noglider 

Does a helmet camera for still pictures exist? I'd like to hit a button and take a picture of whatever my face is pointed towards.

texbiker

A GoPro can take photos or video. With the right model you can use voice control.

atwl77

What @texbiker said. Alternatively, anything that shoots good quality 4k video - you can capture a short clip, and extract a still image later.

rumrunn6

I think any sportcam has a still photo mode & can be mounted in various ways. the units I use have single, burst & time lapse (5 sec, 10 sec 30 sec) modes. which is fun when you hang it from a kite

a low profile quick release mount is advantageous in case you want to take a hand held snap



& if you carry 2 you can take a pic of your camera

canklecat

Many action video cameras have still photo modes, including settings to automatically snap pix every few seconds or minutes, or to snap a photo on demand by pressing a button.

Besides that feature, the Drift Ghost X and some other Drift cameras have a mode in which the camera records continuously but saves the video snippet only on demand when the wearer presses a button. Some folks prefer this "video tagging" mode because it records only whatever they consider noteworthy.

I'm not a fan of that "video tagging" mode for a few reasons, primarily because it assumes I'm physically conscious and capable of pressing the "save recording" button in the event I'm hit. But it also assumes I actually see everything around me that's potentially interesting. I know from reviewing my videos that often the camera captures things I didn't notice during the ride.

rumrunn6

does that make clips as you ride? or one long recording? if you don't press the button for tagging, is there nothing on the camera card when you finish the ride? my Polaroid XS 100 (& knock off) units make 1 long recording. so I periodically press the button to stop & restart. which I try to do after a ride highlight. sometimes I won't run the camera unless I expect a highlight coming up, like a water crossing or or road intersection. I wind up w/ many clips to review when I get home. sometimes the preview image is useful & telling about what's in the clip, but not always

rumrunn6

re: wanting to photo something I am looking at, aka camera on helmet, but in the evening (requires a helmet mounted light). & I know the OP likes to make his own mounts ;-) ... this past fall, while on a trail, an owl swooped down in front of me & I was following it for a cpl seconds before it rose back up into the trees. I was able to extract a video frame of it sitting on a branch on another evening. but I wanted to be able to point my head, my camera & a light simultaneously at this owl if I ever saw it again, regardless of it's location, meaning not right in front of me. found out how uncommon it is to have camera & light on a helmet. crafted something in the office w/ a highlighter & rubber bands at 1st & then finalized a few generations later with better & fewer parts & finished w/ a better light. sadly, the owl never flew directly in front of me again. maybe next Fall when it is dark enough after work. the final product works as designed but admittedly has limited usefulness for a very narrow set of circumstances. but it was fun for a cpl months, incl snow storms at night. not to hijack, I'll start another thread here

canklecat

Off the top o' my noggin, since I haven't used all modes recently...

The Drift Ghost X has two basic still photo options: manually operated via one of the buttons; auto intervals, every 3 seconds or longer, mostly for time lapse photography, but potentially useful for traffic documentation. The main advantage might be the larger, higher resolution still photos, compared with screen grabs from the 1080p mode.

Although video camera still photo modes are very limited compared with dedicated still photo cameras. It's a fixed aperture, and most action cameras lack options for full or even partial manual exposure controls. And even at larger resolution the image quality isn't as good as a dedicated still camera with comparable resolution.

In video mode, there are several options, including:

• Continuous recording
• Car DVR mode with continuous recording broken up into segments of around 1-5 minutes each (which I use most of the time)
• Video tagging mode -- this one seems complicated but it's not. The camera records continuously, but doesn't save to the media card. It buffers the previous few seconds or few minutes. If you decide to save a clip from something you just saw -- a car driving dangerously, a streaker running nekkid across Abbey Road -- press a button and the buffered video writes to the media card. While some folks use this mode, it requires us to be mentally and physically capable of pressing the save button. That might be okay for non-emergency use to save only the most interesting bits, but it's nearly useless if we're hit by a car, animal, or simply crash on our own.

Drift explains all the modes and specs on its website. The newer Drift 4k cameras have even more features. A 4k screen grab would probably be good enough for most of my uses.

