New action cam

[Killer Rat]

Old one has had it, teach me to buy chinese. After having a car come straight at me the other whilst the fool was overtaking 4 vehicles in a 300mtr stretch of road before a blind bend! Honestly thought my days were numbered and had to pull over as far left as possible, the guy (probably a bmw) still hadnt managed to complete his overtaking by the time i past him.
If i was a car or lorry there would have been a pile up as there would have been no room for him to go.

So ive decided to splash out on this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SDV2-HD-1080P-170-12M-Waterproof-Mini-Sport-DV-Camera-Dive-Bike-Helmet-Recorder-/251385645845?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_Camcor ders&hash=item3a87c08b15
and £15 for a 32gb class 10 kingston memory card.

Look out motorists, i have a zero tolerance policy now thanks to my close call.

[Swanny]

Looks good let us know how you get on with it as I'd like to get a camera for the bike

[MayallRob]

I'm a fairly big media geek so this grabbed my attention. I can't find any youtube videos filmed with this camera, you'll have to link us to some videos so we can see what it looks like. If its good I might end up buying one, you can never have too many cameras! Currently using a GoPro, but when its attached to my helmet in high winds it tends to pull me due to the resistance, so looking for something more streamlined like this. I was looking at the Drift Ghost, but the price of this is much better ;)

[Swanny]

I couldn't find anything either. Where is it made??

[Killer Rat]

I couldn't find anything either. Where is it made??

company website http://www.ambarella.com/about/contact.html

unsure if hq is based in usa or elsewhere. look pretty reputable.

My main reason for this particular camera is that the spec is really good (60fps video) and the velcro helmet is my preferred method of fixing the cam, most other cams on fleabay tend to have plastic mounts and clips which i would struggle to attach to the helmet.

[Killer Rat]

Arrived today.

Instructions are a nightmare, took roughly an hour to work out how to use it. Have no idea how to access root directory to change the time stamp on recordings, if anyone knows how to access this through Win7 i would be very grateful.

The camera itself has come with spare end caps, lens cloth and silicon amongst other goodies. USB charger through pc or with the shaving adaptor plug direct into mains. Have already taken a 20 second video and it looks superb! It looks the real deal and worth the cash saving compared to branded products, but like i said before the instructions are a nightmare.

Will upload a ride video in the next few days.

[MayallRob]

Will upload a ride video in the next few days.

Looking forward to seeing the quality of the video. Glad you think the quality is superb! You mentioned it can record at 60fps, is this at 1080p resolution, or only 720p? Also interested to hear the sound quality. My videos all suffer from awful wind noise :/

What do you reckon the mounting options are like? For my camera I can mount it on the helmet or fuel tank, but fairly limited otherwise due to the size and shape of my camera.

[Killer Rat]

Avoid this cam! i will have to return it as it fails to record continuously and will only record 10 minutes of video. The seller has asked me to try a lower gb memory card as he says that some 32gb cards are not supported wtf! so im just going to lie to him and say ive tried an 8gb card and still wont record longer than 10 minutes. Not much point in having any camera unless you stick a 32gb card in it.

[MayallRob]

Do you know what class your memory card is? I have a Class 10 Sandisk 32gb that I use for my GoPro, but it'll struggle to record 720p at 60fps for a prolonged amount of time. it'll usually record for about fifteen minutes before it stops and I have to hit the record button again. It copes fine with 1080p24 or 720p30 though (due to lower framerate).

As a general rule, cards with less storage (like an 8gb or 16gb) have a better transfer rate (like 45mb/s+) and can handle the large amounts of data being stored to it.

You can buy a class 4 32gb sd card and, although it has more memory, its not suitable for a video recorder due to the low file transfer rate (like 4mb/s or something). This would be fine for something like a digital camera, but for a full HD video recorder simply wont work. Try turning down some of the settings on the camera if you can, and see if that works. If its set to record at 60fps it'll really struggle, so turn it down to 24fps (which is standard really. 60fps is only really useful if you're doing slo-mo stuff), or if recording at 1080p reduce it to 720p and see how the memory card copes.

I'd recommend buying a new memory card, but keep an eye on what class and transfer rate its got. Just my opinion (and I have a degree in Media Arts ;) )

Let me know what you decide to do, and if you want a new sd card I'll have a look online when i get home and recommend some for you.

[Killer Rat]

Got a kingston 32gb class 10 to run the camera, however the 2 disks i have purchased are faulty! i have formatted and error-checked the cards and they wont hold more than 1.5gb doh! this is while using it on the 720p setting.

Im currently trying an old 8gb card to see if the camera works ok.

The camera is probably fine, the memory is not. Will report back later on my findings as im currently apologising to the camera seller and giving the afulty memory card seller some grief instead.

