Need advice on a good bike cam

[Tonymm]

Hi,

After heading and hearing about so many accidents involving cars and cyclists (remember Chris Froome's accident a few days ago...)

I am considering having a action cam, or I should better say one cam in the front and one cam in the rear, on my bike in case I get involved in such an accident. This would help in case the car is claiming a different story than mine or if the driver just go away

I would need an action cam with the following features:
- a good resolution/ video mode (enough to record the license plate of the cars) during daytime (I am not commuting so it is just during daytime bike rides).
-> What is the resolution/ video mode I need in order to capture the license plates of the car behind and in front of me?
- a battery life of up to 8 hours
- waterproof if possible

So far I have checked many bike cams like the GoPros, Garmin, Sony, Shimano, etc... but they all have a major drawback: the battery life is always maximum 2.5 hours. The only one that I found with a longer battery life are the Fly12 front cam/ light with claimed 10 hours (but the Fly12 is quite heavy with almost 150g) and the Fly6 (116 g) with claimed 6 hours but it seems that many users are reporting many problems with the durability of its battery and the overall reliability.

Is there any bike action cams fulfilling my requirements above? Which bike action cam/ solution do you use?
What do you think about that topic ?

 

[OCD Tronic]

Does it need to be stealthy / compact? If not, it sounds like maybe an action camera is better suited if you need it powered 8 hours. Either way you would have to add a heavy duty secondary battery pack to last 8 hours.

Based on you needs you'll need to hookup an external battery pack either way you go. (dashcam or actioncam)

 

[Tonymm]

Yea an action cam is more appropriate (will change the words).

 

[OCD Tronic]

Check out the GitUp Git2P 170 (Pro Kit) This is the latest 2017 Panasonic sensor edition. It comes with a water proof case. I'm not sure about connecting external power though while it's in the water proof case is the thing.

 

[Nigel]

Check out the GitUp Git2P 170 (Pro Kit) This is the latest 2017 Panasonic sensor edition. It comes with a water proof case. I'm not sure about connecting external power though while it's in the water proof case is the thing.

Git2 is good in sunny weather, especially the gyro stabiliser. But like most action cameras it will struggle to capture license plates in darker conditions.

Git3 will be a much better choice when it is available soon, not only does it cope with darker conditions than the Git2 but it also comes with a much more sensitive rear view camera with a narrower angle ideal for capturing plates.

Neither is waterproof without waterproof case and both will want a 10,000mAh USB power bank to run them all day. They do work nicely with a powerbank though, and unlike a Gopro do have auto start and auto stop when you turn the powerbank on/off.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah plate capture are hard, but maybe a little easier on a bicycle when only one thing in the equation are moving fast ( not the bicycle )
Still, don't get too focused on that part, it don't take much more than a cloud in front of the sun before it start to be dicey with plate capture.

I would wait and at least see what the git 3 have to offer before pulling the trigger.

 

[Nigel]

Yeah plate capture are hard, but maybe a little easier on a bicycle when only one thing in the equation are moving fast ( not the bicycle )
Still, don't get too focused on that part, it don't take much more than a cloud in front of the sun before it start to be dicey with plate capture.

I would wait and at least see what the git 3 have to offer before pulling the trigger.

Plate capture is often worse on a bicycle because even though you are not going fast forwards, all the bumps and vibration cause the lens to move fast in other directions so in low light it can get very blurry with camera shake. In a car all the extra weight and wider tyres stops the rough road causing camera shake.

Hi,
I would need an action cam with the following features:
- a good resolution/ video mode (enough to record the license plate of the cars) during daytime (I am not commuting so it is just during daytime bike rides).
1. -> What is the resolution/ video mode I need in order to capture the license plates of the car behind and in front of me?
2. - a battery life of up to 8 hours
3. - waterproof if possible

1. A 4K camera is good for recording license plates, but only in sunshine, when it gets a little dark you are much better off with 1080 FHD, sensors with less pixels are more sensitive so get less motion blur.
2. For convenience it is worth installing a 10000mAh USB powerbank with power cables to the front and back cameras, then you just have 1 power switch and it will record all day, assuming your cameras have auto-start and auto-stop.
3. There are not many good waterproof cameras about, and the few good ones are all expensive and 4K so not ideal. Also I suspect that even a waterproof GoPro Hero 5 would leak if used regularly in a lot of rain without being dried out frequently, you can't charge it without breaking the seals.

 

[Dashmellow]

Hi,

After heading and hearing about so many accidents involving cars and cyclists (remember Chris Froome's accident a few days ago...)

I am considering having a action cam, or I should better say one cam in the front and one cam in the rear, on my bike in case I get involved in such an accident. This would help in case the car is claiming a different story than mine or if the driver just go away

I would need an action cam with the following features:
- a good resolution/ video mode (enough to record the license plate of the cars) during daytime (I am not commuting so it is just during daytime bike rides).
-> What is the resolution/ video mode I need in order to capture the license plates of the car behind and in front of me?
- a battery life of up to 8 hours
- waterproof if possible

So far I have checked many bike cams like the GoPros, Garmin, Sony, Shimano, etc... but they all have a major drawback: the battery life is always maximum 2.5 hours. The only one that I found with a longer battery life are the Fly12 front cam/ light with claimed 10 hours (but the Fly12 is quite heavy with almost 150g) and the Fly6 (116 g) with claimed 6 hours but it seems that many users are reporting many problems with the durability of its battery and the overall reliability.

Is there any bike action cams fulfilling my requirements above? Which bike action cam/ solution do you use?
What do you think about that topic ?

You might want to consider the RideEye bike camera. It seems to be the one dedicated bicycle cam on your list that you've missed.

http://www.rideye.com/

Battery life of 10 hours
Waterproof

 

[MarcoM]

Di they still exist? It was my understanding that they vanished, but I may be mistaken


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk Pro

 

[Dashmellow]

Di they still exist? It was my understanding that they vanished, but I may be mistaken


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk Pro

Their web site is still active but I don't know for certain.

 

[jokiin]

No real photos, all 3D renders seems odd if it's in mass production already