£40 720p Sports camera?, yep!

Our local Hardware store is selling a 720p (HD) waterproof Sports camera for £40.
£40?, yep!, Francis bought one and gave it to me to try out, if any use she will use it horse riding. It is small and very light, and using a 80 degree wide lens means you will get a far distant view but at close quarters things will become shaky and blurry if you move too quick, maybe not ideal if on a horse, or bicycle but for the money worth a punt..

The straps for the helmet mount are a bit naff, i need to change them out for something else to work with Francis`s Horse Endurance helmet-which is vented but not like a cycling helmet, there is a bar mount included which i can use...

For now i used some 3M snap Velcro, you can buy it on eBay- Meter lenght`s of the white stuff is best value. I already had some short black stuff...
                                 


 If applied properly to a clean surface (use alcohol wipes) and left overnight this stuff is very strong...

Using a narrow field of view is not ideal on the side of a helmet as the horizontal has to be spot on as can easily result in squint angles- as it was today a bit when i tried out the camera!

But i just wanted to try it to see the quality...

And this afternoon i drove down to John Muir Park for an hour cycle and despite being overcast there was some lovely light out to sea...

The film i did is a bit shaky and the narrow 80 degree field of view means i have to slow down head movements and make sure the camera is set at the right angle for forward view-it was too low but it was not too bad when used stationary,
It is not as good as a £100 basic Go Pro,  but then it is only £40 so worth trying out a few times to work out how best to use it...

Quick film i uploaded,

Song is `Gemini` by Boards of Canada
Click on the cog icon to view in HD

Fun films with cheap camera`s...

`Fun Films with cheap cameras`

The moto on My Youtube channel.  When i started the blog and made some Pugsley films here on the coast i used a £72 Canon SD PowerShot A470, i went through 2 of these in 3 years...

Along with these i used a Tachyon XC sports SD (standard definition) camera, attached to the helmet with 3M snap Velcro, the combo of both cameras was ideal, both quick to upload-edit, and then publish on line.
I still have the Tachyon SD camera, though not used it for ages...

HD;
Then everything went High Definition pretty much and so  i went away from the budget camera idea and shelled out £300 for a Go Pro Hero 2 sports camera with the extras like chest cam mount,  larger Gorilla Pod, and home made mounts like a mono pod, a front wheel view/fork mount and a universal bolt on mount to try and bring to life bike films from on board and some new angles to keep things interesting....

While that has been good fun, i still like to mix the Go Pro footage with film or pictures from my new HD Canon PowerShot A3200 IS compact camera.
Eletronic prices come down once things have been out for a while, and for around £70 you can get this HD camera for the price of my old SD Canon.
I still like to use only the compact camera with  its gorilla pod and film point to point films.The compact does not have an anti statter sports mode, also the lens would get hit with sand if chest mounted so it is just uses hand held and on the gorilla pod.
The compacts are  good for capturing views further away than the fish eye Go Pro lens and the compact can also film from behind a light in the dark...

And that is the downside to the Go Pro, it cannot film while riding the bike in the dark. A pity as night riding is so much fun.
High Definition also needs a movie editing software on Windows Vista that my old PC is to read and then edit the HD files of both cameras. Why most people regularly editing films use Apple. It is all money though to upgrade.

So we need a Go Pro or similar camera that will film in the dark please!.  Or even better would be a waterproof compact that is shock resistant and also has the same no shake `sports` mode of the Go Pro, then i could take pics, and film what ever weather and in any light, all with one camera. make it so will fist the Go pro chest strap-keep the price under £300 and were there!,

Until that is available at least  i can do point to point shots with the compact camera.
It is not brilliant but if in trees you kinda get the idea of being in your own wee world with just what is in your lights visible. regular trails take on a whole new view in the dark, it adds another dimension to your riding variety...

I shot some film on Monday and Tuesday after work once dark after sunset at 3.35pm with the compact
Song is `Wait for the Blackout` by The Damned
click on the cog icon to view in HD