Head band camera

[vincent713]

Hello all,

For those who are interested in shooting videos of your trip while riding, I made an easy head band camera that works great!
The head band flashlight I got from Harbor Freight for $1.99, I took off the flashlight, cut the brackets off of the head plate using a dremel rotary tool. Then I zip tied the camera mounting bracket onto the plate which can be purchase here
http://www.banggood.com

Works with smart phone, digital camera, Go Pro etc. I use a Samsung S4 phone and it produce really nice videos. Now no one should have an excuse not to share their videos with everyone. Plus it makes the thread much more interesting to read.

 

[George S.]

They sell these kits with a dozen mounts, from China:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1072775-REG/sj4000_sj4000_action_camera.html

You still end up having to do a lot of work to make the cameras work at good angles, or minimize the shake. I have better luck with a chest mount (clip plus an old belt, flipped video):

You can do interesting stuff with soft foam packing material.

 

[vincent713]

Sure you can go out and buy expensive cameras that will do the job however, my setup is CHEAP, and most people already have a smartphone or digital camera they can use. IMO having a camera mounted on your head will give a better viewing angle with minimal shake! In addition, you're able to point which directions you want to shoot at any given time. Your camera produce nice video however, having it mounted on the chest limits the viewing angle. You're mostly capturing your bike (handlebar) arms and legs pedaling and what you can see of front view of the scenery. Having it mounted on the head, you will be able to shoot a 360 degree panoramic view.

 

[eDean]

Any ideas how to do vlogs on a bike. There would need to be a way to record voice without excessive wind.

 

[George S.]

Sure you can go out and buy expensive cameras that will do the job however, my setup is CHEAP, and most people already have a smartphone or digital camera they can use. IMO having a camera mounted on your head will give a better viewing angle with minimal shake! In addition, you're able to point which directions you want to shoot at any given time. Your camera produce nice video however, having it mounted on the chest limits the viewing angle. You're mostly capturing your bike (handlebar) arms and legs pedaling and what you can see of front view of the scenery. Having it mounted on the head, you will be able to shoot a 360 degree panoramic view.

The most stable mount I've used is just sticky putty on the handlebar. The putty tends to dampen the jolts that come up through the fork. But this camera is very light, so it's easy to just stick on things. I didn't have much luck with helmet mounting. You jerk your head a lot, and get a lot of rolling shutter stuff, jello effect. I'm still experimenting. I tried my basic on Canon point and shoot, but it was way too jerky with a handlebar mount.

 

[George S.]

Any ideas how to do vlogs on a bike. There would need to be a way to record voice without excessive wind.

You can get action cams with an external microphone input. Then run a microphone up by your mouth. I think motorcycle vloggers use closed helmets. There are a lot of screens for external microphones, wind muffs. Court talks in his videos.

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2014/4/14/moto-vlogging-with-the-sony-action-camera.html

 

[stevenast]

I have better luck with a chest mount (clip plus an old belt

I like it! I have an old zip Video camera that would seem perfect, do you have any pictures of your rigging?

 

[George S.]

This camera was cheap with a bunch of mounts. Works better, better angle, upside down. There's a setting. Video gets better every year. You mean Flip? Try to tuck it into a belt or strap.

 

[stevenast]

Actually it's called Kodak ZI8 ... probably about 10 years old, more or less. Gonna try it since I already have it.
Thanks!