I'm looking to start capturing video on various rides, so am looking for the various options available and some personal recommendations if you have tried out any of the possible choices.

It will be used for a mixture of day and night time and on and off-road routes, so need something that can cope with all of these scenarios.

Up to now, I've tried (rather unsuccessfully) to simply bike mount a normal compact digital camera, but have found this gave poor results.

Having done some searches on the forum the GoPro gets a lot of mentions and it seems that the Hero3 has made many significant improvements making it not really worth buying into the Hero or Hero2.

Before I make the final justifications to buy the GoPro Hero3 (which would have to be the Black version with its low light level performance, higher still picture resolution and remote control etc) are there any others I should consider?

Any thoughts, experiences, recommendations or advice?

I have tried a variety of cameras. I just sold the last of them and have a Hero3 on order. At $199 with wifi, it's kind of a no-brainer. GoPro is pretty much the standard bearer - just watch a show like Mythbusters - they must buy GoPros by the crate, they stick them on everything from helmets to race cars to surfboards.

The most recent camera that I tested was a Sony HDR-AS15. The picture quality was pretty bad even at 1080p. It didn't look horrible when watching video but when you still frame it you realize that there's a ton of noise and compression artifacting, so you can't make out detail (like license plate numbers). In the still frame "interval" mode somehow it gets even worse - the photos are ridiculously noisy and little detail can be made out.

I used a Contour Roam before that - it's an OK camera but the complete lack of controls is a real problem - you can't change what mode it's in without plugging it into a PC and using some software (or as I did, editing a text file that's in the camera). The picture quality is OK on it and it's got a nice form factor. But it has no circular recording and no way on camera to erase photos, so you must plug it into a PC every day or two and erase the files.

I also used a Chinese/eBay "ExtremeCam" which was actually an excellent camera, had more features than any of the name brands I've used, and good photo quality. It's pretty large though. For frame mounting it'd be OK but on a helmet it was heavy and large.

I did keychain cameras (808 #16) before that, and while they had surprisingly good video for something that costs $40, the 20 minute battery life and lack of waterproofing really makes them not a good choice for this.

Once I get the Hero3 in and confirm that I like it (I will be surprised if I don't), I will order another for rear facing.

IMO, cut to the chase and order a Hero3 rather than wasting your money on half measures. I did the same stupid thing on lights - I kept buying various Cateye and Nashbar $30 lights until I finally gave up and spent $120 on a Magicshine. I easily spent $120 on useless lights, just as I have spent way more than the cost of a GoPro on trying out cheaper cameras.

I rarely see any mention of the Replay XD 1080 as a bike cam. It seems to have the form factor for a bike ... any consideration for the Replay rather than the Hero 3?

https://replayxd.com/cameras/replay-xd1080-camera/

I'd have to see actual video from it firsthand. All the other cams that I tried out looked good on paper too, but most had pretty lousy video quality compared to the GoPro. There are a lot of Youtube videos but they aren't good for comparison as YouTube compression makes everything look lousy.

One thing that I haven't seen ANY camera handle as well as the GoPro is varied lighting conditions. Most either can't do low light or get badly washed out in bright sunlight conditions. This is borne out on a few of the YouTube comparisons that I've seen - when moving from dark to light areas the GoPro seems to handle the transition better.

Also it's $100 more currently.

I had been looking at the Replay, but the lack of waterproofing and the superior specifications of the Hero 3 means I would only consider it further if someone has a really positive experience with it. It seems OK, but nothing special.

This is a very important comment for me as I need this capability as it will be sued in varied and low light levels.

ItsJustMe - thank you for your input. To anyone else who finds the thread, please add your comments as I will never make a final decision based on just one person's recommendation.

if you shop around in the US, you can find retailers dumping HD2s with wifi for $200. the low-light performance isn't as good as the HD3/black, but for half the price...

i was happy with low-light performance when i upgraded from HD1s to HD2s, but the HD3/black does better.

I dunno, I don't think I'd pay $200 for a Hero2 with WiFi since the Hero3 also has WiFi and sells also for $200.

the HD3/white is $200, but not as good in low-light as the HD3/silver or HD2.

the HD3/black is the best of the bunch in low light, but i haven't had any hands-on or seen enough side-by-side videos to comment on whether or not it's "good" or just "less bad".

if you only ride under bright, blue skies, the HD3/white should be fine. if you ride after dark, i'd suggest going for (at least) the HD3/silver or HD2.

Well, that's a bummer. I just assumed they'd all have the same sensor. Low light isn't all that important to me because there isn't any camera with good enough low light performance to read plate numbers at night.

