allgoo, I tried.... :(

I have a digital camera that does not have "exposure lock" that can repeat the last setting used. It has "aperture priority".
You can pick one of two apertures and then move a slider sideways to change the "exposure". It does not tell you much. When the LCD screen is on you can see the "exposure" change as you slide the slider over. You just have to set it and try a photo.

I took 7 or 8 lights out in the driveway, set up a tripod, took a bunch of pictures of each light. I set water bottles at two set distances and measured the distance to a bike against the garage etc. I got the pictures in the computer to see If I had something to post. I also experimented with labeling the pictures.

I finally deleted them all and gave up for the day, they were terrible. ARGH. I have to find a camera setting that will show them all in some kind of fair comparison. The difference between the high and low powered lights is so great that I did not yet find one camera setting that will show them all.

Any camera experts have an idea? I tried auto. I had some ambient lighting, that may have been one problem. I'm going to try the very dark bike path. I also can pick from averaging, center weighted, and spot light metering on my camera. I can change the iso too. I'm open to suggestions.

No, I didn't make that idea into reality. I was thinking of getting a small digital camera at the time and what I actually got was Olympus C8080 which is pretty chunky and heavy.

I still think the idea would work as long as the weight of the camera is not more than the Micro Halogen light, which you can find plenty of them these day. But in order to use it on your bike, either you have to have very fast camera or anti-shake camera(in a small camera body) to minimize the camera shake.

If you haven't bought the camera, many models of Panasonic P&S camera(with image stabilizer feature) should be considered for reducing the shake.

If your bike has suspension like mountain bike, that would help reduce the vibration too. That of course, if you are planning to take shots on the run.

Because I have never tried it in real world, I don't know how bad the vibration affects the photo.

I have been thinking about the same thing. Wondering if a fat roll of rubber and the image stabilizer would be enough. I'm also not sure if I want to fashion something completely new or rip the head off of one of my crappy tripods and attach that.

I admire you just for trying.

It's much easier to have a camera with full manual control and full information LCD. It's always better to try something else than keep wishing.

I suppose your camera doesn't have manual exposure control(aperture, shutter speed).

The next best thing you can try is to

* press the shutter button half way while aiming it to something else in the dark and in the about the same distance to the light pattern you are trying to show. That'll lock the exposure and focus, you can't separately lock them. Then keep holding the shutter button, turn your camera toward the light pattern and give it a full press.

* Check the shot you just took. If it is over powering bright, light that "something else" you used to lock the exposure little brighter(but not as bright as the light pattern) then repeat the step above.

If this works, you'll know by the first shot you take. Repeat it in different amount of light, you'll get the hang of it.

Your camera may have the control that you are not aware of. If you can tell me the make and the model of the camera, it's eaiser to find out.

The first part of your concern is very reasonble. But even if he buys it just for this purpose, he can always use the camera for something else which the camera originally designed for.

To the second part, it maybe wise to try it with old film camera he may never use again. If it can hold the light(Micro Halogen) which is heavier than most compact P&S, it'll hold up under normal vibration. It's not wise to hit the bumpy unpaved road at first try and if you are expecting clean image from that, you are expecting too much anyway.

Oh I actually meant specifically for my little Canon point and shoot. I certainly with him the best of luck with his. :)

I could just use a regular clamp, but they are a bit heavy for the job.

I have a Canon A70, which, BTW I DO NOT RECOMMEND FOR ANYONE, unless "anyone" is a real jerk -- in which case buy two or three. The camera has some nice features (full auto AND full manual AND pretty much everthing in between; video with sound), but it's way too delicate for real-world use. Despite careful handling, I had to return it twice for service (which was, to be fair, quick, friendly and effective). It's the stupid way they designed the zoom lens (it gets stuck on its way in or out), and they used the same bad design on all their "powershot" digital cameras. Google "Canon E18" for more info.

Anyway, it still works for now (although the LED screen is dead) and it weighs in at 12.5 oz with batteries, not too much more than the HL500 II light at 7.5 oz. I will check out the Panasonics when it's time for a new camera.

I don't plan to do much "on the run" shooting, but I do think it would be cool to have the camera already out and ready instead of having to dig it out anytime I see something photo-worthy. And it would be nice to be able to use the bike as a tripod.

