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Camcorder + bullet cam - info./advice pls

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
There's a thread under Snowboarding but . . .

Does anybody have a camcorder + bullet cam set up ?

How recently purchased and where from ? What models ? Observations on quality. Ant hints and tips. Does it have to be AV in or will S-video ? (effect quality ?)

Cheers
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
We use a hand-held camcorder. You should be aware that, AFAIK, very few camcorders now being sold have AV in, which will cause probs with setting up a bullet cam. I think Toofy Grin
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 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?
cathy wrote:
We use a hand-held camcorder. You should be aware that, AFAIK, very few camcorders now being sold have AV in, which will cause probs with setting up a bullet cam. I think Toofy Grin


Not having AV in will do more than just cause problems setting up a bullet cam, it will stop you using one at all.
I'm tempted to go down the Archos solid state route, rather than use a conventional camcorder. They sell a bullet cam kit too, which seems like a decent solution. See link below.

http://www.archos.com/products/video/av_500/mini_cam.html?country=global&lang=en
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I was looking at a viosport helmet cam matched up with a 30GB archos the other day. Seems like a great option.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
uktrailmonster, Archos products use hard disks. I think a conventional camcorder that uses tapes, not miniDVD, would be best, especially reacting to shocks.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
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I believe there is a helmet cam which records to a memory card and you can get upto 1 hr on the memory card. I heard it was about £100.00 and good quality but I would imagine a card that would hold an hour of video would be that much again...

The disadvantages may be that you will not be sure what you have captured until you can play it back and you will likely fill up an hr pretty damn quick and you will have to keep looking at it to know that. So with all that faffing about you might as well get out a cam from your pack and film with more - probably- quality and control. I'd be interested if this isn't the case, but my feeling is that it is an additional source rather than the only source.

The Archos isn't the one I was reading about but you would need it fixed in an optimum position and you'd need to know your distances to film subject. This is not a problem with a landscape but could make or break filming action shots etc. Not sure if you can control zoom ..... it would take alot of messing around to get good results. But, interesting..!!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Tomsk wrote:
uktrailmonster, Archos products use hard disks. I think a conventional camcorder that uses tapes, not miniDVD, would be best, especially reacting to shocks.


Sorry yes, I meant hard disk not solid state. Shouldn't be a problem in a jacket or back-pack though. Tape camcorders are actually the worst for dealing with shocks. The best are solid state camcorders like the Samsung Miniket sports cam:-

http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/camcorder/miniketmovie/vp_x220lxeu.asp

That's a pretty tempting and convenient option. It's predecessor was fondly known as the "Jackass Cam". For me it would be a toss up between the Samsung and Archos.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I reckon this is one of the best options I've seen.
http://www.cameras4sports.co.uk/product.asp?id=172
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 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.
Some good options on this website.

http://www.actioncameras.co.uk/
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
uktrailmonster,

I am not so sure about HD or MB being more resiliant than MiniDV to shocks and knocks so it might take this season to bear that out one way or another. I have used Mini DV and kicked the crap out of it..relatively ..and it stills works ok.
The other factor must be the size...how small can these things go without a quality compromise? I am not so sure my new Sony MiniDV is as good as a 6 yr old JVC so I would want to see the end results of these head cams and also the results of the HD/DVD's and MB's before I went that way...
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
how bout one of these, i have one, not used it yet, bought a 1meg sd card for it so should get an hour of footage. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Skateboarding-Cordless-Helmet-Camera-Camcorder-Digital_W0QQitemZ150061512351QQihZ005QQcategoryZ96999QQcmdZViewItem
graeme
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Ah - if you go to the UK Snowboard Team myspace they have helmetcam footage from an Actioncam 420. You can check out footage from this camera on www.myspace.com/snowboardgb. It's the lo-res versions for web so the quality looks rubbish but in full-resolution it's fine.

We sent it to Zoe Gillings who appears to have crashed/run over/generally mangled herself and everyone else within a 20 metre radius wearing it and it still works. I know that Channel 4 are taking its footage for their snowboard pieces so it appears to generate pretty good quality.

There is an all-in-one camera we also sent out which uses a memory card but the Team rejected it pretty quickly as producing too poor quality even for scouting runs to assess the course. I think there's an updated model now.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
JT, We use hard disk, solid state memory and miniDV for on-board filming on our Formula 1 cars. They can all work fine, but tapes tend to jump around with vibration, causing dropouts and frame judder. You notice it most during crashes or hitting kerbs hard etc! We've used an Archos AV 500 with no problems and various other much more expensive solid state devices. Size does not correlate directly to quality, but price certainly does! The cheap all-in-one head cams tend to be low quality (but still not bad) and certainly won't match a good quality miniDV recorder hooked up to a high quality remote lens. But personally I think the market is rapidly heading away from tape solutions. I'd be looking at an HD or MPEG4 solid state recorder with a high quality remote lens.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
graeme, That Tony Hawk all-in-one is pretty low quality, but ok for the money and simple to use. You'll soon want something better if you're going to watch footage on a decent sized screen later.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I don't post often but reading this thread reminds me of what I did last year.

I had a bullet cam from RF Concepts taped to one of the arms of my sunglasses.

The camcorder I used was a JVC mini DV which I carried in a sort of bumbag
around my waist,together with the battery pack for the bullet cam.I would set the
camcorder going and just let the tape run for an hour then change it for another one.

In all I took 11 tapes and then edited it down to about 30 minutes for my DVD.

The quality of the recording was surprisingly goog and although the whole setup may sound a bit
bulky,after a short while I just forgot that I was wearing it.

The only thing to remember is that mounting it on the side of your sunglasses means
that you record where your eyes and head look,and it is quite amazing how much you turn your
head without thinking.

However,when you watch the resultant footage on the tele. you quickly adapt to the movement
and it is certainly better than just standing still while you film your mates sking past.

If anybody is interested,I could post the video on Google Video .
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
bernie, what model of camcorder pls ?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
JVC GR-DF470 EK.

And yes,you do need AV in for it to work.most mid range JVC camcorders
have AV in and out.

BTW,I had no trouble at all with the tapes and vibration etc.
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 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?
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/jvc_grdf470.htm
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I have a Sony miniDV DCR-HC30 and a Hi Res 1/3" Sony CCD Waterproof Bullet from rfconcepts.

Brilliant quality.


Previous threads:

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=17637

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=18646
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