Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Helmet cam still camera?

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View Full Version : Helmet cam still camera?


spinnaker
01-20-08, 08:17 PM
Is there such a thing as a helmet cam still camera? What I would like to do is to take a running picture log of my rides. I would really like to have video but they are just not high capacity enough, at least not ones at a reasonable price.

The camera should be fairly inexpensive. It does not need to make high quality pictures. It needs to have a clock so I can sync the pictures to my GPS.

Does such a thing exist? If so, can someone recommend one? How well does it work? Does it frame what you are looking at when set up correctly?


operator
01-20-08, 08:32 PM
http://www.goprocamera.com/

Stabilized camera, 3MP res for supposed runtime of slightly < 1 hour on a 2gb SD card. Also has a mode where it takes one still photo every 5s.

What do you mean by sync to your GPS?

Bren
01-20-08, 10:39 PM
Following this thread 'cause I'd like to find the same thing. I couldn't find it in their specs, but that GoProCamera that operator linked to must have a timestamp. Every digital do-dad has a timestamp these days.

operator, the gps thing goes like this:
1) you synchronize the time on your camera (helmet cam, whatever) and your GPS receiver.
2) Then you enable 'tracks' on your GPS so that you essentially create a digital breadcrumb trail of wherever you ride.
3) Take pictures along your route.
4) When you get home, you can use software to combine your GPS track with your photos. The photos have a timestamp, so they'll get 'geolocated' in the right spot on the GPS data. You can then pipe this data into Google Earth, Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Flickr, etc...

It's super cool...


spinnaker
01-20-08, 11:02 PM
Stabilized camera, 3MP res for supposed runtime of slightly < 1 hour on a 2gb SD card. Also has a mode where it takes one still photo every 5s.
[/QUOTE]


Interesting. Probably a bit more money then I want to spend but with the stabilization it is actually a pretty good deal. It looks kind of heavy for the helmet, have you tried it?


http://www.goprocamera.com/
What do you mean by sync to your GPS?


If you sync the time of the GPS with the time of the camera, it is a (somewhat) low tech way to be able to tell exactly where you took the picture by finding the trackpoint with a time stamp near that of the one on the photo.

spinnaker
01-20-08, 11:06 PM
Rats it says the every 5 sec mode will only get you 2 hours of stills. I'd like to see something that would last the whole day.

Or maybe even a cam that is mounted to my helmet that I can snap a pic on demand.

dorkypants
01-21-08, 12:31 AM
Rats it says the every 5 sec mode will only get you 2 hours of stills. I'd like to see something that would last the whole day.

Or maybe even a cam that is mounted to my helmet that I can snap a pic on demand.

The site says the camera takes SD cards up to 2 GB and uses 2 AAA batteries. Couldn't you carry more memory cards and more batteries? Sure you'd lose some shots while swapping memory cards or replacing batteries, but still, it's possible to extend usability to all-day.

knatchwa
01-21-08, 04:01 AM
you may also want to look for the possible devices that would enable use of wifi or connect via a cell phone to send the photos to your email account or something of that matter. I cannot recommend one per se but I can offer a solution to the possibilitie of loss data. Certainly there must be some devices out there with that capability. I would be interested also. As it seems cell phones (http://www.helium.com/tm/805665/phones-elderly-combination-necessity) have improved dramatically in the last few years. And more and more so internet cafes (http://www.rollicks.com) are more available. Certainly when you stop for a snack you can synchronize. That way you may not lose your data as that would then defeat the purpose.

spinnaker
01-21-08, 09:09 AM
The site says the camera takes SD cards up to 2 GB and uses 2 AAA batteries. Couldn't you carry more memory cards and more batteries? Sure you'd lose some shots while swapping memory cards or replacing batteries, but still, it's possible to extend usability to all-day.


For a tour, 5 chips a day (average) x 10 days. That's a lot of chips. Even if I carried a laptop (yuck) it's still a lot of changing of chips each day.

photoassign
01-21-08, 10:23 AM
For a tour, 5 chips a day (average) x 10 days. That's a lot of chips. Even if I carried a laptop (yuck) it's still a lot of changing of chips each day.

this should remedy the problem

http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0546

knatchwa
01-21-08, 05:01 PM
Very interesting has most of the capabilities mentioned. Seems like it is possible to work with but there is no mention the max size of the sd cards or is there truly a limit?

operator
01-21-08, 07:09 PM
Well the problem is the device has a 2gb max limit. I'm don't see how that device helps...?

Bren
01-28-08, 08:45 AM
The device photoassign linked to is a harddrive enclosure. You put a harddrive of your choice in there and take it with you. Then you dump the pics from your card onto that little harddrive, freeing up the space on your SD card. Nice.

I like the wifi idea....and there's a 2GB SD card with wifi capabilities. You just tell it which service to dump your photos on, and whenever it detects an open wifi connection, it'll logon and dump out. http://www.eye.fi/a-wireless-memory-card/

knatchwa
02-04-08, 03:06 AM
yeah sounds like a good find for sure. Mobility, has become an amazing thing, why not setup a solar panel, and use that as the power source. Make it real interesting.