When Did You Buy Your Helmet Cam?

[Bigsharn]

I'm thinking of getting a Muvi at the moment, got a chance of it at a reasonable price (<£100) so I reckon it's worth it now, whereas I don't think £300 on a camera is worth it (not yet at least)

I don't mean to hijack the topic at all, but is there any chance you can power a helmet camera with a crap battery (eg. an MD-80) off a hub dynamo?

 

[gaz]

I don't mean to hijack the topic at all, but is there any chance you can power a helmet camera with a crap battery (eg. an MD-80) off a hub dynamo?

People have modded the muvi's to work with a non standard power supply (aa batteries in all the mods i have seen) but off a hub? I don't know enough about dyno hub's to say yes or no, but the camera would need a constant current.

 

[Bigsharn]

I'll get one then set about dismantling it then

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Bizarrely, I found a few corrupt files can be recovered by converting them from avi to wmf you could try that.

Ah, I didn't explain properly. It is the filesystem that gets corrupted. The disc properties say the card is part used (say 1.2GB used, for example), but there is no file in the directory listing. Usually the FATs don't match in this case either.

I have had cases of the file being accessible but corrupt, but that is usually sorted out using Divfix++, which is a great little utility. (Works on formats other than DivX by the way.)

 

[HLaB]

Ah, I didn't explain properly. It is the filesystem that gets corrupted. The disc properties say the card is part used (say 1.2GB used, for example), but there is no file in the directory listing. Usually the FATs don't match in this case either.

I have had cases of the file being accessible but corrupt, but that is usually sorted out using Divfix++, which is a great little utility. (Works on formats other than DivX by the way.)

Ah I get you now, tons of programs say they can recover tons of stuff like that but I've never used them (they are probably full of spyware etc. anyway)

I'll have to give Divfix++ ago. Ive been using AVC which is damm slow to convert; there must be a better way; perhaps Divfix++ is it.

 

[cyberknight]

People have modded the muvi's to work with a non standard power supply (aa batteries in all the mods i have seen) but off a hub? I don't know enough about dyno hub's to say yes or no, but the camera would need a constant current.

And imagine the cable issues if it was on your head


I had been commuting about a year when i started using MD 80 clones but i gave up with filming this winter as the battery life was getting less and less .On top of which i would only ever be filming mostly unlit roads at night so if i did have a bad incident all you would see would be the light falling down and then receding tail lights

 

[Cush]

I got my Drift X170 last August as a 67th birthday present to myself (SWIMBO was going to pay but it was on my B/C!!) I got it mainly for use on my major ride this year and as back up fell walking camera. I have a bike mount for it and never used it on the helmet yet but I have used it strapped to the side of my head while fell walking and find it a touch heavy. The photos are not brilliant but come up nice when joggling with PSE software. I havent tried it on video yet but intend too before long.

 

[subaqua]

bought 2 £9 ones from 7 day shop 2 weeks ago arrived in 4 days. youngest (3) has broke one already and the other is OK for the commute. nothing interesting to show since i started using one. all the idiots must know i have one.


thats jinxed it i suppose

 

[brokenbetty]

Got one about a year into cycling I think. No real reason, just reading how often cyclists get blamed for drivers' errors and thought how much I'd kick myself if happened to me. I rarely bother looking at the footage*, it's just there if I need it



*not currently true cos i'm still enjoying the novelty of viewing it on my Galaxy Tab, but I'm sure that will get eventually

 

[Chamfus Flange]

I've been commuting by bike regularly since Sept 2001 and still haven't got one.

That's even after been verbally abused, spat at, punches thrown at me and driven at.

I have over the years come to expect this and worse from other road users. I have to say that it has got better in recent years. Could this be due to the use of helmet cams?

 

[ferret fur]

Magnatom, why did you decide to use a helmet cam, when it wasn't a thing that many people did then?
(Don't have a cam myself, so can't answer the OP's question.)

He always knew that he was going to be a star! You would not believe how many times he had to go round that roundabout & how many takes they needed before they got that petrol tanker just right.

 

[WestcountryTim]

I had commuted by bike for a few years after moving to London before getting a ACT5K. Then after not liking the picture quality or the fact I had to mount in on the handelbars I bought a MUVI and have had it attached to my helmet ever since. I've just bought a second one to try the front view / rear view set up. Also have started looking at the GoPro on wiggle, but won't be getting that for a while.
I think I saw Magnatom's youtube channel before buying which showed how useful they can be.

 

[som3blok3]

Got my Muvi two weeks ago, now strapped onto the helmet and I'm getting some great footage. Nothing too juicy yet which I guess is a good thing! Have since bought an 8gb micro SD and a waterproof case for it, the card that comes with it needs to be emptied daily as it will only record an hour and a half(ish).
Was commuting for just over a year before investing, got taken out by a Honda Civic, was a bit too in shock at the time so never got any details, hindsights a bugger.

 

[mumbo jumbo]

I got one (ACT2K) about 5 years ago in the old C+ and BikeReader days. I suppose I must have been commuting about 9 years by then. The footage was always disappointingly juddery both on frame and helmet and the only remotely interesting thing I caught on cam in about a year of constant use was me making a 2 fingered gesture after a slow close pass by someone joining the back of the queue 50 yards ahead. In the end I got fed up with it but it took me a while to get through the psychological wall of "today's the day I'll get hit if I don't wear it". Of course, nothing happened.

Now I've rediscovered the forums I can see that headcams and their usage have come on quite a bit (I love gaz's Silly Cyclists series). Fingers crossed, I'll be getting a bonus in July. If I do I'm tempted to get a VIO POV HD. I might also get out the old ACT2K and rear mount it on my rack.

mj

 

[SW19cam]

Two years of commuting, probably about 6000 miles, and I received mine last week. There are so many good reasons to get one...

1) Education - mainly yourself. Was I really in the right then? Could I have improved the situation by taking a more primary position, or tucking in more to the left? Was the light orange? After 2 years I was fed up of questioning myself after things happened. Now I just know if I made a mistake.

2) Reporting to the authorities - I've used mine (already) to report pot holes, and a very close pass this evening...

3) Just for fun - I often see odd things on my commute which I'd like to share with people at work etc. Or odd things people say to me (Once I was cycling over Putney Bridge late at night, and a crowd of people starting cheering as if I was cycling in the Tour de France...other examples too).

4) Memories of recreational rides - where are all the videos of the Dunwich Dynamo?I was surprised there weren't many after the 2010 ride.. Well there will be at least one next year...

Would it be cheeky to advertise my account? http://www.youtube.com/user/sw19cam Well I've done it now.