GoPro alternatives

What are the more affordable options out there for filming a spot of radsikness (fast mincing)? There’s a lot of similar sounding cameras on ebay, but obviously there’s a lot of rubbish too!

I’m interested in a budget cam too if anyone can make a recommendation? Can’t quite stretch to a GoPro at the moment, but not sure how much I’d need to spend to get something which would be watchable full-screen size.

Cheep = £10 from 7day shop

The go-pro’s main advantage is the chest mount, the contour seems to do everything else better.

click

contour hd – quite a saving on rrp

I’m thinking about trying one, not used any camera for mtb yet so can’t recommend anything really.

Judging by the clarity of bikemonger Charlie’s recent efforts I’ll be giving my iP4 a go sometime this week. Not relevant to this post if you haven’t an iP4, but maybe other smart phones are capable of better results than you think.

just ordered one of those contour HD 1080P’s from amazon, I couldnt resist at that price.

The GoPro 2 is now out so expect price drops on the GoPro

Have a look at the Veho Muvi HD here:

Veho Muvi HD

Its 1080p HD quality, compact and has a built in lcd screen for setting up your shots and angles and replay.
Plus the mounting gear fits into the GoPro chest mount so you can use that as well as the helmet mount. Had one for 6 months & very happy with it. Price around £120 on Play

Monogramman-If you work for Amazon then well done. You’ve just made me buy one after a whole ten seconds thinking about it…..Damn you!

LOL no I don’t, did you get one for £117 or £124

Maybe I should be on commission?

Guys, can you report back with your findings? £200-300 is a lot to justify on a fancy bit of videoing kit, whereas half that is somewhat more feasible.

Cheers

Superdale, any vids from your veho?
I was musing the other day about a cam, and although I like the look/ features of the gopro2, I couldn’t justify the outlay for the use I would prob give it. The contours shape goes against a chest mount, and like my helmet to be clutter free..( fnarr fnarr)

I have also just ordered a 10 quid cheapy from 7dayshop for commuting evidence gathering.

Mic – heres a link to one we filmed on holiday in Jersey:

Jersey Trails – Day 1

Or just search on YouTube for films by ‘alexsandra7683’

By the way the remote kit is really useful!

I recently bought a Drift Steath on Amazon for £150. Came with some good mounts and video quality seems good.

Cheers for that superdale. What handle bar mount are you using in the jersey vids? I would prefer to rig my cam up on the camelback harness as like your malvern shots( guess that what you did, so you can see the arms / bar), and would need the proper chest harness to angle the camera up enough.

iPhones.

I shot that sand dune stuff on an iPhone 3GS which has way less pixels or whatever than the 4

Gaffer tape is not an ideal chest mount as you have to set it up so the important bits of the screen are not covered.

I wonder it the go pro chest harness will take an iPhone ??? Ideally in the landscape sideways orientation.

That’s a really good price for the Contour. I got mine cheap, but it was still more than that.

No, if only they would do a GoPro for a similar price. I need something for the kayak and my RC planes.

What handle bar mount are you using in the jersey vids? I would prefer to rig my cam up on the camelback harness as like your malvern shots( guess that what you did, so you can see the arms / bar), and would need the proper chest harness to angle the camera up enough.

Mic – I just used the helmet mount on the stem faceplate and secured with the straps tied around the bar & a couple of zipties. Now have the chest mount from GoPro which does the same thing. Attaching to the camelbak is a bit hit&miss though as it is usually facing down, but you can get some great shots if you attach it facing behind you.
Another great feature of the MuviHD is it takes stills photos – there is a button on the remote so you can use while riding.

Used this one to film the clip below (£15).

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=110355

Only neg. so far is that it records in 5 min chunks & you lose a second between clips, seems well built for the money and came with a handlebar quick release clamp, uses a micro sd card.

[edit] not worked out how to set the time/date either 😉

I have only used to film some of my commute with it so far mind 😉

I paid £125 (well, the Mrs did) Going to have to wait for my birthday to try it out. Might get some awesome HD footage of me having a hernia blowing out 41 candles !!

the advantage of the muvi would be being able to view the movie, and show it to the driver that just cut you up…

I’ll admit that not having a means of preview on my Contour is a right pain sometimes, but it is very light, very discrete (i.e. not a big silver box stuck on the front of my Mk.6a helmet) and has the lasers on the front to help with framing. The contour also takes standard Nokia batteries, whereas the GoPros don’t.

That said, if you want waterproof, by a GoPro.

you can get a waterproof case for the contour for around £25.

