Head cam for trail biking

marienbad

I don't have a clue about cycling and would welcome some advice ,my grandson of 12 is into mountain and trail biking and I am buying him a head cam thingy and I have been warned that buyer beware as some on offer don't last beyond the first fall.

Any make and model recommendations would be appreciated .

mint man

go pro would be the in "name " and theyve just launched a cheaper basic version http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3179488/Trail/searchtext%3EGO+PRO.htm

Cantona's Collars

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=go+pro+camera&catId=0&initiative_id=AS_20141011050815

marienbad

Thanks guys ,that should keep him going , he will be shooting hi res film within days and I will have something else to worry about ,only now I will see the evidence !

JBokeh

Look at "techmoan" on youtube,he has good reviews of the cheapo ones,I've one and it puts up with lots of abuse,stuck on cars,Mountain bike , and everywhere else you can think off. It has taken a few knocks and survived,only problem I had was in the waterproof case it would rattle a bit.

The beauty with the cheap ones is that you don't worry about them as much,if I had a €300 GoPro stuck onto my bike or car i'd probably avoid water and mud as much as possible,but with an €80 quid one you can be a bit more adventurous with it,hell you can break 4 of them for the price of 1 go pro,which would also have broken given the same amount of abuse to break 4 cheapies

Beasty

I will often cycle with a light attached to my helmet during the winter, but you do need to recognise that adding such things to the helmet may potentially reduce their effectiveness increasing the risks in the case of a crash. They are now suggesting Schumacher's injuries were exacerbated by the Go Pro he had mounted on his helmet for example

marienbad

Beasty wrote: »

I will often cycle with a light attached to my helmet during the winter, but you do need to recognise that adding such things to the helmet may potentially reduce their effectiveness increasing the risks in the case of a crash. They are now suggesting Schumacher's injuries were exacerbated by the Go Pro he had mounted on his helmet for example

Yeah I know ,I believe it was the headcam did most of the damage . Bit what can one do- boys will be boys - he is getting a headcam one way or the other , I am just providing the dosh:)

rab!dmonkey

Worrying about the durability of the GoPro completely misses the point. They are pretty much unbreakable in normal use.

marienbad

mint man wrote: »

go pro would be the in "name " and theyve just launched a cheaper basic version http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3179488/Trail/searchtext%3EGO+PRO.htm

I took your advice and went ahead and bought this one , but I cannot get it to charge , I brought it back and changed it no problem but it is the same with the replacement.

I connect it to the computer ok but the charging light dos'nt come on and it shows just the usb symbol on the screen , which means it is charging in the most inefficient mode.

Tutororials youtube - the lot are no help . Anyone any tips ? Or would I be better asking in the camera forum ?

JBokeh

marienbad wrote: »

I took your advice and went ahead and bought this one , but I cannot get it to charge , I brought it back and changed it no problem but it is the same with the replacement.

I connect it to the computer ok but the charging light dos'nt come on and it shows just the usb symbol on the screen , which means it is charging in the most inefficient mode.

Tutororials youtube - the lot are no help . Anyone any tips ? Or would I be better asking in the camera forum ?

You probably have to connect it to something like a normal USB phone charger rather than a computer,the camera would see that it is a computer and go into file transfer mode rather than charging mode.

If you've anything like this you should just have to plug the USB lead into this and it will charge if everything is hunky dory

marienbad

JBokeh wrote: »

You probably have to connect it to something like a normal USB phone charger rather than a computer,the camera would see that it is a computer and go into file transfer mode rather than charging mode.

If you've anything like this you should just have to plug the USB lead into this and it will charge if everything is hunky dory

Ok I will try this thanks

Alanstrainor

marienbad wrote: »

Ok I will try this thanks

Hold the power button (the one on the front...) when it is plugged into the computer to turn it off. Once you've done that, the red charging light will come on, this will turn off once it is fully charged. This issue can be fixed by updating the firmware to 1.05.

It's odd, but even with the screen on and the usb symbol and battery symbol moving showing that it is charging, it will never show fully charged with the screen on. The only indication is the red light when the camera is off and plugged in.

I had the same trouble as you when I got mine, but it does work. Best of luck.

marienbad

JBokeh wrote: »

You probably have to connect it to something like a normal USB phone charger rather than a computer,the camera would see that it is a computer and go into file transfer mode rather than charging mode.

If you've anything like this you should just have to plug the USB lead into this and it will charge if everything is hunky dory

Worked a treat, thanks you very much . Now when he breaks his arm cycling off the shed there will be plenty of evidence against me . But such is growing up.

marienbad

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Hold the power button (the one on the front...) when it is plugged into the computer to turn it off. Once you've done that, the red charging light will come on, this will turn off once it is fully charged. This issue can be fixed by updating the firmware to 1.05.

It's odd, but even with the screen on and the usb symbol and battery symbol moving showing that it is charging, it will never show fully charged with the screen on. The only indication is the red light when the camera is off and plugged in.

I had the same trouble as you when I got mine, but it does work. Best of luck.

Charged using the phone charge , but I well remember this for the next time . A real nuisance isn't it , you expect thing to charge straight out of the box these days.

Alanstrainor

marienbad wrote: »

Charged using the phone charge , but I well remember this for the next time . A real nuisance isn't it , you expect thing to charge straight out of the box these days.

It does charge...it just wont tell you when its fully charged! But ah well!

marienbad

mint man wrote: »

go pro would be the in "name " and theyve just launched a cheaper basic version http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3179488/Trail/searchtext%3EGO+PRO.htm

Just a note of thanks. I went with your advice and after getting all the charging issues sorted I was the star present to my grandson at Christmas .

So thanks to everyone for their help and advice and happy trails in the new year .