Helmet-Cam

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride I
thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

I have one. The video quality is poor and the audio is
worse, but it's kind of fun. I've used it on an ATV and on
a sleddog training rig that's built out of mountain bike
parts. It wasn't *terrible* with the ATV but the video from
the training rig, running over rough ground, was so bad that
it gave me a headache while watching it, plus because it was
mounted on the bars the sound when I braked (disk brakes)
was carried through the frame and picked up by the camera,
and wow, is that loud and obnoxious.

On the other hand, it's cheap and easy to use, and kind of
fun. I'll be curious to see how it deals with snow (lots
and lots and lots of *white*), given its color problems.

BTW, you can get them new for under $90 US on eBay.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - [email hidden]

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

(Melinda Shore) said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride I
thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

I have one. The video quality is poor and the audio is
worse, but it's kind of fun. I've used it on an ATV and on
a sleddog training rig that's built out of mountain bike
parts. It wasn't *terrible* with the ATV but the video from
the training rig, running over rough ground, was so bad that
it gave me a headache while watching it, plus because it was
mounted on the bars the sound when I braked (disk brakes)
was carried through the frame and picked up by the camera,
and wow, is that loud and obnoxious.

On the other hand, it's cheap and easy to use, and kind of
fun. I'll be curious to see how it deals with snow (lots
and lots and lots of *white*), given its color problems.

BTW, you can get them new for under $90 US on eBay.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - [email hidden]

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

eBay is my friend! I see some Tony Hawk/Digital Blue cameras for $32.
I wonder how much worse those are?

And just how bad is the video quality? Feel like sending/posting a
sample?

Joseph

Joseph.Santaniello said:

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride
I thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/assets/product/photos/AT18_3_lg.jpg

Looks small enough, but once you put it on, it'll be years before you
meet up with another road jerk. However, if you get a picture, let us
know.

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

Hi All,

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride I
thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=8&scid=107&pid=709

Joseph

lots of reviews on amazon,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F5FKHI/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_0/103-1197513-8603034

I was just looking today, but I want it for documenting my rides on
wooded trails, doesn't sound like it is good for that, but a cheap and
fun toy. looks like it doesn't hold battery in cool weather. one guy
said sound can be improved by removing waterproof seal at mic.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

And just how bad is the video quality? Feel like sending/posting a
sample?

I'm leaving town shortly and don't have time to upload the
one that'll make you vomit and then leave you with a migraine,
but here's some pretty low-key handheld video:

and here's one that was taken with the helmetcam mounted on
an ATV front rack:

There's some Youtubey video artifacts but the color
oversaturation and high contrast are totally the work of the
camera.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - [email hidden]

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Melinda Shore said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around,
but after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out
on my ride I thought such a thing would be nice to have to
document each ride:

I have one. The video quality is poor and the audio is worse,
but it's kind of fun. I've used it on an ATV and on a sleddog
training rig that's built out of mountain bike parts. It wasn't
*terrible* with the ATV but the video from the training rig,
running over rough ground, was so bad that it gave me a headache
while watching it, plus because it was mounted on the bars the
sound when I braked (disk brakes) was carried through the frame
and picked up by the camera, and wow, is that loud and obnoxious.

On the other hand, it's cheap and easy to use, and kind of fun.
I'll be curious to see how it deals with snow (lots and lots and
lots of *white*), given its color problems.

BTW, you can get them new for under $90 US on eBay.

I /just/ got one of these myself, but haven't had a chance to check
it out yet. Supposedly, the audio quality can be improved if you're
willing to sacrifice waterproofness (details here:
<http://utahtrikes.com/ARTICLE-31.html>😉.

I also found this page (in Danish, I think) that has some pretty
cool video samples. <http://fixie-king.dk/video/video_test.htm>

There are lots of online retailers selling them for under $90 US,
including amazon.com.

From what I've seen the video quality is about what you'd expect
for that price.

Greg

--
=========================================================
"I don't know, I don't care,
and it doesn't make any difference."

(Jack Kerouac)
---------------------------------------------------------
My Photos-
http://www.gsevans.com/photography/

My Blog-
http://www.gsevans.com/blog/

Quoted message said:

Looks small enough, but once you put it on, it'll be years before you
meet up with another road jerk.

That's exactly what I thought as the jerk rolled away! Putting
Murphy's Law to work for me is half the point ;-)

Joseph

(Melinda Shore) said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

And just how bad is the video quality? Feel like sending/posting a
sample?

I'm leaving town shortly and don't have time to upload the
one that'll make you vomit and then leave you with a migraine,
but here's some pretty low-key handheld video:

and here's one that was taken with the helmetcam mounted on
an ATV front rack:

There's some Youtubey video artifacts but the color
oversaturation and high contrast are totally the work of the
camera.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - [email hidden]

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

A jerky picture from a solid mount on the ATV isn't too surprising,
but the pixelated motion really messes things up. Looking at the cute
dogs it looks fine, but when you move the camera, the deck planks turn
to mosaic. Is that YouTube?

Joseph

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

A jerky picture from a solid mount on the ATV isn't too surprising,
but the pixelated motion really messes things up. Looking at the cute
dogs it looks fine, but when you move the camera, the deck planks turn
to mosaic. Is that YouTube?

