Author Topic: Helmet Cam  (Read 3233 times)

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gibbo

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Helmet Cam
« on: September 13, 2019, 09:41:04 am »
I've been considering a helmet cam for a while now but my thinking has been brought to the fore. The reason...……..yesterday, I had a very, very near miss with a woman on her school afternoon run. I'll admit that it shook me up considerably by the incident. It has also brought to the fore how vulnerable we can be on our two wheel steeds. Anyhow I digress.

What I'd like is a bullet shaped cam with a long life battery and easily detachable. I don't want a mini TV stuck on the top of my head like a Go Pro. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Jon

Offline Steve CH

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2019, 09:58:01 am »
Anything stuck on the helmet compromises the integrity of the shell
If you remember the Schumacher accident his Go Pro was pushed through the helmet and into his head I know a ski helmet is not the same thing but the principle is.
So I would not do it.
Steve
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Offline Matt

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2019, 12:38:24 pm »
I often toyed with the idea of hidden'ish bike mounted cameras, but never got round to it. I assumed if I got murdered that the police would leak it and social justice brigade would say, "omg 65 in a 60 hurrah Hitler MkII is dead."

The whole sticking it to the lid thing is divisive, and it depends what kind of a head smash you have. And how it's mounted. I'm sure I've heard some suggest that if it's not a smack directly 'into' the lid then whatever's mounted would get swiped off. However I'd then expect that swipey effort would increase/change the torque or wtf that you're experiencing or not experiencing when your head is sliding along tarmac or whatever.

I wore one for several months and then got bored of charging, reviewing footage, saying "look at that idiot" to colleagues. I still don't know either way.

I had a Contour  Roam 2. More bullet than box shaped, but fairly chunky, and also way out of date now. Maybe Contour or whoever they are still make that format.
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Offline black-k1

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2019, 03:31:36 pm »
The thing to remember is that, if, for any reason, you receive a "tug" from plod, they can use the footage of any "less than fully legal" riding to prosecute you. As long as you can be sure that your speedo needle will always be on or below the speed limit any time your headcam scans across the speedo, you'll be fine! ;)
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Offline richtea

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2019, 06:21:27 pm »
Anything stuck on the helmet compromises the integrity of the shell
If you remember the Schumacher accident his Go Pro was pushed through the helmet and into his head I know a ski helmet is not the same thing but the principle is.
So I would not do it.
Steve

Agreed.
Mount it on the bike. Problem solved.

Offline Matt

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2019, 06:57:25 pm »
Anything stuck on the helmet compromises the integrity of the shell
If you remember the Schumacher accident his Go Pro was pushed through the helmet and into his head I know a ski helmet is not the same thing but the principle is.
So I would not do it.
Steve

Agreed.
Mount it on the bike. Problem solved.

I wondered with that, I'm sure some fool on a gsxr got done years ago when they used frame rate plus distance over time to get him. Although he was riding like an absolute mental so the 'effort' was worth it.

I guess blatant is the key word.
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gibbo

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2019, 07:04:24 am »
Thanks for all the comments and advice chaps. Much appreciated.  ;)

It would seem that this cam would be a good contender and most suitable for my needs. Here's the link :-

https://driftinnovation.com/products/ghost-x

I like the side mount and battery life. Also, the idea of attaching it to the bike, however I'd have to purchase more than one.

Jon

Offline richtea

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2019, 08:32:20 am »
Two mounting kits? Problem still solved. :P

An aside for the GoPro user, this looks vey well made, to (beyond) BMW quality:

K1200S/1300S:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=CamRack+von+GuardConcept&_sacat=0

K1600GT:
http://guardconcept.de/bmw_k1600gt.php

K1300R:
http://guardconcept.de/bmw_k_1300_r.php

But no ZZR one.  ???

Review, but on a R (spit) bike:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/goprouser/new-guardconcept-gopro-mount-for-bmw-motorcycles-t22486.html

gibbo

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2019, 10:21:25 am »
Ok then. After delving a little more on this subject, I decided to purchase this Drift ghost X helmet cam. Nice little thing, lightweight and only 8cm long and 4cm high approx. Came in a really strong package.



Mounted it to the side of my lid.



There are plenty of reviews on-line regarding this little camera, but here are a few of my musings...….good and not so good but all in all impressed.

Great quality video especially on the 1080p setting. I fitted a 128GB micro sd card so plenty of space for many hours of recordings.

Wi-fi compatible. You can download their app and pre set everything on your phone or laptop instead of using the very small rear screen.

Battery life has exceeded my expectations. So far, on one charge it lasted nearly six hours......….Drift claims 5 and a bit hours but you can purchase a larger battery that takes you to over eight hours.

It's not GPS so no positioning or speed indication recorded. Just date and time.   :)

Good adjustment on field of view from 90 to 140 degrees. Over 300 degrees adjust of lens angle.

Ok then, the bad bits.

The built in external microphone is next to useless for us bikers...……….too much wind noise, so I've purchased a mic to fit inside my helmet for commentary. There are 5 settings for mic sensitivity and number 1 (least sensitive ) seems just right for me. Depends on your helmet design whether wind noise is a problem or not.

This camera is water resistant, NOT waterproof. If you are an all weather rider then the purchase of the Drift waterproof case is a must.

There are too many other settings that I'll never use like the photo mode, timelapse mode and photoburst mode.

All in all then, I'm well pleased with the purchase so far.

Jon




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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2019, 11:53:47 am »
I bought a Drift HD Ghost when they first came out and which is mostly used in the car.

I found it a little large for the helmet and the controls are almost impossible to use with gloves on for me; there is no tactility to the buttons, they all feel the same and are almost flush with the body. Battery life is not great. I have five batteries (they gave me extra when I complained) and it is almost impossible to do a whole day of say, The Wrinklies trip, without running out. It seems like they have improved the life enormously.

I also bought a Drift Stealth 2 to try on the bike (and to prevent having to remember to take the Ghost out of the car when out on the bike). It is much smaller but with a fixed battery which only lasts about 3 hours, so useless for a days outing, OK for nipping to the shops etc.

However, I think the video is brilliant on both but at least on the Ghost, when used in the car, the cigarette lighter socket USB thingy is not powerful enough to keep the batter topped up AND run the unit at the same time, so the battery runs down and then the unit loses its Date/Time and reverts to the birth date and it also won't auto-start.

Coully

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2019, 12:08:02 pm »
I got myself a 2nd hand go pro hero and session, I'm loathe to mount them to my helmet so currently deciding on a bike mount point .

Had a loan of an S1000r twice in the last week and the handlebar mount was ideal.

Just to sit down and consider how to mount it to the k12...in an unfussy manner

gibbo

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Re: Helmet Cam
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2019, 09:33:17 am »
I decided not to fit to the bike as I'd need more than one mount and I believe fitting to the bike would create more vibration thus affecting video quality. Drift however, have a variety of bike mount fittings to choose from if you decide on this course.