gpsblake

I would like to get one but not fork out a bunch of cash. Can anyone make a recommendation please. Thanks.

fuji86

Not 1080p, but acceptable video ? Most of what you get on You Tube isn't HD

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...Camcorder.html
https://www.etronixmart.com/act10-wat...der-p-766.html
https://www.etronixmart.com/waterproo...ee9d5e80b50f2a
https://www.amazon.com/GSI-Quality-Hi.../dp/B00404RHWQ

johnny99

How much image quality do you need? Do you want to read license plate numbers on passing cars?

limeylew

I have one of these and it works very well for me:-

https://www.ebay.com/itm/260795655778...84.m1423.l2649

Hope this helps you.

degnaw

I have two of these (it's the HD version of limeyiew's suggestion):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/808HD-11-HD-...item2564420a4a

gmt13

I bought an 808 #11 Jumbo a month ago. It's like the one in the post above but has higher battery capacity.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/808HD-Lens-C...item256799d6eb

See this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBnbuzCINV0

My impressions are that it is a great bargain for the price. It has a fairly wide view and the vids are very good. It does not have any feature to steady the motion so if wherever you mount it moves around a bit (head, bars) the videos may make the viewer a bit seasick.

I am glad I bought it; however it's been over a month and all I have is a bunch of boring footage. I sort of make my wife watch the parts where I pass any other bike on the road.

-G

MMACH 5

Made me laugh. Love it.

Seattle Forrest

I prefer a still camera to a video camera, and that helps keep the costs down.

degnaw

I have the non-jumbo version, but I do use an external battery pack (it's sold as a package by the same sellers for roughly $52) so the effective battery life is roughly four hours - i've gone on 3+ hours rides and it hasn't died on me.

As for the wideness of the view, I had a $10 wide angle lens on my first one, found that to be too narrow, and have a $16 fisheye lens on my second one. Granted, it's now much harder to pick out license plates, but it captures much more "action".

Edit: Examples of field of view for each option:
Fisheye example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ4ERvQcpQA
Wide angle example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkFN8tpVCKc
default example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsk11mplDZo

My digital camera cost $150, whereas my helmet cam+lens+microSD cost $52+16+22=$90.

Seattle Forrest

Sure. My digital camera cost $4,500 when it was new. This one costs $9.39.

gpsblake

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. I don't need 1080p, and it's not so much for getting license tags as for recording some rides. If I ever get so disgusted that I feel the need to get license plate numbers, I'll stop riding. But I live in a rural area and rarely do I have any problems with cars. Logging trucks are pain in the blank but that's part of riding state highways.

One more question, does the camera make your head and helmet feel off balance? Thanks much for all the answers.

dynodonn 

I'm polar opposite, I'm willing to get license plate numbers so I can keep riding. I'm not going to let a few problematic motorists have their way by deterring cyclists from riding.

iconicflux

How do you guys with the 808's mount your 808? I haven't found a good way to mount one yet.

Also, I've been trying out a couple of different chargers. One that takes 4 AA's made by duracell and one that takes 2 AA's that I found at Riteaid. The one with 4AA's is interesting because it's a battery charger that you can then plug whatever usb device into. It's a bit bulky for those without a bag whereas the other smaller one from riteaid is pretty darn slick.

I actually got the 4AA one so I can keep my phone charged and using imapmyride on long rides. So far I've had it power/charge my droid2 for 5.5 hours without being near to running out so I imagine it would probably power an 808hd for an insane number of hours.

degnaw

Velcro.

Digital_Cowboy

What do you all think of those so called "disposable" video cameras that one can buy at like CVS? I read an article that if one is careful that they can access the port(s) and reuse them. The same with those "disposable" digital cameras.

fuji86

Another consideration ? H.264 vs MJPEG format video files they produce. They both have advantages & disadvantages. Both are lossy video. Trade off is video quality, older MJPEG is "courtroom" quality, but comes at a price, files are bigger than MP4 & H.264.

https://www.tereo.com/MJPEGvsMPEG4vsH264.aspx

dynodonn 

If they are 1280 X 720 HD, they will be still a fairly good camera. The drawback is that even at that resolution, license plate numbers tend to be fuzzy at speed, which I found out when I inadvertently switched my camera from my desired setting of 1920 X 1080 HD.

Digital_Cowboy

I'm not really sure what their resolution is, just that I've seen those so called "disposable" cameras for sale at CVS. I can imagine that they could come in handy for a lot of "fun" things that a person wouldn't want to risk their good camera for.

iconicflux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCuLQpnS2K8 <-- Got my hd808 mounted today. I don't have any complaints about the clarity of the license plates on this truck that did a buzz-yell. (Is there a hip term for that?)

fuji86

I'd say that you created that entire situation for yourself. Why not ride in the middle of the paved asphalt to the right of the line where there is plenty of room ? That way you're not playing in a traffic lane. Your own video exposes you for it. Why would you ride on a painted line with cracks in the road, an uneven surface, when plenty of smoothly paved asphalt exists to your right ? Can't wait for the ensuing comments by Digital_Cowboy on this one ?

From the video, looks like the passenger didn't say a word to you, he never turns toward you or sticks his head out the window to say anything to you. Instead he sits on his side of the truck and looks forward throughout that pass. That's the thing about volume, you can turn the audio up and even hear feint voices and remarks over road noise & wind. I guess it wouldn't be a controversial video if it didn't have to happen like this ?

cyclegaz

You only get that because the the 1080p mode in the contours has a much smaller lens angle than the 960p or 720p modes. So your 1080p videos looked zoomed in and your 720p and 960p videos looked zoomed out. To get the numberplate clearly you just need to move your head with the vehicle as it passes. I have no trouble doing that.

dynodonn 

My cameras are mounted to the bike frame for a more set and stable viewing area. The last two incidents, that I reported, happened too quickly and in poor lighting conditions to try and follow the motorist's vehicle with a helmet cam.