are helmet cameras/bicycle cameras worth it?

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Randombiker9

Senior Member
So i was wondering quite a few people have helmet cameras/bicycle cameras. Are they really worth it as:

1. What's the point of them other than catching bad drivers?
2. What's the difference between them and just attaching your mobile phone so it can record through it's camera
3. If you were to crash aren't helmet cameras dangerous because there on top of your helmet so if you were to crash and the helmet was to break.
4. There very expensive.
5. Do you recommend getting one?
 

gavroche

Getting old but not past it
Location
North Wales
I bought one a while ago and used it a lot for a bit. Now, it just stays in a drawer as I can't be bothered. Also, the battery only last 2 hours max, so it is very limited. Using your phone would not be very practical unless you strap it to your chest I guess and you will need to cycle with your chest upright.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
So i was wondering quite a few people have helmet cameras/bicycle cameras. Are they really worth it as:
5. Do you recommend getting one?
Personal choice, for me, no and much of my riding is in pretty heavy traffic. Don't need more gadgets to bother with

You're worried about a small camera on your head but you say you carry a backpack which is also potentially risky to your neck and back if you crash
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
So i was wondering quite a few people have helmet cameras/bicycle cameras. Are they really worth it as:

1. What's the point of them other than catching bad drivers?
2. What's the difference between them and just attaching your mobile phone so it can record through it's camera
3. If you were to crash aren't helmet cameras dangerous because there on top of your helmet so if you were to crash and the helmet was to break.
4. There very expensive.
5. Do you recommend getting one?
1. I don't have to stop to take pictures of the mad stuff I see, especially the stuff you have to be quick to capture, but it's also useful to have a record of potholes and other damage to report.
2. Mainly that I can leave it attached while the bike's in the shed and that I'll be much less upset if a £10 camera gets damaged (rain, stones, falling off its mount...) than a £100 phone.
3. I think so. Mine is on a handlebar mount.
4. Not necessarily. The SJ4000 clones are very cheap now, even Ideal World shopping TV was selling some for £18 with all their fees.
5. Yes, but mainly because local police accept bike camera footage and we need to get some bad drivers stopped. :sad:
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I bought one a while ago and used it a lot for a bit. Now, it just stays in a drawer as I can't be bothered. Also, the battery only last 2 hours max, so it is very limited.
Yes, it's important to get one which can record from USB power and ideally has a looping mode where the oldest recording gets deleted when the memory's full.
 
I bought a GoPro Hero 5 Session and use it now and again on the bike, I'm not interested in trying to catch bad drivers.

YouTube already appears to be inundated with what seems to be holier-than-thou folk on bikes screaming, "I've got you on camera", when all they actually acheive IMO is making fools of themselves. Agreed, there are times when the footage has worked in favour of a claim or accident.

They are not a deterrent, if someone intends to pass close they will, a camera won't stop them.

I use mine occasionally for a bit of fun as a hyperlapse


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVGKS2hFkoY
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Is the quality of the pictures good enough for evidence?

Quite often, yes. However, it's a double edged sword and will equally capture poor roadcraft and poor behaviour of the rider as well.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Is the quality of the pictures good enough for evidence?
I'm not a lawyer but I don't think police would be inviting it if it wasn't sometimes. Cameras vary. My 720p cameras struggle a bit in the bad winter light, especially when cars have headlights on, but are probably just good enough if the car passes close to me (not necessarily too close - I mean rather than crashing in the middle distance) and my 1080 was easily OK.. until I dropped it. :blush:
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
When I commute it's through 100% traffic clogged roads in one of the UK's insurance/tax free black spots with "pool" cars hurtling around like crazy. I'd honestly catch horror incidents every day, often, daily multiple horror incidents. But I've only got one life and can't be bothered with it all.
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
When I commute it's through 100% traffic clogged roads in one of the UK's insurance/tax free black spots with "pool" cars hurtling around like crazy. I'd honestly catch horror incidents every day, often, daily multiple horror incidents. But I've only got one life and can't be bothered with it all.

You've also got to remember there are a lot of people out on the roads who are up to all sorts of mischief, and some of these people are NOT going to take kindly to being overtly filmed by cyclists, who might be police informants etc. Riding around some areas blatantly filming everything you encounter with a helmet mounted camera puts you at risk of antagonising some seriously nasty characters who are not going to think twice about knocking you off and giving you a beating if they believe you are spying on them.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
You've also got to remember there are a lot of people out on the roads who are up to all sorts of mischief, and some of these people are NOT going to take kindly to being overtly filmed by cyclists, who might be police informants etc. Riding around some areas blatantly filming everything you encounter with a helmet mounted camera puts you at risk of antagonising some seriously nasty characters who are not going to think twice about knocking you off and giving you a beating if they believe you are spying on them.
Not happened yet, has it? It seems unlikely because loads of commercial vehicles and buses have cameras now and their drivers are not getting beaten up much even in very dodgy areas.
 

PaulSB

Legendary Member
I know the arguments in favour of cameras. Through my club I’m in touch with approximately 200 cyclists, two use cameras. I imagine this is a reasonable representative sample of most cyclists view.

Personally I can’t see any point in a camera. I have been knocked off twice in 40+ years.
 

Tin Pot

Guru
So i was wondering quite a few people have helmet cameras/bicycle cameras. Are they really worth it as:

1. What's the point of them other than catching bad drivers?
2. What's the difference between them and just attaching your mobile phone so it can record through it's camera
3. If you were to crash aren't helmet cameras dangerous because there on top of your helmet so if you were to crash and the helmet was to break.
4. There very expensive.
5. Do you recommend getting one?

What price is hope?
 
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