CHEAP helmetcam, 17 $ cheap.

[MrBlah]

If anyone is looking for a super cheap helmet cam, these things from ebay are the ticket, they are called MD80, they are knock off's of a more expensive camera, but they upped the specs! Mine is a 720x480 version, they sell for 15 $, mine was 11 $ + 4 $ to ship from china. These are not gopro/vholdr quality, they will suffer from "rolling shutter" as do gopro/vholder, because they are cmos cameras. CCD/lipstick cameras are the only ones that do a full frame image at a time, rather than a scan top to bottom, and wont have any rolling shutter, but those all have a bunch of wires you have to deal with.

I added a "jelly lens" wide angle for the front, basically they are stick on wide angle lenses, they go for a couple bucks on ebay, they can be glued permanently on. This camera has a built in rechargable batter that will record for ~2 hours. For your nefarious needs, it can do sound activated recording, I wont give you any ideas. It'll do about 40 minutes per gig, so a 2 gig card will fill before the battery, they can be sensitive to cards, so you want a class 6 card microSD card. It'll also act as a webcam, I have not tried that yet. There's a bunch of reviews online, because they are super cheap, small and light, they are getting strapped onto all sorts of things, lots of info on them on the RC airplane forums.

This is what you get for 15 $, I put quarters on/around it for scale, sorry my iphone takes horrible pictures

http://www.geekopolis.com/Other/2010/file/925348515_v2DfZ-L.jpg
http://www.geekopolis.com/Other/2010/file/925348538_WyLYL-L.jpg
http://www.geekopolis.com/Other/2010/file/925348565_gfnWw-L.jpg

Sample video of with and without the jelly lens, you can tell it makes the view quite a bit wider. I will try to get some helmetcam footage this week to test out the video and sound. The sound will pick up wind, so I'll probably have to use some black or friction tape over the microphone hole. There's lots of videos on youtube from these things already.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yRIpiQohbU

[Over TWO Customs]

Link to auction?

[MrBlah]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280525226877&ru=http://shop.ebay.com:80/%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp4712.m570.l1313%26_nkw %3D280525226877%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_2758wt_1137

the jelly lens's are all over ebay too, I got a 3 pack

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280518223839&ru=http://shop.ebay.com:80/%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp4712.m570.l1313%26_nkw %3D280518223839%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

[Over TWO Customs]

I'll try one out, with ebay bucks it will cost me 2 cents.

[MrBlah]

dont expect it to work like a gopro or vholdr, but for 15 $ nothing compares to that price point

the zuma forum has a bunch of people using them

[ramm]

Pretty sweet, may check it out.

[A&A Motorsports]

That look pretty cool.

[Slurppie]

Not to hijack the thread but I grabbed a couple of the keyfob cameras off of eBay - not top quality stuff but at $2.50 per camera I can't complain.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvnJ6nMosVk

[SquireSCA]

Found it here even cheaper, $10!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-DV-DVR-Sports-Video-Camera-Spy-cam-SpyCam-MD80-DC-/270604054507?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f01422feb

[TroyBoy30]

so by the time you have to buy a microsd card, it's no longer $10

I also don't see anything about how large of a card it supports, even though the 32 gig are still impossible to find

[SquireSCA]

I have a couple 2GB cards sitting here, so I can use them.

[A1willson]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and got it for $12 and it took about a two weeks to arrive. I currently have a 8gb micro-SD card in it and the quality actually seems really good compared to my old GoPro.

[ramm]

8G max.

Not too bad. Source (http://www.dhgate.com/2pcs-mini-dv-dvr-sports-video-camera-spy/p-ff808081237a440a01237e27b87a04c1.html)

Dunno why that shit is so expensive there, but they do have the specs towards the bottom.

edit: just ordered one for $10 (total $15 for the shippin) and a jelly lens

[TroyBoy30]

ahh so all of my 16 gig cards are no good. I gave away all of the smaller ones when I ordered my 32 gig

[ramm]

Yeh I'm going to have to get an 8g, all I have is a 16.

[SquireSCA]

dont expect it to work like a gopro or vholdr, but for 15 $ nothing compares to that price point

the zuma forum has a bunch of people using them

The video from my standard VHoldR isn't all that great. And about 30% of the time it fails to work at all. I had some great sessions at Road A this weekend, and on two of them, I had about 30 seconds of video of us sitting on the starting grid and then it just turned itself off and the battery was almost fully charged.

[SquireSCA]

What the hell, for $16 shipped I had to order one. This one will be easier to mount to the Streetfighter than the VHoldR.

[ramm]

What the hell, for $16 shipped I had to order one. This one will be easier to mount to the Streetfighter than the VHoldR.

yeh, make sure you get the jelly lens. Looks like it makes a pretty big difference. Only 3 bucks shipped lol. Was watching some videos on youtube, pretty impressive for the price if ya ask me.

[impalanar]

I am in for $14.48 + MicroSD card including jelly Lens.

[TroyBoy30]

you using daves link to order?

[ramm]

you using daves link to order?

Yep. Then I used the link at the top for the Jelly Lens

[impalanar]

you using daves link to order?

No, I used this one http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-DV-DVR-Sports-Video-Camera-Webcam-Spy-Cam-MD80-/220624270683?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Camcorders_Professional_Video_Cameras&hash=item335e3b355b

11.99 + Free shipping. I used Blah's link for the Jelly.

