 Poster: A snowHead
|
Hi there,
Just wanted to see what top tips people have for using a helmet camera. I finally bought one from the guys at www.actioncameras.co.uk after a bit of searching around. I have tried it out on my mountain bikle and the images look better than my camcorder so pretty impressed so far.
I am however heading out to Tignes this weekend and wanted some tips on getting the best footage (eg mounting position on helmets, jumps etc.)
Ta.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
oldie, mount as close to the eye as possible to get a good idea of what the camera will be seeing.
Welcome to snowHeads by the way 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
Hi,
Tell me if I'm being a total idiot here. I've got a couple of mates that are into skydiving and they have a kinda cross hairs thing that attaches to the side of a helmet and goes infront of one eye so they can line up the shot.
Could be OK for skiing maybe?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
kiwi want to find out where they got their equipment from and see if it is suitable for face planting
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
kiwi1, the Newton ring sight is perfect for airwork but the thought of taking a fall on snow with one just plain scares me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Have been toying with the idea of a helmet cam for ages,but reluctant to splash out on a new camcorder to get one with an input.Anyone got any info on solid state recorders,ie,are they any good etc?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FenlandSkier, The helmet should at least stop the sight from passing right through the back of the skull.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
you could replace the metal ring site with something made of say transprent plastic for a slightly safer version
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
FenlandSkier, looked at a mates sight thing (didn't want to say looked at a mates ring) last night and yes you're right. I wouldn't want to do a face plant with that on my helmet.
I guess you could make somthing up yourself but it would have to been soft and as such prob wouldn't work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There's a link below to an alternative. And you can get hire first options ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
I put together a helmet cam a couple of years ago... rather than a 'sight', I have made sure that the camera pretty much follows my line of vision - as long as the subject is more than a couple of metres away then this has worked pretty well.
To get the accuracy of positioning, I needed a suitably robust and adjustable fitting to attach the camera to my helmet. After toying with sticky pads, duck tape etc ( all very naff ! ) a friend had a Eureka moment and suggested I butcher a 'cat eye' bicycle lamp. By luck i managed to obtain a non-functioning lamp from a mountain biking friend, and set about with a hacksaw...
The cat eye lamp has two components - a handle bar clamp and the lamp itself. The lamp clips to the clamp and is easily clipped and unclipped. I use the clamp to clamp round the bullet camera. Using a hacksaw I sawed off the base of the lamp - this left me with a broadly flat peice of plastic that retains the clip part of the lamp but disposes with the rest of the lamp and the gubbins. I attached the flat piece of plastic to my helmet with sticky pads.
The camera is clamped into the clamp - which has X & Y screw adjusments. The camera can then be clipped to the helmet or unclipped when not in use ( the remaining peice of plastic stuck the helmet is discrete enough in my eyes to stay on the helmet permanently ). I set up the camcorder and then toyed around with the adjustments until I was happy that it was pointing in the same direction i was looking...
There's a few pictures of the set up and some example footage on my website at www.snowandocean.co.uk - click on the 'features' link and then 'helmet cam'... ( forgive the first example footage - that was when I was still using gaffa tape and also forgive my rather clunky website, it's about time I spent some effort updating it ! )
A note on the footage, the camera I use struggles to cope with exceedingly bright light conditions and the snow footage suffers from streaking and being somewhat overexposed ( I have considered using some form of filter !) I have had much better results in recent years when the weather has been less bright and amongst trees where there is more contrast !
Cheers,
R
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
