Front Action Camera - Ideal Specifications?
 

If you were looking to buy an action camera for the front of the bike today, its primary use would be daytime riding on the road, and its secondary use would be capturing footage of interesting bikepacking/touring rides. What specific features/specifications would you consider a minimum?

I am more interested in the specifications than specific cameras so that I can get a minimum criteria list, but I am open to suggestions on cameras that can be mounted using a GroPro mount and can be charged whilst in use.

The most important spec for me, especially if you plan on mounting on the front of the bike, is image stabilization. Even smooth roads aren't very smooth to a camera. I usually wear the camera around my neck, using my body as a shock absorber for the camera. The only cameras that I've been able to mount to a bicycle and get consistent results are the Insta360 360 cameras; the fact that they are filming a 360 sphere gives them near-magical image stabilization qualities. But they do require extra editing and processing.

I've used my son's GoPro mounted on my handlebars. Can't tell you what model or any spec's at the moment, as I'd have to get with my son on that. But it does well enough for just strictly amateur use for recording memories.

I wasn't able to find some of the better rides I've recorded. I changed PC's recently, and I must have left those vid's on the other drive. But till I get them, here is one of the lousier videos that I got having that GoPro mounted on the bars. And it isn't too bad, IMO, for stabilization. This was a drizzly ride, but after the 2 minute mark, then rain goes away for the most part and the camera lens is cleared. At about the 3 minute mark, you can see more stabilization issues. Though I'm not certain if this was because I changed cameras at a stop, or maybe something else. For certain, the GoPro batteries don't last for a full ride. I think this ride needed 3 battery changes.


My own preference for a camera will have been the Garmin Virb action camera. However Garmin stopped making them awhile back. They allowed ride data to easily be superimposed on the video from connected Garmin Edges and other devices.

I'm still looking for and wanting to get a action camera myself. As sometime goofy things are seen during my regular rides that I'd just like to keep for memories.

I've also seen video from Cycliq'scameras that seem decent too depending on what you want and what you really intend to use them for.

While you want and ask for specifications, I think you'll find that only for the better more expensive cameras are you going to find the spec's you want. And even then it's going to be arbitrary opinion if you will always need those specs. So that puts you back to just getting a camera, learn how to use it, and then deciding from that what you do and don't like about it. Then apply that to your next camera purchase.

Much like my recommendation for buying a first bike. And with either, don't spend so much on it that you can't get another easily if you find you bought the wrong one!

A friend of mine has one of those 360 cams and the footage I've seen from it is pretty good. He made some nice videos in the Alps. I can't remember how he had it mounted though.

A touring buddy of mine has a Cycliq which, I think, produced excellent results for memories. I wish they made one without the light.

what are YOUR priorities?

so far you stated:
no night vision
uses a gopro mount
can be charged during use (but maybe you mean accepts an external power source?)

may I ask will you be recording constantly for hours? if so, how many hours?

personally I like the gopro8. I bought 2 preowned. liked the 1st 1 so much that I bought a 2nd. I like to fly them from kites. they are very handy on a bike too. digital image stabilization is amazing. I only record highlights. I don't run it continuously. then later I go thru my clips & see what is interesting. much of it is just boring & gets deleted. it does a nice job w/ still photos but I often just grab a video frame to share. I bought wires & external power sources but it's more convenient to just have more batteries

[QUOTE=rumrunn6;23495273]what are YOUR priorities?


Yes, Will use a PowerBank most likely,

No idea. It really depends on the length of the ride. Some 'traffic-related' rides could be up to 200 km, e.g., Audax and at my speed, that is a long time on the saddle :)

Thanks. I was looking at a GoPro 10/11 as a possible option, but the second-hand prices here are up there with the new price of, say, a DJI Osmo Action 4, so I dropped them down the possibilities list.

[QUOTE=Aushiker;23495559]Most action cameras will charge while connected to a power bank, although it can stop charging in the rain if the port gets wet.

Some can also overheat if recording for a long time, although the wind from a moving bicycle helps that.

Some have time-lapse recording modes, i.e., taking a photo every 3 seconds and stitching them together into a stop-motion video. This can be interesting on long rides through changing terrain.

Audio! Most have terrible audio - too much wind noise that just sounds ugly. Some have accessory fuzzy things (known as "dead cats") that cut that wind noise considerably. The newest ones can connect to a wireless mic that you can wear on your jersey if you want to talk while you ride.

Just giving you a survey of features to consider.

[QUOTE=john m flores;23495586]:thumb:
the GoPro's (8) audio was surprisingly good. there are 2 mics 1 in front & 1 on the side. but I found using wind muffles absolutely help! especially when attached to a car
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...940b915d7d.jpg

Since my Akaso Brave 4 is a Gopro clone - it fits on Gorpo mounts.
Not sure if it it can charge while being used - haven't tried that, yet.

