Who Has A Go Pro Helmet Camera

[Ji Gantor]

Does anyone have a Go Pro 5 170 wide angle helmet camera?
If so I would love to hear from you.
I have purchased one and looking forward to using it on the track.
If we share our findings we can learn how to get the best out of it quicker.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

The Go Pro camera comes with a bunch of mounting plates some flat and some curved for your helmet.
They have 3M two sided tape on them.
I tried to match the curve on the plate and the curve on the helmet so there was as much tape/helemt contact as possible so the camera will not fall off while riding.
Unfortunately this was to the rear of my helmet which prevented the camera filming the front mud guard, so I had to remove the plate and relocate it closer to the visor.
That two sided tape took a lot of force to finally remove.
After some test videos in the back yard I now have the camera mounted where I like it.
When doing this back yard testing be aware of the door bulk head, I am 6 feet tall and with the helmet and camera on, the camera gets very close to it.

Ji  

[Ji Gantor]

I discovered that the mounting block and the quick snap fitting have some play which could make the video shaky so I placed a section of cardboard inbetween them as packer which solved the problem.

Ji

[VMX247]

Good for you Ji,
The niece has got one and it sure puts on a show of racing at a different angle 
I have tried to persuade the sidecar folk to get one, as it would show there techniques at swinging etc..
But to no avail, they must all be too good     
enjoy and watch the head height.
cheers

[cyclegod]

Take a little advice from someone who has been using a helmet cam DON'T MOUNT IT ON TOP OF YOUR HELMET

Your neck is your heads pivot point and the camera on top is the furthest thing away from that point, here are two videos which show the difference between on top versus on the side....


Here's the video from on top...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOw_SEQaMpI


Here's the video side mounted...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVTVGZJ8bfM

[Ji Gantor]

Thanks VMX247,
From a photographers point of view they are difficult to mount correctly as there is no sideways adjustment. The lense like most still cameras is offset so if you mount the camera in the centre of the helmet the video is also offset.
I have never done a lot of videoing but it would seem to me that the front mud guard and the riders hands should be in the shot some of the time. This adds to the depth of the capture, first you look at the fast action, then the fine detail.

It should be a great training tool as one can review how much braking is done before a corner or...........

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

Thanks for the advice CG.
I will review those films when I have time.
I also have discovered that a camera with a 50mm lense is to narrow, as I feel that you should be able to see the horizon. That is the track coming up not just the piece you are riding on. I took a peek at Jason Lawrence helmet camera on You Tube and that footage was taken with a 50mm lense and it gave me motion sickness.

What camera do you use?
What size is the lense 50mm?
How many megapicsals is your cmos?
How long can you record for before the memory is full?

Ji

[cyclegod]

Thanks for the advice CG.
I will review those films when I have time.
I also have discovered that a camera with a 50mm lense is to narrow, as I feel that you should be able to see the horizon. That is the track coming up not just the piece you are riding on. I took a peek at Jason Lawrence helmet camera on You Tube and that footage was taken with a 50mm lense and it gave me motion sickness.

What camera do you use?
What size is the lense 50mm?
How many megapicsals is your cmos?
How long can you record for before the memory is full?

Ji

I use an ATC2K and get 1Hr and 6 min @ 640x480 resolution (30f/s) from a 2Gb SD card (I think that is 3.1 Megapixels)

[Ji Gantor]

Thanks again CG,
I am nearly through the film where the camera is mounted on the side of the helmet.
I think your camera has a 50mm lense.
The wide angle 170 lense gives a fish eye effect and makes all things look curved, this is the price one has to pay to get as near to what we see.

Ji

[Freakshow]

I got the ATC@k as well my biggest grip is if you use it on the top it USusally ends up pointing to the front wheel for the entire video, you really need to have it pointing to the sky, cause when you ride it ends up pointing donw.

Can be a little shaky but i thnk thats the low FPS .  but for for the ease of use and the fact it water proof and relively same i like it, also its hit a few things over time and survives well  ( has no bits hanginig off it to break off)

Down side is you can get 2 GB spy pens for $50 these days that you can just duct tape the top half to the bike or yourself and get the same,  if not better vision i have found.

Other down side on the bigger units is they seem to be real hard to watch if they are mounted to fixed items like bars etc, you really need to mount them on you so you cushion the vibration and keep it soft and flowing aned in the direction of interesting action ( we also spi the cam backwards to show the chasers  .

Hey Cj what did you do to mount on the side ? i tried the rubber strap but i coundt find anything to wedge it out to the straight position, it wanted to fall back to line up with the chin gurad ?  Photos of mounitng please :O)

[Ji Gantor]

Okay I have had a good look at both videos supplied by Cyclegod and he is correct. The top camera position is more shaky that is true.
I have been looking at the videos from some other guys and some riders produce shaky images and others smooth with a top mount.
CG is right though the lever arm is longer when mounted on the top.

Ji

[cyclegod]

Hey CG what did you do to mount on the side ?

I used the rubber strap mount Duct taped to the side at the bottom, below the right ear. It angles up to be in line with the goggle strap.

[Ji Gantor]

The camera that took these images was mounted on top of the helmet and I think this is the 170 wide angle lense. Actually because you don't see any visor I thing he has mounted the camera on the visor.
See you can see the handlebars and the horizon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHW8tCWTVIY

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

This is what I mean by seeing the horizon.
This is much easier on the eye, in fact I think this is the best helmet camera video I have seen (from a camera position and an angle of view point of view).
It all has to do with the camera position.

Jihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxtV_b-WeIQ

[Ji Gantor]

If there are some members that have one of these cameras but is a bit shy here is a helpful tip.
In its out of the box condition it will only take up to 2 GB memory cards. If you go to the following site you can increase that to what ever size you like.
http://www.goprocamera.com/fwupgrade.html

Ji