If it's really horrible, I'll buy one of the higher ones and use the white for rear-facing where low light performance won't matter at all.

the HD3/white is essentially a repackaged HD1 + wifi and misc improvements.

the HD3/silver is essentially a repackaged HD2 + wifi and misc improvements.

the HD3/black is something new.

you're not the first one to be confused by the naming convention.

IME, the HD2 does better than the HD1 at catching plate numbers, especially after dark. that said, it's still not what i would call "good". it seems like the HD3/black is better, but i can't comment on whether or not it's "good".

Do any of these cameras have a "looping" capability. In other words I want the camera to record over and over without any erasing or downloading being required. When the disc is filled, it starts overwriting the earliest of what was previously recorded. This means all I need to do is turn it on and off, until I need to download.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ony-Action-Cam :

I've been using different cameras(GoPro 960, ContourGPS, regular pocket cameras - Olympus 820, Samsung HZ30W, Fuji XP50, cellphones, etc.) mounted to different spots(helmet, handlebar, triangle by the rear wheel, fork, just holding the cam w/ my hand) for the last couple of years now. I like the Contour better than the Gopro. The shape is better, flush makes it easy to mount to different places; no special mounts for me - I just use strips of an old inner tube. One thing I don't like about these sport cams is that they don't have a screen
and the buttons for the different functions. If you already have a regular pocket camera, maybe just get a Fotopro mount or any other universal mount(I saw one in Walmart) and
try it on your bars. You may have to cinch it down with some strips of big rubber bands or
inner tube to control the vibration.

ContourGPS mounted on the forks of a roadbike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7jf...feature=relmfu

There is a big problem with the Replay XD 1080. Just like the Contour line, it can only be mounted on a bike helmet. While GoPro charges $40 for their Chest Mount Strap, it is still worth the cost. Because, Instead of the camera being mounted on the helmet, where anything could happen to the camera by a cyclist not watching where they are moving their head. With the Chest Mount Strap, not only will that, not disrupt with aerodynamics. It will also keep the camera from getting easily damaged, when the cyclist moves their head.

the HD3s might have that, but i can't say for sure. i think i read that it's planned for a future firmware release... so start saving now, and buy after that feature is known to be working. ****ing gopro...

The bike specific feature that I would be interested in is the display somewhere in the replay that shows computer data like speedometer, distance, time, ascent/descent percentage, altitude. To get that, the camera would have to be a GPS system. None are.

If Go Pros could be made more stealthy, and not look like one has a brick strapped to their head or bike, I'd might consider getting one.

A well rounded McGyver can easily come up with a fix for that, and my Contours have been firmly strapped to my bike frame and rear basket for 2 years now, with 3 reported motorists notched in their belt.

Another new player is the https://www.ioncamera.com/. Know nothing about...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqK_yLOyvQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i58snvIHTrI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-HSJzMMiw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Y3ROZEZ-k

they're stealthy enough, although i do have a contour on my helmet so i don't look like a teletubby.

if someone sees it, maybe it will have a deterrent effect...?

if you want to make it more stealthy, mount some lights near it. peoples' attention will be drawn to the lights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHkYq8ltcgo

all i can find out is that their web-site sucks. i can see who they sponsor, but i can't find any tech-specs or sample videos. fail.

I'm not sure which version of GoPro I have. If you get one, I very highly recommend getting a K-Edge mount. That thing is "rock solid". On stealth, I put my K-edge on my drop bars and mount the camera "upside down". That way, it hangs below the bars, between the bars, doesn't stick out forward of the bars, and is only noticable if one is directly looking at it. (Just be sure to go into the set-up menu and flip the video so that it will play right side up.

(etc)

It would be good for GoPro to be more up front about this kind of thing. Had I known this ahead of time, I might have bought a Black edition as my first GoPro. Also, I was planning on judging the entire new line based on the White edition that I've got coming, and clearly this would be unfair. From what I gathered from their literature, I may have said "Well, this actually isn't that good" and not bought any more cams. If I go for the silver, I'll probably go ahead and get the black since it comes with the remote which I will want anyway, and the difference between a silver+remote and a black is only $20.

Agree, strange website. You will find the spex by clicking on Support at the bottom left and scrolling down.

Not true.

The Contour GPS and Contour+ 2 have a built in GPS and they provide software that does exactly what you're referring to.

That said, I've got a Contour GPS and the GPS sucks. It takes ages to acquire a lock and is quite insensitive compared to other GPSs I have -- if it's in my car, it will never get a lock unless it's actually on the dash, for example. Also the GPS drains the battery quite a bit even if it's not recording.

I don't know about the Contour+ 2.

There are other models of cameras that include GPSs, but I'm not sure they're aimed at this market as firmly as the Contours and GoPros are.