[Killer Rat]

8gb card works fine and the camera is working ok, will try it out in a bit on the way to work so will upload some videos over the weekend. I did watch the tiny videos i had and the quality is great with easy number plate recognition. Don't think the microphone was much use, but then i think any mic on a bike is pretty pointless with the wind whistling.

[MayallRob]

I guess ten minutes of footage fills up the 1.5gb storage space then, and this is why it stops recording? Thats very frustrating. Let me know how you get on :)

[Killer Rat]

I guess ten minutes of footage fills up the 1.5gb storage space then, and this is why it stops recording? Thats very frustrating. Let me know how you get on :)

Not quite, the 32gb kingston is faulty. I tried putting 8gb worth of films (about 10 movies) on it and only 2 would play. The card would say that 8gb had been used but the files were empty when i tried to access them. Corrupted cards.

[WR6133]

Kingston and Sandisk SD cards are massively counterfeited so if you got the cards for a "good" price there is very good chance they are knock off. The fakes will use substandard memory so usually don't meet the speed criteria for the class or can even be faulty to the point where the storage is vastly less than claimed. Its been happening for years but most people largely never noticed as they just shoved them in digital (still) cameras, etc. Many will come perfectly packaged with the right paperwork and if you open em up are even correctly marked (they may be stuff that failed QC and has been packaged and sold out the back door by a "grey" shift).

I've even had fakes come bundled with stuff from known major brands (Lenovo phones with fake sandisk cards)

[Killer Rat]

Kingston and Sandisk SD cards are massively counterfeited so if you got the cards for a "good" price there is very good chance they are knock off. The fakes will use substandard memory so usually don't meet the speed criteria for the class or can even be faulty to the point where the storage is vastly less than claimed. Its been happening for years but most people largely never noticed as they just shoved them in digital (still) cameras, etc. Many will come perfectly packaged with the right paperwork and if you open em up are even correctly marked (they may be stuff that failed QC and has been packaged and sold out the back door by a "grey" shift).

Nail.On.Head.

I've even had fakes come bundled with stuff from known major brands (Lenovo phones with fake sandisk cards)


Nail.On.Head.

[DC]

Do you know what class your memory card is? I have a Class 10 Sandisk 32gb that I use for my GoPro, but it'll struggle to record 720p at 60fps for a prolonged amount of time. it'll usually record for about fifteen minutes before it stops and I have to hit the record button again. It copes fine with 1080p24 or 720p30 though (due to lower framerate).

As a general rule, cards with less storage (like an 8gb or 16gb) have a better transfer rate (like 45mb/s+) and can handle the large amounts of data being stored to it.

You can buy a class 4 32gb sd card and, although it has more memory, its not suitable for a video recorder due to the low file transfer rate (like 4mb/s or something). This would be fine for something like a digital camera, but for a full HD video recorder simply wont work. Try turning down some of the settings on the camera if you can, and see if that works. If its set to record at 60fps it'll really struggle, so turn it down to 24fps (which is standard really. 60fps is only really useful if you're doing slo-mo stuff), or if recording at 1080p reduce it to 720p and see how the memory card copes.

I'd recommend buying a new memory card, but keep an eye on what class and transfer rate its got. Just my opinion (and I have a degree in Media Arts ;) )

Let me know what you decide to do, and if you want a new sd card I'll have a look online when i get home and recommend some for you.

Hi Rob I have a gopro and it used to stop recording mid flow, then did a firmware update and works as it should now on all settings with different cards try it you may be in luck.

[MayallRob]

Hi Rob I have a gopro and it used to stop recording mid flow, then did a firmware update and works as it should now on all settings with different cards try it you may be in luck.

This may well be it, I updated to the lastest firmware about a few months ago, which is when I started having some trouble. Theres probably a much newer one out by now. Thanks!

[MayallRob]

8gb card works fine and the camera is working ok, will try it out in a bit on the way to work so will upload some videos over the weekend. I did watch the tiny videos i had and the quality is great with easy number plate recognition. Don't think the microphone was much use, but then i think any mic on a bike is pretty pointless with the wind whistling.

Have you uploaded any videos yet?

[Killer Rat]

Daytime through avebury:

http://youtu.be/4BnRyw-haS8

Nighttime coming into devizes during torrential rain:

http://youtu.be/dxCaIkvoZlY

[MayallRob]

That's a nice clear video! How did you mount it to your helmet, is it on the inside or the outside? I mount mine on the outside and the wind noise is unbearable.

[Swanny]

Looks great what can you do about the noise?

[Killer Rat]

That's a nice clear video! How did you mount it to your helmet, is it on the inside or the outside? I mount mine on the outside and the wind noise is unbearable.

