hello peeps!

I was thinking about upgrading my phone to something with 1080 video recording (such as a Nokia Lumia 820), and rather than buy a gopro as well, I have been wondering whether any forum users have successfully recorded their bike excursions with their smartphones?

Has the video suffered from any kind of distortion as the speed goes up?

I am aware that DealXtreme sells loads of smartphone handlebar mounts, though I guess the footage would end up kind of bumpy, so has anyone successfully mpounted their smartphone to their bike helmet?

Thanks 😮

bar mount footage is generally vomit inducing, no frame of reference and lots of jerky motion. Apart from that you want to strap an expensive phone to the bars and ride a bike??

Dunno about action cam, but I tied my phone to the handlebars last night with my spare tube, then used the camera light to get me home when it got dark sooner than expected and I had to use an unexpectedly busy road. Stoopid thing auto cancels after thirty seconds and screen goes off too, had to keep turning it off and on after a car went past. Still, was better than plan A, which was jam it in the top of my shorts.

If you’ve got an iPhone, there are a few options to use one as an action cam, perfect for the Audi/orange 5 brigade 😛

For normal people, there’s nothing, and the iPhone ones cost as much as a basic action cam, I’ve just got the wife to order me a rollei youngstar from 7dayshop, only £30, not amazing but I won’t be crying when it gets smashed.

I have experimented with using camera phones and standard compact cameras in a custom made chest mount. All were horrendous with rolling shutter effect being the main ruiner of movies.
By far the most stable setup is using a proper action cam with chest mount. I currently use a Sony AS15 which has image stabilisation built into the sensor. My experiments in the perfect camera setup continue… How to mount a longitudinal action cam into a chest harness designed for a transverse GoPro style one.

Prawny, what are the iPhone options you mean?

As well as action shots, might be go for rolling commuting evidence.

There is an excellent video made entirely on iPhone, sorry cannot recall name/link but saw it on here. The key was it was all off the bike shots (which in any case are much better than on bike footage and IMO isoly of interest to the person who shot it) and the guy was a very good rider.

Greg Minnaar uses his dog and bone as a chest cam…

Here…

[video]http://www.youtube.com/embed/dpCm-XJlgp0?feature=player_detailpage[/video]

Greg Minnaar uses his dog and bone as a chest cam…

Here…

[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dpCm-XJlgp0[/video]

When I can actually ride again, thinking of getting one of these for £18

To hold this, which I already own

Thank you for the replies.

I got to thinking that instead of having a gopro on your bike helmet, maybe something lighter like a webcam, connected to the smartphone for power and data transfer…that way you can use the smartphones screen to ensure the shots are framed properly (and not pointing directly at the front wheel!!!) as well as lightening up your bike helmet.

A quick look on youtube suggests that Android devices can power such external devices as well as transfer the data through their ‘ on the go’ technology. Sadly, Apple products of recent years don’t supply enough power via the camera connection kit.

I,m not totally sold on any of the android devices and still have my eyes on the Nokia 820 ‘cos of the free navigation apps.

Anyway, I had quick look around DealXtreme and I stumbled upon this,

http://dx.com/p/sj212-waterproof-cmos-12-0-mp-wide-angle-1080p-hd-sports-camera-w-hdmi-tf-usb-av-out-black-239203

Its got the autofocus, image stabilisation and a load of mounts as well as being cheap so maybe its got the nod!

Phones struggle with FOV so dedicated action cam always better, though obvious fish-eye effect.

This was filmed on a Lumia 920:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aso1ShDhNkw

@Flaperon…damn, that Nokia’s image processing is way slick! 😮

However, with the upper-end Nokia’s, there’s no way to swap the battery mid-ride or expand the memory.

So, I think I will still go for the 820 even though it lacks image stabilisation and split the difference on the DealXtreme sports cam.

Thanks to all for contributing.

I backed the handleband on Kickstarter. Holds a phone or light (or phone as a light…) and has a bottle opener.