That is - the codec in the camera is fine (I think the color
problems are in the CCD) and the frame rate is certainly
adequate. The ATV weighs about 450 lbs (it's a small one)
and does a nice job of absorbing jolts. The rig is a lot
smaller. It's got a Manitou R7 on the front and it *feels*
like a nice ride when we're underway, but with the camera
mounted on the bars the resulting video is hideous above ~12
mph or so. I haven't tried wearing the camera myself and
that might make a big difference.

I think that if you've got the money to blow it's worth the
very reasonable price and it's fun to mess around with.
It's just pretty limited. But again, I think you probably
get your money's worth.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - [email hidden]

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Quoted message said:

I haven't tried wearing the camera myself and
that might make a big difference.

Mounting the camera on your helmet will smooth out the bumps
considerably. Then the trick becomes holding your head steady so that
the camera is pointed where you want to shoot. You will get lots of
video of looking left and right at intersections or looking down at
your water bottle, etc.

Jobst Brandt said:

Joseph.Santaniello said:

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride
I thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/assets/product/photos/AT18_3_lg.jpg

Looks small enough, but once you put it on, it'll be years before you
meet up with another road jerk. However, if you get a picture, let us
know.

You never can tell what you might catch on video. The woman who got
the following footage was able to show it to the police when the
offending driver claimed that she swerved into _him_:

Chalo

(Melinda Shore) said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

A jerky picture from a solid mount on the ATV isn't too surprising,
but the pixelated motion really messes things up. Looking at the cute
dogs it looks fine, but when you move the camera, the deck planks turn
to mosaic. Is that YouTube?

That is - the codec in the camera is fine (I think the color
problems are in the CCD) and the frame rate is certainly
adequate. The ATV weighs about 450 lbs (it's a small one)
and does a nice job of absorbing jolts. The rig is a lot
smaller. It's got a Manitou R7 on the front and it *feels*
like a nice ride when we're underway, but with the camera
mounted on the bars the resulting video is hideous above ~12
mph or so. I haven't tried wearing the camera myself and
that might make a big difference.

I think that if you've got the money to blow it's worth the
very reasonable price and it's fun to mess around with.
It's just pretty limited. But again, I think you probably
get your money's worth.

For better quality video one needs to spend more
on a real video setup. I've never done this but
I've seen Hans Kellner making videos and he has a
useful page about his setup:

http://www.hanskellner.com/videos/cycling.html

The helmet camera + digital videocam is relatively
compact, the setup where the digital videocam is
actually mounted on his head is probably not
something you'd want to wear on a regular basis.

Ben

On 2007-10-16, [email hidden] <[email hidden]> wrote:
[...]

Quoted message said:

I felt most of what I testified was obvious, but that seems to be
getting harder and harder for people to see. When properly explained,
together with physical evidence, it was obvious.

How's that different to explaining bicycle tech to us lot?

tandemracer said:

Quoted message said:

I haven't tried wearing the camera myself and
that might make a big difference.

Mounting the camera on your helmet will smooth out the bumps
considerably. Then the trick becomes holding your head steady so that
the camera is pointed where you want to shoot. You will get lots of
video of looking left and right at intersections or looking down at
your water bottle, etc.

I'm not sure what kind of camera this guy has but I know he often had
it clipped to the shoulder of his messenger bag: shoulder cam.

http://www.milehighmess.com/vid/mountain_therapy_for_messengers.mov

Robert

email hidden said:

Hi All,

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride I
thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=8&scid=107&pid=709

At half a pound you probably wouldn't want to mount one of these on
your helmet. For comparison, that's the weight of a cup of water.

--
jeverett3<AT>sbcglobal<DOT>net (John V. Everett)

Ben C said:

On 2007-10-16, [email hidden] <[email hidden]> wrote:
[...]

Quoted message said:

I felt most of what I testified was obvious, but that seems to be
getting harder and harder for people to see. When properly explained,
together with physical evidence, it was obvious.

How's that different to explaining bicycle tech to us lot?

Some of r.b.t. don't know what a shift key is for.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi All,

I was thinking about getting one of these for goofing around, but
after a jerk driver tried to teach me a lesson today out on my ride I
thought such a thing would be nice to have to document each ride:

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=8&scid=107&pid=709

Joseph

Save some $$.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F5FKHI/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_0/103-7178257-1304603
-tom

J. Taylor said:

Ben C said:

On 2007-10-16, [email hidden] <[email hidden]> wrote:
[...]

Quoted message said:

I felt most of what I testified was obvious, but that seems to be
getting harder and harder for people to see. When properly explained,
together with physical evidence, it was obvious.

How's that different to explaining bicycle tech to us lot?

Some of r.b.t. don't know what a shift key is for.

Excessive Kentucky bourbon consumption?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
Beer - It's not just for breakfast anymore!

Andrew Muzi mused:

Quoted message said:

...
I was struck similarly (at lower speed!) on a customer's Bianchi a month
ago. The driver, from NoInsurance, China, pulled a snappy u-turn in mid
block and slid me right across the lane....

There needs to be a crackdown on foreign students who can not drive
properly. Why do they need cars on campus anyhow? For that matter, why
does a public university funded by in-state taxpayers favor foreign and
out of state students when it comes to subsidized housing and
scholarships/fellowships and graduate research and teaching positions?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
Beer - It's not just for breakfast anymore!