Mounted to the outside with 3m pads and a removable clip for ease of taking the camera off. There is nothing i can do about the wind noise, even though the mic is concealed in the back of the unit underneath a screw on cap. Wind just gets through everything and it surprises me that it gets through this considering where the mic is placed.
It's a great camera though it has to be said and i would highly recommend one.

[Swanny]

Can you plug a mic into it?

[Killer Rat]

No, there is no option for that. If i could be ar*ed maybe a filter off an old earphone could be placed over the top of the mic to try to cancel out wind. It's strange because the mic is situated at the back of the camera behind an o-ring sealed metal screw cap, technically no wind should get in there at all, but it does.

[MayallRob]

If you really desperately wanted sound, another thing you could consider is wearing a separate audio device to capture sound and sync the sound file to the video file afterwards. I know of some people that use the 'voice notes' feature on their phone, keep the phone inside a jacket / pocket to reduce wind noise and then place the audio track over the video track.

Syncing the audio / video can be difficult though. The easiest way to do it is to clap your hands in front of the camera. That way, you can sync the sound of yours hands clapping from the audio clip to the moment your hands meet in the video (did that make sense)?

Like I said, its a little complicated and time consuming, but if you were really desperate...?

[Killer Rat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gnr4wdRWrA

School coach aswell. Beeline manager isn't very happy with me at the moment.

[MayallRob]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gnr4wdRWrA

School coach aswell. Beeline manager isn't very happy with me at the moment.

At least you weren't going any faster otherwise that would've been nasty! I can't count the amount of times the same thing has happened to me, but it always seemed to be when I didn't have my camera recording!

Happens a lot less now that I've got a loud exhaust though. Thankfully they hear me even if they don't see me ;)

[strommer]

Hi Killer rat. Nice clear vid and no view of your helmet in the shot.
I have the same camera and have not fixed it yet.

Any chance of a pic showing where its mounted and do you think its secure enough? was looking at the 3m tape and the plastic clip but was worried that not a lot of the clip contacts the tape.

How have you found it?

Thanks

[Killer Rat]

Hi Killer rat. Nice clear vid and no view of your helmet in the shot.
I have the same camera and have not fixed it yet.

Any chance of a pic showing where its mounted and do you think its secure enough? was looking at the 3m tape and the plastic clip but was worried that not a lot of the clip contacts the tape.

How have you found it?

Thanks

I'll do a pic for you in the morning.

One thing i have done is to use one of the spare straps to wrap around the camera and my chin strap just in case the camera was to fall off it will still be attached to me and not the tarmac.

[Killer Rat]

Pic of camera holder set-up.

312

Pic of camera attached and secondary strap to avoid losing the camera.

313

Camera has been angled upwards roughly 30 degrees for my riding style.

[QB1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gnr4wdRWrA

School coach aswell. Beeline manager isn't very happy with me at the moment.

Not the best driving but seen much worse.

I wouldn't get too uptight about it but each to there own.

[QB1]

Pic of camera holder set-up.

312

Pic of camera attached and secondary strap to avoid losing the camera.

313

Camera has been angled upwards roughly 30 degrees for my riding style.

Do you find having it on your helmet that it becomes a pain to watch videos when you move you head about for observation. I cant help thinking unless you are on a really straight bit of road with no side turnings the video would be all over the place as you move your head around?

[strommer]

Thanks for the pics. Have mounted it much the same as you.

I used a short length of fishing line around the camera itself and then through the mount and attached it to the chin strap with one of the velcro loops as a security strap.

[Swanny]

Do you find having it on your helmet that it becomes a pain to watch videos when you move you head about for observation. I cant help thinking unless you are on a really straight bit of road with no side turnings the video would be all over the place as you move your head around?

Baron Von Grumble mounts his cam on the top of his helmet and it's ok watching his vids

[Killer Rat]

Do you find having it on your helmet that it becomes a pain to watch videos when you move you head about for observation. I cant help thinking unless you are on a really straight bit of road with no side turnings the video would be all over the place as you move your head around?

Not really. Unless my neck was like young Blair in exorcist or one of the mentals in jacob's ladder.

[Swanny]

Not really. Unless my neck was like young Blair in exorcist or one of the mentals in jacob's ladder.
The ones in the back of the car??? :D

[Uber Dave]

Baron Von Grumble mounts his cam on the top of his helmet and it's ok watching his vids

That works for his as it's got a wireless remote control mounted on the bars (Drift HD camera) but from experience it's a pain in the ass turning them on and off on top on the move.

I personally like seeing a bit of the helmet in the shot, similar to Royal Jordanian on YouTube, gives some context.

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