Fitting a video camera to your bike

[Cie]

How've you done yours?

What to consider?

I have a Canon MV600i, which works just fine on a RAM mount on the right hand pannier frame. Only issue I have is vibration trashing the sound and picture at about 5000rpm and or 70mph.

Fewtrees has suggested a few ways to dampen the vibrations which I'll try.

If I was going to start from fresh, I'd go for something that can take a bulletcam, so the guts can be stuffed anywhere on the bike, but the lens can be moved around.

[peterb]

Let us know how you get on as thats what i have been toying with when i go away next year.

[Jenna]

we use cams on most the rally cars, and there are a few options.

if you want good quality images then you have to go for a remote camera to recorder as the weight of the recorder is a problem with vibration what ever you do.

In the last few years quite a few diy versions of the professional kits have arrived on the market, these range from the cheap AV bike sets ( do a search for 'tony hawks +cam on ebay) which arnt fantastic through to the digital data recorders using mp4 ASF format as we use in the cars. In recient months i have seen quite a few new baby mp4 recorders appear at resonable prices like the Archos AV320,and AV400 which can be powered from the bike/cars battery with the aid of a simple little battery voltage dropper (12v -5v), plus they will accept any form of AV supply so you have loads of camera options to play with even infa red!, another advantage is to look for a box that stores the files to an SD card (or cF) as these are cheap (£10) and you can just whack a new one in without the need to have a laptop or pc to down load with you!

not sure but think the new ipod will also accept an mp4 feed, if so you wouldnt even need the battery feed!

one thing i would say is avoid cheap bullet cams that send a signal via infa red or low freq as these tend to give a crap image and have next to nothing memory wise!

[xrv_jim]

How've you done yours?

What to consider?

I have a Canon MV600i, which works just fine on a RAM mount on the right hand pannier frame. Only issue I have is vibration trashing the sound and picture at about 5000rpm and or 70mph.

Fewtrees has suggested a few ways to dampen the vibrations which I'll try.

If I was going to start from fresh, I'd go for something that can take a bulletcam, so the guts can be stuffed anywhere on the bike, but the lens can be moved around.

Cie, you can fit a bullet cam to your existing camera. All Canon DV cams that end in an 'i' have an 'AV in' socket - just plug your bullet cam in there and you're away.

I've also tried an active stereo microphone which picks up the exhaust note really well, no wind noise at all. Obviously that just plugs into the 'mic' socket.

[lootch67]

This is really good news as I was thinking of recording our trip next year. Since I already have a Canon ending in an "i" it looks like I only need a mike and a helmet cam. Does anyone have any experiece of helmet cams?

[Cie]

lootch, these are commonly known as bullet cams (I believe) and there are LOADS available, just take a look at ebay.

[willb]

A point about the bullet cams is that the horizon generally stays flat, as most people tilt their head as they corner, mount them to the bike if you want to see the lean.

[Robster]

Used a RAM mount on my AT last year on the big trip. Initially had it mounted on the crashbars, but got too much vibration, so shifted it up onto the handlebars. Much better up there.

Also had a spare RAM mount on the rear of the pannier racks and would sometimes attach the camera rear-facing onto that for some nice shots.

Didn't film as much as I wanted to for various reasons...regret it now. Guess the best solution is for several members of the party to have a camera, then cut it all together afterwards.

Looking into bullet cams for the next outing though.