Possible commute camera option for iPhone owners

[caesar]

I bought a quadlock bike mount for my iPhone recently and it got me thinking about what else you could use the iPhone for on the bike, besides Strava type things and navigation. One idea I had was for a periscope attachment so you could video forwards while the iPhone is mounted horizontally. I found a company that had such a product was already in development, and they have just launched on kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marknzed/hilo-lens-for-iphone-and-ipad

(I have no connection to the company behind this except wanting to try out their product!)

Could be a good option for people with iPhones that would like to film their commutes. I also looked at the GoPano 360 degree periscope but it has its own case which doesn't have a bike mount and is not attached very firmly. Would be cool to film in 360 degrees although you'd probably need it to stick out the top of your helmet!

My other helmet-cam idea was to mount a downward looking camera with a very wide angle lens on an aerial so you could see exactly how close cars got - nobody seems to be making one of these!

Quadlock case is pretty good BTW, very firm attachment to the bike mount. It is not waterproof though, and doesn't have any Ant+ functionality. I think the tick all boxes option would be a quadlock adapter stuck onto a waterproof Wahoo Ant+ fitness case with the Wahoo mount on the underside of the stem, holding a spare battery only.

 

[fossyant]

Oh god.

Your battery will last about 5 minutes, oh and don't get it wet.

 

[caesar]

Could be right about the battery, I might try it on the Brompton without this gadget, just to have mount the phone in a very un-aero vertical posture. Have B&M released that dynamo light with hte USB charging port yet ;-)

 

[gaz]

Getting a smooth image from a camera mounted on the frame is tricky. I doubt an iPhone mount and that little adapter will produce good video over pot holes.

 

[caesar]

I'll try it next commute without the adapter but with the iPhone in vertical position and see how it comes out.

 

[Hawk]

My phone sits on my handlebars and is on charge from a 7000 mAh battery pack kept in a saddle bag. I don't think video would be viable from the bars but perhaps an iphone helmet mount?

 

[caesar]

iPhone was indeed very bouncy from the bar mount. Screen stays on which could attract thieves (although if it was mounted horizontally with the perioscope thing then it would be probably be less obvious). Used about 1GB per 8 mins. Lens could do with being wider angle, it looks like you were a lot closer to peds and other vehicles than you really were and looks like you went over stop lines when you didn't.

On the plus side quality was very good apart from the bouncing.

 

[Powely]

I bought a quadlock bike mount for my iPhone recently.

Where did you buy the quadlock? I'm struggling to find a retailer.

 

[veloevol]

Unless you're shooting low res I think your iPhones hard drive is going to fill up before you get warmed up.

Could see it happening on something with external SD storage but not an iPhone.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

If you just wanted a helmet cam, you can get the Mini DV cams for under a tenner or an 808 #16 for £20. You'd be paying £45 for that periscope attachment so I don't see why you couldn't get one of them + an SD card for that price.

 

[Kookas]

Unless you're shooting low res I think your iPhones hard drive is going to fill up before you get warmed up.

Could see it happening on something with external SD storage but not an iPhone.

Depends which model of iPhone he has, and how long his rides are. At 1GB/8 mins, you could get 2 hours into 16GB, which is enough for a 32 mile round trip (like a commute) at 16mph average speed. Bearing in mind that you lose space from the OS, other apps and other files, if you have a 32 or 64 gig iPhone, then you'll be fine.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Video also takes you over your free iCloud allowance very quickly, which means that nothing gets backed-up while you're over the limit, not just your video.

I've used an iPhone handheld to shoot short video clips on a cycling holiday, and it's brilliant for that, but it wouldn't be my device of choice to shoot an entire ride.

 

[Mark Hampton]

Hi, we did get the HiLO Lens through the Kickstarter. The original intention was more photography than videography but the HiLO Lens app does take video. There is an iPhone case that works with the HiLO Lens and we prototyped a bike mount. If your interested in testing this out then please get in touch, support email at hilolens.com is an easy way to contact me. Cheers, Mark.

 

[classic33]

Where did you buy the quadlock? I'm struggling to find a retailer.

http://www.lead-out.co.uk/quad-lock-iphone5-bike-mount