[SquireSCA]

Ok, so I got the camera and while the image quality is good, it is a horrible choice to mount to a bike or anything that has any vibration. If you are just standing there holding it the video quality is great for the price. The resolution is much better than my original VHoldR.

I mounted mine securely to the top of my handlebar clamp, and went out for a ride and it was almost unwatchable, everything is all wavey and weird from the vibrations of the bike.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

1) Video quality when holding it in your hand 7 or 8

2) Video quality when mounted to a motorcycled? 1

I will find a use for it, but using it on my bike is not one of those uses.

[flygirl]

Ok, so I got the camera and while the image quality is good, it is a horrible choice to mount to a bike or anything that has any vibration. If you are just standing there holding it the video quality is great for the price. The resolution is much better than my original VHoldR.

I mounted mine securely to the top of my handlebar clamp, and went out for a ride and it was almost unwatchable, everything is all wavey and weird from the vibrations of the bike.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

1) Video quality when holding it in your hand 7 or 8

2) Video quality when mounted to a motorcycled? 1

I will find a use for it, but using it on my bike is not one of those uses.

didnt read the whole thread but read your post...thanks for the info..usually you get what you pay for

[SquireSCA]

didnt read the whole thread but read your post...thanks for the info..usually you get what you pay for

Yeah, I mean for $15 you can find handy uses for such a tiny camera, it just isn't designed to handle the vibrations and bouncing around of a motorcycle. Trying to watch the video was pretty horrendous, I will throw some of it on YouTube and let you see what I am talking about.

[MrBlah]

you can not mount any helmetcam to the bars, even my 1080p cam is unwatchable there

the reason people put them on helmets, your body naturally cushions your head, which means relatively smooth video

[SquireSCA]

Helmet is a poor place to mount it, because you have to glue or use adhesive backing to secure it to your helmet. It will not only look ugly, but you will easily break it at some point.

Also, the LED on the cam is very tiny, and there is no audible beep or indication that it is on or recording, so you would have to keep taking the helmet on and off to see it and hit record or stop.

It's a neat little device, but pretty useless for what I was intending to use it for.

[MrBlah]

dont buy a expensive one then, because they all are the exact same thing with the same issue

[SquireSCA]

dont buy a expensive one then, because they all are the exact same thing with the same issue

The resolution on my VHoldR is not HD, but the image quality is decent when mounted to a bike.

<object width="480" height="385">And here is the cheapo camera mounted to a bike...

The video is still being processed so the image quality will improve, but you can see how crazy wavey it is...

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3Cn3JiQ_QmQ&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3Cn3JiQ_QmQ&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AsTPTVkOP6g&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></object>

[MrBlah]

I dont have much experience with street use, but my vholder mounted to the bike will make you vomit if you try to watch it, I only ride dirt on singles, so there's a lot of vibration

they call them helmetcams for a reason, they work best on the helmet, you can mount them inside a street helmet, I've seen guys velcro them to the inside front of the chin

[SquireSCA]

Oh, and the camera puts a date stamp on it, but the only way to get the correct date is to put the information in a TXT file on the root of the memory card, each day that you use it, because when you fire it up, it looks at that file, gets the date and then deletes the file.

So you have to create the file and upload it every damned time.

And you cannot disable the stamp, so unless you want all your videos to say they are from 2008, you have to do that.

Gay.

[MrBlah]

the date fix is a 1 time thing, it remembers the correct date, it may reset if the batteries go flat enough

there's also software to remove it, if you dont want the datestamp

[SquireSCA]

the date fix is a 1 time thing, it remembers the correct date, it may reset if the batteries go flat enough

there's also software to remove it, if you dont want the datestamp

Interesting. I will give that a shot then.

Still can't use it on a bike, and I have not figured out a decent way to mount it to a helmet either. I am not going to glue plastic mounts to my Suomy helmet. LOL

[flygirl]

Helmet is a poor place to mount it, because you have to glue or use adhesive backing to secure it to your helmet. It will not only look ugly, but you will easily break it at some point.

Also, the LED on the cam is very tiny, and there is no audible beep or indication that it is on or recording, so you would have to keep taking the helmet on and off to see it and hit record or stop.

It's a neat little device, but pretty useless for what I was intending to use it for.

one of those fell off someones helmet at the trackday in barber

[MrBlah]

I use 3m link lock velcro, stuff is very strong

[impalanar]

I plan on using it in my car for AutoX events, we'll see how it works for that. Oh, and mine came in today.

[SquireSCA]

I plan on using it in my car for AutoX events, we'll see how it works for that. Oh, and mine came in today.

Probably better than it is when mounted to a rigid part of a high-strung v-twin... LOL

[Over TWO Customs]

Damnit I am still awaiting my camera arrival :(

[r1madman]

Got mine in yesterday and with a 4gb card, for some reason when I uploaded the card into the ole macbook, the resulting 40 minutes of vid was broken up into segments of 1:35... could this be because I have yet to install anything off the ridiculous mini cd onto the macbook?

[ramm]

Got mine in yesterday and with a 4gb card, for some reason when I uploaded the card into the ole macbook, the resulting 40 minutes of vid was broken up into segments of 1:35... could this be because I have yet to install anything off the ridiculous mini cd onto the macbook?

Worked fine on my PC, not broken up at all. No clue what the issue could be. I thought Mac's were easy ;)

[r1madman]

Hmmm, I think I may have turned on the voice activation recording...but now when I put the card back in the camera, it will no longer record, even though the card is empty.