You dont see many Contours out on tour. The Gopro is used by just about everyone.

Frontline – Gopro
Highland Rescue – Gopro
Motorsport – Gopro
Surfing – Gopro
Skydiving – Gopro

The list goes on and the prefered wearable Camera out there, the Contour has some good features but the noise especially with MTBing is just shocking, its like watching someone being put through a windtunnel.

The New Gopro2 is just even more awsome.

Back to ‘affordable’ can you put a price on that, ma narrow your options a bit more.

The best cheap alternative to a new gopro is a used gopro

Bloody ‘ell, GoPro 170 degree 5mp for £99.99 with postage.

H E R E

Cheaper than the Contour! Not the fanciest GoPro, but not bad either.

(No, I do not work for the shop selling these! I’m just a voyeur with tight pockets)

any other deals spotted?

contour some pros and cons..
can only download to the contour site ( not youtube) and it takes an age to download and age.. handles well though easy to use and indestructable ( mine got bashed off my helmet by an overhanging rock and came out unscrathched never mind anything worse)

veho camcorders

not sure on the battery life of the older models thou ?

Maybe somebody here knows ?

Quick update on my purchase.

Contour HD from Amazon. I paid £117 with free p&p and it came really quick.

It comes with a mount for a goggle strap, a sticky mount, 2gb micro SD card(upgradable) & usb cable.

The software is on the SD card (no setup CD) and as soon as you plug it in it self installs.

The contour storyteller software isn’t the best but you can upload to youtube which is dead easy and the quality is as good as any others I have seen and it is so simple to use – once set up you only use 1 button.

I have used the goggle mount zip tied through my helmet and it is very secure, although the box it comes in has a small piece of perspex with a fitting moulded in to it. I could very easily make use of that for another mount.

Anyway here’s my first vid.

I use a cheapo HD one from Maplin:

HERE

It is identical to the VEHO, and a million other clones available on ebay. It also fits the VEHO ‘extreme sports’ waterproof enclosure kit, wich comes with a multitude of different mounts.

One tip though, ditch the free MicroSD card it comes with, and replace it with a decent high speed class 4 card for smoother recording.

For £20 – £50, depending on where you shop, it is cheap enough to be almost disposable, so you dont really worry too much about breaking / losing it.

One handy function is the sound activated recording – meaning the cam can be used as a security cam if needed. It sits there on standby, until it hears a noise, and then it begins recording. I’ve used it to good effect catching an @sshole colleague tampering with my bike in the company bike shed…

I use the Contour and a GoPro, you can pick them up quite cheap 2nd hand, and both have replaceable lenses, which don’t cost much.

Check the differences my video below, but the Contour is on the handlebars of my hardtail, the GoPro is on a nice smooth full susser.

As others have said, the advantage with the GoPro is the chest mount. The Contour has a few other advantages, with the GPS/+ you can record your speed and you can link it with your mobile phone as a viewfinder to line up the shots.

interesting that Milkie,

the colours look a lot better with the GoPro to me, but the chest mount is the killer winner for me.

Which GoPro is that Milkie ?

The colours do look better, most of the time on the GoPro, but they can look artificial at times.

That is the GoPro HD 1080p model, but it is recorded in 720p @ 60fps. They are going for under £200 on ebay as the newer model is out.

The battery lasts a couple of hours, pretty much the same time as a 16gb card recording at 720@60fps. You’ll want a couple of batteries and at lest 32gb recording capacity which will give you about 4 hours recording I think.

Then all you need is a supercomputer to edit the footage! 😉

So would the go pro chest mount fit other cameras as well as the Veho? I have a Sony bloggie that I’d like to try and get some ride footage with but the only threaded mount hole is at one end, making it rather wobbly on the bars.

I’m also in the market and I think I’m going to go for the Contour HD. I actually prefer the footage with the Contour on Milkie’s back-to-back with the GoPro, and at £120 is quite a bit cheaper.

And here’s part 2

Just to add another into the mix – I’m a massive iPhone fan and have just bought a 4s POV case, wasn’t sure at first but has worked a treat I’ll load a clip. £25 not bad

See http://www.productx.co.uk

Anyone know of any wired on cameras that offer 1080p and possibility of an auto focus lens?

Its for a robotic device thats currently only got a 360p sony micro sensor thing on there, which is OK for a very small output screen, but it generates massive noise in low light and doesn’t like any form of contrasty situation.
I’m sure there is something better out there, just haven’t found it yet.

Hi

Have a look at this clip not bad for an iPhone.