And, to be honest, I just have a thing for easy-to-make, elegant, simple and practical solutions. :)

I think the Cateye halogen headlight + the cheap LED is a good simple solution to the basic urban lighting problem, and I hope the camera mount works out that way, too. Thanks for the idea!

I am using no flash and a tripod, so I can't hold the camera in my hands very well. I've been using the timer. I can still try it anyway. The problem is so far, what shows the led lights about right just shows the 16w HID as a white screen. What shows the HID about right shows the led as a few pixels of color.

I'll spend some more time on it. I can adjust and make pictures that look "about" like what the eye sees, but if I adjust a little off it's not a good comparison. That's what made me stop trying the other day.

I have an HP photosmart 935.

I spent over a year riding summer and winter with a digital camera mounted on my handlebars. I even made a clear rain/snow cover and have some good snow (taken while it was snowing) pictures. After a while you get sick of just the one position point of view. For example, a group shot requires riding ahead and turning the bike around. Also the videos were acceptable on the street, but the microphone did not deal with the wind very well. I finally switched to using a nice camera bag as a holster strapped to the stem. This allows shooting easily at any angle while moving, or not. I have plenty of moving shots of riders behind me. You just blast away and delete later. Since you can invert the image in the computer I shoot upside down under my arm, or over my head etc. It's easy, I don't actually aim with the screen or the viewfinder I just point the lens. It's better than you would think. Much better.

I had to reduce the file size a lot to post these, but these are taken while riding. Front, back, side, whatever, It's better than on the bars.

So, I've read through this wholethread and still have questions :)

I need a light that will allow me to ride our rails to trails for excercise. These are all flat, smooth gravel paths, no auto traffic nearby. I ride an MTB, usually in the 10-13 mph range focusing on keeping the cadence up rather than pushing taller gears for more speed. It appears from the thread the lower level lighting categories will suffice for what I need. Can anyone comment on the following cheapies I'm looking at? I will NOT be doing any high speed or singletrack/descents with this light. I save that for weekends when the sun is out :)

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...=479&pagename=

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...=479&pagename=

The first one is great for being seen by others. The second one is the least amount of light to see the ground very well. A litttle more would be better, but it's OK. You need to consider your headlight burn time in the dark too. That can change the price of what you need.

We ride about an hour each night, usually 8-10 miles. Trying not to put too much money into this since we'll only use them the month of November. Once the slopes open in late Nov-early Dec, I'm in boots teaching 7 days a week til mid April, so the bike is out of commision. By April, daylight savings kicks in and I have light to ride in the evenings.

Trying not to spend ~$75 for a light, times 2 bikes (mine and the wife) that's $150+ for about 4 weeks of use a year. Maybe we'll have to just stop riding except for weekend single track once daylight savings stops next weekend.

Nice scenery and nice photos. I'd like to see more people make use of their camera and post their favorite routes.

Here's my contribution.

* Photo1: A festivity held on the street I had ran into before Santiago Canyon loop.
* Photo2: Start of Sntiago Canyon loop(clockwise), to me. Santa Margarita turns into Portola Pkway.
* Photo3: Almost end of the loop, biker hang out. You'll see my bike leaning against the wagon wheel.
* Photo4: Parking lot of biker hang out. It's usually packed on Sunday. This was on Independence day.

PhotoSmart specs.

It's either aperture priority auto or program auto exposure, no manual control.

Yes, that's what I was using and it's not the greatest. You have a choice of two apertures and then you can change the exposure with a slider bar. I'll think of something.

Thanks for taking the time to look it up anyway. :)

I feel your pain. Your camera's spec, is pretty close to My old Epson. I was very frustrated by it. But I used that camera for a long time.

I learned a lesson. So I spent months researching all the reviews I could find on the net before I decided on current camera. I think the time well spent.

Thanks, very helpful. Why no Marwi NightPro lights? Also have you checked out the light shineoff that mtbr does? ShineOff

The web site is great. I book marked it.

But there is no information about low end lights. I think there is a good demand for $20.- to $50.- lights for peple use them only once in a while.

I still think Cateye Micro Halogen HL500 II is the champ in that category.

Check out this comparison by Eddy's Bikes in Ohio for some tests of inexpensive lights

Yep, it's getting to the right direction.

