frame image at a time, rather than a scan top to bottom, and wont have any rolling shutter, but those all have a bunch of wires you have to deal with. I added a "jelly lens" wide angle for the front, basically they are stick on wide angle lenses, they go for a couple bucks on ebay, they can be glued permanently on. This camera has a built in rechargable batter that will record for ~2 hours. For your nefarious needs, it can do sound activated recording, I wont give you any ideas. It'll do about 40 minutes per gig, so a 2 gig card will fill before the battery, they can be sensitive to cards, so you want a class 6 card microSD card. It'll also act as a webcam, I have not tried that yet. There's a bunch of reviews online, because they are super cheap, small and light, they are getting strapped onto all sorts of things, lots of info on them on the RC airplane forums. This is what you get for 15 $, I put quarters on/around it for scale, sorry my iphone takes horrible pictures Sample video of with and without the jelly lens, you can tell it makes the view quite a bit wider. I will try to get some helmetcam footage this week to test out the video and sound. The sound will pick up wind, so I'll probably have to use some black or friction tape over the microphone hole. There's lots of videos on youtube from these things already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yRIpiQohbU
Jake and i have found this is the best way to mount a Gopro. Out of the way of limbs, EZ to turn on and off and look as, EZ to wipe off when riding, looks where you look, isolated from vibrations via your neck. Jakes Gopro vid takes amazing vid. played back on HDMI on his flat screen is like being there. Example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-baI8z-Tj1A Even after being smashed by Youtube it looks good. Hit 720HD and "expand" notice how good the sound is too. Hear his bike and mine.
Just get a GoPro Chesty mount, which is almost the same viewpoint as their ghetto chin mount (sorry couldn't resist)! I have multiple helmets and I'm not putting a chin mount on every one of them. Besides, the chesty mount shows the handlebars in action as well as the rider in front, especially when your run the the R4 resolution selection (tallest HD video max overall view 4:3 960P 1280 x 1080).
Did the chest mount first, like the helmet mount a LOT better. you can look around, follow the rider in front of you etc. Ez to see the back of to see if it is on (on my gopro standard wide), EZ to wipe off. Being able to turn the camper (head) is big to me. You're also not going to miss it is it ejects.
The chest mount doesn't work unless you are sitting or standing straight up. I have it and have tried it on multiple people. For aggressive riding and racing you get this view, and lots of it. If you are getting good video with the go pro chesty your body positioning needs work IMO. Later,
Have u seen my videos? If I mount it for riding in the standing up position, when I sit you see too much of my bars like Jake's snap picture. That's why I use the the tallest resolution to compensate.
