Bicycling - helmet camera with voice recording.

[ChrisGreaves]

I have in mind to record a commentary on what I see as I bicycle or trek around Bonavista.
I have a bike helmet (required by law) sitting somewhere in the shed, and contemplate buying a camera that I can clip on to the helmet.

There seems little point in wearing a bike helmet as I walk through the snow this winter, and I am unsure how a camera would fit in to perambulation.

Some sort of microphone so that I could have a soundtrack on the video ("Oh! Look at those pretty flowers" etc.)

I am only wondering at this stage, and would appreciate any feedback from those among us who have some experience - good or bad - with documenting one's life in this manner. A car dashboard-camera seems like overkill, probably far too heavy.
Too I think I do not need live upload-to-the-cloud as much as a multi-GB card or USB-key that can be used to transfer videos to my laptop,

Thanks, Chris

[BobH]

Investigate the Go-Pro cameras. They are used by a multitude of YouTubers. I know next to nothing about them but I think they do - or some models do - have microphones to record sound.

[stuck]

Like the man said:

Investigate the Go-Pro cameras.

[John Gray]

An alternative to a helmet camera could be one "front-body mounted", using straps round the neck and around the lower chest. The chap out of Atlanta, Georgia, who makes towing videos has one such to hold a GoPro, and several additional cameras mounted on his tow-truck. Most, if not all, of his cameras have microphones.
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GoPro-harness.jpg

[Leif]

An alternative to a helmet camera could be one "front-body mounted"...

Body-cams are quite commonly worn by police officers. Can't you mug one of your local mounties?

[stuck]

...Can't you mug one of your local mounties?

Rule 10

We will not tolerate ... material that may violate any applicable laws

[Leif]

But we all know that Chris is a law unto himself

[ChrisGreaves]

... "front-body mounted", using straps round the neck and around the lower chest.

Thanks John, but not for me, I think. I am on a bike as much as possible, so my chest is angled down, or is at least pretty well straight ahead.
I thought of a helmet-cam after watching some videos taken from motor bikes; the helmet seems to capture whatever the eyes are locked on to.
Both in driving and in football, "where the eyes go, the body will follow".
The strapping looks awful, whereas a helmet mounted camera might be near invisible.

I do have a fear that people might think that i am snooping if they see a black box across my chest, whereas wearing a helmet whilst on a bike is no big deal.

Consider that I dismounr at the grocery store: If i walk in with the camera on my chest, people get suspicious, whereas if I have stuffed the helmet/camera in my shoulder bag, there is nothing to see.
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Can't you mug one of your local mounties?

Leif, I wouldn't dare. She is way smaller than me, but twice as tough.
Plus she got promoted, so she is earning points somewhow!
Cheers, Chris

[HansV]

There's a guy here in Wageningen who mounts a GoPro camera on his bicycle and posts the videos he takes on YouTube (e.g. this one)
The camera is very unobtrusive.

[Leif]

The camera is very unobtrusive.

Yeah, but what about the piano?

[HansV]

He enjoys putting cheesy music on his videos...

[ChrisGreaves]

There's a guy here in Wageningen who mounts a GoPro camera on his bicycle and posts the videos he takes on YouTube (e.g. this one)
The camera is very unobtrusive.

OKI The bike-mounted video gives a smooth view (without the brain-disconnect when a bike rider checks both ways at an intersection), so this is a start for me. I think that now I am looking for an easy mount on the helmet OR on my hat, even. Hmmmm!

As far as the music goes, if I (Firefox) right-click on Settings and crank the playback speed up to 2x, I get a pleasant honky-tonk accompaniment to a motor-bike ramble.
Thanks, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Investigate the Go-Pro cameras. They are used by a multitude of YouTubers. I know next to nothing about them but I think they do - or some models do - have microphones to record sound.

Thanks Bob.
https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/cameras/he ... aster.html
I went to the GoPro site - more technology to master - but I suppose that these things are designed to plug-and-play (remember that?) so ...

Given that I want to record when biking and walking, I thought "Hiking" was the appropriate heading.
"HERO10 Black".

Of the nine features, only two seem to concern me:
Includes HERO10 Black camera, carrying case, rechargeable battery, curved adhesive mounts, mounting buckle + thumb screw, USB-C cable and free SD card.
All-new GP2 processor makes this the most powerful GoPro ever
Unreal 5.3K60 + 4K120 video resolution + 23 megapixel photos
Advanced HyperSmooth 4.0 video stabilization
Waterproof to 33ft + built tough
Automatically upload footage to the cloud when charging
TimeWarp 3.0, 8X Slo-Mo + tons of other features to nail any shot
Compatible with Quik app
Compatible with over 30 mounts + accessories

I am sure that features like slo-mo etc are appealing, but as a first-timer I suspect this whole thing will be a learning exercise. I have had no thoughts about live-streaming and cloud, merely a desire to record sights and sounds around my home town and, perhaps, some of my activities at The Landfall Garden House.

So I am looking for something that can be versatile in its mount - helmet, bike, body, tripod etc. More or less a replacement for the old hand-held digital camera I bought back in 2005.

P.S. My guess is that the thumb-screw comes into play if I baulk at learning new features.

Thanks, Chris

[PaulB]

There's a guy here in Wageningen who mounts a GoPro camera on his bicycle and posts the videos he takes on YouTube (e.g. this one)
The camera is very unobtrusive.

The GoPro in this video displays amazingly good image stabilization given the terrain the bicycle is on, even when played at 2x speed.