And they've upgraded from the old standard 5-hour battery to 8 or 9 hour batteries. That's phenomenal for a relatively compact, easy to use traffic documentation camera that doesn't require a separate protective housing for most uses.

canklecat

Regarding helmet mounted lighting, Light & Motion and Outbound Lighting make very good helmet lights. These get the weight of the battery pack off the top of the helmet.

While not specifically designed for helmet mounting, the NiteRider Lumina Dual 1800 would be a good helmet light with an adapter mount, if you don't mind the weight of an all-in-one light/battery.

The tricky bit is combining a light and camera. I've tried makeshift mounts that worked okay, but I couldn't take the weight on my head for longer rides. My C1-C2 vertebrae were busted up in a 2001 wreck and never healed properly so some days even a lightweight helmet causes neck strain after about 90 minutes. That's why I usually mount my cameras front and rear on the bike.

Bigbus

I have several action cameras and they will all take a still photo but only one that has a wrist mounted remote control that has 2 buttons on it, one is red and one is grey. The red shoots a still photo of pre determined settings (resolution, etc) and the grey rolls video record. I use it to conserve battery power so I don't have to swap out the battery during the middle of a fun ride. It's the CooAU action camera. In addition to a lot of other neat features, it also has the best image stabilization of my action cameras. No where near the cost of a Gopro. I have no vested interest in this company, but I do recommend the camera.

Helmet with LED headlight and Explorer One camera

Bigbus

I tried mounting an action camera on the handlebars but it took too much software editing to calm the shaking down from the non-suspension bike to get a video worth watching.

canklecat

I have the VanTop Moment 4, very similar. That basic camera model is sold under a few different brands, with slightly different configurations and extras. Excellent values in action cameras, well under $100, usually closer to $50 with a bunch of mounts, remote, etc. My only complaint is it's not what I wanted in a traffic documentation camera for long rides. It came with two batteries, 90 minute runtime each, but some of my rides are much longer than that. And in the end it was a hassle setting up the weatherproof housing, which muffles the microphone and makes it impossible to hear the audible cues when I stopped and started the camera.

I still use it occasionally and it's lightweight enough that I don't notice it on my helmet. But I prefer the Drift Ghost X for routine ride documentation.

Yeah, it's harder to tame the vibration on front mounted cameras. I run two Drift Ghost X -- which have no image stabilization -- front and rear. The rear facing camera is consistently steady with very little road vibration. The front mounted camera has a bit more vibration but not too bad. The trick is a mount that doesn't flex too much and clamps as near center as possible and as low as possible. I mount it to the stem, upside down, so it's below handlebar height. The Drift Ghost X has a ring around the lens that reorients the sensor, so when the camera is upside down it still records right side up.

Some folks mount cameras on the fork or seat stays, which further reduces problems with image stabilization. But it's harder to keep the lens clear and clean in anything less than perfect weather.

The weakness in most action cameras is the mounts. And we have to choose between the GoPro influenced mounting systems, and everything else that uses standard camera tripod sockets. The GoPro style mounts vary in quality, with some knockoffs that break after one or two uses. But when the mounts are good quality they hold securely.

The Drift Ghost cameras have a good basic mounting shoe system that locks the mount/shoe into place -- crucial with standard tripod socket bolt that can loosen easily with vibration. But the other Drift mounts are just oh-kay. The basic mounts are made to be affixed to a helmet, and that works great with motorcycle helmets, but it's hit or miss with bicycle helmets. The handlebar mounts and other mounts are a bit of a kludge. I use them but I always wish they were handier to swap between bikes. Those clunky thumbscrews are a PITA.

rumrunn6

thanks for sharing. cuz when one looks at product descriptions we don't get the real life info & sometimes don't even know the questions to ask. I was looking at the white waterproof Ghost XL recently. I like water resistance w/o an extra case

rumrunn6

I hear ya, w/ my cams the only good video from the bars is on smooth surfaces. it's rare but if my tire pressure is low & I'm rolling on a smooth surface w/ a layer of soft snow, I can get decent video from the bars on the MTB. I find my helmet mount gets the most use. but I would a new camera w/ better image stabilization