Mounting a Video Camera?

[rocks]

I have toyed with the idea of mounting a digital video camera on the bike. I would like to capture some of my favourite roads around northwales on tape as it were..

Has anyone given it a try? If so how successful was it?
I had thought about trying to mount it on the H&B bars, but think the vibrations may be too bad. The other option is a fixing to the helmet... but not really fancying this option.

 

[Gecko]

Depending how heavy your camera is......I used my GPS RAM mount to mount my digital camera when we were down in the pyrenees a few weeks back. The GPS mount is one of MiGSels so it uses the speedo which is mounted on rubber mounts . The camera could sit behind your screen or as I have an Vario I just took the top of the screen off so it had a clear view of the road ahead. You can get camera mounts from RAM for video or still cameras and the multi positioning they offer means you can easily adjust it to point in front or at you or behind you as you feel is best.
There was someone offering a fuel filler attachment for video cameras a while back. Try searching the innovators forum and you might find something.

 

[Ming]

Rocks

dont know what your riding style is like and this may or may not be of interset to you but watch your speed while doing this !

if your speedo is in shot it can be seized and used as evidence against you.

a few years ago a friend of mine thought this was a great idea and he got a ban and 12 months in jail .

cant think wwhy he rides just like me

 

[wedgie]

a mate gafa taped his to beak on his 1100 gs for a trip round the nurburgring with a wooly hat under it the camera survived till he got home only to die later luky for him still with in the warranty period

 

[rocks]

keeping it..

Cheers for the warning ming.. i try to keep it legal.. infact most of the guys up here, recon i go too slow for them.. but then i get to see the country side whilst they are wormwatching..

I would like to get a good high view, so looked at the handlebars. I had overlooked ram mounts,, hmmm will have to do some research. There are really cheap digital video cameras.. just seen one for e£74 quid.. better res than my stills camera.

There are lovely roads, with great views, and i would love to get some good video from the bikes point of view..

 

[Deleted account W]

Get a pillion.

 

[Fanum]

Get a bullet camera for about 50 quid from somewhere like Maplins, then you can plug it into your analogue in socket on the camera in your soft padded rucksack...the bullet camera will mount nicely on your helmet.

Rob Farmer's got one and says the quality is pretty good.

 

[rocks]

Bullets..

Eh..never heard of em.. but will look into it.. cheers Fanum.

I wonder if this is what an olde work collegue used to use. He had a mini camera, that plugged into a video camera so he could film his mountainbiking downhill riding.

 

[Paul Young]

Hi Rocks,

I did this at the TT this year. One of the guys in my hotel had a Sony Mini DV camcorder & a cast alloy triangular tripod mount with a hinged platform which could raise the camcorder up & down on the mount. We mounted it onto a pad on top of the tank with bungees & lined it up to view through the screen but also viewing the clocks.

We showed the results, unedited, in the hotel bar that night & the crowd in there thought it was a professional job from Duke Video. It's clear enough to be able to read the numbers on the speedo at 120mph (on the unrestricted parts of the circuit, of course ) Ming's right though, you will get more Police attention than you would want & they will confiscate your gear to check for anything illegal. If they don't find anything, it'll still have been a ball-ache having the harrassment.

I'll tell you what, though. I still get a hell of a buzz watching the CD he sent me of the lap we did. If I could attach a file of the Ramsey to Douglas part on here, you'd love it.

 

[Fanum]

Re: Bullets..

Just so I don't mislead you ,they're a style of camera, not a make...bullet cameras are little cylindrical jobbies, about 2 inches long and 3/4 inch diameter....as long as your camera has an analogue input, it should work well.

Rob's glued his on the side of his lid.......I suspect it may casue wind noise but I've not tried it personally.

Bill

Eh..never heard of em.. but will look into it.. cheers Fanum.

I wonder if this is what an olde work collegue used to use. He had a mini camera, that plugged into a video camera so he could film his mountainbiking downhill riding.

 

[Jon]

The other way is to mount the remote lense/bullet camera on your engine bars.

Roy (Blue Sweeper) had a cracking video of himself hooning around following Paul G (BHT) thru the mountains in Spain on the Morocco trip last year

 

[Paul Young]

I've just loaded some video capture software & been playing with it. Here's a shot from the video we did at the TT this year:

 

[Paul Young]

I like this one........... just about to hit the rev limiter in 5th.

 

[RAM-man]

Rocks,

adding to Gecko's comment..

Migsel's mount is an option or if putting across your handlebars then try RAM-B-149 (three choices). The crux is the camera ball mount. Typically its a RAM-B-202A round base with 1/4" thread and fits most vid cams, if you using a small micro vid cam or digital camera unit then consider the RAM-B-273.

Take a look at the C mount (on the camera) itself, as I've seen a Sony micro unit and Tripod which had three thread turns on the mount and may not lock on the RAM-B-202A, if this happens, then add rubber pad.

Ming also makes a valid point.

RAM-man

 

[MikeO]

Make sure you have a camera with an 'anti-shake' circuit - the GS vibrates like a pig and if you don't, it'll just provide a blurred image. I'm pretty sure most modern cameras have this facility...


Mike

 

[Paul Young]

This was the sort of mount we used to film at the TT....

Video camera mount

 

[Global Rider]

Has anyone given it a try? If so how successful was it?

I use a helmet mounted lipstick cam that plugs into a Handycam stored in my tank bag. It worked quite well after I got it all sorted out. I took some great Alps videos which I later burned onto DVDs.

Read my post about problems that I had and solutions that I came up with on the Horizons Unlimited web site.

RF Concepts in the UK look like they have a good selection of helmet mounted lipstick cameras and associated accessories.

As for using a video camera with image stabilization, that method can only correct for so much shake. The body makes for a great shock absorber and a helmet mounted lipstick camera works better under extreme conditions.

For on-bike camera mounts, check out Pashnit's Motorcycle Video Camera Mounts.