What video cameras do you use?

I've seen some pretty good videos on this forum and I got a new camera...unfortunately before I researched recording on a motorcycle. The Sportbikecam.com mount states in their FAQ that optical image stabilization will not work (nor will DVD camcorders)...well guess what my camera has...optical image stabilization! I recorder the other day and the video is unusable in most spots, even with the stabilization off. I know a few of you have just bought cameras, or have already had good results...what camcorders do you recommend? My only requirements are 16:9 resolution, miniDV tape and digital image stabilization.

This one:

Canon video camera

It has all the requirements you listed.

no wonder it bounces around so much! that arm is entirely tooo long! i'll bet the image buzzes around a lot!

if you could get that mounted closer to the mounting point at the gas cap (drill a hole if you must) you could effectively eliminate all that vibration.

there's a system that has a three point mount that sits right over the gas cap and i've never heard of any cameras image buzzing around. the closer you get to the base, the less vibration you'll get.

**EDIT**

90 fuqing dollars?!

That "arm" is about 6 inches. It doesn't experience any of the "vibration" problems you think.

Mounting something onto of the gas cap is going to prevent you from leaning forward very much, and will definately prevent you from getting into a tucked position.

I went out this morning and got 40 minutes of video using sportbikecam and the Sony HC85 camcorder. The video looks great and the sound is good too. Not really any vibration or anything I'm not sure if the video could get any better actually. I just uploaded it to my pc before work and hopefully I'll have time when I get home to edit in the two hours before I go shoot pool tonight. The video is kinda boring I really wasn't up for riding so early, I usually don't wake up until like 11am. hahaha Anyway I love the sportbikecam mount it's really solid but a bit pricey at $90. =(

Mike

so nice and low RPMs then... right?

quote:

ORIGINAL: BrianAZ
Mounting something onto of the gas cap is going to prevent you from leaning forward very much, and will definately prevent you from getting into a tucked position.

How is that a problem? if you're using this on a track, even the 6" mounting bar will get in your way. You'd have to use a very small camera or something else, like a bullet cam. I've never had to go to full tuck and knee drag on the street.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BrianAZ

Mounting something onto of the gas cap is going to prevent you from leaning forward very much, and will definately prevent you from getting into a tucked position.

I have to disagree with that statement. I have the tank mount, and the video I took while on the freeway was accomplished in full tuck mode (it was very windy that day). The tank mount isn't as "high tech" as the sportbikecam mount, but is just as durable and functional. As I mentioned in a previous post, the vibration problems I encountered was an internal problem with the first camera I tried--my mini-dvr recorder. My second choice--memory stick based camera--was excellent and definitely more suited to the mount. With both cameras, I was able to film in full tuck mode.

Here's photos of the setup I used:

What the camera (Olympus FE-115) looks like mounted to the tank:









Camera bottom for the screw:

He's talking about mounting something that sits directly above the gas cap and doesn't extend forward. Both your mount and mine extend forward.

quote:

ORIGINAL: knightslugger


How is that a problem?

Get on your bike in a normal riding position. How much clearance do you have between you and the tank? Now, put your camera there and shoot some video. Can you see anthing beyond the top of the tripple tree and instrument cluster, and how much clearance is between you and your camera? You need to allow for some vertical movement as you are not always completely stationary on the bike (bumps, elevation changes, etc). If you can't see much above the instruments, you will need to raise the camera and that reduces the clearances even more.

quote:

ORIGINAL: knightslugger
if you're using this on a track, even the 6" mounting bar will get in your way. You'd have to use a very small camera or something else, like a bullet cam. I've never had to go to full tuck and knee drag on the street.

Neither the mount or camera prevents me from getting into a tight tuck. You will notice that the link I posted is to a pretty small camera.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BrianAZ

quote:

ORIGINAL: knightslugger


How is that a problem?

Get on your bike in a normal riding position. How much clearance do you have between you and the tank? Now, put your camera there and shoot some video. Can you see anthing beyond the top of the tripple tree and instrument cluster, and how much clearance is between you and your camera? You need to allow for some vertical movement as you are not always completely stationary on the bike (bumps, elevation changes, etc). If you can't see much above the instruments, you will need to raise the camera and that reduces the clearances even more.

I have lots of clearance. In fact, i have a large tank bag from Oxford on there. i don't have a mount so i straped my digital camera on top of it.

Here's a video (excuse the cursing, i hate my helmet)

I could see my RPM gauge, and really, that's all that matters.

BrianAZ, do you hace a video example you can link me too, or post?

Also, back to the camera discussion (I alkready have the mount LOL)...do the few cameras listed have the features I would prefer?

16:9 resolution, MiniDV and digital image stabilization....

Video link

Note that when uploaded, Google changed the file format from an uncompressed .avi format to their proprietary format which compressed the image some, and caused distortion.

As of right now, I get an error when trying to play the video. I think that Google may be having some problems with their storage.

I can see it, no problem. It's actually quite clear and crisp.

Google's video isn't proprietary. if you choose to download it for iPod, you get the MPEG4 file. i had to recover a demo i made and posted on GoogleVideo and that's how i got it back.

Playing in the Google video player required that you use their format. The .avi file is much sharper. However, it is over 3 Gigs in that format. That is why Google compressed it.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BrianAZ

Playing in the Google video player required that you use their format. The .avi file is much sharper. However, it is over 3 Gigs in that format. That is why Google compressed it.

3 gigs for 13 minutes of video?! that's got to be encoded at some LUDICRIS bitrate for it to be MPEG4. It is an MP4 .avi file right? most .avi files are, but you never know, since it's a container format. you could put any format into a avi... i hate them with a passion. The Google Video Player is a streaming player. The download you get is a referance file. google is probably streaming it to you at a much lower Bitrate so that it can buffer correctly. i watched both and both were chop free and clear.




anyway, all this really has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

When transferred from the DV tape to the PC, and adding audio, I used Windows Movie maker to save it as .AVI format to keep it as lossless as possible. I wasn't given the option of a bitrate, as it wasn't supposed to use any compression. That is why it is such a large file. Whatever you are downloading from Google is not the original .avi file. They have compressed it for storage on their systems. You can't get the original uploaded file from them.

I've watched the original from the camera on both my monitor and 16:9 widescreen. I then compared it against the .avi file using the home theater PC. The .avi file was just as sharp as the digital image on the tape.

The video shown by google is much more compressed and distorted than the .avi.

by telling me it's an AVI file, you're not doing much. there's over 1000 different Video/Audio combinations for it to be considered AVI.

can we just move on please? this is becoming tiresome.