Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Helmet cam in traffic...

I have been playing around with a helmet mounted camcorder for over a month now. I have a dozen or so short vids of myself and friends playing in traffic which might be fun for some of you to see. Others will hate them.

http://www.vimeo.com/user455142/videos

Or click my sig pic anytime. Takes you to the same place.

Dude that was pretty good. Biking in NYC is a bit tougher, but nice. Some good action there.

Dude that was pretty good. Biking in NYC is a bit tougher....

Man, I love NYC - biking and inline skating. One huge slab of concrete that just goes on and on and on. Never had a helmet cam for NYC trips tho and my couch-surfing connections have all grown up and moved away from the "good" stuff. Nothing like having a couple kids to support to take the fun out of skitching a UPS truck on skates or bike.

New Orleans' city center grid is tiny. About ten square blocks. So three minutes at a full gallop and you're done. Only a select few smooth streets too.

The similar thing I find about NYC and NOLA is the attitude of motorists downtown. Anything goes, so no one gets pissed. Much less horn blowing down here, but very similar otherwise. A taxi cuts me off - part of the game. Cars don't signal turns - I never expected them to signal anyway. I blow through red light after red light and everyone is happy that I am not slowing them down or in the way.

But you are right. Cycling in traffic in New Orleans is like the "baby pool" compared to Manhattan and surroundings. Still pretty fun.

Thanks

-Joey

Any city riding is gonna be an adventure, especially if you want to be a bit aggressive. I live out in the suburbs of NYC, so getting into the city to do some riding is a rarity, but Ive done it before and its an experience. Last summer I commuted from Long Island into the city by bike/train. My mom works in the city and I had gotten an offer to shadow someone in the city. So I rode to the train station, and took it to penn station, and rode from there to 98th... It was my first time doing something like that, but I tried not to be intimidated by the traffic. It was awesome riding past cars for once, although I came so close to getting pinned between two tour buses(Id be dead) it was an exhilarating ride. When I get back on my feet, Im gonna film a ride in the city. You have inspired me.

What helmet cam did you use? I would like it to be as discrete as possible, I dont exactly want to ducktape a camcorder to my helmet...

What helmet cam did you use? I would like it to be as discrete as possible, I dont exactly want to ducktape a camcorder to my helmet...

Link to VholdR wearable camcorder "getting to know your camera" page. (http://vholdr.com/video/getting-know-your-vholdr)

It took me two tries to get a good camera (first one was defective) but it was worth all the bother. I have not seen anything I like better. The original AVI that the camera produces is super nice quality. The vids I post have been dumbed way down for smaller file size. The built-in microphone picks up lots of wind noise and will only capture your voice (or other sounds like music on the street or people yelling at you) if you are stopped or going very slow.

I bought it through these guys: Helmet Camera Central. (http://shop.helmetcameracentral.com/index.html) They were 100 percent helpful in the exchange of my first camera that had a couple of minor bugs. They were great.

If you want to shoot more professional stuff, HD etc, check out the Lucas Brunelle How-To (http://digave.com/videos/how.htm) page of his site. Lucas is the master of this sort of thing. He films many illegal bike messenger races that will make your hair stand on end for sure. His setup is not discrete whatsoever, but worth a peek for sure.

Good luck! Shoot me a PM if you go through with it.

-Joey

Joeybike! I've seen some of your videos on the VholdR site, and they are always exciting to watch. I have a VholdR too, and I haven't had any problems with mine. It seems like they worked the bugs out with the newer batch of cameras. I'm very happy with my purchase, and it's so durable. I drop it all the time, and it still keeps working.

Joeybike! I've seen some of your videos on the VholdR site, and they are always exciting to watch. I have a VholdR too, and I haven't had any problems with mine. It seems like they worked the bugs out with the newer batch of cameras. I'm very happy with my purchase, and it's so durable. I drop it all the time, and it still keeps working.

My new one is perfect. Only dropped it once but it bounced off of about ten things before hitting the ground. No problem. It's pretty tough and no moving parts other than the Record switch, so it should be able to take a beating.

I also rode in a pretty good rainstorm for ten minutes as is (no extra plastic bag or whatnot). It survived, but a little water found it's way into the rear hatch. I was prepared with a dry paper towel when I opened the camera (carefully) and immediately captured the few drops near the edges. I need to figure out a rain cover for the camera and lens.

Thanks for the response!

- Joey