How do you mount the camera? Can you post your videi? Is it worth buying the camera?
How do you mount the camera? Can you post your videi? Is it worth buying the camera?
x2. I was just talking about this. videi=video
most of the videos you see here are done with GoPro’s or Contour cameras http://wordpress.ncncaracing.com/ to get the steadiest shot, mount on your helmet, I have taken a few race videos from the handlebar mount and they are nowhere near as good…there are a few saddle mounts for the GoPro now which result in videos like this http://youtu.be/FA9AeYQTivQ which is incredible
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Not in a tri.
I’ve used the gopro on my bikes in crits and velodrome races…
Love the GoPro and have used it for a few things, mainly to provide some views of race courses I’ve been on as an athlete or race director/promoter:
(since removed)
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Thank guys. I might just have to pull the trigger on one of these. I noticed that the hd hero 2 was just released so that should work.
Love the GoPro and have used it for a few things, mainly to provide some views of race courses I’ve been on as an athlete or race director/promoter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKxoh_x1u_o (duathlon - bike split - mounted under aerobar)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Etc1gczE8 (triathlon - all three legs - mounted on bike helmet for swim, car hood for bike and bike aero bar for run)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmSvc0EffI (5k run - promo video - car hood)
Any tips for beginners you wish you would have known?
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We carry them, but we (mom-and-pop retailer) won’t get them until the end of the month:
most of the videos you see here are done with GoPro’s or Contour cameras http://wordpress.ncncaracing.com/ to get the steadiest shot, mount on your helmet, I have taken a few race videos from the handlebar mount and they are nowhere near as good…there are a few saddle mounts for the GoPro now which result in videos like this http://youtu.be/FA9AeYQTivQ which is incredible
Ha. I enjoyed your videos, they give an interesting perspective.
LOVE the Contour HD camera, here’s a link where I had it mounted on my bike during a race:
http://contour.com/stories/usat-draft-legal-triathlon-military-championships
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The GoPro bike tube mounts (for handlebars/seatposts) they sell break a lot just from road vibration after what seems like a thousand miles - the cantilever action with the six ounces of pendulum on the end is too much for the design - if it’s not tight enough - the thing loosens up and falls off - if you have it tight enough to not loosen up, it will break when you least expect it - I’ve had two break on my during road races.
For least amount of fuss, maximum dorkiness, put it on your helmet. Another approach that I’ve used is to just copy I saw on Tim Johnson’s CX bike for a few races, don’t use any of their mounting hardware except the base mount and use some foam and a bunch of zip ties to attach to your handlebars or seat, and it will be more secure and unlikely to break off at random like the plastic mount things.
Any tips for beginners you wish you would have known?
mounting and using the camera is the easiest part (i’ve only had the camera a few months). the part that takes time is editing the film, which is just trial and error. I wish i would take more time to learn the different parts of the camera though (like timelapse photography, which GoPro does)
This uses GoPros mounted on his seat and handlebars to record our local winter hammerfest. Always a treat to see what he has done with the video!
I have one and use it a lot, though I’m weary to use it at races. Fair warning though, the helmet mount is nice and strong, BUT, watching the video will probably make you motion sick. I didn’t realize how much my head moved until I used it for filming.
One thing I did use it for that I found helpful was mounting it on my buddy’s seatpost and riding a few bike lengths behind him. As amateurs, it’s not all that often that we can get a hold of good video of our riding form.
Lastly, if you ever go somewhere where the snorkeling or diving is good, definitely bring it and use it. I’ve used it on my head, on my chest, and just held it in my hand while I recorded.
On the helmet will yield the best results as far as steadiness. Anything mounted rigid to the bike will no doubt have a fair amount of shake in relation to the road conditions.
I moved from GoPro over to Contour and am much happier with the it. The mounts are way better…plus the camera looks much cooler and less dorky. The one I bought (Contour GPS) has GPS and bluetooth so I can see the video image on my iPhone. Pretty badass if you ask me!
Some guy here posted his IM Kona race report with go pro footage.
Creating videos is a hobby of mine. I own several high definition cameras, including a GoPro that I bought this past summer. It’s a neat videocamera, to be sure. So far, I’ve used mine for time-lapse video and a video shoot of a boating event from a helicopter. The time-lapse worked fantastic. The helicopter footage didn’t come out so well due to vibration (I attached it to the windshield), and even pro-level video editing software can’t really do much to stabilize it. Live and learn.
Soon before the iron-distance Redman Triathlon in September, I decided that I wanted to make a video of the race. I chose not to use my GoPro, however, for several reasons:
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In the plastic housing, it’s bulky and a bit heavy. While the housing would keep it dry during the swim (I didn’t have a sherpa to hand it off to before the start), I thought it would be too bulky to stow inside my wetsuit top, and might cause some chafing to me or damage to the wetsuit itself. (Looking back, it probably would have been OK.)
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It’s a single focus camera–no wide angle/telephoto adjustment. At a triathlon, you’re presumably going to be recording things both near and far away, and you’ll wish you had wide angle or telephoto capability.
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The bike mount. I had read stories of it breaking, and didn’t want to chance it. Also, there’s nothing that makes video footage more worthless than a lot of shaking, vibration or panning. (Redman has some pretty rough road surfaces, so that would be a major issue.) Plus, I wanted to be able to quickly point the camera in any direction, and the bike mount wouldn’t really permit that.
Instead of the GoPro, I used a Canon ELPH 100 digital camera/high-definition (1080p) camcorder, which costs about $170. It worked beautifully. It was small enough that it fit into a waterproof pouch that I stuffed into my wetsuit during the swim. On the bike, I was able to point it in any direction and adjust the zoom level. As a result, I was able to get great bike-segment footage of my fellow racers, spectators, etc., that a GoPro simply couldn’t. I got some great footage on the marathon, as well. Carrying that GoPro for 26.2 miles would have been a lot more burdensome than my light, slim Canon.
The raw video footage looks great. I’m anxious to share the Redman video once I get it edited, but I need to complete one other video project (Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis Marathon) first.
Basically, a GoPro works best when you’re doing something that prevents you from holding onto the camera while recording (e.g. driving a car or go-kart), when you’re doing something that might damage a less-durable camera if it should hit the ground, or when you’re willing to accept its single-focus limitation.
Hope this helps.
Jim
please make sure to post once you are done. I would love to see the videos
what is a good cheap editing software to use when editing video from a go-pro.
I didn’t take this, but here is one from Ireland’s premier triathlon.
Weather was a bit wild that day…