Some clips from my trip to Mexico:

More pics/clips; and specs info:

Whilte I have pretty much decided on a DI Osmo Action 4 if I can find one second-hand at a reasonable price. I did by chance come across a video in an unrelated context of an Insta360 X5.

Well, it got me thinking that maybe it could double as front and rear(ish) camera, even when mounted under the bike computer on the front.

So I am curious whether anyone has experience with them (not the X5 specifically) as a road safety camera, i.e., can read number plates during the day. Struggling to find any videos that give a good indication.

I’ve been using Insta360 cameras, an Ace Pro, and an X4 360 degree camera. What I like about these cameras is their incredible image stabilization. You get smooth video no matter how rough the rough the ride. The 360 video on the X4 shows everything around you, not just what is in front, and it is easy to edit the video to show whatever you like with surprisingly little distortion. Both cameras have USB C power, and can run indefinitely from a remote power source. Battery life is very good; the cameras are designed around larger batteries for longer life.

Thanks. It is good to get some feedback. Have you used it where number plates were recorded? If so, how did you find it?

I've been using 360 cameras for a while now. They're a lot of fun and the image stabilization is super good, but note that you have to use special apps to view and edit the footage, and they produce massive files that will quickly eat up your phone's storage and battery and will tax all but the newest laptops and desktops. If you've got all of that up to date, then I can recommend. If not, you'll find the editing process frustrating as your phone/computer struggles to process 360 degrees of video data.

Number plates? About a minute into this video you'll see me riding down a side street:

(I don't know if BF reads the "start video at xx seconds" timestamp)


Mind you, this is from the X2, which records video at 5.7k. And that 5.7k is distributed over a 360 degree sphere and then framed within a 1080p video that you see here. The newest X5 records video at 8k, which is an improvement but remember that those extra pixels are distributed over a 360 degree sphere. So while there will be increased resolving power, it's not like going from HD to 4k on a television. Also note that the camera uses fisheye lenses, which visually pushes objects farther away. If I had to make a guess, I'd say that even the new X5 would struggle to resolve a number plate from 10 meters away because of these factors.

Here's another example, this time of actual 360 footage uploaded to YouTube. You can look around by dragging your finger/mouse around. Be sure to hit the gear icon on the lower right and set the quality/resolution to 4k. Riding with cars nearby starts at about 8 minutes.


Viewing things on YouTube involves multiple levels of compression, so quality/resolution is lost in the process. But here's a still pulled from the Insta360 desktop app, so as close to the source as possible:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bec0cde91c.jpg

This 23 minute video btw is 16GB.

If your primary use case is as a dash cam, I'm not sure that a 360 camera is the right tool for the job.

Thanks John. You have resolved my questions, back to finding a DJI Osmo Action 4 at a reasonable price (or a 5 even).

May I ask why a 4 or 5 over a 3?

The specifications upgrade of the 4 over the 3 tips the decision for me, more so as I am not upgrading. The 5 only because it is latest, but to be honest, I doubt I will go that way.

GoPro Hero5 is the latest? It was introduced in 2016. I think they are on the Hero13 now. Bold of them to go with that number and not skip to 14! <grin>

Not gopro but DJ osmo action 5.

Image stabilization, decent frame rate, long battery life.
It was like looking for the Holy Grail.
I finally settled on a GoPro Hero 8 (which GoPro is no longer supporting - good luck finding GoPro batteries for it, and not all the aftermarket ones enable all the features) and added an aftermarket battery door with a cutout for the USB power plug. I use an Anker power bank, circular and the same diameter of my handlebars. Two sets of modified handlebar water bottle mounts attach to my bars and the power bank, and then the GoPro mount is around the power bank. Hardest part was finding a 3" long USB cable to connect the two.
I record continuously, not for the scenery aspects, but for evidence "just in case". 99.9% of the time I just delete the footage when the ride is over, unless something interesting happened. The power bank provides enough power for a multi-hour ride.

You're welcome. I love the 360 cameras but the ability to read license plates just isn't there.

If your primary requirement is dashcam type functionality, there are cameras with a dashcam mode that has the last xx minutes of recording stored and automagically deleted older footage. It's a nice little feature instead of having to remember to delete old footage or forgetting to delete old footage and running out of memory. I'd imagine that's the next evolution of the bicycle radar systems.

Today was the first ride witih my Insta 360 X5. Below is a snippet from shooting at 5.7K 60 fps. I'll be testing 5.7K+ and 8K, which are both limited to 30 fps.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e3dca8dd91.png

I got a fairly decent shot of the plate and could make out the letters/numbers.

Not bad. Good to see improvement.

Question - in that shot, how far away is the car before the license become illegible?

I keep coming back to the Fly12 Sport. Garmin Vue is just too expensive imo. Im not looking for highlight camera, but more so the dash cam, look at this idiot driver camera.