I have just got around to trying out the L30 `disgo' camera I bought
from Curry's a few weeks ago. I jury-rigged it (firmly!) alongside
the old front camera (also firmly attached!) and went for a quick
trundle at 5ish this evening.
The results:
* The disgo's field of view is about 40-50% larger.
* The audio track is nice and clear.
* The resolution is much, much poorer (320x240).
* It doesn't do nearly so well in poor light.
* It's extremely light - around 75g not including the 2xAA batteries.
* It's obviously much less rugged, not waterproof at all, etc.
* It looks very much like a camera - much more so than the ATC2K
which miscreants of various kinds seem to think is some kind of
weird light.
(These latter two problems can be solved with gaffer tape I think.)
You can see some stills from the videos here:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/disgo-test/
disgo-scaled.png is scaled up so that the features are the same size,
roughly, and allows comparison of the field of view. (It doesn't
match up exactly because the disgo was mounted at a slight angle.)
I've found taking the cameras on and off the bike, carting them about,
etc., to be irritating and I'm willing to risk the odd theft of an SD
card. So I've definitely decided to fix the cameras permanently to
the bike and power them from my existing battery (6V sealed lead-acid)
which I have for my main lights. I'll just use dissipative voltage
regulators to get rid of the excess; 6V->3V converters are expensive
and only about 65% efficient anyway. Operating current seems to be
about 300mA per camera.
It's clear I think that the ATC2K makes a much better rear camera.
Field of view isn't so important, one good audio track would be
sufficient, and good shots of tailgaters' number plates seem valuable.
The question is, what should I do on the front ?
I've found that the ATC2K on the front seems to have a tendency for
interesting things to happen just out of shot - 2007-07-02 `T809DLW
pulls out without looking'[1] is an excellent example.
OTOH the disgo has some serious downsides. So I wonder whether I
should keep both with the ATC2K pointing somewhat to the left but
still including straight ahead, and the disgo somewhat to the right,
with a small overlap. Extra field of view seems more relevant on the
right as I seem to get more trouble from the right than the left - in
particular, close passing, and people from side streets on the right
turning out into my path because they feel I should be in the gutter.
Does anyone else have any constructive suggestions ? I'll take
`make sure that whatever you do is firmly attached' as read :-P.
[1] http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/ or
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/events/2007-07-02-Giveway/
--
Ian Jackson personal email: <[email hidden]>
These opinions are my own. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/
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