The way he tested is not much different than the way I did. It's better to go easy way so everybody can duplicate the situation than more complete and time consuming way. If we want to set a standard, it has to be easy way. Who wants to spend time go far away and look for complete darkness outside when nobody wants to do the test in easy way indoor?

What do you guys think of these lights. any of you tryed them ?
Seems relatively cheap....

http://www.theeasyshop.com/productlist.php?c=headlight

I've tried a couple of them. Good for being seen by a car. Not good for seeing the ground well.

I have a friend and fellow bike commuter who works at bike shop and he told me about this light. He has two of them on his bike and said a friend followed him home in a car and said he was very visible and the lights were very bright.
I looked at them yesterday and they are bright but it seems to me that the viewing angle has to be just right to be considered "bright". If a motorist is off to the side just a little, the light doesn't seem as bright as most other LED lights.

What do you think? Should I replace my double Vistalite Nebula 5 setup that I've had since 2001?

http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/Jamis%20013.jpg

The light your friend has will have problems as it gets older. The thing will shut off when he goes over a sharp bump. This is because the springs and the contacts for the batteries will wear. Shimming or wrapping the batteries with a 1/2 wide piece of inner tube will help keep the batteries from sliding away from the contacts on a bump. If the lights are brand new he may not have a problem until he gets some miles on them. They are so small and bright that it's worth the trouble to me to shim the batteries to try and keep the lights working, when they work it's great.

Those Vista lights are outdated technology now. The new LED's and the new lights with lenses over them are so much brighter than those, there is no reason to buy Vista lights any more.
One Cateye TL-LD 1000 light will be much, much, brighter than two of those and much, much better from the side and even from 45 degrees away from straight forward.
It really is much safer from the side and from close to the front than the Vista lights. The cateye has two LED's on each side, and a good red lens.

If you want something with a nice wide viewing angle, try the 7-LED blinkers from both planet bike and vistalite; the ones that look like little pods.
I had one from planet bike that had 7 LED's, 5 facing rear ward and 2 angled about 30 degrees to the side. The cover dispersed the light so that it was pretty much viewable from an arc of about 160 degrees.

The new cateye blinker's nice cause it runs on AA batteries and is pretty bright, 2 rows of 3 LED's with focusing lenses out back, 2 sets of 2 LED's firing sideways.

I think you have to aim for recognition too; brightness isn't the only factor. Drivers also have to recognize that you're a vehicle on the road.

Here's my hypothetical no expenses spared super dork setup.

I'd have two niterider 19-LED clusters ($120) out back mounted sideways about 10" apart shining 5 degrees sideways on solid mode along with two performancebike 3-LED flares (red and white) ($40) next to each other in between the NR's in blink mode.
Then a cateye TL-LD 1000 blinker on the back of my helmet ($30) one row solid, one row blink.
Then I'll put an amber LED blinker and a red blinker ($60) facing rear wards mounted 8" off each side of the seat stay/rack on an extension with the red in solid and amber in blink mode.

I'd have a nightsun dual 13watt HID + 20 watt halogen lamp up front hooked up to a custom 10000mah lithium battery pack ($500) and two performancebike flares ($40) on my helmet, white and red to bean drivers at intersections.
There'll also be an amber blinker ($30) on solid mode firing sideways mounted on each side of the front fork.

Tack on a reflective safety vest for that touch of passive visibility and I'll be more visible than 90% of the CARS out there.

You can have all that for the cost of less than a single lupine edison HID headlamp. :p

You forgot the fuzzy dice and the mudflaps with the chrome chicks on them.

...and the XM radio antenna ;)

:beer: :roflmao:

I almost choked on my soda!

That was great, I started composing a wise a** answer in my head, before I got to the end. Then I read the last line. I'm still laughing. Well planned and executed I fell for it totally! :D

I was in kind of a bad mood today, you really gave me something to laugh about today, thanks. :D :beer:

I see you also forgot to type your whitty new england come back for that one. :p

..and to top it off while I thought that the last comment was amusing it did not cause me to hit the floor or anything. :) ..still wondering what I missed.

:D It's a recovery day.....I'm just finishing a century..........caffeine withdrawal, a headwind, low tire
pressure......my brakes were rubbing!



It's funnier if you have that headlight and slvoid knows it. :)